I wonder if you have ever suffered a devastating blow in your life – lost a child, lost a sibling, a parent or your spouse? Have you suffered from a debilitating illness which left you uncertain whether it was better to live or to die? Have you ever suffered from depression? These are just a few situations where our Faith can be put to the test.
Many years ago, I was in charge of a very important and stressful operation running a major crude oil pipeline in Alaska with 500 people working for me and a multi-million-dollar budget. All was going well and I was on top of the world. Then one day, out of the blue, I was told I was fired. Yes, fired for no other reason than my bosses did not like that I had disagreed with an order that I felt was neither best nor safe for the organization – therefore I was the wrong person for that job. My first reaction was not anger, but disbelief and concern for my future and the future of my family.
I gathered up my things and rushed downtown to where my wife was working. She too was shocked but she comforted me and assured me of her love, and the certainty that God was with us. Very soon we found ourselves in our church at prayer.
Over time with support from family and friends and with the deeply felt presence of God, things recovered and we survived the ordeal. I found a new job which led to even better opportunities and brought me new hope and deeper faith. Looking back, I realize that I was very depressed for many months and actually annoyed that the company thought they had softened the blow by offering financial and psychological help that was really worthless. My faith in the Lord was what carried me those days and nights.
This station, number 7, is traditionally where Jesus falls for the second time. It does not appear in the Gospels but has traditionally been observed as a mark of the despair and desolation that humans can experience and demonstrates the heavy weight, sometimes almost unbearable, that we can feel upon our shoulders at such a time. Even surrounded by family and friends, as Jesus was, this weight is more than we can bear. How much more so must it have been for Him knowing that He was to suffer crucifixion and carry on His shoulders the weight of all the sin of mankind. He had probably been flogged. He had been stripped of clothing and humiliated, then forcibly dressed again and forced to march to His death carrying His own cross. This was physical agony on top of mental anguish of a degree that we cannot begin to imagine.
Let us pray:
We adore you O Christ and we bless you, because by your death and resurrection you have redeemed this world. We love you for you compassion and your faithfulness to us sinners. We pray in your name – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
-Ron Merrett