The Passion
Visio divina is a form of divine seeing in which we prayerfully invite God to speak to our hearts as we look at an image.
As you gaze at this image, I will offer some questions for silent reflection, some of which may speak to you, while others you may choose to ignore. At the end of the meditation, I will invite you to write in your journal about your experience.
In stations 10, 11, 12, notice how the red increases in and around Jesus as his divinity and royalty (blue/purple) is stripped away. The Roman soldiers also wear red, which was their uniform. Might they also have felt some kind of inner turmoil at this execution? Notice how the neutrals have gotten darker in all 3 stations.
Jesus reaches toward us one last time in station 11 and he looks right at us. But he is held down, he cannot reach any further. Will we move toward him in this frightening stage?
In station 12, Jesus dies. The white and blue areas have receded to the top and bottom, almost out of the scene. The last few drops of blood appear at his wounds, but he is losing color. His body folds forward, lifeless… but also mimics a bird in flight as his soul leaves.
Please take a moment to journal your experience.