By Sr Teresa Joseph, FMA –
Our youth of today are the best resource we ever have at hand. Most of them are down to earth, they are ready to walk that extra mile to realize their dream, and they understand perfectly well what their parents are going through and when they pray they give it all to the Lord.
Have you ever seen youngsters still ready for an experience of the Via Lucis (The Stations of the Resurrection or The Way of Light) after a Solemn Easter Vigil Service? Yes, I have made a unique and different experience with the Salesian Youth on 5 April 2015 at Auxilium Youth Animation Centre Dahanu. It was an experience worth sharing with the Catholic Community of India and the World at large especially now when the whole Human Family is wrestling with the global pandemic the Corona virus.
It was almost 02.30 a.m. when Fr Glenford Lowe, SDB, in a very friendly manner told the Youth Paschers: “First we will have the Via Lucis, followed by games.” In a few seconds, the youngsters gathered together for the Via Lucis. It was guided by the young and lead by Fr. Cleophas Braganza, SDB who with his melodious voice made the power of the Resurrection to linger on in the hearts of all present. The Stations of the Resurrection commonly known by the Latin name Via Lucis encourages meditation upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and a few of the appearances of the Risen Lord and other episodes narrated in the New Testament. The term Via Lucis is also used as a name for a series of pictures or sculptures representing the various episodes.
Origin and spread of the Via Lucis
In the summer of 1988, after much reflection and prayer, Salesian Fr. Sabino Palumbieri, Professor of Anthropology at the Salesian University in Rome proposed the creation of a new set of stations. The purpose of it was to focus on the Resurrection of Jesus and the events following from it and to highlight the positive, optimistic and hopeful aspect of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is evident that while the Stations of the Cross emphasize the suffering of Jesus, the Stations of Light sheds light on the Joyful aspect of the resurrection of Jesus. Only in 1990, the first major public celebration of this devotion took place. This devotion was also blessed on Easter Sunday 1994, in Turin, Italy, at the hill of Becchi, the birthplace of Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesian Order, the bicentenary of whose birth we celebrated in the year 2015.
In 2001, the Holy See promulgated a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, which commended the Via Lucis as follows: “A pious exercise called the Via Lucis has developed and spread to many regions in recent years. Following the model of the Via Crucis, the faithful process while meditating on the various appearances of Jesus – from his Resurrection to his Ascension – in which he showed his glory to the disciples who awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14, 26; 16, 13-15; Lk 24, 49), strengthened their faith, brought to completion his teaching on the Kingdom and more closely defined the sacramental and hierarchical structure of the Church.”
An excellent pedagogy of the Faith
The Via Lucis is an excellent pedagogy of the faith, since through the cross one comes to the light. Using the metaphor of a journey /pilgrimage which is common to all religions, the Via Lucis “moves from the experience of suffering, which in God’s plan is part of life, to the hope of arriving at man’s true end: liberation, joy and peace which are essentially paschal values.” The Resurrection of Jesus can offer the real meaning of why each one of us is alive and living? With the Risen Lord each of us can proclaim the Good News that our God is a God of life and love. And as our beloved Pope Francis has expressed it so eloquently: “Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings” Evangelii Gaudium N. 44). Truly, only that touch of God’s saving love can bring us healing and wholeness even in the rapidly evolving state of the Corona virus. He is Risen and with Him we shall all Rise to New Life.
The restoration of a culture of life
The Way of Light celebrates the most joyful period in the Christian liturgical year, the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost. Today, when the culture of death is so apparent, the Via Lucis is indeed a stimulus for the reinstatement of a “culture of life.” This culture of life explodes from the hope and certitude offered by faith in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Way of Light, serves as a hopeful complement to the Way of the Cross, and was fashioned of fourteen stations paralleling the fourteen Stations of the Cross.
“Station 1: Jesus rises from the dead (Matthew 28:5-6)
Station 2: Women find the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1-6)
Station 3: The risen Lord appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:16)
Station 4: Mary Magdalene proclaims the Resurrection to the apostles (John 20:18)
Station 5: The risen Lord appears on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27)
Station 6: The risen Lord is recognized in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:28-32)
Station 7: The risen Lord appears to the disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36-39)
Station 8: The risen Lord gives the disciples the power to forgive (John 20:22-23)
Station 9: The risen Lord strengthens the faith of Thomas (John 20:24-29)
Station 10: The risen Lord says to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17)
Station 11: The risen Lord sends the disciples into the whole world (Matthew 28:16-20)
Station 12: The risen Lord ascends into heaven (Acts 1:9-11)
Station 13: Waiting with Mary in the Upper Room (Acts 1:12-14)
Station 14: The risen Lord sends the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-4)”
Joyful witnesses of the Resurrection of our Lord
There was tremendous joy and determination on the faces of the youth Paschers. It was very conspicuous as they wished goodbye. Yes, Shanice went on to teach, Carissa after a few days flew to Austria to continue with her second Master’s, Domenic took off to Nairobi, Nigel had to join duty on Easter Tuesday, Joshini and Shruthi the two IT Professionals proceeded with their careers, Marina certainly got to strengthen her networks, so too all the other youngsters. Brothers Velasli Bandya and Shaun D’Lima once again got busy with their theological studies, Frs. Glen, Edison Fernandes and Cleophas intensified their teaching and pastoral ministry. All of them added a quality touch to their life and ministry as they continue to be joyful witnesses of the Resurrection of our Lord.
The Way of the Cross and the Way of the Light and the living and active presence of the Risen Lord is constantly transforming all of us into joyful witnesses. Enabling us to “adopt a pastoral goal and a missionary style which would actually reach everyone without exception or exclusion, the message has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium N. 35). Risen Lord and Saviour, just a word from you and the sick were healed, come to our aid now in the midst of the global spread of the Corona virus and help us experience your healing love.