Especially during Lent, the Church encourages us to practice an ancient devotion: the Stations of the Cross. There is nothing beautiful about the cross, nothing uplifting about the path of suffering. Every day we hear about tragedies unfolding, sometimes close to us, sometimes far away…
So why pray the Stations of the Cross? Why this kind of prayer? What meaning does it have?
Here are 7 reasons to pray the Stations of the Cross.
1. It makes us fix our gaze on Jesus
The Stations of the Cross lead us to retrace the final part of Jesus’ earthly journey. This path begins at the praetorium, where Jesus is condemned by Pilate, and ends on the hill of Golgotha, with his death on the cross for our salvation. At each of the 14 stations, we are led to fix our gaze on Jesus, to welcome his grace and learn to live through love, following his example. In this way, we too can do everything out of love, even the smallest and most ordinary things, because only love makes the simplest things extraordinary.
2. It reveals God’s limitless love for us
Through the stations of the Way of the Cross, we receive the powerful revelation of God’s love for us; a love that reaches its culmination on Christ’s cross. Here we find the clearest assurance that God loves us infinitely and will never abandon us: “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). Pope Francis also tells us: “In Christ’s cross is all of God’s love, his immense mercy… What does the Cross leave in each of us? See: it leaves a good that no one else can give us: the certainty of God’s faithful love for us” (cf. Stations of the Cross with Young People, World Youth Day, July 26, 2013).
3. It helps us understand that Jesus embraces our suffering
In the Stations of the Cross, Jesus suffers for us; he carries the sin of humanity, including ours, on his shoulders and forgives it through his love, a love that gives life. In this way, he enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to bear it; he enters into death to overcome it and save us. He is God with us, embracing our poor humanity and sharing fully in our misery, even to the death of the cross, so that no one may feel abandoned.
4. It helps us encounter Jesus through the Word of God
The Stations of the Cross lead us to contemplate the events of Jesus’ passion and death through the Word of God. Knowing Jesus is an adventure that lasts a lifetime, so it is essential to nourish our spiritual life with Sacred Scripture: through it, we come to know Christ. Saint Jerome reminds us: “When you pray, you speak to the Bridegroom. When you read Scripture, he speaks to you.” It is up to us to give him the opportunity to speak to us. Therefore, when we meditate on the Stations of the Cross, let us be guided by the Word of God, with the desire to meet Jesus, listen to him, and welcome him into our hearts and lives.
5. It urges us to choose Christ
By taking part in the Stations of the Cross, each person is asked to reaffirm their commitment to the Master. We must then go deeper and make a strong, courageous, definitive choice. The Stations of the Cross help us overcome lukewarmness, superficiality, and indecision, and, like the good thief, we can open ourselves to faith in Jesus; or we can remain at the foot of the cross, like the Mother and the disciple, and there welcome with them the Word that saves, the Blood that purifies, and the Spirit that gives life. We are invited to make a choice.
6. It inspires us to love
The Stations of the Cross enable us to draw from the heart of God, which “is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16), and remind us that we cannot love God unless we love our brothers and sisters: “Christ’s Cross also invites us to let ourselves be touched by this love; it teaches us to look always upon others with mercy and love, especially those who suffer, who need help, who are waiting for a word or a gesture” (Stations of the Cross with Young People, World Youth Day, July 26, 2013).
7. It points toward Easter and new life
The Stations of the Cross place us before the mystery of God’s love for us, filling us with hope and courage: hope, because in his plan even the darkest night opens onto the light of Easter; and courage, to face every adversity united with him. Pope Francis invites us: “Let us trust in Jesus, let us entrust ourselves to him, because he never disappoints anyone! Only in Christ, who died and rose again, do we find salvation and redemption” (cf. Stations of the Cross with Young People, World Youth Day, July 26, 2013).
The Stations of the Cross are a school of life that immerses us in the mystery of the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection, revealing his endless love to us. The Stations of the Cross, then, are a necessary exercise for training the heart to love.
The Lord invites all of us to set out along the way of the cross, especially during this season that prepares us for Easter. It is an important invitation because, through this journey, the Lord helps us grow in the most beautiful and important dimension of our being: love. Indeed, if we can embrace the importance of this journey step by step and discover the love that Jesus pours out in the Stations of the Cross, we will feel wrapped in that same “mad” love that led him to die on the cross. This will make us people ready to live our daily lives in imitation of Jesus.
Let us accept the Lord’s invitation and set out together along the way of the cross.
