The Eleventh Station: Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross

He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

-Luke 23:43

We’ve all been there-stuck in a seemingly impossible situation, weighed down by financial burdens, family obligations and the opinions of others. We’ve all been nailed to a cross. And often it feels as though we’ve come to the end; we can’t move, can’t maneuver our way out of a bleak situation. We have been left alone to flounder.

This is a part of the human experience that all of us go through, regardless of our wealth, our nationality or our past experiences. Jesus knows this, and never gives up on us. Even the thief with whom he was crucified was given the opportunity to be made better.

And if Jesus offers us these second, third or hundredth chances, what then should we offer to our neighbors? In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, CRS is teaching farmers how to rid their banana plants of disease-a disease which nails these families to the cross of hunger. What can we do to help others come down from the crosses of hunger, homelessness or sickness? What type of paradise are we building? Who are we inviting to join us?