"Keep me Moving Forward"
Struck again by the beauty of the Way of the Cross and the untold stories witnessed along the way...I take for granted the the beauty of the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge to Ground Zero in Manhattan. We have a big, impressive choir. We have the incredible panoramas of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan skyline, the press who are crowding us out to get their perfect pictures (I bought 5 newspapers Saturday morning, and four of them—including the Wall Street—had picture of us in their first pages), the 2000 participants who are clearly NOT us, but have come after 20 years of publicity and word-of-mouth to make the WOC their own.
But I am ever moved by the untold stories: the policemen I see talking selfies with the cross over the Brooklyn Bridge; the 60-something policeman who, as the cross passes, makes the sign of the cross; the group of policeman, who after passing the torch from the Brooklyn police to the Manhattan policemen, want to take a picture with a “famous” NY cop who, shot in his youth and remaining paraplegic, comes to the Way of the Cross to celebrate Good Friday; the woman who, on hearing Fr. Rich Veras talk about Christ’s mercy on all sorts of sinners, is shaking her head in acknowledgment of difficult family situations.
These are the people that, in the end, witness to me the meaning of the WOC, and keep me moving forward.
The Grace to Remember
I had a big stack of Way of the Cross cards sitting in my bag...I thought to myself "I don't want to hold onto these cards", remembering Angelo Sala's words: "It's better to throw them onto the street than have them sitting in your house!"I had a big stack of Way of the Cross postcard announcements sitting in my bag and it's Holy Thursday. I thought to myself "I don't want to hold onto these cards", remembering Angelo Sala's words from many years ago: "It's better to throw them onto the street than have them sitting in your house!".
I was a bit sad there was no one with which to hand them out in public but I was determined to get them out there. So, after work, turning down drinks with co-workers, I went to stand in front of Immaculate Conception Church on 14th Street in Manhattan. I was always struck by the poor and simple parishioners who attend mass there so I felt good about going there and getting the word out to them. So, I put a few stacks in the back of the church and then stood out front, handing them out to anyone who passed by.
This one elderly man was walking slowly by and I attempted to hand him a card, explaining to him what it was. He took the card in his hand and listened to me. Then he sighed and told me that he can barely walk ten blocks. Moved by him sharing that with me, I told him I understood. But then he added something beautiful saying, "but I'll be with you in spirit" to which I replied "I'll remember you tomorrow as I walk across the Brooklyn Bridge." Sure enough, there came a point during the walk over the Bridge that I was given the grace to remember that man. We have no idea sometimes how we're going to communicate God's love to the world by following the simplest gestures proposed to us.