Stations of the Cross - Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

During Holy Week this week, we will be featuring reflections by our South House Volunteers centered around the Stations of the Cross, which commemorates the Passion of Jesus.


Today, for Holy Thursday, we share a reflection by Kalli Vaughan on the Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.


To start this station I want you to briefly call to mind a painful or terrible situation that you have experienced. We often do not want to think about these situations, but instead we fight to repress these awful memories. Now think is there someone who helped you out of this pain? Someone who is always there for you during these rough times? Or is there some help you wish you would have had?

Jesus provides us the best example of how to be a friend and comfort, even to the point of sacrificing his own life. As we hear in the fifth station, Simon of Cyrene also provides a fantastic way to be a friend, literally shouldering a crushing burden for a stranger. However, Veronica?? What does Veronica really do? She sees Jesus covered in blood, completely ravaged by the blows of the soldiers’ whips, exhausted from carrying a very heavy tree, and crushed by the impending death he knew he would suffer in a matter of minutes and Veronica wipes his face? To me this seems a little like offering a band-aid for a gushing wound. What difference does it really make? Why are we talking about Veronica some 2,000 odd years later when all she really did was take away some blood that would just return in a matter of seconds?

The story that goes unheard of, is who is Veronica actually, and why despite not being in the bible does she have such a prime place in the Paschal mystery? Well tradition has it that Veronica is actually Sheraphia, a woman who was married to a very powerful Jewish Man and as a result could only follow Jesus in secret. Thus as she stood amongst the crowd that followed Jesus on the way of the cross, she had a difficult choice, join the rest of the people and do nothing, or step outside of herself and do something. By performing this very simple gesture of offering her veil, she risked her marriage, her status, and perhaps even her life.


While we have the advantage of history and we know just how much this simple act meant, my question is, Do you think Veronica thought that she actually made a difference? My guess is that as a believer, she wept as she watched Jesus die on the cross and struggled greatly with the feeling that she could have done more, that she was not enough. Although I have always appreciated the Stations of the Cross and found great resonance with them, this station really never meant anything to me, maybe because deep inside I always had this attitude. However, in the light of my past two years of service, it seems to be speaking to me in brand new ways, perhaps because I am constantly wondering, does any of this even matter? I seem to be constantly failing, why can’t I ever be good enough, why amidst all of this suffering can I only offer a towel and not actually ever stop the bleeding?

For the past two years I have worked at Seton Academy, a high school that seems to perfectly embody what Amate is all about. Through my work there, I have experienced firsthand the love of Christ, but also have been frustrated to the point of tears, especially in this, my second year. I have tried to give my whole self to the students; doing anything I can to help them. Clearly in my imperfections, this is never enough. Despite hours of tutoring, they still fail their tests and classes. Despite providing extra care and hours of conversation, many still struggle with rough home lives, and despite trying to be understanding and patient, many will never respect me. As I close my two years at Seton, I often wonder, have I actually done anything? Does any of my time make any difference at all?

Those are the dark moments, the moments where I lose sight of the resurrection and only focus on the way of the cross, not the joy of Easter. For as frustrating as work has been, it has been as equally rewarding. Just as Veronica was left with a lasting imprint of the face of Jesus on her veil, I will leave Seton with an imprint of the face of Jesus on my heart. This face of Jesus is not one made of blood, but a collage of all of the students’ smiles. See, what I will leave Seton with is not the bitterness surrounding the first part of this reflection, but the hundreds of joy-filled moments that warm my heart just thinking of them. It will also be knowing that while I may have failed more times than I succeeded, at least  I did something, and isn’t that what Amate is all about, letting God use us despite our human weaknesses to offer that veil, to offer that ounce of compassion, to make love a verb?

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a few questions to ponder as we continue our walk of faith, first who is your Veronica? Who is that wonderful person who often goes unnoticed and is unheralded to the point that she may even be nameless, but is there when you are at your lowest of lows to offer her own veil? Or more importantly, who is God calling you to be a Veronica to? Is there something, no matter how small, you can do to brighten someone’s day? Maybe like me its holding the door open or offering a kind smile. Who knows, like Veronica or me, you may just see the face of Jesus.