Simon helps carry the cross… Jesus reminded his disciples that everyone must carry their own cross. But now he realizes that he can no longer bear his own. He needs help.
Western culture promotes the ideal of a self-sufficient person who does not need anyone else. We are supposed to stand on our own two feet. Needing other people, especially strangers – Simon was from Cyrene in North Africa – is seen as demeaning. In Jesus, we see a God who needs us: he needs to drink from the Samaritan woman at the well, he needs help carrying his own cross.
(Timothy Radcliffe OP /*1945/, The Way of the Cross for Believers and Nonbelievers, 5th Station)
