In the Spirit of St. Francis, and as Catholics in a community of many cultures, we live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Strengthened by Word and Sacrament, we welcome all into God’s inclusive love.
Long ago, Christians wanted to walk in the footsteps of Jesus – from the Praetorium where he was judged by Pilate and unjustly condemned by the angry crowd, to Calvary where he was crucified. Since the early years of Christianity, many of the Faithful went on pilgrimages to the faraway Holy Land to walk the Way of the Cross. Eventually, the desire to participate in this devotion was transformed into the more accessible ‘Stations of the Cross’ at our own local parish churches. Praying the ‘Stations of the Cross’ has been a practice highly encouraged by Franciscans for centuries. To prayerfully walk the Way of the Cross and to contemplate Christ’s passion, especially as a community, is to open our hearts to be transformed by the experience.
As we experience the Stations of the Cross this Lent, especially in a year when so many have felt so much suffering and grief, let us open our hearts to conversion. Let us ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive the sins of others. Through our contemplation of the passion of Christ through the Stations, let us also hunger to experience the immeasurable love of Christ for us through the Sacraments, especially in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Let us ask God, that like Francis, we look upon the Crucified Christ – and see God’s immense love.