A Poem for Lent

A-Poem-a-Day

Until Resurrection Day

Image credit: aleteia.org

A POEM FOR LENT

I scan Google Images

looking for a depiction of the Crucifixion

to illustrate a Lenten poem on my blog

I’m unable to look squarely at the pictures—

Many are so heart-wrenching, so gruesome

I have to turn away

I think of the four Gospels

providing matter-of-fact statements

to tell us Jesus was crucified

sparing us details

of His suffering

Oh, I’m well aware

it is 2000 years later

and no holds are barred

when it comes to portrayals of violence

I go to the movies

I watch TV

I’ve squirmed through

The Passion of the Christ

with my heart beating fast

and eyes tightly closed

during the bloodiest sequences

I’ve read A Doctor at Calvary[1]

in which each and every stain

on the Shroud of Turin

is elaborated upon

in minute medical detail

I do not need

more graphic words and pictures

My mind’s eye sees

His thorn-crowned Head

His nail-pierced hands

My mind’s ear hears

Father, forgive them…

          …why hast Thou forsaken Me?

It is finished.

My mind’s heart

feels His agony

At last, I click on an image—

a crossbeam, a circle of thorns

and three nails

I post it on the blog

insert my poem

and shudder

a most grateful shudder

that Jesus, my beloved Savior

endured that terrible Cross

for me

Maude Carolan Pych

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[1] A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet, M.D., published by Image Books, a division of Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, NY