Catholics, Lent, the 14 Stations of the Cross and More...

Many of you know that Mardi Gras was last weekend, fat Tuesday (or fasnacht day if you are from the north) was Tuesday and Ash Wednesday was, obviously, Wednesday, but do you know the significance of those day? I didn’t fully understand it until last Thursday night. I was sitting in on dad’s class and we talked about those three events (Mardi Gras, fat Tuesday, ash Wednesday), the 14 Stations of the Cross and the movie The Passion of the Christ. At first glance these topics may not appear to have anything in common, but when you look closer you begin to see they share one big commonality; Catholicism.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, the 40 days before Easter when a Catholic gives up something they like, tv, candy, movies, soda etc. This is to emulate what Christ did in the gospels, when he went without food for 40 days. Mardi Gras was instituted because it was the last time a Catholic could drink or party before his 40 day “fast.” It ended on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, Catholics go to church and have ashes placed on their forehead, signifying the beginning of Lent. On interesting note, these ashes are from the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday.

So, where do the 14 Stations of the Cross fit in? A catholic will go through the 12 stations as many times as he can during the next 40 days. It is to help them remember what Christ went through in the hours before his crucifixion. It is a very holy time for the Catholics. In case you aren’t aware, let me give you the 14 stations:

1) Jesus is condemned to death
2) Jesus is given his cross
3) Jesus falls the first time
4) Jesus meets his mother
5) Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6) Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7) Jesus falls the second time
8) Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9) Jesus falls the third time
10) Jesus is stripped of his garments
11) Jesus is nailed to the cross
12) Jesus dies on the cross
13) Jesus’ body is taken down
14) Jesus is laid in the tomb.

If you are a Protestant Christian, the first thing you notice is the absence of the resurrection. While Protestants puts the emphasis of our faith on the resurrection, Catholics put their emphasis on the cross. Obviously, Protestants understand the necessity of the cross, but without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. Catholics believe Jesus was raised from the dead, but look at it as an obviously byproduct of him being God. They’ll say “of course he rose from the dead, he was God!” That right there is the major difference between Catholics and Protestants. (Another major difference is works based faith vs. grace based faith, but that’s a whole different blog post).

Now, for the third topic, the Passion of the Christ. You probably know that this movie was made by Mel Gibson, but did you know that he is a very strong Catholic? This movie is steeped in Catholicism. It goes through the 14 Stations of the Cross, and also the unofficial 15th station, the resurrection. The resurrection isn't included in the Stations of the Cross because that is not the emphasis for Catholics. The emphasis is on his death, not his resurrection. The catholic faith hinges on John 15:13 which says: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus accomplished the greatest “work” someone can do; laying his life down for his friends. If you have not seen the Passion of the Christ, I highly recommend it. First, it gives an almost accurate depiction of what Christ went through before his crucifixion. Second, it gives you a deeper understanding into the Catholic faith and can be an amazing witnessing tool when talking to a Catholic, or anyone for that matter

These next 40 days are a very sacred time for the Catholics and I hope I’ve been able to give you some insight into something that you may not have known a lot about. I certainly didn’t realize how important this time was, nor did I know the significance of the 14 Stations of the Cross in relation to Lent. I had heard about the two, but didn't realize how intertwined they were.