The images of the Stations are from the garden area outside the Mausoleum at San Xavier Mission. After my crucifixion, my disciples waited and watched in silence. You are making yourself like me on my cross. Some were closer to me then than they were ever before. Christ’s words to his disciples are just as true for us as they were for them: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”. If you thought about your death, you could see more clearly that some of the things you are most obsessed with are the least important. Why wait until death or desperation to “meet” your loved ones? All rights reserved. As it was, in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. I borrowed a donkey to ride on when I came into Jerusalem. I was underestimating her and losing sight of my Father’s grace. Why these nails in my hands?”…. Tucked behind the Portiuncula Chapel and the Crèche, a wooden staircase leads down to Franciscan University’s outdoor Stations of the Cross. ... Franciscans for Justice is a joint project of the O.F.M. Throughout the year, the Stations of the Cross allow today’s pilgrims to engage in a Franciscan devotion that engages the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—as they walk along the path and meditate on the way of Calvary. Franciscan University of Steubenville is no ordinary university, and a Franciscan education is no ordinary education. The soldiers were impatient with how long it was taking Jesus to carry the heavy Cross alone. And this time I had to be helped up. Or to take on goals that, however worthy in theory, may not be right for you or may be undertaken for inferior reasons. “What good am I to anyone?” you may wonder as others pick you up. I borrowed bread and wine to make my body move and my blood flow in history. How pleased would Jesus have been, had Simon offered his services of his own accord. You may never know until after your death. All is silent…. If you have died daily to yourself, the stripping of your humanity at death will not hurt so much. This fall shows me up for being human as nothing else on my way to Calvary. If you look only at their pain, you may wonder what they have to complain about. I embraced my humanity. Eventbrite - Franciscan Chapel Center presents Franciscan Chapel Center Stations of the Cross - Friday, March 26, 2021 at Franciscan Chapel Center, Minato City, Tōkyō-to. Yet clothes are a part of your outer self, and a symbol of that outer, superficial self rather than your spirit. Why did I fall? It was the agony that welled up at the thought of what was happening. As followers of Christ left the tomb and went home to observe the Sabbath, they mourned, but waited in hope. Faith and hope are opposite sides of doubt and despair. Was I trying to hide this final agony from her, thinking she might not be strong enough for it? Six Stations of the Cross are linked to current issues such as the death penalty and environmental issues such as hydraulic fracturing. Amen. Should I curse this heavy timber and those who laid it on me? Even in death I had no place to call my own here on earth. You may someday fall for a third time and have no strength to get up. Lord, grant me grace and humility of heart in the face of difficulties, When I was stripped of all of my robes, it hurt because some of them were plastered to my body with caked blood. He is not allowed to rest, but instead is hit and pushed, compelled to continue on. The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies Upon the Cross. But pain was not the issue. I wanted to stay on my feet all the way to Calvary. if you don't have a laminating machine you can just pick up some sheets like this at your local store, or here on amazon. You cannot have the knowledge I have. …. Learn this from Simon’s plight. On this path that led to your death, I recognize the loving mercy that compelled you to suffer for me and for all humankind. Lord, it is with sadness and contrition for my sins that I walk with you on this road to Calvary. but deliver us from evil. Why should my burial be any different? Download a reflection on the Stations of the Cross to pray as you walk through the display at the RECongress. Veronica had soothed my sweaty face. I wonder if I fell partly because I was trying too hard to keep from falling…. The question is not whether life brings crosses, but rather your response to them. I was always borrowing things, from the very beginning of my incarnation. Franciscan Friars of the Atonement is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. In all you undertake, go first to him in prayer and ask what he wants. I borrowed thorns, wood and nails to redeem the universe. Kindness is catching. Both good and bad are fleeting. …you decide what you want and then you say to yourself: I am going to achieve this goal, and when I succeed, even God will have to be impressed! Pain is the blind impersonal clashing of forces that is universal. Suffering springs from a mind capable of turning raw pain into agony by asking why. But you can become like me in the love and gracious acceptance you show precisely when you are at your weakest and most helpless. I didn’t own my own burial plot…. I think I was lulled into a momentary lapse. Lord, grant us the desire to help those who need our assistance. JERUSALEM — The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land launched a virtual Way of the Cross project for pilgrims during Lent because the Holy Land is … You are transforming the very fiber of life. Mark, is a way to view the Stations of the Cross through the lens of Justice. Your crosses are much the same. Franciscans of the Holy Land offer virtual Way of the cross. Each station consists of a single piece - a meditation/prayer in the first person in words appropriate to children. The more you cling to your superficial self, the more you wrap layers of clothing around you that will one day need to be stripped off. Later, Thomas the Apostle would doubt that Christ had truly Risen and Christ showed Thomas his wounds. “I’ve had much worse,” you may say. These things won’t help you when your time to die comes. The more you do to improve yourself, the Church and the world, the better. Often life seems downright arbitrary. That is why you must never underestimate the degree of suffering of any of your brothers or sisters. After a painful journey, Christ finally arrives at the foot of Mount Calvary, only to fall once again. Used by permission. St. Francis of Assisi National Shrine: Stations of the Cross The 15th station sits at the top of the hill, completing the walk. No matter how often you open yourself to them, especially in crises, it won’t be easy. How incredible it is that he chose to take on the burden of that Cross of how much he wants us to join Him one day in heaven. Simon Of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross, Our Lady of the Atonement House of Discernment, Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, Ecumenical & Interreligious Ministry Blog. Despite the anguish she felt, she did not try to stop her Son from making the ultimate sacrifice. I borrowed Peter’s boat to preach from. When these pious women, moved out of love for their Lord, met Jesus on his path to Calvary, they wept. INTRODUCTION Mark 15: 21, Mark 8: 34, 2 Timothy 2: 3. My body was laid in somebody else’s tomb. You do not need successes to get my Father’s attention. Your death will be the end of your ego, and all other empires you have been building during your lifetime. Lord, give me the grace and the strength to love you more than any earthly thing or person. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, I have no regrets about this fall. How can I do that? You also will be startled by crosses thrust upon you when you least expect them. These things don’t make you precious. I forgot for an instant to let my Father work through me, to let him guide my next step. No one sustained more pain than I. Fifth Station Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee. Do not count on good times in this life. My strength was gone. You, too, cannot expect to be gentle in a crisis unless you have practiced gentleness so often that it starts to become almost natural. Our Lord is with thee. Resisting crosses leads to self-hatred, hatred of others, and bitterness. Divided between two levels of the path, the 14 stations each depict the Holy Mother as part of the medium relief scene. You must not spend your life looking for “reasons” for your crosses. Amen. What was your reaction? Even though he is crushed for a third time by the weight of the Cross, His love for us remains. Give us this day our daily bread, This program invites participants to walk with Jesus in the Scriptural Stations of the Cross, to suffer with Him, and to stand with his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross. But if you bear your weakness with love, you are doing wonders for yourself, as well as the whole of creation. Her life is a testament to each one of us who would pursue the Christian life. Simon the Cyrenean Helps Jesus Carry His Cross. “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”, The noise has stopped. R. Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world. You will be my tongue and my throat, parched. Help me to respond to your love through an increase in my own faith, hope, and love. That becomes like quicksand pulling you down lower and lower. Remember that these women were engaged in a kind of formal religious practice of mourning and lamenting for the dead or condemned. Could I have lived and died as a man without experiencing despair and doubt? by James E. Adams Franciscan Friars of the St. Barbara Province and the Our Lady of Guadalupe Province. He is an envoy of my Father and the voice of my human destiny…. I detest religious routines when they become a way to avoid your deep personal commitment to me and my Father. They were weeping for the sake of weeping. Only you in the depths of your freedom can do that. We too wait with hopeful expectation for Christ’s Resurrection and the many gifts He bestows upon our lives. I was despairing, even if I didn’t stay in despair for very long. You don’t know how sensitive they are, how quickly their pain can become insufferable agony. When we are faced with the choice to either sin or to strive for virtue, we can remember how Christ is weighed down with each and every time we reject him in favor of our own will and desires. You want to be kind, patient, and understanding, but at times you find yourself mean, short-tempered and cynical. These reflections are available for your personal use with copyright permission from Creative Communications for the Parish. If someone tells you that faith and hope will keep you from experiencing doubt and despair, do not listen to them. Do we join in out of pride or ignorance? Jesus, the Son of God, falls again under the weight of our sins. I want you to know and learn to live the truth symbolized by the ripping off of my clothes. I did not want to fall and I did not want to stand. I just fell. You have fatal flaws that cause pain and suffering for yourself and others. You also must carry the instruments of your own suffering and death. In this earthly life, you cannot become like me in many things. Descending beneath the trees and walking on the hillside dirt path, the sound of light traffic on the road below doesn’t distract those meditating on the large bronze images that came from Italy in the spring of 1991. You will be my head, thorned, You will be my side, lanced. Several of the stations arise from long-held traditions among the Christians of the Holy Land, but they are not necessarily Scriptural. So you should regard every opportunity for kindness as an act that may well last an eternity. and lead us not into temptation, You want them to see you at your best, just as I wanted my mother to see me only at my best. Some woods are stronger than steel because they bend. HOME. Our Father, Who art in heaven Simon Helps Carry the Cross. In other words, Jesus prompts us to express contrition for our sins, for the times we have hurt our relationship with Him. Try to learn my Father’s will for you. The crucifixes are from inside of the San Xavier Mission Church. But it didn’t hurt my ego. I know about that. Find event and ticket information. Each Station is read by a Franciscan Sister at San Xavier Mission. You must learn, as Simon learned, that life is not just or fair – and not even predictable. V: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land launched a virtual Way of the Cross project for pilgrims during Lent because the Holy Land is not accessible for a second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic.. Without hesitation, Veronica lovingly uses her own veil to wipe Christ’s bloodied face. I said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” …. Out of love for God and for each other, we too have the opportunity to sacrifice and to give of ourselves. You can learn something from my fall. Not one of them had the energy left to be with me. I wished that she and I could have been spared that meeting, which was painful. * I … In the end, this will fail, because your death has a way of exposing your weakness to your loved ones as nothing in life could. The cross is neither bad nor good. I was not condemning these women for their public display, but I spoke harshly to them because I wanted them to be more aware of what they were doing. At each of the fourteen stations we prayerfully memorialize and visualize the journey of Christ to the Cross. Count on nothing except the gifts of faith and hope from my Father. How willing are we to sacrifice for those that we love? Do we stand silently by without defending the innocent? The devotion itself largely goes back to St. Francis, while the prayers and meditations contained here were written in the 16th century and have been used by Franciscans when preaching missions. Before I even recognized that as a temptation, I fell. Today, you’ll find Stations of the Cross in almost every Catholic Church, particularly prayed on Lenten Fridays, but available throughout the year for meditation and reflection. tations f the Cross (continued) The Stations of the Cross are a traditional devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth as a man. Some spend a lifetime shielding their deepest selves from their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Don’t let that lead to despair; it does not mean you are less than human. Indeed, when religious practices are carried out mindlessly, they aren’t helpful. Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother visited daily the scenes of our Lord's passion. When you know for whom you weep, then come to Calvary’s road. My Father wants you, not your successes. Then, when you go to work, open your heart to him and let him work in and through you. He was a farmhand coming in from the fields when he was made to carry my cross. I am grateful to Veronica for wiping the blood, sweat and dirt from my eyes. Do I have to die to get you to listen and love in silence? Think of that when you catch yourself saying you’re too busy to help others. I smiled; the only time I remember smiling on my way to crucifixion. The Stations of the Cross According to the Method of Saint Francis of Assisi: +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Be careful not to condemn Simon. Sometimes, silence and solitude is the best religious practice. When Christ arrived at Calvary, all of his garments were torn away. He suffered in silence as huge nails were pounded into his hands and feet. “Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23: 46). Pilate told me when and how I would die. They say nothing. Mary and a few of my faithful disciples take me down from the cross. I didn’t want her to see me so helpless. He used Simon, so Simon could be said to have done the will of my Father. Amen. You cannot have the power I have. SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER (OFS) ORDO FRANCISCANUS SÆCULARIS. He had no way of preparing for what happened. So what you would be holding up as yours is really his already. Isn’t this how it often happens in life? pray for us sinners, My instrument of suffering and death has been thrust on me. Yet it was not so much that pain I felt. You would have been startled, reluctant and bitter, too, if you had been in his shoes! Kindness is learned. Suffering is uniquely human. Your life must be a journey to reach the same goal — a new you filled with my grace and my peace. Thy will be done, Just as he gives you the grace to face loved ones when all hope seems lost, so he gives them the grace to cope not only with your pain but their own as well. JOURNEY OF DECISION – A Way of the Cross. 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