New York: Peace campaigners walk Way of the Cross through Manhattan

Rosemarie Pace, Director of Pax Christi Metro New York writes:

On Good Friday, 25 March, Pax Christi Metro New York will walk the Way of the Cross through Manhattan. More than 500 people will be taking part. They will recall how Jesus' revolutionary life led to his unwarranted execution and contemplate how counter-cultural it can be if we truly walk with Him in His way of life today. They will pray for the courage to follow in Jesus' footsteps and offer this contemporary Stations of the Cross as penance for their own complicity in the sins of a world that has lost its moral compass.

They will enter into Christ's Passion for life driven by love. This year they will reflect in a special way on the question: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken us, or have we forsaken each other?"

In addition, Pax Christi Metro New York (PCMNY) dedicates the Good Friday Way of the Cross to the Most Reverend Joseph M Sullivan, former Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn. For most of PCMNY's 34 years of organizing this solemn Way of the Cross, Bishop Sullivan led the opening prayer. In 2013, he died after being struck down in a terrible car accident. This is our third year without Bishop Sullivan, and we continue to mourn his absence. He who once walked with us in the flesh now walks with us in spirit. We are most grateful for having been blessed with his presence all those years, and we trust that he will continue to watch over us as we carry on without him.

The PCMNY Good Friday Way of the Cross is a procession of prayer for suffering people throughout the world: refugees and immigrants; people without health care; those suffering from addiction and mental illness; victims of hunger and homelessness, racism, bullying, gun violence, and human trafficking. It is a walk of repentance for our indifference to the plight of our environment, and it is a plea for serenity and hope that we might be energized to be the change our faith calls us to be in the world.

The Good Friday Way of the Cross is sponsored by over 60 religious organizations and individuals. It begins at 8.30am across from Holy Family Church at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues, proceeds along Manhattan's 42nd Street, and ends across from the Port Authority Terminal near Holy Cross Church. Participants stop along the route at 15 contemporary Stations of the Cross. At each Station, groups as varied as high school and college students, young adults and veteran peace activists, reflect on Jesus' passion as described in scripture and experienced in modern times.

Songs of petition and praise accompany and link each Station. At the final Station, all unite to celebrate life transformed when we follow the Way of Christ. The faithful will have turned 42nd Street into a place of prayer, reminding us that Jesus' suffering and death were public events and that establishing peace and justice is everyone's responsibility. All are welcome!

"War destroys. And we must cry out for peace. Peace sometimes gives the idea of stillness, but it is never stillness. It is always an active peace. I think that everyone must be committed in the matter of peace, to do everything that they can, what I can do from here. Peace is the language we must speak."
Pope Francis

For more information call: 212-420-0250 email: info@nypaxchristi.org or see: www.nypaxchristi.org