In this week’s installment of Stations of the Cross we will explore the final steps of our Lord’s journey through the lens of family life, something so common and important in the human experience. This week’s images of the stations come from the Chapel of St. Charles Borromeo in Alumni Hall, a residence hall known to many that has fostered its own sense of family over the years.

Lord, you chose to come into this world and be part of a family. We look to you and those you loved in this life as a model of how we should live. Your passion, death, and resurrection ultimately show us that love outlasts all things and can endure tremendous hardship. As we continue our pilgrimage through Lent, may our relationships be bolstered by this certain hope. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Art: Stations of the Cross from the St. Charles Borromeo Chapel in Alumni Hall

The First Station, Jesus is condemned to death.
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

As Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate and is condemned to die, we can only imagine the heartbreak and even despair of Jesus’ family of followers who had seen him do so much good during his public ministry. It must have been inconceivable that this miracle-worker, this Son of God, could be caught up in the political and societal struggles of his day. Every family, at some point in its existence, experiences tremendous loss and suffering, even to those who are innocent of wrongdoing. During these times, we cling to one another and to the certain knowledge that our Savior knows our heartache and will lead us through it.

The Second Station, Jesus takes up his cross.
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Living in families is not always easy. True, self-sacrificial love requires that we die to our own wants and desires and dedicate ourselves to others. Indeed, fidelity to our familial relationships can be, at times, a cross that we bear. But we have tremendous examples in the Holy Family of how to do this well. We know of instances where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph faced hard decisions and chose to follow God’s will each time. Even when our cross seems heavy, we pray for the courage to accept and carry it, relying on God’s grace every step of the way.

The Third Station, Jesus falls for the first time.
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Jesus knows the experience of human limitation, and under the weight of the cross, he falls. Our weakness is often exhibited by our sinfulness, and in the context of family life, we can all think of instances where we have harmed someone we love. Sometimes reconciliation happens quickly, but there can also be deep fissures caused by our mistakes that take a long time to repair. Knowing all this, we ask for the grace to acknowledge any offense, seek forgiveness, and move forward on our journey together.

The Fourth Station, Jesus meets his mother.
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The love of a mother for a child is profound. She sacrifices so much, often including her own body, out of love for any children entrusted to her care. Because of the depth of this devotion, the pain of seeing a child suffer is especially immense. Each time we visit this station, our hearts break to consider how this meeting must have pierced our Blessed Mother’s own heart. We pray for all mothers who have comforted a suffering child and especially for those who have endured the tragedy of a child’s death. One source of consolation for us is Our Lady’s intimate understanding of such a situation and her powerful intercession for all those affected.

The Fifth Station, Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry His Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The scriptures tell us that Simon was the father to Alexander and Rufus, and while we do not know anything else about them, it is helpful to consider this relationship in light of this scene. Like any good father, we expect that Simon was doing his best to guide his sons along the right path in life. As parents, we sometimes wonder if our children will adopt the values we hold dear, especially in terms of our faith. We do our best to show them the way while we can. We pray that we, like Simon, will accept the call to help others in times of need, thereby showing our families that we put into practice what we believe.

The Sixth Station, Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Veronica shows Jesus a small instance of compassion in an otherwise mostly brutal scene. Who gave her such courage, compelling her to care for Our Lord when few others seemed willing to do so? One likely source was that of her family as this is the place where we first learn to reach out to each other in love and mutual dependence. May Veronica’s actions spur us to show mercy to those we love and to those who are suffering.

The Seventh Station, Jesus Falls for the Second Time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

At this second instance of Jesus stumbling, we consider the times when our loved ones have let us down in some way. We can all call to mind stories where our imperfect family members have hurt us or neglected to help us in an appropriate manner. The question is not if this will happen but how will we respond to it. There is a certain temptation to hold grudges, seek revenge, and let bitterness ensnare our heart. We ask Jesus for the strength to forgive as he did those who denied, betrayed, and hurt him since this will enable all of us to live in the freedom we truly desire.

The Eighth Station, Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Even during this time of profound suffering, Jesus stops along the way to comfort those overwhelmed with grief at this unjust punishment. We get a glimpse of his divinity when he predicts that there will be more reasons for mourning in the future. One worry that parents sometimes have is what the world will be like for their children and grandchildren in the years to come. We strive to create a society where kindness, mercy, and the like are the norm, but too often, we see things contrary to this. Our prayer is that we will contribute to the betterment of the world in our time, leaving those we love and interact with better for having known us and ready to do their part in this effort as well.

The Ninth Station, Jesus Falls for the Third Time
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The ideals of family life really never hold up to the lived reality. Though we often desire to do our best, we know of many instances in our own lives and those of others where we fall short of what we had hoped. Divorce, betrayal, strife, and even violence tear at the bonds that unite us, and it can leave us feeling utterly defeated. However, we look to Jesus, who gets back up after falling again, and ask him for the strength to carry on even when our family situation is imperfect.

The Tenth Station, Jesus is Stripped of his Garments
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Our family members usually know us better than anyone else, including the vulnerabilities and fears we often work to keep hidden from others. We all need places to share those things, and we hope that it can be done in a place of trust and security. We know, though, that sometimes our figurative nakedness is mocked or abused. We look upon our Lord and again see that he understands this pain as his executioners seek to remove any remaining dignity he has. May he help us in our own times of embarrassment or exposure, knowing that he knows us so well and still loves each of us unconditionally.

The Eleventh Station, Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The finality of what is happening to Jesus takes shape as each nail is painfully driven into his flesh. And while these soldiers only entered Jesus’ life very recently, the harsh reality of hurting one another in family life is that we know well those who hold the hammer. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross overcomes the consequences of sin and division, so we ask him once more to heal the wounds we have given to each other.

The Twelfth Station, Jesus Dies on the Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Death is a part of every family’s existence. Whether a death is suddenly tragic or long foreseen, each loss is still a source of pain. We are called to care for each other in a special way during these moments. Just before his death, Jesus asks the beloved disciple and his mother to become family to each other, providing us an example to follow during our own experiences with death. We pray that, even when in the shadow of death, we never lose sight of the coming hope and light of the resurrection.

The Thirteenth Station, Jesus is taken down from the Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Joseph of Arimathea is one of the helpful people in this difficult story as he comes to the aid of Jesus and his family in the wake of Christ’s death. This was likely not without some kind of risk to himself, and his generosity is now remembered forever in the retelling of these events. Who are those people outside of our families who help us in times of trouble, and when do we have the occasion to be like Joseph for others? We give thanks in prayer for those who have come to our aide and been a source of comfort for us in our sorrows.

The Fourteenth Station, Jesus is laid in the Tomb
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you…Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Moments of burying our loved ones are seared in our minds, as they serve as a marker for all the things that came before and all the ways that life is forever changed. The deaths of our loved ones have the chance to bring us together or tear us apart. Jesus’ followers, though at first scared and uncertain, chose to continue to gather together and grieve. We pray that we would do the same as we wait for the day when we and our loved ones will rise again and meet in the eternal happiness of heaven.

Let us pray: Lord, you chose to come into this world and be part of a family. We look to you and those you loved in this life as a model of how we should live. Your passion, death, and resurrection ultimately show us that love outlasts all things and can endure tremendous hardship. As we continue our pilgrimage through Lent, may our relationships be bolstered by this certain hope. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.