The Eighth Station:

Jesus Consoles the Women of Jerusalem

“Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children …’”

-Luke 23:28

Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus deeply involved with the concerns of individual people. He doesn’t simply go to political or religious leaders to learn about what the people are thinking; he goes right to the source, the people themselves. And here, even at the end of his earthly mission, we see Jesus attentive to the needs of specific individuals, sharing his own hurts and joys with them, and listening to theirs.

We, too, must remember to act in this way. This week’s Story of Hope gives a powerful example of what it means to truly work with a community. Think of Timothy Machika and his family’s needs-often, his family made do with just one meal a day. Only by meeting this community in their very real circumstances could CRS help empower them to succeed. What was the solution? Chile peppers-food that the wider community enjoyed and was willing to pay for, and a crop that could withstand the dry environment. And now the farmers of Timothy’s village are able to advocate for themselves when they go to market.

Catholic social teaching calls us to engage in subsidiarity, which simply means empowering those individuals and communities who are nearest to a problem to work together in devising a solution. How easy it is to propose solutions for others’ problems; how much harder it is to enter into constructive dialogue for the betterment of all.