The Second Mile

Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.

Matthew 5:41

Our Lenten journey is complete.

We have accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem. We have seen a foretaste of His burial. We have experienced His betrayal.

We have come this far with Him. But the journey is not complete. We have only gone the first mile, both in terms of Lent and Holy Week.

We are now on the threshold of the Sacred Triduum, the High Holy Days of Christianity. 

We still need to travel to the Upper Room, the Mount of Olives in Getsemani, the places where Annas and Caiaphas lived, the Praetorium, Golgotha (Calvary), and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. The Via Dolerosa awaits both Jesus and us.

The above verse is part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus speaks about how not to retaliate. But this should also be our response to sin and evil--to endure the trials it takes to overcome them. And Who better to show the way?

I strongly encourage you to assist at the Church's liturgies (and whatever devotions are offered) the next three days. Avail yourselves of the graces and plenary indulgences associated with these prayers. May your journey into Easter joys find completion in these rite.

Before it was a fixed distance, 1,000 steps were considered a mile.

There are only a few more steps to take.

Take up your cross with Christ and make them.