This document is a reflection on the 14 Stations of the Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each station is summarized with references to how Jesus' suffering relates to those impacted by the virus. Key points include: Jesus accepting our suffering to walk with us; accepting social distancing to trust scientists; and reaching out to others. Healthcare workers find themselves in the midst of the crisis with insufficient resources. After the crisis, there will be many grieving and depression due to losses. We must support those in grief and prevent suicides. In the end, we will no longer jeer at warnings and must care for those in need.

1. By
Rev. Cornelius T. McQuillan,C.S.Sp., Psy.D

2. Way of the Cross
During a Pandemic
© 2020 by Cornelius T. Mc Quillan
Edited by Daniel Abba, C.S.Sp., MA

3. Way of the Cross
During a Pandemic
 Begin by making the sign of the cross.
 Make an act of Contrition.
 After reading the title of each Station say:
 “We adore you Oh Christ and praise you for by your
cross you have redeemed the world.”
 After each station pray the Lord´s Prayer, a Hail Mary
and Glory be.

4. First Station
Jesus Is Condemned to Death
 Jesus, although completely innocent, was condemned
to death because of our disobedience to God.
 Many will succumb to the corona virus through no
fault of their own.
 Many have died and will die because they choose to
help those already suffering from this disease.
 Others will contract this virus out of ignorance.
 Many have caused the death of others by their laxity.

5. Jesus accepted suffering in order to walk with us in every human
experience save sin.
We accept the inconveniences, interruptions and anxiety by altering
our life style because we trust medical scientist who insist that our
only weapon is social distance.
We accept the opportunity by creatively finding ways as a family to
spend more quality time studying, praying, eating, playing and
sharing chores.
We reach out to others via letters, emails, calls and texting.

6. Third Station
Jesus Falls The First Time
 Jesus was during his life a healthy and vigorous man,
but he was beaten until and inch of his life and
stumbles easily.
 Many of us have been weakened by breathing
contaminated air, polluted water, while others are
forced to live in subhuman hovels lacking sanitation
and denied access to healthy foods.
 Others are highly suceptical because of chronic disease
or past battles with illness.

7. Forth Station
Jesus Meets His Holy Mother
 Jesus suffers as He beholds the pained face of his most
sorrowful mother.
 Many young mothers have had to watch impotently as
their most vulnerable children succumb with lungs no
longer able to supply them with sufficient oxygen.
 Many of us will have to stand idle as we watch both
young and old fighting for their last breath.

8. Fifth Station
Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
 Unable to bear the weight of the cross, a bystander is
enlisted to hasten Jesus on his way to Calvary.
 Many healthcare providers find themselves in the
midst of the fray with insufficient tests, medications,
protective garbs, respirators and hospital beds.
 Many family members of healthcare providers find
themselves at high risk while others have already
contracted this insidious virus.

9. Because of the Courage of one woman to go against the
mob hungering to witness the execution of an innocent
man, Jesus lifts the ban on images as a gift for her faith and
leaves us one of the three images we have of his face.
(Shroud of Turin, el Sudario of Barcelona).
So many have selfishly cared for the ill and dying with no
or little concern for their own well-being.
Others risk their own health to insure that others’ needs
are met.

10. Seventh Station
Jesus Falls the Second Time
 So weakened by punches, whips, thorns and shoves, Jesus easily
trips and goes down on all fours. He for whom every knee
should bend bows solemnly to the Will of his Father no matter
the cost.
 Many if not most of us will eventually fall sick from this
influenza. Let us not lose hope. It may knock us down, but we
know the power of God’s love and the healing power he gives us
through prayer. Our first prayer is for those working arduously
to find effective medications and an eventual vaccine.
 We also pray for the leaders of our countries, that they learn the
importance of stockpiling medical supplies as much as oil.

11. Eighth Station
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
 The woman came to console a condemned man, but Jesus,
exhausted to an extreme, consoles them.
 The aftermath of this medical disaster will be many grief
stricken souls. So many loved ones will have died that the
need for emotional support for the survivors and the
depression suffered by others due to material and financial
losses will be the second wave.
 Jesus teaches us to be pro-active toward those in grief, the
depressed and especially those who become suicidal. We
must become their beacon of hope!

12. Ninth Station
Jesus Falls the Third Time
 Unable to bear the weight of his own body, Jesus identifies
completely with human frailty. He lies prostrate, face in the dirt
of the world He came to save.
 Some of us are too proud to bow our heads at the name of Jesus,
others use his most holy name merely as an emotional
grammatical exclamation as if they could be saved by some other
name.
 In the aftermath of this virus, we will no longer be the haughtly
people who jeered at this supposed hoax. We can only be made
great again by assuming a humble posture of the anawim before
creation by preparing for the worst while hoping and preparing
for the Kingdom announced by Christ.

13. Totally humiliated Jesus stood naked but innocent before
us sinners. Adam hid ashamed of his body soiled by his
sin. Jesus’ body was covered with bruises, blood, spit and
dirt.
Medical facilities are inadequate for the high numbers of
the infected. There will not be sufficient beds in
emergency rooms. Those with no medical insurance, the
indignant, the poor and the aged, those most at risk, are
left indefensless before a cold and for profit health system.

14. Eleventh Station
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
 Each and every sin we commit pierces the body of Christ,
the Church.
 Every baptized person has a special vocation to help
advance the coming of the Kingdom. Our small vices slow
the progress of the entire project. Our scandalous behavior
impedes or delays evangelization. You cannot offer your
sacrifice to God, until you first reconcile with each member
of Christ’s body, which you nailed to the wood of the cross.
 We manifest our repentance by caring for those in need:
we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, care for the
sick, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, educate the
ignorant, etc.

15. Twelfth Station
Jesus Dies on the Cross
 Jesus did battle with Death at the Gates to the City. He
chose to lose the battle in order to win the war. He
died rather than let death take the city.
 Many Doctors, Nurses, healthcare workers, first
responders and family members will also die because
they chose to help the contagious. They too will lose
the battle and thus help us and themselves win the
war. May our celestial Father bless them in the name
of Jesus.

16. Thirteenth Station
Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross
 Those that lowered the body of Jesus from the Cross were
ever so careful not to allow a single drop of his blood to fall
from his body. For the Israelites, blood is life and therefore
sacred. Before removing him from the cross, they covered
his head with a sudario (which also contains his image)
which Holy Scripture records was left in the tomb.
 We are saved by the Blood of the Lamb, which like that on
the doorpost in Egypt, coats our lips and defends us from
eternal death.
 We are also saved by donated blood to the Red Cross,
whose reserves are desperately low. Please donate a pint of
your blood, because you are of the saving body of Christ.

17. Fourteenth Station
Christ’s Body Was Placed in a Tomb
 Nailed naked to the wood of the tree of Life in place of
the fruit stolen by the first couple, Jesus’ dead body
was wrapped in a burial cloth. This cloth records in a
series of MRI images his turning over and getting up at
the moment of the Resurrection. He left the tomb
naked so as to be clothed in glory!
 When will we learn that a person is not measured by
his wealth, academic degrees, titles or fame, but by
who he or she is? Who we are is measured by what we
give.

18. Pray five Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory bes for the
intention of the Holy Father.