Good Friday

Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross, from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ
One scene from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ that I will never forget is the one in which Simon of Cyrene is helping Jesus carry His cross. At one point, Simon encourages Jesus, as if to say, "Just a little farther," as they glance up toward Golgotha, their destination and the site of the impending crucifixion. The circumstance is freighted with a most agonizingly poignant irony, which redounds even upon the good work of Simon, which but hastens the inevitable crucifixion of our Lord. Therein, perhaps, we fear at times to find the irony redounding even upon ourselves.