Let Us Not Grow Tired: A Lesson in Veronica’s Bold Compassion
“And let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
“I Thirst”: Using Our Gifts to Quench Christ’s Thirst
In a message by Pope St. John Paul II for Lent 1993, the great pope called the Church to reflect on Jesus’ words, “I thirst” (John 19:28) and “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). In these words, he wrote, ‘we hear a cry from the poor, especially those who did not have access to clean water’. In a subsequent letter to the Missionaries of Charity, St. Teresa of Calcutta (then simply known as Mother Teresa) elaborated on this message:
“‘I thirst’ is something much deeper than Jesus just saying ‘I love you.’ Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you — you can’t begin to know who He wants to be [for] you. Or who He wants you to be for Him.”
This Lent, Catholic Women in Business invites you to reflect with us on how Jesus thirsts for each one of us and how we can quench His thirst — through prayer, through sacrifice, through loving His children who are most in need (and there are so many this Lent in particular!). In our content this season, we’ll be exploring how, as Catholic professionals, we can begin to understand “who He wants to be” for us, “who He wants [us] to be for Him,” and how we can share His great love for us all with everyone we encounter.
During Lent, it is common to pray the Stations of the Cross on Fridays as a 14-part meditation on and reverence of Christ’s passion and death. It is at the Sixth Station where we learn of the woman Veronica, who stops Jesus and Simon of Cyrene to wipe the sweat, blood, and dirt from Jesus’s face with her veil. This veil was later used to perform great miracles for people who would touch it, including the Roman emperor Tiberius. The veil is now believed to be housed in a Capuchin monastery in Manoppello, Italy.
Veronica is never mentioned in the Gospels but is revered in the Tradition of the Roman Catholic Church for her witness of compassion to Christ on his Via Dolorosa. It is not even known if she was a follower of Christ before their introduction on Good Friday, but her compassion, and her bold action shown through this compassion, has made her a canonized saint. The Church celebrates her feast day on July 12.
Setting the Scene
Veronica learns of the man who claims to be the Messiah, who will destroy the temple and in three days rebuild it again (John 2:19). She hears his name whispered by His followers who hang back off the path and women sputtering through tears of anguish. She stands waiting for such a man’s arrival among the lines of people formed along the outer walls of the city.
Others to her left and right are shouting at him as he makes his way, weary feet stumbling to Golgotha, where he will hang from the cross he carries. He’s bloodied and bruised. The people who stand around her spit at him and mock him. Roman soldiers strike him. He is so tired and weak that a soldier has volunteered a man named Simon of Cyrene to help him carry the cross.
Jesus makes his way through the crowd, stopping only for a moment right in front of Veronica. Her heart swells and breaks as she looks upon the face of God, not made manifest in a powerful king but in a poor, bloodied Nazarean.
She unwraps her veil from her head and shoulders and steps out into the Via Dolorosa, into the view of the soldiers and community members. She bends down and ever-so-gently wipes the face of Jesus clean. He looks at her, truly looks at her, and for a moment, their compassion is a mirror to the other in perfect complementarity.
Let Us Not Grow Tired
We also have an opportunity to mirror our Savior on the Via Dolorosa. With the gift of Christ’s compassion, instilled in all of us as we learn and grow from Jesus every day, we are awarded a chance to step out in faith and console our neighbors, even in the smallest of ways.
With information all around us, as close as the computer in our pocket, it can feel as if we are called to save the whole world and all its problems. Instead, look up from your screen and into the community where you have been placed. You are invited to shine the light of Christ here. Where can you step out into this light and be Veronica to people who are suffering?
Where are the “least of these” in your circle of influence?
Who is un- or under-represented?
Where have you been silent or sat in the safety of the lukewarm?
What small, possible step can you take today in bold compassion?
As we have learned from the saints who came before us, that small step in bold compassion can be a seed, contributed to the harvest that we read about in Galatians 6:9. Nothing is ever too small or insignificant when it is lived out with great love.
This week, we are invited into solidarity with Jesus Christ through his passion and death on Good Friday. But every day, we are invited into the lives of the people around us. We are invited into their suffering and into their triumphs.
It can be taxing to us spiritually and emotionally, boldly standing with our neighbors, especially those who are seen as small and insignificant, or worth less, to the world. But remember St. Paul’s words: Let us not grow tired of doing good! In due season, the bold compassion we learn from Veronica will reap a great harvest — if we do not give up!
Let us pray together over the meditation of Veronica in the Sixth Station of the Cross:
Lord, grant us restless hearts, hearts which seek your face. Keep us from the blindness of heart which sees only the surface of things. Give us the simplicity and purity which allow us to recognize your presence in the world. When we are not able to accomplish great things, grant us the courage which is born of humility and goodness. Impress your face on our hearts. May we encounter you along the way and show your image to the world.
Mindy Edgington is a fiery, Midwestern Catholic convert from St. Louis, Missouri. She currently lives in Omaha, NE with her husband and their hound dog while he pursues law school at Creighton University. By day, Mindy works as a senior security engineer in third party risk management for a Fortune 300 health care system. She also regularly volunteers with the Catholic Charities Immigration Office in town. Her hobbies include: "strong drinks and hard conversations,” writing, hiking, and reading in her local coffee shops and bars (in typical extrovert fashion). You can follow her on Instagram @mindy.edgington.