Station 14 – Jesus is laid in the Holy Sepulchre

"Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre." -Matthew 27:59-61

Now Jesus is shown dignity. In the hands of his friends, he is wrapped with myrrh and aloes in linen, according to custom, and laid in a new tomb, donated space from a wealthy friend. It is growing late, with the Sabbath approaching, so they must hurry to inter him.

The Body lies there, cold and motionless, marked by the wounds of his torture, swaddled in linen in a virgin tomb. It is still and dark. A pregnant pause.

Now we wait for resurrection.

Station 13 – Jesus is taken down from the cross

"When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, 'Truly this was the Son of God!' There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him." -Matthew 27:54-55

The disciples and crowds are gone. A handful of faithful remain: the women, John, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus. A centurion keeping watch—a Gentile—see Jesus for who he truly is. A believer come too late, he thinks. It seems that it is all over. Why are they still there? They must be so sad, so broken, so confused. Grief is piercing their hearts and their minds are reeling. How could anyone understand this? Maybe some are doubting that he was the Son of God. Maybe they still believe but don’t know what to do next. What is not in doubt is that they love him. They do not leave. They remain until the end. They see that he is given a proper burial. Death does not defeat their devotion.

Station 12 – Jesus dies on the cross

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” -Matthew 27:45-50,54

Jesus recites the beginning of Psalm 22. In the moment when it seems God is absent, Jesus declares God’s victory. God is overwhelmingly present. A cosmic event is taking place. He was born under the sign of light, an inexpiable star, and now he dies under the sign of darkness, an inexpiable eclipse. Darkness comes over the land in the middle of the day. The earth shakes. Creation is responding to the death of its God.

It seems all is lost, but it is not lost; it is given. Blood and water flows from the side of Jesus, a sign of baptism and Eucharist, of Jesus giving himself for us, in this moment and for the rest of eternity.

Station 11 – Jesus is nailed to the cross

And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the Cross and we will believe in him.” -Matthew 27:37-42

Jesus is nailed to the cross. For centuries hereafter, people will gaze at this image of pain and suffering. They will be repulsed, they will be saddened, they will be convicted, they will be comforted. Benedict XVI writes, “Let us halt before this image of pain, before the suffering Son of God. Let us look upon him at times of presumptuousness and pleasure, in order to learn to respect limits and to see the superficiality of all merely material goods. Let us look upon him at times of trial and tribulation, and realize that it is then that we are closest to God. Let us try to see his face in the people we might look down upon.”

Those witnessing this scene in the moment don’t understand. They want the Messiah to strike down empires, destroy and rebuild the Temple, save himself. They don’t understand the dying man they see before him. He looks weak. Yet looking back, we see his strength. He is not going to save himself. He is going to save all of us.

Station 10 – Jesus is stripped of His garments

"And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there." -Matthew 27:33-36

In all societies, man is clothed in some form. To strip a man of his clothes is to debase him and remove him from society. He is fully exposed and fully outcast. The soldiers cast lots for his garments; he no longer has any possessions. They offer him wine, but it is mixed with something else, something bitter like myrrh. Often soldiers would put a poison in the wine to numb the prisoner; it would taste bitter but be a quicker death. Jesus did not choose the quicker death; he chose to experience the full suffering, the full humiliation, of crucifixion. Later, on the cross, he did take sour wine, which was wine and vinegar, bad tasting but not poisonous. He took on all the pain, all the debasement, all the sour of the world.

Station 9 – Jesus falls beneath His cross the third time

"The valiant one whose steps are guided by the Lord, who will delight in his way, May stumble, but he will never fall, for the Lord holds his hand." -Psalm 37:23-24

Three is a significant number, and the third fall is the hardest. Jesus has suffered immense humiliation and abuse, and that will not end on the cross. Jesus continues to fall, to suffer debasement at the hands of others, who in our current time, mock him and twist his teachings for evil means, who abuse others under the guise of his name, who profane him to elevate themselves.

He suffers under the weight of those who do not see the need for God’s grace, delighting in their hubris. He suffers under the weight of Church leaders driving believers away through abuse and mercilessness. He suffers under the weight of our pride and our sins and our petty complaints and our refusal to let God work in us.

Yet he also stands, and continues on, because despite our harden hearts, his love for us has no limits. He carries all that weight with him and offers us mercy and reconciliation. He stands ready to give even more.

Station 8 – Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem

Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘fall on us;’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” -Luke 23:28-31

In the middle of this horrific scene, Jesus is still preaching, warning the women of Jerusalem of what is to come. It is a dark prediction of coming terror. Yet he is telling them to be strong, for there is more to endure.

It is also a judgment, for though he is going to die, he will defeat death. Yet the true mourning should be for those who do not turn to God, who instead turn to self-righteousness or despair, who experience horrific suffering and learn nothing from it. There are those who will choose death, explicitly in moments of despair or implicitly through their godless actions. It is for those people and that world that we should cry.

Station 7 – Jesus falls beneath His cross, the second time

"I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. ...He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes." -Lamentations 3:1-2,16

Jesus’ literal falls represent how man has fallen. We have fallen away from our Creator, fallen from that which we were made. We have debased ourselves—rolling around in the dirt of our sins. To reach us, Jesus becomes man and must lower himself. We don’t want to stand up or be lifted up. We want to stay on the ground and left to ourselves. We want to think we don’t need God. But he knows what we need. So he lowers himself, suffers mockery and abuse and pain, for from that point, he can raise up again, and lift humanity up with him.

Station 6 – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

"You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.' Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Cast me not off, forsake me not, O God of my salvation." -Psalm 27:8-9

Veronica, or Bernice in the Greek tradition, performs an act of kindness on a day when so many have turned against or humiliated Jesus. She reaches out and offers to wipe his face. It won’t heal the whipped skin or lift the burden of the cross, but it offers a slight relief and a glimmer of dignity. She did not let the hate and chaos around her stop her from an act of charity. How often do I truly step out of my way or out of the crowd to perform an act of charity?

Under the sweat and blood, Veronica could see the face of God. Am I truly seeking the face of God, or am I hiding away in the crowd? Is fear and shame preventing me from searching for him, from looking up, from wiping away the sweat and blood of my hurting neighbors?

Station 5 – Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross

"As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross." -Matthew 27:32

For some reason, I thought Simon offered to carry the cross and the guards just let him, but that’s not so. They must have been slowed by the beaten, exhausted Jesus dragging the cross, so they compelled a passerby to carry it awhile. He was not part of any of this, just a man caught up by circumstance. He didn’t act out of devotion but out of obligation. And yet, his heart was changed through that act. Matthew notes that his children were Christians; this chance encounter, literally walking with Christ, stirred Simon’s heart and made him a believer. Under the weight of the cross he found God’s love.

Sometimes we aren’t motivated by love; sometimes our actions are products of circumstance and obligation. Yet they can still be done with love. They can still lead to Christ. Our sufferings can bring about unexpected joy and grace. Times of pain and persecution can compel to walk with Christ and carry our crosses, making us stronger than we expected.

Station 4 – Jesus meets his Blessed Mother

"Simon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.' And his mother kept all these things in her heart. -Luke 2:34-35,51

I can’t imagine the pain Mary felt watching her son suffer so. Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce her heart, and while we extend the sorrow of Mary to her sorrow of watching over all the Church’s children, in that moment, it was the acute pain of a parent watching their child struggle and suffer and the agony of not being able to stop it. She stayed with him, offering what comfort she could: when he looked up, he could see his mother’s loving face. He was not suffering alone.

Station 3 – Jesus falls for the first time

"Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." -Isaiah 53:4-6

Jesus sets out to Calvary, although the journey started long before. It is a short walk, geographically, but it is the slow, final steps of his lifetime of service on earth. His body is exhausted from the tumultuous agony in the garden and the torture of the guards. The weight of the cross pushes him to the ground.

It had been a short but grueling life. How emotionally exhausting to see us humans try and fail, or not even try, to see us turn from God who loves us so profoundly. He knows us, he knows our sin, yet he continues in this pain and abasement out of love.

Station 2 – Jesus takes up the Cross

"They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him." -Matthew 27:28-31

They mocked him. Ironically, they called him King of the Jews, gave him a robe and scepter and crown, and knelt before him. The king who was never honored as king. Then they stripped him and beat him. They mocked him and humiliated him; they had no respect for this man. 

How many people are mocked and bullied? How many are flippantly ignored and disrespected? How often have I been the one mocking another? We are all valuable. Every person deserves basic respect. Every person deserves to have their human dignity acknowledged instead of stripped away.

Station 1 – Jesus is condemned to death

"Pilate said to them, 'Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?' All of them said, 'Let him be crucified!' Then he asked, 'Why, what evil has he done?' But they shouted all the more, 'Let him be crucified!' ...So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified." -Matthew 27:22-23,26

We begin with Jesus’ sentencing. His fate is sealed. We know where this is going. Just days before the crowd greeted him with fanfare; now they call for his death. The mob is fickle. They want him to save them, but they have no loyalty to him. How often do I want something from God without giving anything?

Pilate sees an innocent man. He could do the right thing, but he is afraid of the mob. He knows what is right, but is too scared of disrupting his career to do it. How often do I choose the easiest path over the right one?

Jesus is condemned because no one stood up for the truth, no one in the crowd or to the crowd. Don’t wash your hands of evil matters. Don’t let fear trample you to silence. Don’t fade into a condemning crowd.

Via Dolorosa

With Lent beginning so late this year, I realized I had the time at work to develop a Lenten reflection. I wanted to help people focus on the spirituality of the season. So I focused on the Stations of the Cross as a seasonal practice. I had interviews of priests explaining what the stations are and why we pray them. I had footage of groups praying. I had numerous pictures of the stations in several churches. But with the recording and editing, I hadn’t actually taken the time to pause, reflect, and pray myself.

So, through Lent, I’d like to take the time to reflect on each station, inching toward to Calvary with Jesus.

The Stations of the Cross, or the Way of Suffering (Via Dolorosa), began with pilgrimages through the Via Dolorosa in the Holy Land, made by knights and pilgrims in the fourth century. After Jerusalem fell to Saladin in 1187, Franciscans were the first Christians allowed back in the city, establishing the Custody of the Holy Land in 1217. A few centuries later, Franciscans built outdoor replicas of the Way near their churches, in part because of their devotion to Jesus’ Passion and in part as a catechetical tool. The stations could number from 7-30, with different moments of the Passion replicated. 

In 1686 the Franciscans were allowed to have Stations inside their churches. In 1731, churches could have Stations if a Franciscan erected them. At this point, the number had settled on the traditionally seen 14. In 1862, bishops were allowed to erect Stations in their churches without Franciscan intervention. Now, it’s rare to find a Catholic church without the Stations circling the nave.

By praying the Stations, we enter into the story of Jesus’ Passion. We relate to the people he met. We relate to his suffering, his humanity. The Stations show us Christ who loved us through torture and death. They show us ourselves, in our repulsion of his suffering or our willingness to suffer with him. Ultimately, they prepare us for the coming the Resurrection.