Video – Pope Benedict and Lent – CONF 317

Ave Maria!

In the second talk for our Lenten day of reflection Fr. Hollowell gives meditation on the Stations of the Cross from Pope Benedict XVI:

1. Jesus is condemned by Pilate - Those involved in Crucifixion are not utterly evil but caught up in the crowd. Evil comes from indecision, lack of conviction, going along with crowd, shouting. Need to have silent prayer.


2. Jesus takes up his cross - Need to foster the common good. Who is our God, who do we crown?


3. Jesus falls the first time - Beneath weight of Cross the meaning of his whole life is seen in his voluntary suffering and humility. We must stop our pride and let Him lift us up rather than rely on ourselves. On other hand need to be people of action. We need to strike a balance.


4. Jesus meets his mother - Will the son of man find faith, yes because of his Mother.


5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross - Initially inconvenienced came to see it was a grace, seeing Jesus' silence in suffering.


6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus - Veronica symbolizes the universal desire to see the face of Christ. Are we giving everything we can to seek the face of God, to come to him.


7. Jesus falls the second time - Three fold fall, lust of the world.... worse paganism that is trying so hard to forget about God that he leaves mankind lying in the dust.


8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem - A reproach against a devotion that is purely sentimental. We need to change our lives. Evil should not be trivialized.


9. Jesus falls the third time - How often do we give Christ reason for grief? How are we evangelizing to bring joy to Christ.


10. Jesus is stripped of his garments - reminds us of the expulsion from paradise. Jesus redeems us from within our humanity, as one of us.


11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross - Let us look at him in times of tribulations. Lent is a good time to meditate on what is most important. Let us nail ourselves to Him to never be apart from Him.


12. Jesus dies on the cross -  Cosmic event the sky is darkened and the earth quakes. His divinity is manifested even in his death. World still survives this "death of God".


13. Jesus is taken down from the cross - and given to His mother. Joseph of Arimathea comes as well and so the family of Christ begins to form.


14. Jesus is laid in the tomb - Nicodemus brings great quantities of Aloes and spices. Can we love God too much? We can get exaggerated and strange. But, these are due to imperfection in that love, we cannot love him too much.

+++