Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather on this first Friday of the Month, and the first Friday after Ash Wednesday, we are led into the heart of our Lenten journey—a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal. Today, in most of our Catholic churches around the world, we celebrate the Way of the Cross, also known as the Stations of the Cross, a devotion popularized by the Franciscan friar, St. Leonard of Port Maurice in the 18th century. This sacred practice invites us to ponder the final hours of Jesus’s earthly life, to walk with Him two-thousand years ago through the streets of Jerusalem and up Mount Calvary to Golgotha, and to unite to His suffering so as to better understand and appreciate the depth of His love for us.
The Way of the Cross consists of fourteen stations, each depicting a key event in the journey of Jesus from His condemnation to His burial. Some variants of the devotion also started including the Resurrection as the fifteenth so as to recall the importance of why it is we die with Christ so that we can rise with him. This devotion allows us to physically and spiritually accompany Jesus as He bears the weight of our sins. Each station serves as a reminder of His sacrifice and a call to imitate His selfless love. We are encouraged to reflect on what these moments reveal about not just His suffering, but our own.
As we pray through these stations, we are reminded of the deep personal connection we each have with the crucifixion. Just as Jesus suffered rejection, betrayal, and pain, we, too, experience our own crosses—be it heartbreak, illness, or the struggles of daily life. St. Leonard emphasized that this devotion is not merely for the pious, but for all of us who seek to know Christ more intimately. It reminds us that while the journey to the cross is arduous, it is also redemptive.
In the book of Isaiah, we hear God calling us to true fasting—not merely the act of abstaining from food or luxuries, but a profound transformation of heart and action. God is not pleased with mere
rituals devoid of love; rather, He desires a contrite spirit that leads to compassion and justice. “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,” it promises, indicating that our actions can bring forth healing and renewal, both for ourselves and others.
Similarly, as we navigate these Lenten days, Jesus teaches us in the Gospel of Matthew that fasting is not only about what we give up but about the presence of the Bridegroom among us. While we mourn and fast during Lent, we must also recognize that the presence of Christ calls us to joy-filled service in the world. He invites all of us to be his healing, loving, and merciful presence in the world.
In conclusion, let us embrace the Way of the Cross with our Lady, as a pathway that leads us deeper into a genuine relationship with Christ through a more faithful relationship with our Heavenly Mother. As we walk through each station, let us pray for a heart that is contrite and humbled, fully aware of our shared humanity. As our Blessed Mother experienced in person, first hand, the journey to the cross may be filled with trials, but it is also overflowing with grace. She who was adorned with special grace accompanied Him who gave her that grace in all of its fullness.
As we move through this Lenten season, may we carry the light of Christ into the world just as she did, before and after his Resurrection from the dead, knowing that if we trust and believe in God, all good things are possible for us—even a repentant heart which is able to continually start anew.
Amen.
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