Corpus Christi Blog

Jesus has finally completed His torturous journey from Pontius Pilate’s praetorium to His destination at the top of Calvary. No human being could have survived this journey and it was only by virtue of His divine nature that He was able to do so. Now we will reflect on the last four stations that mark His final sacrifice for us.

Last week we meditated on the fourth, fifth, and sixth Stations of the Cross. In each of those stations, Jesus had personal encounters with other individuals while in a vulnerable state. These showed us how intimate interactions between humans help us all on our own journeys. This week, we’ll look at the next four stations. While three of them involve Jesus alone, one illustrates yet another exchange with others.

This week, we will continue our Lenten journey by reflecting on the fourth, fifth, and sixth Stations of the Cross. Each of these three stations include an encounter between Jesus and another person when Jesus is profoundly vulnerable, thereby increasing the relational intimacy between them. They also illustrate the larger picture of the interdependence human beings have with each other as we all navigate through the trials of life together. Let’s take a closer look.

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

This is one of the stations that is not explicitly found in Scripture. However, the Gospel of John places the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion, so it is safe to assume she remained as close to Jesus as the crowds would allow from the beginning of His Passion to the end. Additionally, it is difficult to imagine any mother not being with her child while enduring such great and unjust suffering.

Last week I gave an overview on the history and purpose of meditating on the Way of the Cross. Over the next few weeks, we will enter into a deeper reflection on each station. Today, we’ll cover the first three.

The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death

The Way of the Cross begins when Jesus was sentenced to death in Pontius Pilate’s praetorium. The prior evening, just after having supper with His friends, Jesus was arrested in the dark of night and shuffled back and forth between Pontius Pilate and Herod as they tried to decide what to do with Him. There was an angry mob crying for Him to receive the death penalty, despite the fact that He committed no real crime. Jesus was fully divine, but He was also fully human and experienced the same emotions that any of us would experience in a situation such as this.

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.

As Christians, we are called to imitate Jesus in all aspects of our life. Asking, “What would Jesus do?” in any given situation, however, may seem abstract or like a mere platitude. In this reflection, I have identified some specific traits of Jesus that can help us imitate him in our own lives.

“The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.” - St. Augustine

There is a unity between the Old and New Testaments since they both contain the inspired word of God. God revealed and foreshadowed this unity through both explicit means, like prophecies, as well as more hidden and implicit means of communicating His plan of salvation all throughout the Old Testament. Then, in the New Testament, we see all His foreshadowing fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The more implicit means of revelation include what the Church refers to as typology.

Today we’ll examine a relatively controversial practice in the Catholic Church, which is priestly celibacy. There is a whole spectrum of opinions on the issue, from both within and outside of the Church, with all sorts of evidence supporting their positions. Regardless of whether or not I change any minds, my goal is to explain the reasons why priestly celibacy is presently valued in the Church, in the hope that others reach an understanding and openness to the Church’s perspective.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, which is the day the Church recognizes the arrival of the Magi from the East in Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn king, Jesus. The essential importance of the Magi’s presence in Scripture is to establish that Jesus came as a savior for all nations and peoples, even pagan ones, as they also become beneficiaries of the promises that had previously only been made to the Jewish people. The Incarnation was for the benefit of all. (See CCC #528.)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, a day in which the Church honors Mary’s role as the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For reflection on this feast day, we will examine the Magnificat – the first words recorded in Scripture of Mary as a mother (Lk 1:46-55).

The Magnificat is the inspired canticle, or hymn, that Mary proclaimed after she arrived at her cousin Elizabeth’s home and heard her greeting: “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43). We know the canticle was inspired for several reasons. Mary was a devout Jewish woman who was steeped in Scripture and prayer, the Holy Spirit had just descended upon her to conceive Jesus in her womb, and Elizabeth had been filled with the Holy Spirit in that moment (Lk 1:41). There was nothing worldly whatsoever between the two women, only God and His super-abundant grace. Mary’s song was a prayer of praise, thanksgiving, and joy and has since held a privileged place in the prayer of Mother Church, included even in the Liturgy of the Hours.