The Seventh Station

Jesus Falls for the Second Time

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

Because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

You prayed in the Garden for this cup to pass. Only for a moment did You imagine a different fate. Despite Your ultimate acceptance, the reality of this agony is great. Your mind and heart are strong, but Your body is weak. You fall for the second time. Who could fault You if this ground became Your resting place?

Whenever I lay down and slept,

The Lord preserved me to rise again.

I do not fear, then, thousands of people

Arrayed against me on every side.

(Psalm 3:6-7)

Ragged breath fills Your lungs. On trembling legs, You stand. Met with blows and beatings, pushes and shouts, You begin once more.

I have fallen again. Do I have the strength to stand? I am tired. Like so many of Your children Father, I am tired. There are a thousand reasons to let this be the end. Yet I know the one and only reason that it cannot be. You are calling me. Your loving embrace awaits. You are calling all Your children home. Giving up too soon would mean they would never know the fullness of Your plan and the comfort of Your love. I hear You Father, and I get up.

We pray. Heavenly Father, falling is a part of life. We fall as we begin to walk. We fall in love. We fall on hard times. We fall away from what is right. We fall into the wrong hands. We all know how to fall. The struggle is not in the falling, but in the rising and the moving forward. You call each of us to rise again and again. We are never lost to You. Help us not fear the pain, embarrassment, or humiliation that comes from falling. Remind us that even when we are down, You are beside us, taking our hand, and lifting us up.

Amen.

[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]

It's Friday. Are You Happy Yet?

For those new readers, Friday Happy Hour is meant to send you into the weekend with a smile. Today's first video gives us a glimpse at the beauty and majesty of things sometimes unseen.

This guy's work is amazing. Makes me want to grab my camera and head outside.



AMEN!

To end things today, let's stick with the "water" theme. Okay, so this one is a stretch, but it will make you smile!!



Happy Friday!!

The Sixth Station

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

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

Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Blood and sweat run down Your face. Your eyes sting and Your wounds burn. You are almost unrecognizable. But one among the crowd wishes to restore a bit of dignity while bringing You comfort. Veronica fights the soldiers' restraint and pushes forward to wipe Your face and soothe Your ache.

Be brave and steadfast:

have no fear or dread of them,

for it is the Lord, your God,

who marches with you;

he will never fail you or forsake you.

Deut 31:6

Cleansed and comforted, You move on. Your face is now visible to all who stare. No one can deny Your humanity. You are flesh and blood, body and soul, with value, worthy of dignity.

This fragile human body is so easily wounded. But do they not know that the heart and soul are also precious and equally delicate. They beat me with whips and chains. Then they cut me with words and betrayals, actions and inactions. Bless this woman who took courage and showed me tenderness. In my moment of need, she found a small way to give me some relief.

We pray. Dear God, all life is precious. We have a great responsibility to shelter and defend it. Remind us that every person is worthy and deserving of protection, without regard to race, creed, age, or gender. Help us always to guard against injustice and care for those who are unable to defend themselves. Give us courage to act in big and small ways to uphold the dignity of every human being.

Amen.

Seeing the face of the suffering makes it very real. While physical wounds are obvious, emotional and psychological pains are far less so. The heart and soul are equally delicate. A seemingly small act, like that of Veronica wiping Christ's face, can provide comfort. Small gestures do count--even in what seem like great and complex matters.

[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]

The Fifth Station

Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

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

Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

You are weak and wearied. Strangers and loved ones watch You struggle forward. The soldiers also watch intently. They see Your condition and worry that You might not live to reach the place of crucifixion. In the midst of the chaos, they grab a man from the crowd and thrust Your Cross upon his shoulder. In a matter of moments, Simon is forced from spectator to servant.

Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, there also will my

servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

John 12:26

With this servant at Your side, the journey continues.

This man beside me bears the weight for a time. Father, bless him in his service. While he did not willing choose this, he willingly accepted it. For a time, we share this Cross and together we are stronger.

We pray. Father, like Simon, we are often spectators to life. We see great need around us. We feel for those who are hungry, persecuted, lonely, and suffering. But are we just observers? Do we bow our heads and watch with sympathy, or do we force ourselves into action? It is not always an easy first step. Having good intentions is not enough. Help us Lord, to step from the safety of the crowd and willingly carry another's Cross for a time.

Amen.

Simon didn't choose his fate that day. Likewise, many times we do not choose those God puts in our path or the situations in which we meet them. But we do have a choice in the way we act, interact, and react with them. Will you open yourself to the people God puts in your life--those in need and those that need you? Will you treat every moment as if it could change someone's world?

[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]

The Fourth Stations

Jesus Meets His Mother

We adore You, O Christ and we praise You.

Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

A crowd forms. So many faces, so many strangers come to stare. Shouts and curses mingle with the sounds of sadness, sympathy, and fear. Together they rise in a vibration You feel to Your core. Amidst all this strangeness, You sense a quiet, familiar light.

As a mother comforts her son,

so will I comfort you;

in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.

(Is 66:13)

Your mother draws You with her eyes. You see her pain but know more deeply her love. For a moment, You are a child. She takes a bit of Your suffering and carries it on her heart as only a mother can.

I see my mother standing in this crowd. How I wish she could have been spared this. But she knows, more than anyone else, that I was meant to bear this Cross. Someday she will love it as I do. For she is more than just my mother, she is mother to all who seek You, Father. This Cross is weighted with their sins and sorrows. I carry its burden to set them free.

We pray. Dear God, how Mary's heart must have broken to see her only Son beaten, bloodied, and bearing the Cross. While no stranger to violence, she could never have imagined this reality. In spite of her pain, she stood among the crowd who mocked her only beloved child. She stood for Him, to give Him comfort and strength, peace and power. She stood for us, as a model of faith, loyalty, and unconditional love. Help us to stand beside her.

Amen.

The pain of watching one we love suffer is often greater than feeling pain ourselves. We cry out to God asking why us, and why them. It can seem so unjust. This station reminds us to look to Mary in our times of deepest pain and greatest struggle.

[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]

The Third Station

Jesus Falls for the First Time

We adore You, O Christ and we praise You.

Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Stumbling and falling are realities of life. Having the strength and courage to stand again is a choice.

Those whose steps are guided by the Lord,

Whose way God approves,

May stumble, but they will never fall

For the Lord holds their hand.

Ps. 37:23–24

The wounds on Your body are many. They have weakened You. The weight of the Cross bears down and Your legs betray You. The ground rises to meet You as You fall for the first time. How much You must ache: Your body and Your heart.

The road is long before me. Each step seems so small. Then without warning, I stumble and fall. Looking around, I see no one to help me. I feel the loneliness of Your children when they fall. I am filled with the pain they suffer from their shame and their sorrow. I understand what it is to feel alone. I understand why some find it hard to stand again. For them, I lift myself and walk on.

We pray. Dear Lord, at times we feel far from You. We are tried by temptation. We suffer illness and loss. We experience the pains of loneliness and depression. These are the moments when we stumble, and on occasion we fall. But in these times, like in all others, we are not really alone at all. You are waiting and watching over us. You are ready to hold our hand and help us to rise and walk again. We must only choose to call Your name.

Amen.

Falls come so unexpectedly. It's the shock that lingers in your memory. You're left feeling helpless, out of control, and totally alone. Now you know the world from a different perspective. Falling will forevermore be a possibility. But you can't live your life in fear of falling. You need to find a way to stand and walk again.

[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]

Happy April Fool's Day!

Did you ever wonder where all this April Fool's stuff came from? Here's a little history.

Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. It is not like Halloween, where despite an interesting history, most people just put on Halloween costumes, get candy, and leave it at that. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.

For more on April Fool's Day traditions, check out the link below.

[source: April Fool's Day--History, Tradition and Foolishness]

Now that you know the history, how about a real historical April Fool's Day prank.