"On the following day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said, 'Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'"
John 1:29
"Without a doubt, at the center of the New Testament there stands the Cross, which receives its interpretation from the Resurrection."
Hans Urs von Balthasar
"Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: 'This child is destined for the fall and rise of many, and to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the secret thoughts of men will be revealed. And a sword of sorrow shall pierce your heart.'"
Luke 2:34-35
"Those among the rich who are not, in the rigorous sense, damned, can understand poverty, because they are poor themselves, after a fashion; but they cannot understand destitution. Capable of giving alms, perhaps, but incapable of stripping themselves bare, they will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them. They want it all out of gold, bathed in light, costly and of little weight; pleasant to see, hanging from a woman’s beautiful throat."
Léon Bloy
"Let us feel what we really are- sinners attempting great things. Let us simply obey God’s will, whatever may come. He can turn all things to our eternal good. Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.
May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”
John Henry Newman
I am reminded of a Palm Sunday, many years ago, in the shadow of the Matterhorn in Zermatt.
We had taken a weekend trip from Geneva with some friends, stopping at Interlaken and Lucerne and the mountaintop, Schilthorn, arriving late on a Saturday night in Zermatt by the cog railway.
It was snowing from a low and heavy cloud cover. Everything was closed in. There were no cars in town, just horse drawn sleighs with bells on. There were the sounds of German drinking songs from the influx of weekend skiers.
We had no reservations but found a room on the top floor in a modest place called the Hotel Alpina.
The next morning was very clear and crisp, very cold and still. The sun was rising, lighting up the peak of the mountain while we were deep in shadows.
We were wakened by church bells, and looking out the window we saw people leaving a little stone church carrying pine boughs in their hands in lieu of palm branches.
Stocks rallied today for the end of quarter.
The Dollar rallied and gold fell a bit. It is at some fairly familiar resistance.
Silver pushed higher in sympathy with equities as it is often wont to do.
VIX fell again.
Let's see what next week brings.
Have a pleasant weekend.
