Corpus Christi Blog

For this year’s Lenten season, I’ll offer a series of reflections on the Way of the Cross. Before reviewing each of the stations, let’s look at what this practice is and where it comes from.

The Way of the Cross is a devotion that facilitates meditation while commemorating the specific events that occurred on Jesus’ final journey, beginning with His arrest on Holy Thursday, and concluding at the tomb on Good Friday after His crucifixion at Calvary. While usually associated with Catholicism, this commemoration is also shared with a couple of other Christian denominations. You may hear it referred to as the Stations of the Cross, Way of Sorrows, Via Dolorosa, or Via Crucis. Each station along the journey is identified by some sort of marker with an image indicating the specific event being remembered.

As Catholics, we enjoy the unique custom of offering particular prayer intentions at the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Let’s take a closer look at this practice.

For us, the Mass is the highest and most privileged form of prayer because it contains the Eucharistic sacrifice: the source and summit of our faith (CCC #1324-1327). Our Christian life, activities, and participation in the other sacraments are all oriented toward the Eucharist, where Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is made present in the here and now. We can offer prayers of petition and sacrifice at any time and in all sorts of situations, but it is in the context of the Mass that what we offer is made more perfect, as it is joined to Christ’s perfect sacrifice for us. To that end, we bring what we have to offer, in the form of our intentions and sacrifices, and lay them before the altar.

You have, most likely, heard of Original Sin or the Fall, which we read about in Genesis, Chapter 3. After creating Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God allowed them to enjoy all of creation to their hearts’ desires. He provided only one instruction: Do not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Retrospectively, for us, that seems like a relatively easy thing to do.

Hopefully most of us properly understand the principles of Christian stewardship in sharing of our time, talent, and treasure in the service of God, others, and the building up of the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. We spend our time doing good works within our parish and our communities. We use our talents to promote the Good News of the gospel message to others.