The Eighth Station

Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.

Because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

The crowd grows. Some are sickened, some are heartbroken, and some are energized. All these feelings course through Your body. Suddenly You are aware of a group of women and children. They are weeping and mourning.

But when, at a distance, they lifted their eyes

and did not recognize him,

they began to weep aloud;

and threw dust upon their heads.

Job 2:12-13

You sense their sadness, but in their cries You also hear guilt and regret. What do they see when they look at You? How long will they remember?

Is it for my benefit that these women mourn and lament so loudly? Do they comfort me, or do they comfort themselves? Will they change their lives because of what they have witnessed? It is not enough to cry out for the sufferings of the world and then let life go on as usual.

We pray. Dear God, how often we allow ourselves to become stuck in a state of mourning. We ache with regret and guilt for the mistakes we have made and the chances we have lost. We pity and weep for those who are suffering and lament the state of the world. Yet these sentiments alone do not bring comfort, restore peace, or effect change. Help us, Lord, to be more than just a companion who walks alongside the distressed. Give us the courage and the desire to take action and make a different reality possible.

Amen.

We mourn, we grieve, we live in a state of regret, paralyzing our future by the mistakes of our past. But what good comes from looking only behind? Forgive yourself as God has forgiven you. Then move forward and bring comfort, restore peace, and effect change. Labor for love--not loss.

[excerpt from Stations of the Cross by Denise Hemrich-Skomer and Fr. Joachim Tyrtania. ©2009. Nihil Obstat: Charles McNamee, J.C.L. Censor Librorum. Imprimatur: Thomas G. Doran, D.D., J.C.D, Bishop of Rockford]