Fifth Monday of Lent: Shifting Towards the Cross
Stations of the Cross in a powerful, video format. + Francis X. vs. Nicky Z. + #6: "Be Wary of Paramilitaries" + "Carlos is Crying" & "Cattle and the Creeping Things" by The Hold Steady
We’ve travelled thus far across 32 days of Lent together as Planetary Pilgrims. With the action told in the liturgical gospel proclaimed by the Episcopal Church on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, our focus shifts to the Way of the Cross.
All 8.2 billion of us living Earthlings are Planetary Pilgrims as we travel through space and time together on this “third rock from the sun.” The identifier PlanPilg is a recognition of our collective journey which unites all of us. As such, we strive to pay attention to this reality by noting the daily time of sunrise and sunset; being aware of the current phase of the moon; honoring the changes of the plants, trees and other creatures - and many more acts of planetary mindfulness.
We are all Planetary Pilgrims and many of us also follow a “way,” “rule,” or “path” which guides our ethics, morals, actions, relationship and overall mindset. It can be the Way of the Buddha. The Way of The Twelve Steps. The Way of Judaism. The Way of Islam. And many other respected, time-tested, comprehensive “ways” of life.
Across Lent, I’ve added elements, “wavelengths” in my post to hopefully appeal to all PlanPilg(s) regardless of the “way” they follow. The excerpts from The Miraculous from the Material (2024) by Alan Lightman and Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet (2024) by Hannah Ritchie are geared for this purpose. The Prism of Statistics: Harper’s Index also serves this purpose.
As one who walks The Way of Christ, this final fortnight of Lent holds a focus on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the condemnation he will receive there at the hands of the political and religious leaders.
To reflect this shift to The Way of the Cross, starting today I’m placing a new feature at the beginning of each post. I’m retaining a few of the “wavelengths” as I believe there’s an urgent timeliness to these. And the song at the end will have a connection to the videos/images at the beginning. Here goes the shift:
The Way or Stations of the Cross is a devotional practice dating back to pilgrimages to Jerusalem undertaken by followers of Christ beginning in the 13th century. The fourteen stations, presented one or two each day, are created by Busted Halo. Photos on the accompanying slides were taken by me at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in northern New Mexico.
Please see the SING section below for two songs with themes connecting to Stations I and II.
VIOLET (#99149B)
My photo for the InstaLent Challenge from Busted Halo.
It’s been a few days since I shared photos connected to the daily theme. Here’s some catching up:
Saturday was #Coin(s):
While not a coin in a typical sense, 12 Step focused medallions are “coin-like.”
Sunday was #Parish:
Monday is #Candle(s)
INDIGO (#590A99)
Update on the brackets from Lent Madness. Since we last checked in on the “tourney,” Verena defeated Lucy to move into the Elate 8 against Elizabeth of Hungary (this Thursday.)
Today is the last of the Saintly 16 match-ups. It’s Francis Xavier vs. Nicolaus Zinzendorf
GREEN (Forest - #19A50C)
Dr. Martin Luther King: On Love (2024)
We must come to see that life is a pendulum swinging between two opposites—a pendulum swinging between disappointment and fulfillment, between success and failure, between joy and sorrow.
And that’s life. And we never mask the life, and we think that life must be only joyous and happy and that we must live in terms of fulfillment. Disappointment is just as much a part of life as fulfillment. Failure is just as much a part of life as success, sorrow as much a part of life as joy.
That is the thing that religion helps us to see. That is the greatness of Jesus.
And He goes one day out, standing amid the Good Friday’s light. He knows that Good Friday much as a part, is as much a part of life as Easter, and life somehow is a pendulum swinging between Good Friday and Easter, swinging between agony and triumph, swinging between darkness and light.
And he who learns that has learned the lesson of life; so that he doesn’t break down when he faces the other side of the pendulum. When the bitter moment of life come, he doesn’t break down, nor does he get overjoyous when the sweet moment of life come because he knows that this is the endless trend of life. (page 34)
The Ascent of the Mountain of God (1995) by Edward Hayes
This is the thirty-third day of the ascent, six days more will bring us to the high ridge of Holy Week. As we ascend the Mount of Olives, we face a fear of all climbers: an avalanche of rocks and stones. Like Paul, let us give no thought to what lies behind us, and even with the fear of an avalanche, let us push onward as our expedition ascends this holy mount…
However, just as young Daniel and Jesus were answers to an afflicted person’s prayer, you can be one too. Let the words of this prayer be your intention on this Lenten Day:
Make me, O God, an answer to another’s prayer, Inspire me to act, being willing to turn on a dime, to respond to someone in need, so that even unknowingly, I may become an answer to the person’s prayer to you.
Keep me alert for all possible deeds of kindness.
While hardly an angel, by my Lenten alertness may I become your angel of compassion and care.
I rejoice in the great honor of that vocation to be your response to another’s cry for help. Grant me the grace to be the answer to a prayer. (page 86)
RED [ALERT] (Cadmium - #FF2849)
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the 21st Century (link to video). On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the 21st Century (2017) (link to book) by Timothy Snyder
Writing in 2017, Snyder notes, but doesn’t name candidate Donald Trump:
What was novel in 2016 was a candidate who ordered a private security detail to clear opponents from rallies and encouraged the audience itself to remove people who expressed different opinions….
The candidate interjected: “Isn’t this more fun than a regular boring rally? To me, it’s fun.” This kind of mob violence was meant to transform the political atmosphere, and it did.
When that candidate lost the next election, he tried to falsify its results while his followers attacked our Capitol. Had that coup succeeded, our constitutional system would be no more. (page 44)
[From Newsweek, 1/21/25]
Music for The Way of the Cross:
The Hold Steady, fronted by Craig Finn, who is steeped in the “catholic imagination,” are beloved by fans for songs which tell stories of struggle, addiction, and hardship. Finn’s song characters show resilience, hope, and often conversion in the midst of difficulty. Music and lyrics will be paired with the theme of each “station” of the cross. These songs will be included on a special Spotify playlist.
Now Carlos starts crying
And we're all kind of frightened
Every single person at the table stops talking
And he's sobbing and shaking
And yeah, we've been drinking
But it's different for boys
He said how did this happen?
It feels like we're drifting
Are you sure we're even asking all the pertinent questions?Carlos is crying
Because he didn't tell his girlfriend
That he stopped showing up at his job in the morning
And it's been a few weeks
And he knows it's not sweet
And he's sobbing and shaking
And all I can say is
I love you
I feel you
I know that you're hurting…
While Carlos may feel life is “condemning” him to despair, he has friends like the narrator/singer who walk with him through his hardship.
I guess I heard about original sin, I heard the dude blamed the chick, I heard the chick blamed the snake
I heard they were naked when they got busted and I heard things ain't been the same since
You on the streets with a tendency to preach to the choir, wired for sound and down with whatever…She's got a cross around her neck that she ripped off from a schoolgirl in the subway on a visit to the city
She likes how it looks on her chest with three open buttons
She likes the part where one brother kills the other, she has to wonder if the world ever will recover
'Cause Cain and Abel seem to still be causing trouble.
It’s an orthodox belief in traditional Christianity that Jesus died on the cross as a remedy for human sinfulness which entered into the world as “original sin.” In the second “station,” Jesus begins his journey to this important moment in salvation history, by picking up the cross which will be the instrument of his execution.
As Planetary Pilgrims, we are invited to be aware of where our earth is in its annual trek around the sun as well as where our moon - Luna - is in its 28 day cycle around Earth.
So, as of this writing (12:15 on Sunday):
The Summer Solstice arrives (6/20/25, 10:41pm) where I live in 74 days, 22 hours, 25 minutes
Luna is in the waxing gibbous phase or 71% of full. It’s 8 days and 17 hours old (the time since the last new moon) Click HERE to see what the moon looks like at this phase.
Blessing + Good. Be well. Rick