Eucharistic Way of the Cross: Fifth Station

Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross

As Jesus struggles under the weight of the cross, the Roman soldiers press into service a man from the crowd, Simon from Cyrene, to help Jesus carry His burden. We might ask: Is Simon a disciple of Jesus? Had he ever laid eyes on the man before this moment? Was he simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? – Regardless of Simon’s worthiness and regardless of his status in life, he shares Jesus suffering and participates in His sacrifice. He was called out for this role it was given to him…as a burden…as a gift?

At Mass:

The priest invokes the words of consecration: “Take this, all of you, and eat: this is my body which will be given up for you.”

Saint Augustine used to tell Christian upon receiving the Eucharist at communion: “Receive what you are and become what you receive.” We are the “Body of Christ” and we receive His Body at Mass under the appearance of bread. We should see this as a call to better imitate Jesus in His suffering. We are called out from among the crowd to bear the cross. Simon of Cyrene bore the weight of the very cross that would be the instrument of our salvation. Simon, whether he knew it or not, was making Jesus’ sacrifice his own and so participated in the salvation of the world. Is the Mass any different?

When the priest declares that he holds in his hands the very Body of Jesus, like Simon of Cyrene, the priest places himself in Jesus’ role (in persona Christi), and bears up the weight of the cross with His own hands. We are called to make this sacrifice our own.

[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]

Eucharistic way of the Cross: Fourth Station

Jesus Meets His Mother

Along the way to Calvary, Mary waits to see her son. He is battered and bruised, yet it is He who comforts her. She must know that this is what He came to do. She raised Him from birth and prepared Him for this moment. Now she must let Him go to His Father and the way He must go is through the Cross. She has fulfilled her role faithfully.

At Mass:

The priest begins the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer. We might say that Mary is the “preface” to Jesus’ earthly Ministry. From Mary and her husband Joseph, Jesus learned the Jewish faith, which itself is the “preface” to our own Catholic heritage.

We might also note that the words spoken in the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer introduce the most solemn moment of the Mass – the consecration - just as Mary’s words spoken in the Magnificat set the stage for the Word-made-flesh – the Incarnation.

We end with a song of praise which we sing along with the angels: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might…” Likewise, Mary’s “yes” to God invoked songs of praise from the heavenly hosts as they sang out praises to God at Jesus’ birth.

As we sing the final notes of the Sanctus, we then kneel in humble reverence (much as we bow during the Creed upon speaking the words of the Incarnation (“…born of the Virgin Mary…”).

As the Eucharistic Prayer then begins the priest prays that the Holy Spirit come upon our gifts and make them holy that they might become Jesus’ Body and Blood. We recall that the Holy Spirit was once poured out upon Mary so that the Son of God might become Flesh and Blood and live among us.

With Mary’s role complete, and Jesus on His way to fulfilling His mission, we bid goodbye to His mother and travel on with her Son.

[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]

Eucharistic Way of the Cross: Third Station

Jesus Falls the First Time

Under the weight of the cross Jesus falls to the ground. Certainly there must have been crowds gathered who jeered and taunted Him as He struggled with His burden. They were there to ridicule a condemned man, but He died for them as well.

At Mass:

The Priest begins: “The Lord be with you.”

We reply, “And also with you.”

“Lift up your hearts.”

“We lift them up to the Lord.” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” “It is right to give him thanks and praise.”

Indeed it is right to give the Lord thanks and praise, when he suffered such humiliation and pain on our behalf. Like the crowd gathered there that day, we do not deserve His gift of grace.

During this part of the Eucharistic Prayer we remain standing, while at this Station Jesus has fallen to His knees. We are among the crowd gathered around Him standing over Him as He suffers. We must “lift up our hearts” so that we might lift up Jesus from the ground and help Him on His way. We must not be counted among those who scoffed and ridiculed. We must take seriously the words we speak at Mass and lift Jesus up in prayer.

[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]

Eucharistic Way of the Cross: Second Station

Jesus Receives His Cross

Having been condemned to die, Jesus is given His cross, which He will carry through the streets of Jerusalem and out of the city to the place of crucifixion. Having already been beaten severely, this journey will add to His pain and suffering. Jesus accepts the Cross as the sacrifice He must endure.

At Mass:

The priest declares: “Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”

And we reply: “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church.”

Just has Jesus accepted the Cross and offered it to the Father as a worthy sacrifice, we pray at each Mass that the bread and wine be acceptable to the Father in Heaven. Jesus’ death transformed the wood of the cross from an instrument of torture into the instrument of salvation. We pray that God might now transform simple food and drink into the same Body and Blood that once accepted the Cross.

[For an explanation of the series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]

Eucharistic Way of the Cross: First Station

Jesus is Condemned to Death

Jesus is brought forward in plain view of the assembled people and the crowd voices their desire that He be crucified. Pilate then washes his hands to symbolically cleanse himself of the guilt of Jesus’ death. Jesus is thus publically condemned and ordered to be crucified.

At Mass:

The bread and wine are brought forward in plain view of the people and the priest and people declare their desire that these gifts be transformed into Jesus’ Body and Blood.

“Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer…It will become for us the bread of life.”

“Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer…It will become our spiritual drink.”

The priest then washes his hands to symbolically cleanse himself in preparation for offering this sacrifice. Pilate’s act was a distortion of Truth and Justice; but the priest’s function at Mass is to proclaim Truth and Justice in the Holy Sacrifice of the altar.

[For an explanation of this series of meditations on the Way of the Cross see this Introduction.]

The Stations of the Cross and the Eucharist

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Jesus’ Passion and the Mass. Specifically I have been pondering the connection between the celebration of the Mass and the events of the Passion that are marked by the fourteen Stations of the Cross. As my own personal spiritual exercise I have noted some parallels between our Eucharistic celebration and the Traditional Stations as depicted in the artwork of most Catholic Churches. So to commemorate Lent this year I will post on this blog some reflections on the Stations of the Cross and how I see each related to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. But first I will offer a further explanation as a way of introducing what will follow…

As Catholics we believe that the Mass makes present to us here and now the sacrifice of Jesus which happened nearly 2000 years ago. At every Mass we are drawn into the Mystery of His Passion, death, and Resurrection as He is made physically present to us under the appearance of bread and wine. We are brought before the Cross where we behold the Lamb of God crucified for our sins. There is nothing that can compare to the Eucharistic Liturgy for Catholic spirituality – it is “the source and summit of our faith.”

Yet outside of Mass we can still be with our Lord in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. There we can ponder His sacrifice and behold His physical presence in silent contemplation. But even when adoration is not available to us there are other means of meditating on Jesus’ sacrifice outside of Mass. Chief among these is the Stations of the Cross usually found in every Catholic Church in the form of pictures or statues positioned around the outer walls so that the faithful may walk with Jesus from His trial through his agony and death until His removal from the cross and His burial. These stations transport us spiritually (although not sacramentally) to Jerusalem where we again stand before the cross and witness Jesus’ Passion and death.

Obviously the Eucharist and the Mass are infinitely more “real” than the Stations of the Cross, but the Stations do point to the reality of the Eucharist and so can be a useful tool in meditating of this deep mystery of our Catholic faith. It is altogether fitting that Catholic churches contain images of the fourteen Stations in the same place where the sacrifice of the Mass takes place. The Way of the Cross leads us to the altar of sacrifice and there we find the Eucharist. As we kneel at Mass watching the Liturgy unfold we can see around us these images of His Passion while we are taken up into the mystery ourselves. These holy images reflect the reality of the Eucharistic Presence.

With that in mind I have incorporated the Stations of the Cross into my own meditations on the Eucharist as a way to visualize Jesus’ sacrifice while the Eucharistic prayer unfolds. Beginning with the preparation of the gifts and through to the reposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle I mark each moment with a different Station and see the Passion unfold in the words and actions on the altar. Admittedly this requires a little imagination to make each Station fit what is laid out in the Liturgy, but it works surprisingly well. In following posts I will reflect on each Station and how I see the Liturgy reflected in these events.

Begining Lent with a Hot Cup of Coffee

Some time in the late 1500s coffee was introduced into Europe from Arabia. Since this beverage was so closely associated with the Muslim “infidels” in whose land the coffee bean was first cultivated, many Christians wished to ban coffee from the continent as the drink of the devil. To settle the matter the issue was brought before Pope Clement VIII, who refused to issue a ban until he had first sampled some of the brew himself. Upon taking a drink he is reported to have said, “This Satan's drink is delicious...it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it.” And so from that moment on Catholics were free to partake of coffee…and the rest is history.

This Lent I am giving up coffee as my personal sacrifice these forty days. Not that coffee is a bad thing - as Pope Clement announced centuries ago, coffee has been officially “baptized” (according to the legendary tale above), and so we need not avoid the drink as a matter of moral living. Catholics are allowed to enjoy the pleasures of this life and indulge in some of the finer things such as coffee or chocolates or whatever luxury suits your taste. It is not that we must give up something “bad” for Lent (like smoking or excessive drinking – although these are certainly good things to give up all year long), rather we give up something that is good and pleasurable (like coffee and chocolates) so that we can free ourselves from the pleasures of this life and so we are not enslaved by our physical/earthly desires.

This Tuesday – which was Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday” – our family indulged in a large dinner that included favorite foods in large quantities. We finished it off with candy for the kids, which was a special treat since we are removing all candy during Lent. And we stayed up late doing nothing but sitting around being lazy. It was our own Mardi Gras celebration.

I used to dislike Mardi Gras. I thought it was an overindulgence that crossed over into outright sin and gluttony, and mocked the true meaning of Lent and Ash Wednesday. Sadly, many secular celebrations of this Tuesday are just that – a mockery of everything for which Catholicism stands. Yet I now see that it is possible to salvage something pure from this cultural wreckage. That is, if we remember the words of Clement VIII about his coffee. “It would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it.”

I had one last cup of coffee yesterday afternoon before feasting with my family…not because I wanted to see how much “sinning” I could do before the pious days of Lent, but rather to indulge in the goodness of God’s bounty before cutting myself off from earthly desires. My family’s Mardi Gras celebration was anything but sinful – it included a ceremonial burning of blessed palms from last year to make our own ashes – but it was fun, and there is no sin in that.

Lent can be more sacred if we use Mardi Gras and the days leading up to Ash Wednesday to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” The sacrifice becomes even starker after our joyous celebration, as we don our ashes and remember that we are dust.