We
have reached the middle of Holy Week, The efforts and failures of Lent are
behind us. The entry into
Jerusalem
has taken place and the buzz of Passover is present in the
city. Now the Triduum is upon us, the Thursday, Friday and Saturday that mark
the culmination of the Lord’s presence among us.
It is the third Easter that Francis has been Bishop
of Rome and still he continues to surprise us. But really we shouldn’t be
surprised, for his simple, caring faith is the very essence of Christian belief
and he has sought to be an example to the Church that has often showed opulence
in its bearing and disregard for the poor. His washing of the feet only days
after his election set the tone and is continued in his demonstration of service
to others in the work of the Lord.
In the last few days, there has been an
extraordinary event in
England
, the burial of a King, some 530 years after his death in the
battle of
Bosworth Field
, near
Leicester
. The bones of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of
England
were found and identified nearly three years ago. Last
Thursday his remains were interred in Leicester Cathedral, a final resting place
in a Church of England cathedral for a Catholic king.
The short piece below was written on the day his
remains were taken to the Cathedral.
In English Linen*
They drew him through city streets
concealed
in an oak box, square-sided,
simple,
pulled by four black horses
towards
a cathedral resting place.
Battle-broken, the distorted bones
of
the Plantagenet king were offered
due
reverence, five hundred years
after
his wound-disfigured body was
tossed
roughly into English soil
and
a Tudor victor assumed his crown.
The
memory of history, a mystery in
a
late afternoon in early Spring; final journey.
The
image at the head of this posting is taking from the Stations, Walk
with Me, Published by McCrimmon
UK
. It is a beautiful, yet simple depiction of the Resurrection
meeting with Mary, that first Easter morning, the 15th station.
END
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