Sorrowful Mysteries - Carrying the Cross
From that moment Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar." When Pilate heard this, he had Jesus brought outside to the Stone Floor - in Hebrew Gabbatha - and there he had him seated in the tribune. It was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon. So Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your king." But they cried out, "Away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate replied, "Shall I crucify your king?" And the chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. They took charge of him. Bearing his own cross, Jesus went out of the city to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew: Golgotha. There he was crucified and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus was in the middle.
John 19:12 - 18
Jesus is drawing near to the end of the way. He makes his torturous way through the streets, outside the gate, and toward the hill called the Skull. Jesus' sorrowful journey, the Way of the Cross, is a precious reminder to us to recognize the value of our daily suffering; a lesson not to avoid it with opportunistic pretexts and vain excuses. Instead we need to make it a gift to him.
From the moment of our baptisms, we begin following in the footsteps of Jesus, walking the way of the cross - all the way to Golgotha and to our small moments of crucifixion. We don't walk alone. We follow behind Jesus. The way of the cross is repeated in millions of places and in the lives of people worldwide. We are not to stand by, but to reach out and lift the burden placed upon us, walking the way together with our crucified Lord.