"I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you say."
Those words, some of the very few that Mary speaks in Scripture, set in motion the process of our redemption.
Those words also opened for Mary a life which she could never have imagined, one which must have certainly been blest with
happiness, as well as great sorrow. Simeon told Mary at the very beginning of her Child's life that "a sword
of sorrow" would pierce her heart. With so little written about Mary in Scripture, one can only wonder about
these joys and sorrows. What was it like for the one person who was perhaps closer to Jesus than anyone else as she
daily came to understand her Son's life? What can we learn from her experience of this process of redemption?
Mary's Way of the Cross attempts to enkindle within the participant a sense of both prayerful repentance
and grateful redemption as it lets him or her walk Jesus' last steps with His Mother. To feel with her the
"sword of sorrow," the confusion, the feelings of helplessness, as well as her ever-present faith, will hopefully
lead the reader to a personal experience of redemption, one which may bring about conversion where it is needed.
Hence, the second part of each station is designed to point out a practical way of rooting out of one's life those
areas which one has not yet allowed redemption to touch.
Mary stood by her Son throughout His passion and, in her faith, experienced the joy of His resurrection.
Mary's Way of the Cross allows the 21st century Christian to do the same in
hope that he or she will, with Mary's assistance, deepen his or her faith and allow Jesus to rise once more in
his or her life. |
