By Phillip Clark
The Nazarene sighs
And breathes his last
Crushed
Not by iniquity
But injustice
Imposed by church and state
Has his suffering truly ceased?
Even if finalized by time
Is redemption a one time gift?
Or do we sense it
Undulating
Through history?
Anguished pleas still ring outside Jerusalem
Facing death in homes
Branded as crosses
Imperial bombs replace
Nail, thorn, and lance
As Gaza’s dolorous wail
Before God and the world remains:
“Why have you forsaken me?”
Related Off-site Links:
The Situation in Gaza Is No Longer a War, But an Unrestrained Assault on Civilians – Jack Khoury (Haaretz, April 18, 2025).
“One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”: Omar El Akkad on Gaza and Western Complicity – Democracy Now (April 17, 2025).
Author Omar El Akkad on the West’s Moral Failure in Gaza and the Power of Resistance – Democracy Now (April 17, 2025).
This Passover, We Must Reckon With Israel’s Massacre of Children in Gaza – Brant Rosen (Truthout, April 9, 2025).
UN Chief Says Israel Has Made Gaza Into “a Killing Field” – Sharon Zhang (Truthout, April 9, 2025).
For The Wild Reed’s 2024 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Joyce Rupp’s book Jesus, Companion in My Suffering: Reflections for the Lenten Journey), see:
• Recognizing the Truth
• Powerless
• Feeling Abandoned
• Joy Beyond Suffering
For The Wild Reed’s 2023 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Marianne Williamson’s book, The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for a Radically New Life), see:
• From Spiritual Death to Rebirth
• A Vortex of the Miraculous
• Tomb Time
• He Is Risen, and So Are You
The Wild Reed’s 2022 Holy Week posts:
• “The Most Authentic Statement of Created Life”
• Good Friday Reflections
• “This Spring, May We Renew the World”
• Easter for Mystics
The Wild Reed’s 2021 Holy Week post:
• The Final Say
The Wild Reed’s 2020 Holy Week posts:
• Holy Week, 2020
• God’s Good Gift
The Wild Reed’s 2019 Holy Week post:
• In This In-Between Time . . . of Both Loss and Promise
• The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism (Part 1)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 2)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 3)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 4)
For The Wild Reed’s 2017 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from a 1999 interview with scholar and teacher Andrew Harvey, accompanied by images that depict Jesus as the embodiment of the Cosmic Christ), see:
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 1)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 2)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 3)
For The Wild Reed’s 2016 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Richard Horsley’s 1993 book Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, accompanied by images of Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus in the 2015 NBC mini-series A.D.: The Bible Continues), see:
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 1)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 2)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 3)
• The Two Entwined Events of the Easter Experience
• Resurrection in an Emerging Universe
• Resurrection: A New Depth of Consciousness
For The Wild Reed’s 2014 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from John Neafsey’s book A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience), see:
• “To Die and So to Grow”
• The Way of the Wounded Warrior
• Suffering and Redemption
• A God With Whom It is Possible to Connect
• A Discerning Balance Between Holiness and Wholeness: A Hallmark of the Resurrected Life
For The Wild Reed’s 2013 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of Jesus that some might call "unconventional"), see:
• Jesus: The Upside-down Messiah
• Jesus: Mystic and Prophet
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
• Within the Mystery, a Strange and Empty State of Suspension
• Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness
For The Wild Reed’s 2012 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Cynthia Bourgeault’s book The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ and His Message), see:
• The Passion: “A Sacred Path of Liberation”
• Beyond Anger and Guilt
• Judas and Peter
• No Deeper Darkness
• When Love Entered Hell
• The Resurrected Jesus . . .
For The Wild Reed’s 2011 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of various cinematic depictions of Jesus), see:
• “Who Is This Man?”
• A Uniquely Liberated Man
• An Expression of Human Solidarity
• No Other Way
• Two Betrayals
• And What of Resurrection?
• Jesus: The Breakthrough in the History of Humanity
• To Believe in Jesus
• Jesus: Path-Blazer of Radical Transformation
• The Essential Christ
• One Symbolic Iconoclastic Act
• One Overwhelming Fire of Love
• The Most Dangerous Kind of Rebel
• Resurrection: Beyond Words, Dogmas and All Possible Theological Formulations
• The Cosmic Christ: Brother, Lover, Friend, Divine and Tender Guide
• The Passion of Christ (Part 1) – Jesus Enters the City
• The Passion of Christ (Part 2) – Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers
• The Passion of Christ (Part 3) – Last Supper
• The Passion of Christ (Part 4) – Jesus Prays Alone
• The Passion of Christ (Part 5) – Jesus Before the People
• The Passion of Christ (Part 6) – Jesus Before the Soldiers
• The Passion of Christ (Part 7) – Jesus Goes to His Execution
• The Passion of Christ (Part 8) – Jesus is Nailed the Cross
• The Passion of Christ (Part 9) – Jesus Dies
• The Passion of Christ (Part 10) – Jesus Among the Dead
• The Passion of Christ (Part 11) – Jesus Appears to Mary
• The Passion of Christ (Part 12) – Jesus Appears to His Friends
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