a series of reflections based on this online stations of the cross
The story of Veronica’s encounter with Jesus on the way to Calvary is not in the Gospels, but tradition says she might have been the same woman who had touched Jesus’ robe earlier and been healed. If she was (and maybe even if she wasn’t), this station invites us to reflect on the pain that we hope might be healed with just a touch of Jesus’ robe.
There is a particular pain that I am praying will one day be healed. It has to do with a yearning for restoration of relationship–so more a healing of the heart than a healing of the body. I bring this request to services of healing. I write this request on the back of prayer cards in churches I visit. I always feel this yearning for healing, even if sometimes it’s more of a dull throb and other times it flares up and I feel it again as for the first time (as it has during this Good Friday journey). Every now and then, when I catch a glimpse of Jesus passing by, I think if I could just touch the hem of his robe, it might be enough for this healing to happen.
Tradition says that Veronica had been healed by Jesus, and then was a close by-stander in his own experience of suffering. She tried to speak up on his behalf at his trial. She followed closely enough on the walk through the city that she could wipe his face when he stumbled. It stands to reason, then, that she was probably one of the women weeping as he drew his last breath, and that maybe she was one who wanted to go visit his body in the tomb. Her experience of healing had so transformed her that she was willing to stay close in the suffering of someone else.
Again, I think of those who stick close to me in my suffering. They are often the ones who have experienced suffering of their own, and know the weight of it. So I cry out for healing for this relationship that I yearn will one day be restored, and as I work through this situation, I find myself deepening in sensitivity to the struggles of others, and more open to the hurting world around me.