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. Surely, we can call to mind images of individuals and communities from seemingly distant lands and unknown situations: lives lived in Zambia, Mexico, El Salvador and more.  Are we really the experts, qualified to instruct these communities on how to live their lives, address their problems? How difficult it is to understand their daily joys and suffering! And yet, as we engage in global solidarity and reach out to those who are poorest and most vulnerable, we must try to understand—by listening.

Catholic social teaching calls us to engage in subsidiarity, which means working with individuals and communities that are nearest to a problem to devise 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.