Lenten Comics day 1: Ash Wednesday

INTRODUCTION

This season of Lent, I am contemplating the stations of the cross. The stations of the cross is a Catholic prayer practice of meditating on the Passion of the Christ.

There are 14 stations. Each station is a space to meditate on a particular moment of Jesus’ journey to the cross. There are 7 weeks of Lent. I will be focusing on two stations per week. This will include a depiction of the event, as well as a contemplation of Jesus’ response to what is happening.

“The Passion asks us to find Jesus in the midst of loneliness, heartache, pain, and exhaustion as they occur in our own lives… In modern times, with terrorism, racial strife, and police shootings seemingly all around us, how are we to find God in the midst of all this chaos, anger, and sadness?”

-Gary Jansen

HISTORY

Originally, Christians would travel to Jerusalem to practice this devotion. The spread of Christianity throughout Europe made it difficult for large numbers of poorer Christians to make the journey. The Crusades made it unsafe to visit the city. This led to a local practice with art or sculptures representing each of Jesus’ last moments leading to the cross. I was fortunate enough to pray through the stations depicted along a walking trail at the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House while visiting for a prayer retreat in 2018.

There are traditional stations including moments not depicted in the Gospels. In 1991, Pope John Paul II proposed a new list of events depicted in the Gospels. If you are familiar with Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ (2004), then you might note that the movie follows both the traditional and scriptural stations of the cross. Not coming from a Catholic background, that was my introduction to the practice.

Although I find the traditional stations to be quite beautiful and meaningful, I have decided to contemplate the scriptural stations for the sake of the inclusion of Christians who struggle with Catholicism. You’re welcome.

STATION ONE

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’”

-Matthew 26: 36-39 (NRSV)

Grieved.

Agitated.

Jesus prays.