If you live in Tralee, you have an opportunity to engage in The Stations of the Cross outdoors. The theme for these stations is closely linked to nature and creation.
Start in St John’s church where you can pick up the Lenten Booklet and follow the route. You start at The Window of Reconciliation and light your candle, then with your booklet begin your journey.
Rough notes for the walk:
1st Station: Jesus is condemned to death. The Rowan Tree (behind St Johns)
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
A branch broken just for fun, a plant stood on as we hurry along or take a selfie, a bird sings and we never even listen….thank you Jesus for trees, plants and birds too, open our eyes to find you in all things, in faces of family, friends and strangers and now today we can see you in all creation. Take a moment of silence and then…
Together: Glory be to the Father….
2nd Station: The cross is loaded on Jesus’ shoulders The big tree at the Denny Street Entrance to the park.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
As we look up at this huge tree, as we feel the bark, the skin of the tree, as we put our ears close to listen to the sap rising in this tree, we remember that your cross was made from the wood of a tree. Many trees are cut down in the Amazon and other tropical forests, just because they are in the way they lose their lives. Maybe we could plant a small tree … just think…everyday one tree supplies enough oxygen for more than 4 people.
Together: Glory be to the Father
3rd Station: The Weight is too much…Jesus falls crushed by the burden. The Patrick Pearse Park.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
Sit on a bench in this park. For a few moments be quiet, relax and just watch people going by outside the railings. Look under the bench, maybe you will find an empty drink can. Think about who has sat on this bench before you, someone tired, someone lonely, someone who has an addiction to alcohol or drugs or even gambling. They carry heavy loads. Maybe they get hope as they sit in the peace and beauty of this small park. Give thanks for the park, the gardeners and those who look after it. Pray for all those who have sat here and those who will sit here in the future. Parks are very special places, let’s keep them special.
Together: Gory be to the Father
4th Station: Jesus meets his mother Walk to the other side of this the park to the Baha’i Garden of Meditation.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
There are many different kinds of mothers, some have no money, others have a lot, some have white faces, others have black faces, some are old and others are very very young . Have you ever thought that the earth is a mother to us too? Looking after us giving us water, air, trees, food …really everything we need to live. Jesus’ mother must have loved him very much. What did she feel when she saw him in such pain carrying his cross? How did she show him she loved him, that she cared so much that she wanted to stop his suffering? How can we show ‘mother earth’ that we care for her? Here’s one little idea…Use a glass bottle for water instead of a plastic one.
‘Soil, water, mountains…everything is, as it were, a caress of God’. Pope Francis Laudato Si’ 84
Together: Glory be to the Father…
5th Station: Simon helps Jesus to carry his cross. Walk over to the statue of the Farrier/Blacksmith
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
Our family, a friend or neighbour will help us at different times. At other times it’s the childminder, a teacher, a nurse or a doctor. We need to reach out for help when we need it. On the way to Calvary Jesus was getting weaker and weaker under the weight of the cross, so the soldiers got Simon to help him. Simon didn’t volunteer. This statue shows a very strong man working. We think of people, even little children, all over the world, doing very heavy and often difficult work. Work is always easier when its shared, when we help one another. If we work together we can make our world a better place for everyone. Can you help to keep Tralee clean and green…How will you do that today?
“No one can experience the true beauty of life without relating to others, without having real faces to love” Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti 87
Together: Glory be to the Father
6th station: Veronica wipes his face…his imprint. Walk up to Siamsa Tire our National Folk Theatre.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
This is our very special theatre for plays, concerts everything that is wonderful and it has an art gallery too…of course sometimes the plays are sad it’s a place to touch our feelings and all our senses. When Veronica saw Jesus, she wanted to help him, so she used a towel to wipe his face, for a little bit of comfort and then she saw the imprint of his face on her towel…what did she feel then?…it was so precious. What imprint will we leave in Tralee today, will somebody have been comforted by our smile? What imprint will this time of visiting the stations leave in our lives…this time of walking or being carried, of being in nature, listening to the birds, feeling the wind or even the rain on our faces? Thank you Creator God for all the beauty of our Common Home that brings life and joy to us.
An idea…be sure to visit Siamsa Tire when it opens again….you will get a big warm welcome. Now walk all around Siamsa…it’s a very round building, through the grassy area, up the steps and back into the Park.
Together: Glory be to the Father.
7th Station: Jesus falls and is pressed to the earth Walk to the Community Garden
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
This is a garden where all the work is done by volunteers. Look over the fence and you will see the different beds for vegetables and flowers. When they plant the seeds here, the volunteers press the seeds into the ground where they lie, and kind of die really, so that the seed breaks open and sends up a shoot that might become a tomato, a lettuce or even a nasturtium. Jesus is getting so tired and exhausted in his journey now that he falls down again and touches the earth…he is almost pressed into it. This earth or soil is so precious. Do you know that ‘A single teaspoon (1 gram) of rich garden soil can hold up to one billion bacteria, several yards of fungal filaments, several thousand protozoa, and scores of nematodes’. As people who care for mother earth how can we care for her soil, her skin?
An idea. Try not to use sprays in your garden….and one more idea…plant some seeds for veggies this year…water…wait and watch them grow!
Together: Glory be to the Father
8th Station: Jesus meets the women. Walk to the Rose of Tralee Statue
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
The girl in this statue is Mary O Connor, who lived more than 100 years ago, a shoemaker’s daughter and he is William Mulchinock, who fell in love with her. You can read this story another day.
On his journey with the cross, Jesus met some women, just like Mary O’Connor. Where is Jesus meeting women today? Maybe in faraway places like the Amazon where they are struggling to protect their children and their homes as big businesses cut down the precious trees of the tropical forest, their home or, maybe in South Sudan where they are working to build peace. But he wants to meet us too right now, right here and just think, he will stay with us always, no matter what.
If you see a bench nearby why not sit for a while and relax, just be. Look at the fountain, look all around. Give thanks for this special time in this beautiful park.
Together: Glory be to the Father….
9th Station: Jesus falls a 3rd time…rises and staggers on Move to dead hollow tree just past entrance to CBS The Green School.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
The tree looks as if it is dead and it probably is, but now it is a home for many creatures, some were living there even while the tree was alive and some have moved in since the tree died eg in the summer it became a home for wild bees, until someone disturbed them (the bees). In nature nothing is ever wasted.
This is called a habitat ‘which can be defined as a place where animals and plants live in a community, where they have access to food, water, shelter and their fellow creatures.’ Transition Kerry. Jesus’ energy has nearly run out now but somehow he gets up and staggers on. Of course we know the end of the story don’t we! We can feel like that at times too but it’s so important to get up again and so we see that sometimes new life comes after a really terrible or difficult time, like for this tree. It is now supporting new life and needs to be left alone or/ and protected. We have different habitats here in the park and around Tralee, wooded areas or boggy places like the Wetlands. Have you ever visited the Wetlands and taken the boat trip through the reeds in the evening as the birds are coming in to roost for the night? It’s a magical experience.
Now we pray that we look after the different habitats around us and that includes our own homes where we live….all part of our common home for people and all creation.
Together: Glory be to the Father…
10th Station: Jesus is stripped of his clothes Move on to another tree in the Park.
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
We have seen and touched the bark of the tree, this is like the tree’s skin and then of course come the leaves. If the bark is removed it can allow disease get into the tree. But for thousands of years some people have used this skin for various purposes, like paper for writing eg from the Birch tree. Now that Spring is here the trees are beginning to put on their beautiful clothes, the leaves. Do you know that National Tree Wek is 21 March to 27th March and is about “All things trees”. www.treecouncil.ie The leaves of each tree are different, I wonder how many can you recognise? Tip: Look in the Hub window in St John’s for some answers. Trees too are in the names of places eg in Tralee Oakpark, Cluain Dara (Dair is the Irish for Oak)
Now we are thinking of Jesus being stripped of his clothes, be sure to find this station in the church one day..What a horrible experience for Jesus. All of our bodies are precious and beautiful and like the trees we want to look after them and sometimes give them a hug too. Why not hug this tree!
Together: Glory be to the Father
11th Station: A strange quietness as Jesus is nailed to the cross Go to the Sensory Garden and find the Horns of Clogherclemin (of course these are replicas ie copies, the real ones are in the National Museum I Dublin.)
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
These bronze age (2000-500BC) horns was found in a bog at Clogherclemin, Tralee in 1875. These horns were made by ancient Irish people even before Jesus walked on the earth…imagine!
This shows that the bog is a special place where many precious items have been preserved, it is anaerobic ie has no oxygen and. Now we realise that the bogs of Ireland ae places where carbon is stored. They are really like Ireland’s ‘tropical forests’. Now we are trying to protect them as a habitat to help to reduce climate change. Jesus never heard about Climate Change and now it has become very quiet as Jesus is lying on that wooden cross and being nailed to it. We hardly want to think about that. Did he get some comfort from the feel of the wood and the people standing there like Mary his mother? And so we are silent and say a prayer in our heart for anyone who is suffering pain whether it is outside or inside. We think of children and their families in places where there is suffering due to climate change, war and famine like…Yemen, Syria and South Sudan. BE STILL and QUIET for a few minutes.
When you’re ready, blow or make a loud oooo up the trumpet as you decide to play YOUR part, no matter how small, in helping people and mother earth …both are suffering and need our help.
Together: Glory be to the Father.
12th Station: Jesus dies. Go the standing Stone
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
The stone is aligned with Queen Scotia’s Glen on Sliabh Mis Mountain
and looks back to a mythical time when the Milesians defeated the great
Tuatha de Danann and Scotia’s son Amergin named the island ‘Eire’.
Today and right now we think of Jesus on the cross, on the wood from some tree in what we now call the Holy Land. That land is holy for Christians, Jews and people of the Islamic faith…here now it is as if we are standing beside your mother Mary at the foot of the cross. Jesus who always helped poor people, sick people, he wanted everyone to live life to the full without discrimination or racism but to live a life where the biggest truth is LOVE not power. He had no fear but as he died he cried out to his father, God. We too can cry out if we ever feel lonely or abandoned or really sad because Jesus now is beside us and within us to strengthen us, to take away our fear and to fill us with His love so that we can share that with others.
Together: Glory be to the Father…..
13th Station: The body of Jesus is taken down from the cross. Stand beside the priests’ graves at the back of St Johns Church
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
After 3 hours, Jesus is taken down from the cross, his mother Mary and some special friends were there to hold the body tenderly and with great love but their hearts were broken though relieved that Jesus was not going to suffer any more. If a person is dying sometimes we want to hang on to them, we don’t want to let them go. And when they die we need time just to be with the body, to cry, to mourn, to grieve and to kiss it gently too. During this terrible pandemic that has not been possible for many families, making death even harder.
In some parts of our world people are now dying from Climate change and we need to let go of many things but not really things but ways of living, like using too much fossil fuel to travel, heat our homes and what about the food we waste and lots more. This is difficult so maybe we can do it one step at a time eg walk or use the bike more, only cook what we need and learn to compost. In this way we will be cultivating or sowing seeds of hope.
Like Jesus’ friends looked after Jesus body so carefully we too are called to look after our earth with tenderness and great care.
Together: Glory be to the Father…
14th Jesus is laid in the tomb. Return to the small Rowan Tree
I give thanks to God for creation and for being wonderfully made.
Jesus’ journey of 2000 years ago is over…in the Holy Land Jesus’ body had to be buried before the holy day of the Sabbath. Now Jesus’ body is resting…it is very quiet.
We need quiet times in our lives too, times to rest and become aware of the breathing of the Spirit of Jesus which is alive within us and in our world. We can do this in nature, when we walk and sit, listen to the birds, the wind, water running…in so many ways…and of course we can do it in our own gardens or in any quiet place.
Remember you can make this journey again another time if you wish and one day you might like to look at the beautiful paintings of the Stations in St John’s Church the Church, most were the work of a famous artist called Sean Keating, I wonder which one will be your favourite?
Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Hub window too where you can see and learn a lot about caring for creation, our common home.
Together: Glory be to the Father…..
Sylvia Thompson talks about this unique route for The Stations of the Cross on Horizons on Radio Kerry at 9 Sunday morning.
L