An account of the passion written by one of the Greystones parishioners.
This is a very emotive and graphic account well worth reading. However it may not be for those with sensitive dispositions.
Reflections On The Passion:
A meteorite from the east crossed the sky and shattered the sealed door to the tomb. The Spirit of God hovered over the body which rose and clad in heavenly garments emerged into the dawn. His guards were as dead men. He stepped onto the dew- wet grass.
Immediately the Mother’s load inexplicably lifted and as she raised her head the curtains of the window parted and the Master was there beside her.
She started to fall but he caught her and embraced her, heart to heart.
Meanwhile back at the tomb the holy women were confounded by it being open, empty and without the guards. They fled.
The immediate aftermath is well known. Less well known was that our Master appeared all over Palestine to all manner of people.
In the hours that followed reports were came in of people who had not only seen him, but met and talked to him.
The Apostles were at once stunned and offended. They did not believe the reports and only accepted it when the Holy Mother confirmed that she had spoken to him. It was true, he was alive.
It was evening when he visited the Apostles. Embarrassed and uncomfortable they were inexplicably filled with deep joy. He was alive all right, very much alive.
The days went into weeks, instructions, guidance and promises came from the Master whose ability to be present wherever was as startling.
Strangest of all these happenings is that he continues to talk and guide us to this day virtually always on a one to one basis.
His Spirit is in us, Jesus is present and active here in Greystones. Alleluia.
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The Mother clung to the Master’s tomb pleading forgiveness for a sacrilege that she alone understood. She was inconsolable. Up to now she had remained dignified, perhaps for fear of upsetting her dying son. But now she gave full vent to her outrage.
In vain the women tried to persuade her to come back with them. Eventually the men almost forcibly took her in hand and back to the Cenacle. In her room and alone, she threw herself on her knees, sobbing convulsively.
She was beyond inconsolable. The long dreaded sword had pierced her heart.
She was unaware of people calling to the house, now a house of tears. Grown men wept openly. They spoke in hushed tones all concerned
for the Mother but heartbroken for themselves. Their hopes, beliefs and expectations had been inexplicably dashed.
They were like rudderless boats. Simon the Zealot was the first to recover. No one knew that Jesus had asked him to gather the scattered apostles and those in the house got angrier with the missing apostles – all ten of them.
The Roman lady John had seen wipe the Master’s face, called and asked that the cloth she held be given to the Mother. The face, the face of her son was clearly visible. She laid it on the bed and kissed it convulsively.
She gasped, grasped, clutched it with tears streaming down on her garments and on to the towel.
It was late when some of the Apostles started returning to the house. The women were expressing fears that the Mother’s grief would kill her.
Magdalan told grief stricken Peter to get a grip on himself.
Our Master was manhandled onto the cross. He arms were grabbed and stretched but they did not stretch far enough to reach the holes prepared for the nails. Ropes were tied to his arms and two executioners held Jesus firm while two of them pulled his arm parting his elbow joints and arms from the their sockets.
Jesus was doubled in pain and it took two men to pull his feet down to the shelf on which they were to rest lest his body weight would tear him from the nails.
But again they did not stretch far enough. Two men sat on his torso while two pulled his legs from their sockets. Years later when Jesus was talked about one of his executors would boast that he died taller than he walked.
They struggled to raise the cross and move it to the hole in which it was sunk with a dreadful thud. Blood gushed from the victim. The witnesses were awe struck as it swayed in the hole while at that instant the trumpets sounded in the Temple below in the city to proclaim the paschal lamb was slain.
It took three hours during which he parched, his limbs cramped, his lungs screamed for oxygen, his inner organs rebelled in pain. And all the time he bled so that his heart pumped furiously and in vain.
He died of asphyxiation but not before he asked forgiveness of his enemies and entrusted his mother to the Church and the Church to his mother’s care.
Our devastated Master staggered under the cross and though he was protected by a line of Roman legionaries on each side he was tugged by ropes held by the executioners so that his progress was a series of zig zags on the uneven, uphill, downhill nature of the Jerusalem roads.
The Mother saw her son, her lovely son, the Son of God, stagger hardly able to stay upright. He looked a wreak of a man, deadly pale, beaten like rabid cur.
She stepped between the soldiers and greeted him. The procession barely stopped before she was brushed away with blood on her garments.
She appealed to his Father.
Simon of Cyrene came by and was ordered to carry the cross. His hesitation was short lived when threatened with the confiscation of his cart, mule and a flogging.
But Jesus was gone beyond his strength. He fell again.
A compassionate woman offered him a towel and she too was brushed aside.
More women showed him compassion but the procession of the condemned struggled on.
He fell again. This time he did not get up.
No one bothered to pick him up. The executioners simply dragged him the final yards onto the execution ground.
There he lay while they busied themselves in preparing the cross.
When it was readied they stood him up, tore off the crown and his garments.
The Master stood a hapless figure covered from head to toe in purple, yellow, and blue bruises, deep gashes and bloodied and bleeding.
The body and blood of Christ were visible on Calvary just 24-hours after the first Eucharist.
The contempt and hatred to which the Master was subjected to is astounding.
After receiving more than five thousand lashes delivered by a six-man team a soldier intervened in case he died before he was crucified. Strangely this intervention came before Pilate conceded the death penalty.
Jesus collapsed in a pool of blood flecked with particles of his own skin. His shoulder bone had been laid bare. His hands and feet were distorted and swollen from the scourging.
He was revived by a bucket of water and kicked to ensure he was still alive. He was made grope for his garments which were kicked out of his reach a number of times.
As he was lifted to his feet an excited soldier came into the yard waving a bunch of thorns which he said would do for a crown for the King of the Jews. Another soldier got a red rag to emphasise his kingship. They sat him on pottery shards while they wove his crown.
It was pressed home piercing his head from nape to eye lids.
He was then spat on and mocked. One soldier spat into his gaping mouth.
He was in total shock when he was led back to Pilate. He was feverish when presented to the people as their king.
The people rejected him and his teaching and doctrine of love and forgiveness.
He was weaker than weak when the cross was placed on his shoulders. He tottered as he descended the steps on to the street and almost immediately fell after tripping on a pot hole.
The master was rushed to Annas looking dishevelled and blood stained. Filth and dung stained his clothes.
The Master was left in no doubt that he was on trial for his life. But Annas was unable to force a cause for the death penalty. When he went to the chief priest who had already called a session of the Sanhedrin our Master was left with guards who maltreated him.
As he was being led to the Sanhedrin, Jesus over heard Peter calling on God to witness he did not know Jesus. Jesus was devastated by this.
The Sanhedrin was dissolved as it was illegal. It resumed at dawn where the accusers were frustrated until the chief priest lost his temper and demanded Jesus to answer him in his official capacity of High Priest. Jesus gave the answer to the question ‘are you the Christ?’ He was immediately sentenced to death for blasphemy and brought to Pilate for confirmation and execution.
Pilate would have none of it. He passed him on to Herod whom Jesus ignored leading to his being treated shamefully and returned to Pilate who declared him not guilty as charged.
As a sop to the chief priests and the mob he had Jesus scourged. Pilate was shocked when he saw him after the scourging which had gone on for 45 minutes. Our master had received over five thousand lashes from a six-man team after which he was subjected to blows, kicks and the dreadful crown of thorns.
Pilate’s ‘Behold the man’ became a prophecy fulfilled in our church every day.
But he washed his hands of him.
It was to be a busy day.
Before dawn – about 5am – they left the Galilean’s field, near , the Master told Peter and John to prepare the paschal dinner.
He told the others to meet him in the Temple before going to his mother. He tells her of his impending death and about the Eucharist.
Afterward he went to Bethany which he left around noon with nine of his Apostles. En route to the Temple, the Master poured himself out, giving instructions and telling them of the Eucharist. They thought he was talking of the Paschal Lamb.
At the Temple the Master is surrounded by Hebrews from the Diaspora. Quoting from numerous biblical texts He reminded them of the prophecies concerning him.
Later the Master gave an impassioned speech to the throng. He actually shouts to catch the attention of Gamaliel who listened for a while before walking away pensively.
A voice from heaven is heard. Many think God had spoken to him, others say it was a clap of thunder.
At around 5pm the Master went to his mother. They bless each other. Jesus looks pale, sad and even tormented. His mother foresees his torments. It gets dark at around 6pm when he goes to the supper room with the apostles. He says this is the last time I will walk these streets.
After the supper, the Master breaks with tradition and adds another in which he consecrated bread and wine.
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Third Stage: Receive 2016-17Evenings for parents and guardians were held in the pastoral area during March. These evenings focused on what it is we do as a community when we gather to celebrate Mass. Some of the areas we discussed together included:
Home Involvement
We’ve love you to share some photos with us. a selection of these will be used at the First Holy Communion Liturgies.
Upload your pictures and comments on the activity to the Tumblr account in order to share this with others in the community. https://greystonesandkilquadeparish.tumblr.com/submit
We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming First Holy Communion Liturgies.
Enjoy the day and all it entails, but especially look forward to the next stage of your faith journey for yourself and with your child.
There are a number of Lenten activities available online that both children and adults might like to participate in during this Lent.
The Saint Martin Helping Hands campaign is encouraging everybody to try to do an act of kindness each day during Lent.
Hold a door open for someone; help a person put out their bins; give up your seat on the bus or train; look in on a neighbour; visit someone; call someone for a chat; it only takes a small act of kindness to make the world a better place!
When you do an act of kindness, shade or colour a Hand on this worksheet: saint-martin-helping-hands-lent-campaign
The Society of Missionary Children produces a number of publications throughout the year including a Lenten Activity Calendar. This may be used with and support the activity above.
Trocaire invite you with the parish community to pray these Stations of the Cross and also to reflect on the Pope’s messages in Laudato Si’ while we together strive to care for our common home.
The document is available here : laudato-si-study-guide-2017
This Way of the Cross considers the concept of pilgrimage. The Way of the Cross itself is a pilgrimage; a journey that follows Christ’s path of suffering and death. Pope Francis encourages us to set out on a pilgrimage of conversion to become kinder, more generous people.
This Way of the Cross focuses on the suffering caused by climate change. Humanity, along with all of creation, is on a critical journey as we are challenged by climate change. Will we set out on a path of mercy, adjusting our patterns of consumption to lessen our carbon footprint and give Mother Earth a chance to heal?
Will this journey become a pilgrimage towards sustainability, and ultimately resurrection?
This study guide is inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home. The papal encyclical offers us an opportunity to reflect on the world around us and to respond to the signs of the times.
We are all called to reject the contemporary ‘throwaway’ culture and to open our eyes to see how God is present throughout creation.
We bear witness to the reality facing many of our sisters and brothers across the world, who are being pushed deeper into poverty due to the changing climates.
Laudato Si’ is a profound invitation to everyone on the planet, and its influence will be felt for many years to come.
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Mass Times in Our ParishParticipation in the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation require preparation on behalf of the person, their sponsors and their families.
Dublin, Ireland, has been chosen by Pope Francis to host the next World Meeting of Families in August 2018.
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