Book Reviews and More: The Way of the Cross According to Mark

Wednesday 5 July 2023

The Way of the Cross According to Mark - Father Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S.

The Way of the Cross According to Mark

Father Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S.

Emmanuel Publishing

The Way of the Cross According to Mark - Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S.

During Lent in 2022 our parish did On the Way of the Cross with Saint Paul and it was excellent. During research I found that Father LaVerdiere also wrote this Station and also ones according to each of the other three Gospels. I was able to order 1 copy of each from Emmanuel Publishing. This was the second I have done and they are both excellent. I try and pray a Stations each Friday of the year, and I strive to pray a Stations each day during Lent. The stations written by Father Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S., are:

On the Way of the Cross with Saint Paul

The Way of the Cross According to Matthew

The Way of the Cross According to Mark

The Way of the Cross According to Luke

The Way of the Cross According to John

I do not recount encountering the works of Father Eugene prior to that first Stations. But having look at the list of volumes he published I have added several to my wish list. I discovered that Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS, was a distinguished lecturer at Fordham University in New York and an adjunct professor at the Catholic Theological Union. He published numerous books and articles, he published works on Scripture are Luke from the New Testament Message series, The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church, and The Beginning of the Gospel: Introducing the Gospel According to Mark Volumes 1 and He was also the senior editor of Emmanuel magazine. The publishing company that produces this and the other Stations composed by him. The description of this volume is:

“Mark’s Gospel is the story of “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). Mark’s story to Christians who felt certain the end had come was the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross, a journey to new life, an extraordinary new beginning signaled by Jesus’ resurrection. Together in Mark’s Way of the Cross we follow Jesus on his life journey to Golgotha.”

A sample station is:

“Third Station

Leader:

Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time Cross bearer:

We adore you, 0 Christ, and we praise you.

All:

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You may be seated.

Leader:

Tradition has it that Jesus fell beneath the weight of the cross, not only once but three times. And well he might have. The sins of the world made for a heavy burden. Those who took up their cross and tried to follow him fell over and over again. But there was a difference. Jesus fell out of physical weakness. The disciples fell from spiritual weakness.

A Pharisee:

He had no respect for our traditions. He healed on the Sabbath. Once, he cured at Capernaum. The crowd was enthralled (1:21-28). When he retired to the home of his disciples, word spread that he had cured Simon's mother, in, law. Something had to be done (3:6). He did not even respect the traditions of the elders (7:1-23).

Simon's Mother-in-law:

I remember the first time he came to our home. He came with Simon, my son, in, law, and Andrew. James and John were with them. I was sick with a fever. He came to me, took my hand and raised me up. With that I began my ministry to them (1:29,3 1). He made our home his home at Capemaum.

Leader:

We thought of him as stricken, smitten by God.

All:

It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings he endured. - Isaiah 53:4

Please stand.

Leader:

Let us pray.

All:

Lord Jesus,

you fell beneath the weight of the cross,

but you held on to it firmly.

We too fall, like the disciples running away,

like Peter denying that he knew you.

Touch our hearts,

fill us with your love.

May we always hold on to your cross

as we stumble and fa ll.

For this we pray to you, our Lord and Savior,

living and reigning for ever and ever.

Amen.”

I hope that sample station give you a feel for this version of this devotion. This is another excellent stations of the cross. I loved praying it on my own and would greatly enjoy doing it at church with a few different people playing the different roles. And it was just as wonderful to pray and reflect upon it on my own. I look forward to reading the other three stations by Father Eugene and some of his other books. I just wish this and other volumes were available electronically, with my dual form of dyslexia I prefer eBooks so I can change the font, font and page colour to make books more accessible and easier to read.

This is a great resource for personal, family, or parish use. An excellent version of this devotion, I can easily recommend this volume.