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Just three words from last Sunday’s Gospel-three words easily missed, easily forgotten. Perhaps we didn’t even hear them, or let them sink in. After all, shortly thereafter, Jesus raises a man from the dead-a feat far more interesting than a few shed tears! But there’s something deeper here, something very important that deserves a moment’s reflection: Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, the God of the Universe wept. And why? Because he encountered the suffering of those around him. Continue reading →

The Eleventh Station: Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross We’ve all been there-stuck in a seemingly impossible situation, weighed down, perhaps, by financial burdens, family obligations or the opinions of others. We’ve all been nailed to the cross. And it may feel as though we’ve come to the end; we can’t move, can’t maneuver our way out of this bleak situation. We have been left alone to flounder. Continue reading →

Lives of the Saints: St. Mother Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, “Mother Lupita” (1878–1963) Pope Francis continues to call each of us to work with and for the poor, and we are reminded of that call in a special way by the example of one of the first saints the Holy Father canonized: St. Mother Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, known as Mother Lupita. Continue reading →

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross By human standards, the crucifixion and death of Jesus is the ultimate failure. Members of the Jewish community had waited so long for the Messiah, had put their faith and hope in a man they believed had come to liberate them, and he died a gruesome, horrific death. It was a devastating, final moment, and so many of Jesus’ friends had already fled the scene, abandoning their hope in a better future. Continue reading →

“Meek” is the word the Gospel uses to refer to Jesus, and we understand why as we examine his life: His birth in a stable, his years growing up in Galilee-a backwater province of the Roman Empire. His entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem, made not on a stallion or in a chariot as one might expect of a king, but on a donkey. His supporters wave not swords, but palm branches Continue reading →

“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” -1 Corinthians 12:12–13

We are all part of one human family-whatever our national, racial, religious, economic or ideological differences-and in an increasingly interconnected world, loving our neighbor has global dimensions. Continue reading →

The Thirteenth Station: Jesus’ Body Is Taken Down from the Cross “Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.’” -Luke 22:19 As we contemplate Jesus’ broken body, we are reminded of his full humanity. He had a body, just as we do, that needed sustenance and exercise, that could be bruised and battered, and through which he experienced the world around him. Continue reading →

As we meditate on the physical pain that the crucifixion caused Jesus, we remember that this man was a human with a body, much like us! Also, not unlike us, he was endowed with free will. Taking up the cross and dying for our sins was a conscious decision that he made out of that free will! Continue reading →

The Fourteenth Station: Jesus’ Body Is Placed in a Tomb We know how the story ends. We know that after a mere three days, God’s victory shines forth; Christ triumphs over sin, evil and death. And yet, how long were those three days for the men and women who lived through them? They didn’t have the knowledge that we do-they didn’t know that the story ended in triumph. For them, the story had already ended, and it had all been for nothing. As Christians, we know that God wins the day, but that doesn’t always make it easier for us in our daily struggles. Continue reading →

“Let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” -Matthew 26:39 As we recall the events of the Crucifixion, we may ask why God the Father allows his Son to withstand all this suffering! Even though he has identified Jesus as his “beloved Son”, he does not save him from the Roman soldiers. We often find ourselves in this same thought as we examine the overwhelming obstacles that our brothers and sisters in poverty face, asking, why does God allow this to happen to his children? Continue reading →