SEEING CHRIST IN CONTEMPORARY'S SUFFERING: 

Have you ever seen, at this time of year, people in procession following a cross on a Friday and wondered: what are they doing? Or have you ever left the house on a Friday during Lent to pray the Way of the Cross? Millions of Catholics around the world use this resource to re-enact the moments that precede the definitive sacrifice of love for the salvation of humanity: Jesus Christ who offered himself on the cross to reconcile us with each other and with God, and to open the doors to eternal life for us, through his passion, death and resurrection. 

This devotional practice invites the participants to mentally walk the path of Jesus to Calvary, meditating on his sufferings and his total surrender out of love for humanity. But this article invites you to take this traditional gesture one step further: to look at those who suffer and see Christ, The Poor One, suffering in humanity today. How's that?
 
The Way of the Cross is a devotion dating back to the early days of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful mentally walk the path of Christ's Passion, from Pilate's Praetorium to Mount Calvary. Originating in the tradition of venerating the sacred places related to Jesus' life and death in the Holy Land, it was gradually structured over the centuries into stages or stations, culminating in the 14 stations we know today.

 
This practice during Lent is a tool for spiritual meditation, drawing each of us closer to Jesus. Looking at Christ's sufferings, we can see the extent to which each of us is loved, see our daily challenges in perspective, but also know that this love invites us to see the people who are suffering the most at this time around the world, also deeply loved people with whom we are invited to unite.
 
In current times, marked by various forms of human suffering, the Way of the Cross is a key to reading and a spiritual tool for uniting with those suffering near and far from each one of us. Pope Francis, in the celebration of the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum in 2023, highlighted the importance of relating the sufferings of Christ to the sufferings of the contemporary world, as we can read in this link.
https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2023/documents/ns_lit_doc_20230407_via-crucis-meditazioni_en.html
He invited the faithful to contemplate not only Jesus' physical pain but also the pain present in the hearts and daily lives of those who suffer injustice, violence, poverty and marginalization.
 
In this context, the Way of the Cross becomes an invitation to solidarity and compassion, encouraging Christians to take on an active commitment in the search for justice, peace and dignity for all human beings. It is a call for the faithful to engage in building a more just and fraternal world, being inspired by Jesus' example of love and sacrifice.
 
As we walk in Christ's footsteps on the Way of the Cross, we are challenged to look beyond our pain and worries and to extend our compassion to those who suffer the most all over. May we, like Jesus, offer our lives in service to others, making the way of the cross a path of hope and renewal for all humanity.