Thursday, the Second Week of Lent

   The Stations of the Cross has been a tradition in the Catholic Church since the early days of the Church and is also practiced in some Protestant denominations.  It is intended as a meditation on Jesus’ last walk on earth; from Pilate’s house to Calgary.

   Beginning tomorrow and continuing each day except Sundays we will be using this tradition to add to the depth of our Lenten experience.  There are fourteen stations, each recalling an event on Christ’s way along the Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way).

 

   To truly engage in this meditation it is necessary to consider the events surrounding Jesus’ path to Calgary as they are presented in Scripture.  I would encourage you to use your Bible to follow this path and all it entails.  One way I’ve found to help deepen my experience of Scripture is to place myself in the passage.  Perhaps as an on-looker or even as a participant.  The Scriptural references I use are from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition

   Let’s open our meditation with the opening prayer for the Stations of the Cross offered by Pope St. John Paul II on Good Friday of 2000.

Lord Jesus Christ, 
fill our hearts with the light of your Spirit, 
so that by following you on your final journey 
we may come to know the price of our Redemption 
and become worthy of a share 
in the fruits of your Passion, Death and Resurrection. 
You who live and reign for ever and ever.

Amen

   Join me as we walk alongside Jesus as He makes His way from the home of Pilate to His Crucifixion and death at Golgotha.