7th Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time

Again the weight of the cross, less strength, and the journey to Golgotha become too much and Jesus falls. Again the cobblestones drive the crown of thorns deeper into his head. Again his elbows and knees, old bruises are banged afresh against the hard earth. This jolt, the loss of more blood, increases his exhaustion, and yet Jesus gets up again to continue his journey of the cross.

Are we as willing to pick ourselves up and carry on?

When we've fallen into discouragement, when situations seem so hopeless? Are we willing to get up again when someone has hurt our feelings, put us down, ignored our honest efforts? Or do we prefer to lie down in self-pity, hate, or revenge?

Are we willing to pick ourselves up, to go and ask for another's forgiveness, for God's forgiveness, when we have sinned?

Do we work to rise above our own weaknesses, or do we give up resigning ourselves to never being able to overcome these failings?

When we fall into uncharitable speech and gossip? Do we get up again, and work to overcome our prejudices, our natural feelings of dislike for another, striving to see them as a child of God through whom we can express our faith in Jesus, and God's love for this person?

What happens when we're disappointed with our own family, disappointed with a loved one, with someone at work or school? Do we fall into apathy and indifference? Or can we too get up and carry on, trying by our own lives to heal wounds of division, to increase understanding and bring a greater peace to people not at peace with themselves or others?

Can we still get up and journey our own way of the cross, as Jesus did, even when it's so much easier not to?