Official Website of the
Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
Station 1: Jesus is Condemned to Death
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Meditation
By Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, Diocese of Little Rock
Pilate, the only one legally authorized to order executions, yields to Jesus' adversaries and orders the crucifixion of an innocent man. Jesus offers his life for us freely because that is his Father's will for our salvation. Pilate, who has the power of life or death over his subjects, cannot take Jesus' life from him against his will. Why? Because his death was really due to love rather than to hate. Jesus offers his life in atonement for our sins. Hence the cross becomes redemptive. Our crosses can be redemptive too. When Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow him, he is not talking about having a good attitude — enduring without complaint the unavoidable adversities of life. That is just stoicism. Rather, he is inviting us to embrace freely those adversities that are avoidable, but which we know to be the Father's will for our salvation and the salvation of others. Like Jesus did, with sacrificial love.
