Bishop William Giaquinta
Surrounded by darkness,
The Lord’s frail, dying body
Was throbbing with pain.
He emitted a feeble sigh and moaned:
“Lord, my Father,
Why have you abandoned me?”
An invisible ray of light
Pierced the darkness
and rested on the Heart of Christ:
The response of love from the Father.
On the face of the Lord
A smile radiated
As life stirred with his memories
Of the children he had caressed and
who, in their innocence gazed on him,
the smiling Christ,
with their mothers nearby
lost in reverie . . .
Of the sick who received
not only health but the gift of his smile . . .
Of the adulterous woman who was saved
by the smile of Christ . . .
Of his mother smiling at him,
his smile to her . . .
And there Mary was, standing by him.
He slowly turned and,
Smiling through his pain,
Murmured:
“Mother, behold your son;”
And to John:
“Behold your mother.”
Then his face
Became radiant with eternity.
He uttered a loud cry,
Throngs surrounded him:
He breathed on them the Spirit of love.
He smiled again . . .
Then he bowed his head.
It was finished.
Let us pray.
To be able to smile always,
in joy and in pain,
to friends and to foes,
to the indifferent,
is the grace that we ask of you,
Smiling Lord of Calvary,
through the intercession
of your Mother, our Smiling Mother. Amen.
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