Join The Way Of The Cross

In the city of Jerusalem, there is a street called, "The Via Dolorosa". It is the site of that long, painful journey, where Jesus was condemned to death, and made to carry his cross on the road to Calvary.

Each Friday afternoon at three o'clock, a procession is led by the Franciscan Fathers along this same road. As they go, they carry with them a large cross, symbol of this event. The street is sometimes called, "The Street of the Red Pain", or the "street of blood".

Each year, Christians also seek to walk the "Via Dolorosa", or "The Way of the Cross", as they return in memory to the last days of Christ before his crucifixion.

Lent is a time to remember. It is a time to put away the sins of our lives, and to take on some special discipline of growth. The shadow of the cross falls upon us as we move through these 40 days.

Some of us might think it easier to take on an actual cross, and clump it up and down the stairs, rather than to grow spiritually or deepen our personal faith. Let us not wish too much for that option, because the day may indeed come when we will have to suffer true persecution for what we believe. But until that time comes, we must join the "way of the cross" and look to Jesus...become like him...and learn to walk in his footsteps.

You and I may never carry an actual cross. But we do well to prepare our inner resources for such a contingency. Yet still, that final day of judgment does come for all of us, and if we have done well, then the "way of the cross leads home."