A Beacon Of Light . . . The Stations Of The Cross: Our Journey Begins

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.

(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)

• + + Having begun the Holy Season of Lent, we will begin our reflection series on the Stations of the Cross. As I mentioned in last week’s column, the journey of Christ during the stations is the journey of humanity. Jesus took on our human nature to redeem us. St. Paul put it so well in his Letter to the Romans (5:7-8): You might sacrifice your life for someone who was good or just. Yet, Christ sacrificed His life while we were sinners for our salvation. Fittingly, the moments of His Passion and death are unique moments to use in understanding our own humanity.
  As we make this journey, we should ask ourselves: Are we willing to walk in Jesus’ shoes?
  Have you ever tried to walk in someone’s shoes? Oh, we often look at another person and say we could do what they do but walking in someone else’s shoes is often difficult. We can try, but we really don’t know what another person goes through in life. We don’t know what is happening inside and we don’t know how a person has experienced life.
  There is one person, however, who has walked in all our shoes. Jesus has walked through the depths of humanity. He has experienced every single moment of humanity, except sin, in order that we might be saved. When we encounter others, we only see them as one-sided. We see only what is visibly present on the outside and never know the inside. The Stations of the Cross enable us to see and hear the cry of humanity. We see the pain and agony of human life in the person of Jesus, who shows us pivotal moments of the struggles of humanity.
  To reflect on the first station, we must return to the Garden of Eden. It was in the garden where humanity condemned itself. It was the action of disobedience that was our condemnation. Adam and Eve were instructed by God not to eat from the tree in the center of the garden, for this tree, was of the knowledge of good and evil.
  It was the fallen angel, Lucifer, who used the serpent to trick Adam and Eve into disobeying God. Immediately, the purity and joy of the soul were transformed into fear and doubt. From that moment condemnation entered the world and man was left to endure its effects.
  St. Alphonsus Liguori recognized this in the stations he composed. In the first prayers he says: “It was my sins that condemned you to die.” Jesus died not only for the sins of mankind, but also for those of each one of us as well. Sin is our condemnation. It is sin we struggle with throughout our lives. The cunning of the evil one causes temptation that, like Adam and Eve, we endure. Temptation is all around us! The evil one uses the pinhole in our soul that was forged by original sin, as the access point of our temptations.
  Even today, we see condemnation in action around us. We see this in the battle of human life. Each day millions of innocent babies are condemned to death. Sadly these children have become objects of condemnation, instead of gifts of life to the world.
  In other areas we also experience an attack on the Christian faith. If you denounce the evil of abortion then you are condemned by family, coworkers, and sadly, by even churchgoing so-called Christians. All because the effect of the evil one has crept more and more into society. Jesus experienced the same dichotomy of today’s society during His time.

We All Have A Cross

At the Second Station: “Jesus Accepts His Cross.” Having been rejected and condemned, Jesus willingly accepted the heavy cross and begins the long journey to Golgotha, the place of the skull. Jesus’ cross, however, wasn’t a sign of the burdens of His own life, but rather, a symbol of the burdens of humanity. Laden with the weight of our sins, He accepted humanity’s sinfulness and carried our fault out of love for us. This station invites us to ponder our own cross in life.
Each one of us carries a cross in life. The cross we carry represents some aspect of struggle in our life. It might be a large cross or a small one. It might be splintered or smooth. Whatever the dimensions are, we all have a cross in life.
I remember a story that was once told about a man who was displeased with the cross he was carrying. He decided to go to a shop that sold many different crosses. He arrived and was welcomed by the shopkeeper who instructed the visitor to go through and choose a new cross.
The man shopped through room by room searching high and low for a new cross. Finally, while looking in an obscure place he found the perfect cross. He returned to the front of the store to pay for his new cross. As he approached, the storekeeper was transformed into the Risen Christ. The Lord told the man he had chosen the perfect cross, because it was the same cross that he had brought into the store to get rid of.
Each day I’m reminded of the passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel where it says: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matt. 16:24-26).

Finish The Race

Every day is a struggle under the weight of our cross, but each day draws us closer to finishing the race. The weight we feel might be an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or even lustful temptations. It could be caused by a lack of faith, like that of so many in today’s world. Whatever the weight is, each of us can carry our cross. Just think about the cross Jesus carried. He was carrying the entire weight of humanity! Our crosses are nothing like His! We couldn’t even try to carry such a cross!
By our reflection on the First and Second Stations of the Cross, we see the beginning of the struggles of human life. The First and Second Stations show us how condemnation and acceptance of the cross allow us to see ourselves in a new way. We are not as strong or as indestructible as we make ourselves believe. We are all vulnerable and in need of the Lord in our lives.
Next week we will focus on man’s vulnerability and weakness. As Jesus carried the weight of humanity, He showed how we all stumble under the weight of our cross. Jesus falls three times under the weight of His cross. Each fall represents a struggle we deal with in our lives. Next week we will reflect on how we fall under our own crosses.
This Lent we journey together along the way to Calvary. Over the next few weeks, we will reflect on the Stations of the Cross and experience the struggles of humanity.
May we make a strong amendment to change our lives, so that when the stone is rolled away, we may emerge into the glory of Easter as a new person radiant in the peace of the Risen Lord!