Stations of the Cross 1 – 5

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When praying the Chaplet of Mercy, I often meditate on 5 of the Stations of the Cross.

1: Jesus is condemned

All the crowds shouted for Jesus’ death. Whenever I complain, or get angry, or curse a situation, ask an angry “Why me?”, or “Why now?”, or whenever I am angry with another person – all of these feelings which I give free expression to and indulge in my thiughts become part of the feelings and aggression of the crowd. I condemned Jesus to death. I do it nearly every day. May God forgive me.

2: Jesus embraces the cross

Jesus did not shrink from the cross –  he walked forward to embrace it, lovingly and manfully. How often do I put off my responsibilities? This can wait till later, or maybe it isn’t necessary at all … May God help me to know what my responsibilities are, and help me to fulfill them well.

3: Jesus falls for the first time

We have seen that Jesus embraced the cross willingly, and so His desire and motivation are without question. Sometimes we think that as long as we want something enough, then we can do anything. Sometimes we feel guilty about our repetitive sins and we are convinced that we do not truly want to be rid of them. But here we see that Jesus was simply physically not up to the job of carrying the cross. He wasn’t faking; He did need help. We must swallow our pride. We must never give up. We must keep wanting to get better. We must ask for help constantly. And the help WILL come. We WILL conquer ourselves.

4: Jesus meets His sorrowful Mother

Jesus has come through the first fall, and despite the humiliation He is undaunted – He still wishes to finish the journey – now His Mother meets Him full of compassion and with the very real power of supportive love. Mary also desires to help us when we strive to do what is right, in spite of all the humiliating falls we experience through our weakness or stupidity. May God help us to become more humble through our falls, to learn a little more with each mistake we make, and to draw closer and closer to Mary and receive the benefits of Her intercession.

5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus

Jesus physically was not strong enough to finish His mission. His Mother prayed for help and Simon was called upon. We must learn to accept our limitations – Christian perfection does not consist of becoming an independant superman; it rather entails learning to become humble, to find our place amomng our brothers and sisters, relying on their prayers and charitable help. May God help us to accept the humiliation of receiving charity as a necessary medicine for our terrible pride, and so may we be able to accept charity gracefully and make new friends on life’s journey.