THE NINTH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

Three. It’s just a number.

How easily we gloss over that number as we pray the stations: “Here comes the third fall … number three. We’re moving right along … getting nearer to the end.”

But for you, it was so much more than just a number. Your fall was real. You hit the cobblestones with nothing to break your fall. The cross on your shoulders slammed into the road and fell on top of you, crushing you. A new fall, new wounds, new pain.

How easily we count off the stations without really striving to share in your pain or considering how much they cost you.

And it’s not only in praying the stations that we count without considering the cost. How often do we hear things like:

“The war is now entering its third year.”

“Three billion people are suffering from famine and hunger.”

The cost in human tragedy and misery is staggering, but so often it doesn’t sink in. “Three … it’s just a number”. But you know differently, because “Whatsoever you do to the least of these little ones, you do to me.”

Help us to see and to understand. Help us to see how much our indifference costs you, to understand that suffering cannot be reduced to just a number, because “Whatsover you do to the least of these little ones, you do to me.”