The fifth station, Simon of Cyrene, helps Jesus to carry his cross.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed
the world.
Suffering is present in the world in order to release love, in order to give
birth to works of love towards neighbor, in order to transform the whole of human
civilization into a civilization of love. These are the words of Pope John Paul
the Great in his wonderful writing Salvivici Dolores about the mystery of
suffering.
We come to the fifth station of the cross. Simon of Cyrene is like us in many ways.
The circumstances of his life seem to force him to make a sacrifice in order to help someone else who is suffering and who needs help.
But God, in His divine providence, according to the plan of His eternal wisdom, has called Simon to love.
This is for us too. It often happens that the circumstances of our lives force us to make sacrifices to help others,
but divine grace is moving us to the vocation, is calling us to love.
Jesus has told us that he is present in those who suffer, who need our help, and we must love Jesus in them by helping them.
Through Simon of Cyrene, in this fifth station of the cross, Christ is showing us that those
who round us who suffer are not burdens to be dealt with, but they are opportunities
to obey the great command and to please God, love one another.
Parents manifest this love towards their children and children toward their parents.
This love is manifest in the world when we care for those who are sick, the poor, the imprisoned.
It is manifest when we help those who are suffering in all parts of the world.
Dear brothers and sisters, in the face of suffering, let us respond with love.
In this way we will be serving God, and in a mysterious way we shall be participating actively in the redemption of the world, which is rooted in the cross.
God bless you.