We’ll be praying our way through Lent two Stations of the Cross at the time, using Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. These stations, inspired by the work of SVP, uniquely help us to walk not only with Jesus in His Passion and Cross, but also alongside our suffering brothers and sisters.
If you missed the previous two Stations, you can catch up here.
7th Station: Jesus falls the second time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Even with Simon helping him, Jesus falls a second time under the weight of the cross. It is the weight not only of wood, but of the sins of humanity. He is carrying those sins with him. The One who is without sin is bearing in his own body the sins of all of us. He is carrying them so that he might free us from any power we think they may have over us.
St Teresa of Calcutta teaches us that it is when we act in charity towards the poor that we are loving Jesus. The mystery of the Incarnation, God becoming a human person in Jesus, does not make sense if we limit it to the person of Jesus. Therefore, the challenge for all Christians is to show how this Incarnation can be seen in the life of every human person. If we want to look for God in our lives, we should look, St Teresa tells us, to the lives of the poor.
I love you Jesus
my love above all things.
I repent with my whole heart for having offended you.
Never permit me
to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always
and then do with me what you will.
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
8th Station: The women of Jerusalem weep for Jesus
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
‘Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me but for yourselves and your children.’ This most memorable line shows us that the real sorrow of the situation is not simply what the powerful have done to Jesus, but what human beings are capable of doing to each other. If we are to attempt to understand the person of Jesus, we have to try to appreciate what it means to be human.
Brother Roger of Taizé writes that it may be possible to consider listening to others as a vocation. This is one of the things that St Vincent de Paul members do. There are times when people just need someone to listen to them. In this way they feel wanted by others. One of the things which Brother Roger of Taizé learnt to do was to listen carefully to people. He knew the value of listening and he also appreciated the importance of feeling that someone was prepared to listen to you
I love you Jesus
my love above all things.
I repent with my whole heart
for having offended you.
Never permit me
to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always
and then do with me what you will.
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
These Stations are extracted from our book Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. Walk alongside Jesus in his passion and Cross and be prepared to walk with compassion alongside our suffering brothers and sisters, with these meditations on the Way of the Cross in light of the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Pray these Stations at church, alone or with your parish, by ordering your copy of Stations of the Cross: In Light of the Work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.