Stations of the Cross Series, Station #8, Friday, March 24th by Fr. Ben Daghir & Luke Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ.
Stations of the Cross Series, Station #8, Friday, March 24th by Fr. Ben Daghir & Luke Daghir

Editor's Note: Fr. Ben Daghir and Luke Daghir will have 14 articles based upon the stations of the cross. The 14th article will conclude on Easter Sunday.  

Article:
The 8th Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

Jesus had an exceptional love and respect for women. Think of the story of The Woman at the Well; she began with the question, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9). Then by the end of the conversation “the woman left her water jar and went into the town” evangelizing to the people. She came with a jar to be filled with water (representing her thirst to be loved) and she left without the jar (because the truth of Jesus Christ quenched her thirst). 

Consider the story of The Woman Caught in Adultery; Jesus defended the woman about to be stoned to death. After the scribes and the Pharisees dropped their stones, Jesus asked the woman, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10). Jesus then told her that He also does not condemn her, and to sin no more.

Think of the story of the Poor Widow who contributed everything by placing two small coins into the treasury. Jesus told His disciples that others gave from their surplus of wealth, but the poor widow “from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood” (Luke 21:4). 

Pope St. John Paul II spoke about “feminine genius” in his Letter to Women in 1995. He discussed how the genius of women has significantly contributed to the 2,000 year history of the Church. He wrote, “Necessary emphasis should be placed on the ‘genius of women’ not only by considering great and famous women of the past or present, but also those ordinary women who reveal the gift of their womanhood by placing themselves at the service of others in their everyday lives.” 

Jesus loves women and respects each of them. We see this in the Gospels and specifically in this 8th station on the road to Calvary. 

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you; because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

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Luke Daghir is a seminarian for the Diocese of Erie from St. Marys, Pa. He currently studies at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.