Saint Gilbert Catholic School Students Relive Christ's Passion

At Saint Gilbert Catholic School, nine years of faith formation with daily religious instruction culminates in the 8th Graders reenacting Christ’s Passion on Good Friday through the Stations of the Cross.

The Stations are a 14-step devotion focusing on a specific event of Jesus’ last day, beginning with His condemnation by Pontius Pilate and ending with Him being laid in the tomb. Thus, the faithful take part in mini-pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. It is especially meaningful on Good Friday, the day on which the events actually occurred.

Saint Gilbert’s Associate Pastor explains that “to walk the Stations of the Cross, a practice on especially the Fridays of Lent, is to spend time in prayerful solidarity with the Lord who loved us so much that he became man: like us in all things but sin. And as we contemplate the Passion and Death of Jesus -- which, of course, leads to his glorious Resurrection -- we are powerfully reminded of what true love looks like. True love always looks like the cross, meaning a self-giving kind of love. That's the love of God! That's the kind of love that changes and transforms lives; that's the kind of love that we are called to imitate.”

For a quarter century, the 8th Grade students take on the roles of Christ, Mary, the Apostles, Joseph of Arimathea, the Romans and others. One student, playing Jesus, walks in his steps, bearing a cross, pausing at each Station so that the gathered may be exposed to Christ’s sacrifice and love in his journey to the Cross.

At each station, a narrator describes the event and leads the congregation in prayer.

But, it is not simply a recitation of the event. Once the prayer is completed, another student recalls Christ the human being, pondering as to what Jesus likely felt at that stage of the journey. For example, on the 3rd station, when Jesus stumbles the first time, the student poses the thought of how exhausted he was and how hard it must be to go forward to your death.

Then, a final narrator applies the example of Christ in the station to our own lives – how many times have we stumbled? Do we stand up and move on our path? At that moment, music and song allow time for prayerful contemplation.

The Living Stations were the inspiration of Kay Kerrigan, who taught at SGS for 36 years and remains affiliated with the Church and School as a member of the School Liturgy Committee. She recalled that “we used to have Stations of the Cross with the school on one of the last days before Good Friday. Father and two altar servers would go around to each station and Father would say the prayers [and] the students would be in their pews.” She resolved to get the students more involved and began the tradition of Living Stations. Looking back, Mrs. Karrigan feels that “it has worked out really well with the student and the parish population. The 8th graders really get involved and do a wonderful job at this ministry.” In recent years, Junior High teachers Kris Buckley and Dori Greffly collaborated with Kay adding music and choral elements.

To help connect Christian teaching that what you do unto others, you do unto Christ, the 6th Graders also created Google slides depicting modern examples of suffering in the world.

This year, Luke B. portrayed Jesus and was impacted by reliving Christ’s final journey as a man. “It made me feel more immersed in my religion, realize how much Jesus suffered and that we shouldn’t take things for granted.”

Anna N. had similar feelings in playing Mary. “I was so honored to play the role of Mary because she has always held a special place in my heart since I was a kid. Mary is the embodiment of all things good: Patience, kindness, compassion…. This was a fantastic opportunity to delve deeper into the thoughts and emotions of Mary during Christ’s Passion.”

Offering her vocal talents, Lily U. said that “the Stations of the Cross were very meaningful. I have grown up watching the 8th graders perform the Stations and I always wanted to be a part of it. Now that I was in it, I saw how much time and dedication everyone put in.”

Looking back on this year’s efforts, Father Christian said, “I am so proud of our 8th graders for a job well done reenacting the Living Stations of the Cross. This, indeed, is a wonderful school tradition. Our 8th graders worked hard to prepare and rehearse their roles, and their dedication and leadership led to the profoundly prayerful experience that ensued. I was certainly moved by it all!”