The Second Station of the Cross
Jesus carries His Cross
We often hear the phrase “carry the cross” or “it’s my cross to bear” - as “the cross” has become a symbol for some form of suffering or pain to be endured.
Some might argue that this analogy is only apt if there is some kind of reward at the end of the suffering. Some tangible benefit.
“Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives.”
Pope Leo XIV, Message for Lent, 2026
What is the “center” of my schedule?
Do I build my days around work obligations? Around pickup or drop off for my children? Around my “to do list”?
What would it look like to place the mystery of God at the center of my schedule today?
A Mass Moment
Today at mass, before the Gospel, we will do something very simple. We’ve all done it a thousand times, often without thinking. It takes less than two seconds.
Listening for the Gospel - A small sign of the cross: on our forehead, on our lips, and on our heart.
Today, pick one of those to talk with God about. For example:
“A large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharasees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, ‘What do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’”
Normally I would have saved this one for April 15th, but alas, tax day does not fall during Lent this year. This Gospel makes me chuckle, because our disdain for taxes apparently stretches back millenia. But I digress…
Jesus’s message in today’s gospel is clear: Nobody is unwelcome at Christ’s table.
The First Station of the Cross
Jesus is Condemned to DeathMatthew 27:26
How absolutely awful does it feel to be accused of something you didn’t do? How angry does that make you?!
Some of the other 13 stations of the cross feel very far from our lived experience. I mean, who wears crowns of thorns anymore?
But this one you might be able to identify with. That feeling of “I didn’t do that! I would never do that!”, but somebody is convinced that you did.
Our sins are in the hands of God; those merciful hands, those hands 'wounded' by love. It was not by chance that Jesus willed to preserve the wounds in his hands to enable us to know and feel his mercy."
Homily of Pope Francis
Vatican Basilica, Altar of the Chair
Monday, 4 November 2013
Jesus's hands had wounds; ours do too.
Place yourself in the merciful hands of God.
If you need help holding something, ask the Lord to help.
‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6: 1, 5-6
Take this literally.
ISI welcomes the opportunity to journey alongside you during this Lenten season. We are grateful to share a series of short daily reflections curated by Mary Cathryn and Chris Ackels. Chris serves on the ISI Board, and together they offer this resource as a gift for prayer.
Below you will find what to expect and how to participate.
Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus draws near and asks a question. Not to test or correct, but to open the heart. His questions linger, inviting us to pause, to notice what we carry, and to listen more deeply for love. Jesus’ questions invite honesty, awaken desire, and draw us into deeper relationship.
Pathways to Freedom is an Ignatian series for those longing to pray more deeply, to tend the places that ache, and to discover the quiet, courageous work of forgiving. Rooted in the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, this series invites participants to notice how God is already at work in their lives—meeting them with mercy, truth, and a freedom that unfolds over time.
