Fr. Dehon writes: “I like to do the Way of the Cross” [NHV 4/219]. In the season of Lent, the Way of the Cross is one of the ways recommended by the founder to experience spiritual union with Jesus. Perhaps our sensitivities today make it difficult to discover the extent of Christ’s death as a meeting place and… of love. But Dehon is categorical: “the object of my affections was Jesus crucified” [NHV 5/70].
A Companion
Jesus the crucified; we are shown by Dehon that he is a confident and companion who lives in an intimate space deep in one’s heart, where one experiences great sentiments but also the small, daily sentiments that are the real measures of a life. For this reason he might add: “I did the Way of the Cross every day” [ibid].
To build confidence
Step by step on the Way of the Cross the heart changes, one begins to feel confidence, reconciliation comes, the truth of life in God becomes light: “I no longer have the same feeling on the Way of the Cross. I am more confident, like a forgiven sinner” [NQT 35/19]. Walking in the light of the Cross, this transformation awakens a sense of jubilation, the jubilee of the Divine Mercy.
