The Third Station of the Cross: Jesus Falls the First Time. Jesus carried a heavy cross, he had upon his shoulders a cumbersome burden. What was Jesus' cross to bear? On one level, it was the physical beams that he was forced to carry to his death. On a deeper level, the cross Jesus bore was sin. Not his sin, but ours. That sin that Jesus carried on his back was so heavy that it caused him to fall, not once, not twice, but three times. He was literally crushed with the weight of our sins. Stop and think about that for a moment. He fell down, exhausted and weak from carrying our sins. It makes you want to think twice before giving into the temptation to sin.
I mentioned in an earlier post that we all carry crosses. We all have burdens to bear that we cannot avoid. We also pick up extra crosses in our lives. These extra crosses that we carry are ones that can be avoided. They are similar to the cross that Christ bore, but it is our own sin that burdens us. These extra crosses that we pick up make it much more difficult to continue on our journey. We, too, fall down like Christ did. We fall down from the weight of our own sin, and the more we sin the harder it is to get back up after we fall.
It doesn't have to be this way. Our crosses can be made lighter. We can make our crosses lighter by avoiding temptation and sin. And when we do fall down (and we all fall down) we need to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Regular reception of this wonderful Sacrament will not remove our crosses but it will lighten the load.
We here in the Diocese of St. Petersburg have a wonderful opportunity this Thursday, March 11, 2010. At every parish in the diocese the "Light Will Be On For You". From 5 PM to 8 PM priests will be available at every parish for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If it's been a while, here is a Short Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The Diocese of St. Petersburg is getting the word out. Here is a clip from a television ad campaign they are running in the Tampa Bay market.
If you have not received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a while, then go. Do something for yourself. Lighten your burden. If you are outside the Diocese of St. Petersburg, call a parish near you and find out when they offer the sacrament.
After Jesus fell down, he picked himself back up. We need to do the same by receiving this beautiful sacrament.