Jesus Falls ~ The Third Station

FATHER ALEXANDER MEN was a Russian Orthodox priest murdered in 1990 towards the end of the Soviet Union. In the days of the KGB he secretly gathered little groups of believers in living rooms and kitchens to offer wonderful teachings about the Gospel of Jesus. 

Father Men taught that the original sin in the Garden of Eden wasn't sex, not impatience, not greed, not gluttony, not even disobedience, but power. He taught that human beings are tempted to power and that the will to power is the most serious impulse and the heaviest sin of humankind. 

Behind all social, political and cultural wars lies the will of power. This is why magic is so popular - because it is the will to rule over nature, as is our technological civilization. Father Men called power a lust and a thirst. We can never escape the impulse even in old age. We may be disinterested in food, in sex, in life's pleasures, "yet this power will remain the last and only thing which brings us joy and happiness." 

To follow Jesus all the way, even as he crumbles beneath the heavy weight of the cross, surrounded by imperial power - I must look deeply at my life and disavow all power claims except that claim which is the power of loving service.

Our Father Who Art in Heaven...

Hail Mary full of grace...

Glory be to the Father

Jesus Picks Up His Cross ~ The Second Station

CHRISTIANITY SAYS THAT GOD knows me; it matters to God that I exist. Here El Greco has painted Jesus holding and carrying the Cross. He carries it for me. 

In the last season of Downton Abbey there is a particularly lovely scene which takes place one evening in the nursery. Young Tom Branson (who had been married to Lady Sybil who died in childbirth) and Lady Mary (who had been married to Matthew who was killed in a car accident immediately after their son's birth) are joined by Isobel Crawley (mother of Matthew Crawley). Isobel has just wished Mary happiness as she discerns that another suitor has been coming around to visit Mary. Then this conversation ensues.

Isobel: "When I got engaged to Reginald I felt sick - sick with love literally."

Tom: "It was the same for me. I felt as if I'd gone mad or been hypnotized. For days, weeks, all I could think of was her."

Mary: "And me! I was standing outside in the snow, and I didn't have a coat, but I wasn't cold, because all I kept thinking was, 'He's going to propose, he's going to propose.'"

Isobel after a silent moment: "Well, aren't we the lucky ones!"

Many of us know what this lucky kind of love feels like - a young love; a first love. In Christ, God loves us each like this! It seems too good to be true! Oh, if only the world knew it! And in walking these stations these Lenten weeks we might pray to have that sense revived or deepened within ourselves. The love of God for us. Love for Jesus!

Jesus Before Pilate ~ The First Station

HERE IS A PAINTING (1910) titled Christ Before Pilate, by Jacek Malczewski. Pilate is a young man, diddling with something, smiling slightly. Perhaps he is pondering the warning his wife whispered to him, not to have anything to do with Jesus because of what she's learned in a dream. 

Jesus is in the foreground of the painting. His tired head! His night in jail was sleepless. He has been shamed in the prison-madhouse where bullies rule. His bound hands are unable to wipe away the sting of spit, sweat and the blood trickling down from the wild crown of thorns pressed into his head by the uncensored soldiers who have been playing Make Believe King. Perhaps the gift of tears washed his eyes. 

But the face of Jesus is always beautiful because it is the face of humility, patience and gentleness. His face is beautiful because it is the face of solidarity with all who suffer degradation and disfigurement. Saint Paul writes:

"Never forget the nearness of your Lord. Don't worry over anything whatever. Whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds." (Philippians 4: 5-7)

This is the way of Jesus - always aware of God's closeness, surrendering everything to God. "Your will be done." Those who live this way know deep happiness, not the world's short-lived happiness but a deep peace of soul.

In the Amazon forest there are lepers whose disfigured faces are beautiful, revealing souls at peace with God and others. When the photographer entered the room of this leprous woman who has lost her legs and fingers, he said, "Good morning, how are you today?" and she answered, "Very well, thank you!"