"Good" Friday - Stations of the Cross

Reflection by Sean

Today we started off the day slow. We had a chance to sleep in this morning to give people a chance to rest for the journey to the air field tomorrow. People had the opportunity to eat anytime from 7:30-10:30, but some people had never come down at all from our group. From this sleep in we had a mass downstairs in the hotel itself from a priest from the Boston archdiocese. It went for half an hour with it ending at 12:30.

Afterwards we went to see models of the stations of the cross. We got to walk the path in which the actual stations would be done later. These stations of the cross were not similar to ours at St. George. They were models of the stations that were in three dimensions, being a good fifteen or so feet from the ground up. It made a beautiful display. During the time in which we walked the path, we did a modern prayer of "The Way of the Cross." We said prayers for those specified for each station, as well as all of you at our parish.

We then stayed until the actual stations of the cross were put on by performers. We hadn't had lunch before we went, so Jeremy, my dad, and I went to grabbed 12 lunches at a restaurant in which we had eaten before, V.I.P.S. The lunch consisted of sandwiches, pasta salad, an apple, and our much needed water to beat the heat.

Our location had been selected under some nice shady trees which gave plenty of space for all. Our neighbors consisted of the Philipines, the UK, and some South American countries. We had some very nice conversations with them, which consisted of a variety of topics. A few of us even traded items with them!

The stations of the Cross started, and we all had a good opportunity to see the Pope from our seats. Joanne and I walked a little closer and got a good picture of the Pope, as well as the stations. It was different than the last time in Sydney. At each station there were people elevating a cross who were persecuted as Christ. It brought sadness to my eyes when seeing through their eyes how life is. The cross is a burden to us all, yet we always get up and walk on. Life is about getting up, like Jesus did when he fell those three times. We all go down this journey at some period in our life. But, in the end we make things better. Jesus had sacrificed himself willingly, going through his pain and humilation for you, so you have his blessing always on your shoulder there. Always remember what he did for you. May you all be blessed for that. Amen!