The Third Station:

Jesus Falls for the First Time

“I am troubled now. Yet what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

-John 12:27-28

How many of us know someone who has fallen-fallen on hard times, on difficulties in a relationship, on a moment of doubt and challenge? How many of us are ourselves in such a moment? But these moments, these hardships, are never borne in vain-all things, if we allow them to, have the potential to conspire together for the greater glory of God.

As we reflect on Jesus’ first fall, let us call to mind the life of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who herself had fallen into a time when she had trouble praying. Yet, despite her own spiritual struggles, she rose early each day to be present for and serve the poorest of the poor, men and women like Michael Mzuli and his family, whom we met in this week’s Story of Hope from Kenya. Mother Teresa’s words both challenge and refresh us: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”