April 4: The Stations of the Cross

Each Friday during this holy season, we have been gathering to pray the Stations of the Cross. In fact, our school children have prayed them, we have prayed them in English at 5:30pm, and we have prayed the Vía Crucis in Spanish at 7pm. The latter two will be prayed again this evening.

One of the meditations we have been sharing is this: Jesus is condemned to death by Pilate. We have dared to ask, is this the world’s cynical and expedient “justice?” Is it the justice of bottom lines on spread sheets and “collateral damage” in bombing campaigns? Is it the justice of cutbacks and lay-offs, of sweatshops and sex trafficking? Worldly justice thinks not with a heart for persons, but with a cold logic for profit, and power.

Pilate knew the world’s justice and its power. He tried to wash away his guilt in the bowl of "worldly reasonableness" and the status quo. “Behold the man!” he sneered. Behold Him with worldly eyes and see (supposedly) what a human person is: a cog in the machine of a great empire, an inconvenience to be thrown away, and a disposable object in the movement of capital and in the development of the empire.

“Behold the man!” Yes, Jesus is the Man who stood before Pilate and who revealed what humanity truly is. Jesus is the one who stands with those discarded by a heartless world and He stands with those who are denied real justice. He shines forth with a dignity and holiness before which the rulers of this world fall silent.

In the waters of Baptism, perhaps with the water from a bowl, it was the Lord’s true and lasting justice that washed us clean. Let us attune our eyes to see Him, standing dismissed by our world, so that when we see others, those with whom He stands, we will see Him.