

        <cite>SPEAKER_00</cite>
      <time>0:00</time>
      <p>
          The National Catholic Broadcasting Council presents Let Us Reflect Together. 40 Days of Lent Retreat From the Cross to Hope. Day 36, The Way of the Cross, Stations 5, 6, 7, 8. Strength along the way with the late Father Pat Fitzpatrick.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_02</cite>
      <time>0:26</time>
      <p>
          The Fifth Station. Simon helps Jesus carry the cross. The soldiers seized a man, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the country. They made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_03</cite>
      <time>0:44</time>
      <p>
          All his friends had taken off. He carried his cross unaided. A stranger from North Africa was in Jerusalem that faithful Friday. The Roman soldiers ordered him to get in line behind the criminal. Step by step, Simon the North African, matched his stride to Jesus&#39;s painful progress. From here to Calvary, Jesus had a partner. Did Simon know whose cross he carried? We thank the Simons in our lives, those who walk with us and enable us to keep going. We are grateful for their helping hands and listening ears, for shoulders to lean on. This is the cup the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_01</cite>
      <time>1:54</time>
      <p>
          Who would not give consolation in this mother&#39;s desolation as he breathed his dying breath?
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_02</cite>
      <time>2:13</time>
      <p>
          The sixth station. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Tradition holds that Veronica, one of the holy women who accompanied our Lord to Calvary, was moved by his suffering and offered him a towel to wipe the sweat and blood from his face. When Jesus handed the cloth back to her, the image of his face remained imprinted on it.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_03</cite>
      <time>2:41</time>
      <p>
          A woman in the crowd saw him coming down the road. As he drew near, she noticed how weary, marred, and disfigured he was. Undaunted by what others thought, she removed her veil, approached him, and gently wiped his grimy face. The legend says, her veil retained the image of the face it touched. Did his mind go back to Simon the Pharisee&#39;s house, and the woman who very publicly stood behind him weeping, and bathed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, continued kissing his feet and anointing them. At critical moments is it always women who show the most courage? This is the cup the Father has given me. Shall I not drink it?
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_01</cite>
      <time>3:53</time>
      <p>
          Mary&#39;s heart for him is bleeding in his blood for sinners pleading. God&#39;s new love is sealed.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_02</cite>
      <time>4:14</time>
      <p>
          Jesus falls the second time. Struggling, Jesus stumbles again, and we recall the prophet Isaiah telling us that the Lord will be despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmities, as one from whom others hide their face, he was despised. And we held him in no account.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_03</cite>
      <time>4:45</time>
      <p>
          Too heavy a load, too long a journey. With each succeeding step, the wooden beam got heavier and heavier. Legs and arms ached. Once more the beam began to sway, and once again he pitched forward and downward. The Roman whips, the rough commands, the heavy effort to get up. So many people have difficulty putting one foot in front of the other. How far more, O Lord, how far more. One step at a time. More than halfway there now. This is the cup the Father has given me. Shall I not drink it?
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_01</cite>
      <time>5:54</time>
      <p>
          It is done. She hears him crying at the moment of his dying. Death by death has now been healed.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_02</cite>
      <time>6:15</time>
      <p>
          The eighth station. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem. Jesus turned to them and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_03</cite>
      <time>6:34</time>
      <p>
          The women had compassion for the condemned man. Their hearts went out to him, knowing what awaited him at the end of the road. Was he warning them not to be part of this Jerusalem way of doing things? How many women stand outside lonely prison walls in solidarity with the condemned, denied a say in the public life of their country, victims of injustice, sidelined by the system. This is the cup the Father has given me. Shall I not drink it?
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_01</cite>
      <time>7:28</time>
      <p>
          Let me stand beside you, sharing grief for Jesus, my sins buried on the cross of Calvary.
      </p>

        <cite>SPEAKER_00</cite>
      <time>7:47</time>
      <p>
          Join us tomorrow for Day 37, the Way of the Cross, Stations 9, 10, 11, Love Poured Out, with the late Father Pat Fitzpatrick. For more information, please email us at info at ncbc.ca, visit our website at daily tvmass.com, or call our office toll-free at one eight eight eight-three eight three six two seven seven seven seven seven seven seven.
      </p>