Mystical Suffering

Of the many ways I could describe the events of this day those thousands of years ago, I choose to call it mystical suffering.  I do not believe we were created to suffer, but bad choices made by good men make it so. For that reason, Jesus showed us how to suffer, for even as his agony ended, he gladly commended his spirit to the God who created everything.  Hence, through his example, we are given the strength to suffer those things we must suffer regardless of the magnitude of suffering.

Joseph Mary Plunkett

Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish nationalist, poet, journalist, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, an armed, Irish insurrection during East Week in 1916.  His aide de camp was Michael Collins, portrayed in the 1996 film by the great Irish actor Liam Neeson.  One month after the uprising, Plunkett was executed on May 5, 1916.  He was 28-years old.

The Poem

Earlier that year, Joseph Mary Plunkett wrote a poem I have read every Holy Week since discovering it in 2012.  I share it with you today on this Good Friday in 2018…

I See His Blood Upon the Rose

by Joseph Mary Plunkett

I see his blood upon the rose And in the stars the glory of his eyes, His body gleams amid eternal snows, His tears fall from the skies. I see his face in every flower; The thunder and the singing of the birds Are but his voice-and carven by his power Rocks are his written words. All pathways by his feet are worn, His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea, His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, His cross is every tree.