The Climb to Calvary

December 26, 1955

Dear Diary,

Before we got out of the pickup, Sister explained Father’s homily. Robert listened too, and we sat in the warmth for a little while, thinking it over. Father had spoken about Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament as the victim of expiation for our sins, but I had found it hard to understand how the sacrifice of the Mass was the same as Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary.

Sister reminded me of a picture in my scrapbook—the one of the two women in the Swiss mountains, kneeling before a little crucifix shrine. “Think about how they climbed all the way up there just to kneel and pray before the Cross,” she said. “It looks like it was a hard journey, but they made it because they knew what was waiting for them at the top.”

She told me that coming to Mass is like climbing a mountain too—not with our feet, but with our hearts. “At every Mass, we are truly at the foot of the Cross, just like those women,” she explained. “The priest leads us there, offering the Holy Sacrifice, and Jesus, our High Priest, offers Himself completely, just as He did on Calvary. But instead of being a painful, bloody sacrifice, He gives Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist, praying for us and loving us.”

When Sister finished, we got out and gave Robert a little wave as he drove off.

That evening, I got out my scrapbook and turned to the picture Sister had talked about. I studied it closely, tracing the outlines of the two women kneeling on the rocky path. The mountains rose high around them, vast and silent, as if protecting their prayer. I imagined the chill in the air, the strain in their legs after the climb, and the quiet whisper of the wind as they gazed up at the little crucifix shrine.

For a moment, I felt like I was almost there too—kneeling beside them, looking up at the Cross, feeling the weight of the climb but also the peace of having reached the top. Just like Sister had said, Mass is a climb too, and Jesus is always waiting for us at the summit.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for today and for helping me understand more about Your great love. Help me to remember that every Mass is a chance to be close to You and to offer my heart along with Yours. Please bless Sister, Robert, and Mini. Amen.