"We adore you O Christ and we praise you...because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world."
There probably isn't a Catholic, present or former, who doesn't recognize those words. One of the most common Lenten devotions is to "walk" the Stations of the Cross--to follow along the path of Jesus on the route to Cavalry, stopping to pray before pictures or statues depicting various moments in that journey. I suspect many of us associate the stations with elderly women clutching their rosaries--a little out of date and a lot irrelevant. But join me over the fold to pray a different way.
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
In the great judgment scene in Matthew's gospel, Jesus welcomes into the kingdom those who have fed him when he was hungry, given him shelter when he was homeless, visited him in prison--and the people say "when, Lord, did we do those things?" And of course Jesus' response is that whenever you do something for another person, you are doing it for Christ--clearly the message we are to take from this is that Jesus is in all those homeless, hungry people; Christ is one with them, and our challenge always is to treat each human being as if they were Jesus. Real Christianity connects the suffering of all humanity to the suffering of Christ, and seeks to eliminate it all.
And so there's a better way to pray the Stations of the Cross; many peace and justice groups will hold pilgrimages on Good Friday, walking to local jails, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and the like, and praying before each one to raise awareness.
The Jesuit John Dear said recently in the National Catholic Reporter:
Lent is a time to hear Jesus’ call to repent from our participation in systemic injustice and to welcome God’s reign of justice and peace with all our hearts. His call to repentance certainly means turning away from personal sin back toward his grace, but it also includes turning away from social, national, global institutionalized sin.
Jesus wants us to reject the systemic injustice that kills millions around the planet. He wants us to change our lives, to start down a whole new path of love, service, nonviolence, and peace.
Our Gospel calls us to renew ourselves, to serve those in need, to do what we can to relieve human suffering, to stand with those in pain, and to join Jesus’ grassroots, nonviolent campaign to resist systemic injustice.
It teaches the bottom line truth that every human life is equally valuable, that we should not support sociopathic systems that allow “collateral damage” or mass starvation or relievable disease or nuclear destruction.
So let us pray the Stations today:
Jesus is condemned to death. Let us pray today for all those condemned to death by a lack of health insurance, or a lack of clean water and food.
Jesus is given his cross. Let us pray for all those who shoulder their crosses every day, working too many hours for too little money, struggling to feed families and care for aging parents, for those in Japan struggling to rebuild their lives, for those in Libya, Syria and Bahrain struggling to create a better life.
Jesus falls the first time. Let us pray for those struggling with addictions, who try hard not to fall.
Jesus meets His Mother. Let us pray for families who have been torn apart by war, by natural disasters, by unfair immigration policies.
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross. Let us pray for the workers in Fukushima, who have put their own lives at risk in the attempt to stop a nuclear disaster; for all those who go into countries torn by war or natural disaster and offer help.
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Let us pray for all those who care for the sick and the elderly.
Jesus falls the second time. Let us pray for all those balanced on the knife edge of poverty, for whom a fall means a spiral into homelessness and hunger; for the unemployed and the underemployed.
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. Let us pray for all women of the world who are denied their full humanity and their rights; who are subject to violence and sexual abuse; who are prevented from living their lives in peace.
Jesus falls the third time. Let us pray for all those with chronic illnesses, who fall again and again and again.
Jesus is stripped of His garments. Let us pray for all those who are victims of torture.
Jesus is nailed to the cross. Let us pray for all those who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation, their race, their religion, their way of life.
Jesus dies on the cross. Let us pray for all those who are victims of violence, who have died in war, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who have suffered at the hands of the powerful.
Jesus is taken down from the cross. Let us pray for those who have no one to love and care for them.
Jesus is laid in the tomb. Let us pray for all those whose dreams have died; for those suffering from depression; for those who have no hope for the future.
Peace.
If you're interested in peace and justice-oriented stations, here are some links:
http://www.olgp.net/...
http://www.foodforthepoor.org/...
http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/...
http://stationsofcross.blogspot.com/