Book Reviews and More: Praying the Stations with Teenagers

Praying the Stations with Teenagers

Gwen Costello

Twenty-Third Publications

ISBN 9780896223868

Praying the Stations with Teenagers - Gwen Costello

Recently I went through the collection of Stations I had and found I had about 10 I have never read or reviewed and have made the commitment to try and make it through them this Lent, and I added 2 as I have been reading, praying, and reviewing my way through the collection. Of the 10 I started with 6 were from Twenty-Third Publications, and while researching this review I found a few others I am interested in.

This is the fourth of the Stations of the Cross I have read from Twenty-Third Publications in this series, I have read a few not part of this series from them as well. I really loved Praying the Stations Mary’s Way of the Cross, by Richard G. Furey CSsR and picked up several others in this series. But I was fairly disappointed in Praying the Stations with Saint John XXIII by Bill Huebsch; so had sort of ignored them the past few years. This year I will try and get through the 6 I have and then see about tracking down some others that piqued my interest. It appears versions of this devotion in this series have come in and out of print for years. I believe I have found 20 titles in this series, some out of print long enough I cannot find good cover images.

This version of this devotion has been through a number of editions, I believed first published in 1988, the edition I read was a 6th printing from 2008. And there is even a more recent rebranded edition available on the Twenty-Third Publications site.

The description of this booklet states:

“This acclaimed booklet addresses many of the challenges teens confront today as they follow Jesus in their daily lives: peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, prejudice, and so on. A true conversion experience that has been widely used with 7th through 12th graders.”

This volume begins with:

“Before You Begin...

“If anyone wants to come with me, he or she must put aside self-interest, and then pick up the cross and follow me. Pursuing self-interest leads to nothing in the end, but putting aside self-interest for my sake leads to everything.’

Matthew 16:24 (adapted)

Jesus spoke these words to his first followers. And now he is speaking them to you. Yes, you. Though “only a teenager,” you are a person of great worth in Jesus’ eyes, so great that he is inviting you to follow him.

And how might you follow Jesus? First of all by putting aside your own selfish interests. This requires looking around you at other people and putting their needs before your own. By caring for others and taking responsibility for them you are picking up the cross to follow Jesus.

In the following pages, walk the Stations of the Cross with Jesus. Open your mind and heart and allow him to speak to you, to teach you. In doing so you will lose nothing. Indeed, you will gain everything.”

A sample Station for this edition:

“Third Station

Jesus Falls the First Time

The worst thing that can happen to us is to fall flat on our faces in front of others: when we do or say something stupid, when we're not accepted for who we are, when we're laughed at for not looking right or dressing right. To be shut out is the worst way to fall flat. At school games or dances, we know there are kids who are on the outside looking in. But we don’t invite them in. What would our friends think? Jesus fell flat in front of the soldiers, in front of people who had believed in him, in front of his own mother. He was in this situation because he had spoken out and taken risks for others. Look where it got him. What must he have been thinking as he lost control and fell under the cross?

(Pause for silent reflection.)

Jesus, forgive us for the times we have shut others out and refused to help. Help us to be aware of their needs and to respond to them. Teach us how to follow you.”

The volume ends with:

“An Easter Prayer

Jesus, we know that your story didn’t end on Good Friday. Your “failure” was turned into victory on Easter morning. “Jesus is not here,” your messenger said: “he has been raised from the dead.”

As your followers, we know that rejection, loss, even death and dying, don’t necessarily mean failure. With your help, we can move through these experiences toward new life and resurrection. We can be turned around—as you were. Give us the courage, please, to accept the reality that life will always have its bright sides and dark sides, its joys and sorrows. And help us to believe that God has good things in store for us, too.

Amen. Alleluia.”

Overall am impressed with the series, especially after this fourth volume, and will give others in the series a try. This one was released my final year of secondary school and I am sure it could have been used there for the benefit of many. This was a good stations of the cross. I have a few stations I return to again and again. I am always willing to give another version of this devotion a try. I wish the other in the series were available digitally. With my dual form of dyslexia I greatly prefer eBooks so I can change the font, font and page colour to make reading easier.

I will read and review the others from the series I have tracked down and try to find the reaming few of the other volumes in the ‘Praying The Stations Series’ from Twenty-Third Publications. I try and pray a stations each Friday throughout the year, and every day during Lent. I do not see myself returning to this one often, even if a digital edition because available. But I did benefit from praying through it.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan! For all Stations of the Cross review click here.