July 13, 2005
Recently when we were praying the Stations of the Cross in our friary cloister here in Honduras, I had a little revelation concerning the First Station. The First Station is, of course, Jesus Condemned to Death by Pilate; it hangs outside my office. When it was announced, immediately the sentence of death pronounced by God over Adam and Eve in punishment for their disobedience, also pronounced over each of us on Ash Wednesday, flashed into my mind: Remember that you are dust and unto dust you will return. At that moment in His Passion, the Lord Jesus takes upon Himself our sentence of death, making it possible for us to enter into eternal life.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the experience of seeing someone condemned to death. I have. It didn’t take place at a trial in a courtroom, but rather at a small medical clinic here in Comayagua. We had been asked by a family to accompany them with a sick relative to see the doctor. The doctor pulled me aside and asked me to give the patient the news. I deferred, saying that medical information should be given by a doctor capable of explaining things and answering questions. We waited outside the closed door of the consult room, knowing what was happening inside. After about half an hour, the family emerged with somber faces and heavy hearts: the man tested positive for HIV. In Honduras, such a diagnosis is equivalent to a sentence of death.
Faced with such a heavy reality, as really all of us are, the only possible source of consolation and hope is the fact that the Son of God stands condemned with us, so we can stand acquitted and pardoned with Him before the Father.
Fr. Herald J. Brock, CFR
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