The Way of the Cross

The Station of the Cross is a spiritual devotion and exercise to align ourselves with Christ in his redemptive steps of love for us. What the spirit hopes to achieve, the body can likewise accomplish. With Jesus on his way to the cross, we hope to assume his attitude of generous self-offering to the Father and the gesture of love for all of us.

It is a great help then that in line with the various stations' challenges in our Christian life, we strive to act on the demands of following Christ in our daily life. We read and listened to the Word of God. We reflected on it and situated ourselves into the scene. We talked to the Lord on its impact on us. We felt one with Christ. Now it is most helpful if we set concrete resolutions on carrying our cross and following the Lord daily. The list of questions for reflection and the implied courses of actions below hopes to aid us in concretely taking up our crosses and in helping one another bear them in Christ's name.

First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death

How do I react to people who accuse unjustly against others? What do I do when I am the one accused unjustly? What do I do when I am the one to accuse the other, especially if it needs to be done?
If I am wrong, can I admit my mistakes and ask forgiveness - to the Lord, and to others involved? If I am right, though accused, can I respond humbly and express the truth?
What do I do when I am asked to testify or attest against somebody? How can I exercise brotherly correction, instead of having to accuse unjustly? Do I manipulate others so that I can achieve my ambitious desires? Do I talk to God first before playing the role of the high priests and Pilate?

Second Station: Jesus Takes Up His Cross

What is my attitude on the cross and the crosses in life? Do I understand and appreciate that Jesus suffered on the cross for me? Try meditating on the Cross. Look, gaze and pray before it in silence of words and even of thought.
What are the crosses in my life? Are they persons, material things, my ambition, my personal health? Should things go wrong in my life's plans, how do I take it? Do I move on humbly and in faith?
When crosses of my life get heavier, how do I respond? Do I complain or happily take them? To whom do I express my concern on them? Do you turn to Jesus and talk to him about your situation?

Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time

How did you react when you experienced a physical fall? Hopefully it was not really that devastating or fatal. But what if it was unexpectedly hurtful, what did you do?
Have you ever experienced a major fall or stumble in your life - in your personal life, in your professional life, in your vocation? How did you take it? Who helped you to rise from the fall?
Did you fall because of your weak self and sin? Or did you cause others to fall? What did you do - before and after the fall? Are you still in that fallen state? Who do you think could help you to rise?

Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother

How is your relationship with your mother and father? Do your honor and respect them? Do you love them? If not, why not? How can you show your love for them?
You can pray for your mother and father, be they in their active state or as elderly, as living or dead. Pray also for all parents of the world, especially for their sacrifices and love for their children.
Have you tried a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother who is our Mother too? Do you call upon Her in your own difficulties? Come close to Her and see how She truly loves you, as She loved Jesus to the end.

Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross

Am I sensitive to the needs of others and generous to assist them in my honest capacity? Recall the times you helped somebody in need, and it brought joy to you and to the other.
Recall your experiences that in your own need, someone truly helped you to carry your crosses in life (such as illness, financial debts, being rejected in love, unemployment, physical danger, being abused by an individual or a group, confusion in crisis in one's state of life, or the crisis of faith, etc). How did you respond to the other and to the situation itself?
Pinpoint the instances that you felt God to be most present in helping you carry your crosses (or crises). Express your gratitude to God in intense prayer or in an act of mercy to another.

Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

How do I see the other who is not pleasing to my taste - because of appearances? Beyond the bodily deformities, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies or physical wounds, do I see Jesus in the other?
How courageous am I to come forward to help someone in need? When everybody else despises the other due to wrong impressions, unjust accusations, or unpleasant circumstances, can I stand up for the other in defense? Could I at least refrain from hurling more deadly "stones" against the other just to avoid being teased or alienated by the bullies or the arrogant crowd?
How grateful am I to those who helped me in my life? To whom and for whom should I be grateful for their courage and goodness? When I think bitterly of those who stood up against me, can I pray for them?

Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time

How do I respond to my weaknesses especially when, despite my best efforts, I still fall into sin? How much of prayer and penance do I do to overcome the falls?
Recall the Lord's words to St. Paul: "My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection" (2 Cor 12:9). What is the Lord telling you in this text?
When was the last time you have been to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? When was the last time you received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist (Communion)?

Eighth Station: Jesus Consoles the Women of Jerusalem

How do you respond when someone compliments you? In gratitude and humble acknowledgement? Or in proud and snobbish disregard of the praises being given?
Can you joyfully give compliments to another for the good work or deed? How can you show compassion, as Christ did, for someone in sorrow and pain?
In sickness or sufferings, we tend to desire others' attention and sympathy for us. Instead, in such times, why not think well of others through prayer and kind thoughts, and not bearing grudges for the lack of attention given to you?

Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time

In constant and consistent fall beyond our control, learn to trust more in God and His power. Never despair. Strive to rise again, no matter what. After all, the Lord is there to help us.
Make sure that you are not the active cause for the fall of others. For the occasions of others' fall through your behavior, learn to ask for God's forgiveness, especially those incidents of which effects you are unaware.
By falling, we become more compassionate to others. Before I judge or even make an uncharitable comment on others' fate, I should first understand the situation of the other. Charity and trust help the fallen to rise again.

Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Stripping the other's garments comes in many ways. It is done out of lust or to wield power. There is the obsessive desire to control the other, as in cases of abusive relationship between a man and a woman, between the husband and the wife, between the abuser and the abused.
Insulting somebody through verbal abuse or physical blows, especially on one who is considered a subordinate or inferior, is also a typical form of stripping the other's dignity. Have I insulted someone out of anger or lust for power? How did I respond when I was insulted or abused? Did I look at how Jesus responded when he was stripped of his garments?
Think of the common situations of fatal abuses: the terrorists and their hostages, the robbers and their victims, the police and the prisoners, etc. In an attempt to obtain their immediate objectives, violence and abuse are the commonly resorted to. Often the one who assumes power over the other may easily use violence with fatal results. With abuse as a pattern of behavior and a way of life, one turns into a hardened sinner and criminal. Not even the Christ was spared from this human abuse. Pray for the victims for God's consolation. Pray also for the abusers for conversion to God.

Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Have you ever been badly wounded? In an accident or a fight or an illness? In moments of pain and anguish, have you tried offering these to Christ who has been badly wounded for our sins? St. Paul says, "In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church" (Col 1:24). You can also do the same gift of self-offering for Christ's sake. Your pains are worth a lot before the Lord.
When Jesus was pierced with a lance into his side, blood and water flowed out (Jn 19:34). Blood and water represent the life-giving sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism. When was the last time you received Communion? Why not often partake of Jesus' body in Communion in order to be strengthened in your life in Him? Do you know of someone who has not been baptized? Would you be able to do something to help the concerned to receive God's new life?
It may be helpful to start a devotion to the Lord of Divine Mercy and recite the chaplet in honor of the Lord's sorrowful Passion. You may begin with the three o'clock habit, the time when Christ died on the cross to save us.

Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

The Cross is the symbol of contradiction of the human will (in sin) against Divine will (in love and mercy for us). When I want to accomplish something in my life, do I first check it out with the Lord? Is it according to His will, or am I against His will? In times of conflict and difficulty, pray sincerely before the Crucifix and you will discover the answer.
The Cross is God's great sign of love for us. When Jesus extended His arms on the Cross till death, He was telling us how much He loves us - it was this much (with His arms extended to embrace us all). How much do I love God? Do I measure it by the inches or the rewards I can get from Him? St. Francis de Sales says, "The measure of love is to love without measure." Pray intensely before the Crucifix and see how much the Lord loves you.
The Cross is the best gift we can offer to the Lord in loving Him. "Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross daily and follow me," says the Lord (Lk 9:23). Can I sweetly take up my cross each day and be nailed to it sweetly, as Jesus did for us? Pray intently before the Crucifix and offer your life and love to Him.

Thirteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Arms of His Blessed Mother

Have you ever witnessed a dying person? Have you ever assisted in the death of someone you love or somebody else? What did you feel and think? Is there not a great mystery in death that makes us appreciate life and the Given of Life more?
It is an enriching devotion and apostolate to assist the dying into his final hour by praying the Rosary with him and his dear ones. In this way, the Blessed Mother takes the dying in her loving arms. You may also read the Gospel passages on the Lord's passion and death in Mt 26-27, Mk 14-15, Lk 22-23, or Jn 18-19.
Pray the Hail Mary slowly, especially that latter portion where you say: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death".

Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Buried in the Tomb

To bury the dead is a spiritual work of mercy. The dead, no matter how badly a person has lived his life, deserves a decent burial. He remains a creature loved by the Lord even to the end. Moreover, the judgment is in the Lord, and not to us. Even a person who committed suicide is seen with mercy by the Church, though taking one's life is not encouraged as it is a grave sin before God. Pray for those who died violently or who could not be traced due to accident, crime or war, or those who desperately end their own lives.
In his moments of inner crisis and lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah wished that he would not have been born, and that his mother's womb could have been his tomb as well (Jer 20:17). Pray for the unborn children who died at stillbirth, or due to abortion. They surely rest peacefully in the bosom of Abraham. Pray also for mothers and the accomplices (fathers, boyfriends, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.) who dared to kill their babies in their wombs fearing the society's stigma but not the judgment of God.
After three days, the tomb of Jesus was found empty. He rose from the dead (Jn 20). It is also our ultimate hope to rise with Jesus from death. We may grieve at the death of a loved one, but not forever. We move on in life with Jesus who calls us, even now to the joy of living the life of faith in Him. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).

The final word then in these Stations of the Cross is not death, but eternal life in Jesus. Our attitude on life is not one of irreparable sorrow, but a constant transit to joy in the Lord amidst the sufferings and burdens we carry. By uniting ourselves with Jesus in our daily carrying of the cross, finding rest in Him, we can keep following Him through sufferings and death into everlasting life in God's Kingdom. With the help of the Blessed Mother and the intercessions of the saints, we look forward to that reunion in the heavenly kingdom.