“To make an analogy, if I can cry over Pickett’s Charge, or Stonewall Jackson’s death, every time I read about it, surely I can participate with some personal involvement in the Passion of Christ!”
I can understand that. To stand on Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg, and see that long distance that the brave men in gray had to travel under gunfire, shot, and shell will make any man or woman with a heart weep........
And then we can think about the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg, when the ancient Union soldiers lined up behind the stone wall, while the geriatric Confederate survivors tottered up the field ... and before they’d gone 100 yards, the Union veterans climbed over the wall and met them halfway and hugged them, and they all cried because they were alive and their friends had died.
(’Scuse me while I blow my nose ...)
To get back to the thread topic :-), we can use these examples in our experiences of Holy Week, if we get out the Gospels, or use Stations of the Cross meditations, as the article suggests. Most of us can’t be in the Holy Land, but a little imagination goes a long way.
When we attended the parish at the University of Oklahoma, the parishioners would do the Stations of the Cross on the university campus. Students would take turns carrying the cross, and the whole group would walk probably two miles during the course of the devotion. April can be pretty hot in Oklahoma, and it was tiring, especially if you were pregnant and pushing a stroller.
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My family visited Gettysburg when I was 13 or 14. It was incredibly moving. Mr. T. and I plan to visit some time in the next few years.