Simon of Cyrene

From We Were There

By Sarah A. O'Malley and Robert D. Elmer

SIMON:  For years I had dreamed of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for a Passover Celebration. I had saved my money to make the journey across the sea from North Africa. When I arrived in Jerusalem, my eyes feasted on the golden splendor of the temple. Then my wife and sons, Rufus and Alexander, went to the market to buy food while I became a pilgrim, walking the crowded streets. I stopped to observe a pitiful procession of a criminal carrying his cross. Suddenly, before I realized what was happening, a Roman centurion seized me by the arm and forced me to carry this criminal's cross. I was bitter and angry. Under my breath, I cursed my rotten luck---wrong place at the wrong time. All this way from Cyrene for what? This humiliation! Why did this happen to me, Simon, a poor farmer?

Then I saw the face of the man I was helping. He nodded as if to thank me. I will never forget that look! Suddenly the cross grew lighter and my heart became lighter, too. Later, when my family and I were baptized as Christians, I had a golden memory: I had helped Jesus bear his cross!!!

As it turned out, it wasn't bad luck; it was God's blessing in disguise. My life was changed on the day I lifted his cross.

What about you? Were you in that crowd that day?