Way of the Cross

This year’s meditations of the Way of the Cross are written by ACN team members and esteemed project partners from countries where Christians face severe trials and suffering. Among them are missionaries, who, often far from their home countries, bring the Good News of Christ to the suffering. Mission is not optional. It is the lifeblood of the Church—and it depends on the generosity of those who make it possible. This is something that Pope Leo XIV knows very well, having served as a missionary bishop in Peru for many years.

Lord Jesus, through your cross we understand the sacrifice you made for us. We consecrate and offer up this time to you. We want to spend it at your side, praying as you did from Gethsemani to Calvary.

Lord, you prepared for every day of your life with prayer, and now, in Gethsemane, you prepare for your Passover. Abba, Father, for you all things are possible, you say, for prayer is before all else dialogue and intimacy, yet at the same time struggle and supplication: Remove this cup from me! Prayer too is entrustment and offering: Yet not what I want, but what you want. In your prayer, you passed through the narrow door of our human suffering and experienced it fully. You were “distressed and agitated” (Mk 14:33), fearful in the face of death, crushed beneath the burden of our sin, and oppressed by untold grief. Yet in the midst of this struggle, you prayed “more earnestly” (Lk 22:44), and in this way turned your bitter anguish into a sacrifice of love.

Of us, you asked only one thing: to remain with you and to keep awake. You did not ask something impossible, but simply closeness. How many times, though, have I strayed far from you! How many times, like the disciples, rather than keeping awake, have I instead fallen asleep! How many times have I failed to find the time or the desire to pray, whether from weariness, distraction, or dullness of mind and heart! Lord Jesus, say once more to me and to us, your Church: “Get up and pray” (Lk 22:46). Rouse us, Lord! Awaken our hearts from their lethargy, for today too – today above all – you count on our prayer.

(Pope Francis’ Way of the Cross in the Colosseum, 2024)