THE CROSS IS OUR CROSS

 

On every Friday evening during the season of Lent we have the stations of the cross. It is prayer, meditation and prayer over the suffering and death of Jesus. There are many different ways of leading this devotion but it is always meaningful to the participants.

 

Now in the history of how we practice our faith we have always understood that whenever one human being does evil and damage to another human being, the suffering and cross of Jesus happen all over again. This is not in the Scriptures but it has been a strong belief and practice of the Christiin faithful down through the ages.

 

When we pray the Stations of the Cross we are not only reflecting on the historical details of Christ’s sufferings. We are also joining ourselves to the evil and pain that human beings are inflicting on one another this very week. Praying the Stations of the Cross is always a contemporary event.

 

Bring to your prayer/reflection all the little people who suffer in the war in the Ukraine, in Gaza, in the Sudan and in Iran. Those little people get killed, injured, their houses are destroyed and their fields destroyed with land minds. There is always incredible suffering in all wars. The cross of Jesus is located amidst all the bombing, fires and sufferings.

 

Then there are all the people who suffer violence and neglect in our Canadian families. The cross of Jesus is located in our houses where such suffering exists. During the meditation on the Way of the Cross bring all the domestic violence that happens in Canada.

 

We also include all the violence that innocent people suffer through scamming. The people that get robbed and taken advantage of also suffer much. The cross of Jesus is beaten by scammers who take advantage of the innocent and trusting folks.

 

Pray the ‘Stations of the Cross with strong devotion. Allow the sufferings of Jesus to penetrate your soul, your life and your emotions. But also bring the sin and sufferings of others to your prayer. This is not a new suggestion but a recovering of a very ancient spiritual practice from the wisdom of our foremothers and forefathers.