For centuries, one of the favorite pilgrimage goals was the Holy Land. People wanted to visit the very spots where Jesus walked and especially his tortuous way to Calvary. But long ago it was far away and across the waters and many people were unable to make such a long, arduous journey. So, artists who did go began to sketch those Holy Land sites associated with Jesus’ passion and death and would bring the sketches back to Europe. They would hang these pictures along roadsides and eventually inside churches. The number varied but eventually became the standard fourteen Stations of the Cross today.
The pilgrim of yesterday and today is to stand before the depiction of Jesus’ way to the cross for two reasons. One is to mediate on the scene before him or her, but the other, far more important, is to enter into it. Let’s briefly look at a few.
The First Station: Jesus is unjustly accused by Pilate. Have you stood any time in your life, falsely accused, when rumors spread about you, when you were the victim of false gossip? And no matter how hard you tried to explain, no one seemed to believe you? Do you identify with Jesus before Pilate, keeping silent and offering up your humiliation or at least knowing that he’s been there before you, knowing that God will have the last word?
There’s the poignant Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother. Mary’s heart was broken not only because she saw her son publicly disgraced and humiliated, going to his death as a common criminal, but, most of all, that she could not help him. Mary is every parent who stands by helplessly to watch a child disintegrate with drugs or alcoholism, whose unending prayers plead with God for a son or daughter who have departed from the faith, or whose marriage is falling apart. Mary is every parent with arms achingly outstretched because they want so badly to save their child and can’t, at least not right now. They instead silently offer their prayers and their tears.
The Fifth Station: Simon is forced to carry Jesus’ cross. There are many who carry crosses they did not want or ask for or bargain for. No one wanted the sick parent, the challenged child, the cancer, the addiction, the divorce, the job loss, and the depression --- unwanted crosses of all descriptions. Too many of us have the name of Simon of Cyrene, and we’re angry at God and frustrated. But many who stand at this Station absorb the tradition that says that if Simon started out with anger --- he wanted no part of Jesus’ cross; he was forced into it --- after a time of carrying the cross with Jesus, he moved to understanding, and from understanding he moved to love, and from love he moved onto his own salvation.
The Ninth Station: Jesus falls a third time. Many people spend a long time at this Station: They recognize this station from experience, standing with habits of sin: the nasty word out of the mouth before it can be stopped, the quick judgment, the ongoing gossip, the addiction to pornography, to anger. No matter how hard we try, no matter how many times it is confessed, no matter how bad you feel afterwards, can’t seem to shake the favorite sin. Keep falling --- perhaps many more than a third time. But this Station should better read: “Jesus gets up again, the third time.”
The Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the cross forgiving his enemies. The deeper, still love. How can I be unforgiving?
Finally, there is the Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb. Many at this Station are crying. “This is my time of despair and dryness.” They don’t know what to do. At wit’s end. There seems to be no way out of the tomb. It’s dark and dry. It’s a loveless marriage, a dead-end job, a soured relationship, and unethical business deal, an addiction. I get no answers. God seems to have abandoned me. I feel a stone rolled over my heart. They pray: “God of surprises. Find me soon.”
These Stations are powerful. They are where we are. They reflect our pain, but they give us hope, for there is a Fifteenth Station called the Resurrection.
Thought for the week: To be a reflective person is to acknowledge that there is room for growth and change in our lives.
Smile for the week: Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord," and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it’s morning."
I am happy to share with you that Father David Tedesche has been appointed to pastor the Community at St. Theodore’s! He sent me a brief background to share with you.
God bless! Have a wonderful week!
Fr. Kevin McKenna
I grew up in Wayne County, in the town of Ontario, and went to St. Rita’s in Webster for grade school. I graduated from Wayne Central High School—class of 1995. My college years brought me out of the diocese as I attended university at SUNY Albany, earning a B.A. in English in 2000 and an M.A. in Philosophy in 2001. I then taught high school English in out in the Adirondacks. I went into seminary in 2008 and was ordained in 2013. My priestly ministry has brought me to St. Charles Borromeo (summer of 2013), Auburn (2014-2016), and Wayne County (2016 until 2020). For the past five years, I have been privileged to work in hospital chaplaincy, ministering to the sick and dying at Strong, Highland, and Unity hospitals, and their associated nursing homes. I am very excited about returning to parish ministry and getting to meet the people at St. Theodore’s!