EDITOR’S NOTE: Bishop William Houck was a prolific writer. Even in retirement, he wrote a weekly meditation for Catholic Extension Society which was emailed to thousands of people and posted on the organization’s website. This is his final meditation submitted just a few days before his death.
Throughout this Lenten Season, I have been reflecting on the suffering of Our Lord on the Cross. How unimaginable that pain is for us to comprehend – to be whipped, dragged and forced to carry a heavy beam of solid wood for such a long distance, only to then be nailed to that beam and hoisted skyward. What pain he must have endured during this passion journey. I cannot begin to fathom His suffering and yet as we approach the Sacred Triduum we journey with Him through Sacred Scripture to Good Friday and we are witnesses of his suffering.

Bishop William Houck pictured at the ordination of Bishop Joseph Kopacz Feb. 6, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Joe Ellis, The Clarion-Ledger)

There is an ancient hymn about the cross written by Venantius Fortunatus, a sixth century bishop. The hymn carries the same title as St. Thomas Aquinas’ hymn for the Eucharist – Pange Lingua. Pange Lingua basically means “Speak, Tongue” or better “Sing, My Tongue.” This hymn by Fortunatus has a beautiful line describing the agony of the cross. In Latin the line is: dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. This has been elegantly translated in many ways, but my favorite translation is: “O sweet wood, sweetly sustaining with a nail, the sweet fruit.”
The image of our Lord hanging like fruit with an iron nail sustaining His weight is shocking and gruesome, but it is this very image and moment in time that compel us to reflect on His suffering. During this Jubilee Year of Mercy and these remaining weeks of Lent, let the image of Christ on the Cross guide you to be merciful and compassionate with those around you so that you may better reflect the mercy and love poured out for us on the Cross and the ever-flowing mercy and compassion of God, our Father. In doing this you will not only more prayerfully enter into the sacred mysteries of Holy Week liturgies, but more importantly you will be strong vessels of God’s mercy and love in our very troubled world.
(To read more about Bishop Houck’s impact on Extension and to see a video from one of his talks, visit https://cathext.in/1XfdnrN)