By Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper
Father Elvis Gonzalez, director of the Vocations Office, left, Peter Ductram, director of Catechesis, and Teresita Gonzalez, director of the Missions Office and Amor en Accion, go over some last minute preparations before starting the Way of the Cross. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Archbishop Thomas Wenski poses before the walk with Andres Montero, left, and his wife, Claudia Herrera, director of Campus Ministry at St. Thomas University, which brought a busload of students and staff to the Way of the Cross. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Peter Ductram, director of Catechesis, leads the meditation at the first station, Jesus is condemned to death. At left is Teresita Gonzalez, of the Missions Office, and at right is Rosemarie Banich, of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Archbishop Thomas Wenski follows the meditation at the first station, Jesus is condemned to death. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Sister Loretta of the Missionaries of Charity prays with a staff member of Camillus House during the first station, Jesus is condemned to death. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Matthew Banich, of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Miami Shores, carries the cross to the second station, the Linda Ray Intervention Center for infants born addicted to cocaine. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Marco Delamaza rests his head on the shoulder of his mom, Teresita Gonzalez, director of the Missions Office, during the second station, Jesus is made to carry the cross, outside the Linda Ray Intervention Center. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Andres Montero, representing St. Thomas University's Campus Ministry, holds the cross during the fourth station, Jesus meets his mother, outside the Children's Home Society. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Way of the Cross participants pray the fourth station, Jesus meets his mother, outside the Children's Home Society. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
A. J. Misiti, a member of the Lasallian Community who is volunteering this week at the Centro Educativo La Salle in Homestead, carries the cross to the sixth station, the VA Hospital and the Miami-Dade Courthouse. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
A. J. Misiti, a member of the Lasallian Community who is volunteering this week at the Centro Educativo La Salle in Homestead, holds the cross as Peter Ductram, director of the Office of Catechesis, leads the meditation on the sixth station, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Archbishop Thomas Wenski, right, and Father Raphael Mieszala of the Brothers of the Good Shepherd, pray at the sixth station, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, outside the VA Hospital and the Miami-Dade Courthouse. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Marc Lamarre of St. Mark Parish in Southwest Ranches holds the cross as Way of the Cross participants pray at the eighth station, Jesus meets the women, outside Jackson Memorial's Highland Park Pavilion, a mental health and addiction treatment center. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Missionaries of Charity walk the Way of the Cross with nearly 200 others through the streets of Miami. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Julian Delamaza, of St. Timothy Parish, holds the cross at the ninth station, the Ryder Trauma Center. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Way of the Cross participants pray the ninth station, Jesus falls for the third time, outside the Ryder Trauma Center. (ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC)
Raquel Aina Lauture, left, reads the Gospel passage in Creole outside the Ryder Trauma Center. At right, holding the bullhorn, is Rosemarie Banich, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Peter Ductram, director of the Office of Catechesis, reads the meditation on the 12th station, Jesus dies on the cross, outside the Jackson Plaza Nursing and Rehab center. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
Archbishop Thomas Wenski says a few words before giving his blessing at the conclusion of the stations, back at the Missionaries of Charity Shelter for Women. (JUAN BELTRAN | FC)
MIAMI | Early in the morning on Good Friday, nearly 200 people gathered at the Missionaries of Charity women's shelter, near Camillus House and Jackson Memorial Hospital, to walk a Way of the Cross through Miami's streets.
Participants stopped at places "where we don't often go," in the words of Teresita Gonzalez, director of the archdiocesan Missions Office. These included: Camillus House, the Missionaries of Charity Shelter for Women, the Children's Home Society, Jackson Memorial's Highland Pavilion for Mental Health, the Ryder Trauma Center, and the now-closed site of the Women's Detention Center.
Gonzalez's office, along with the offices of Catechesis and Youth and Young Adults, organized the event, in effect resurrecting a Way of the Cross that had been a tradition a number of years ago. The purpose was to use the events of Good Friday to connect Jesus' suffering on the cross with the suffering of millions today: the poor, the homeless, victims of child abuse and domestic violence, people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases, people who are imprisoned, people who are victims of human trafficking.
"In this Year of Mercy, we focus on the countless served in this area who bear the cross of poverty, illness or oppression, as well as those around the world who suffer," Gonzalez explained. "We seek to enter into these stories and together pray for God's merciful embrace to transform us into signs of hope."
Archbishop Thomas Wenski walked all 14 Stations of the Cross with the group and offered a blessing at the end. Many children, some of them in strollers, walked alongside their parents.
Camillus House generously allowed participants to use its parking garage, and the Missionaries of Charity allowed their shelter to be the start and end point for the walk. Organizers hope to keep the tradition going next year.
Editor's note: This story was updated March 26 with additional photos and information.
Comments from readers