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Happening ... in the Local Church
The Living Way of the Cross at St. Boniface, Lafayette
'We try to touch their hearts'
 The
Living Way of the Cross is presented at St. Boniface by members of
Jovenes De Maria, a Hispanic youth group. (Photos by Kevin Cullen) |
 Hundreds
gather to watch the Living Way of the Cross on March 21 at St. Boniface
Parish, Lafayette. “It’s hard to imagine that anyone seeing this
couldn’t believe it truly did happen,” said Marlene Jarboe, one of those
attending the annual event. |
 Jesus
meets weeping women as Roman soldiers look on. |
 The
soldiers raise Jesus’ cross between the two thieves. |
 The
body of Jesus is removed from the cross after his crucifixion. |
By Kevin Cullen
The Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — A year ago, Hector Avila experienced the Living Way of the Cross for the first time as it wound its way through the streets that surround St. Boniface Church.
He was transformed by the hour-long reenactment of the torture, crucifixion and death of Jesus. He began attending Mass at the parish, joined the youth group and volunteered to participate in the next Good Friday reenactment.
On March 21, nearly 1,000 people — some of them in tears — watched the dark-eyed, long-haired 17-year-old portray Jesus in his final hours. The searing tableau was filled with blood, thorns, sacrifice and forgiveness.
“It is a blessing to be taken under his hand and walk through this life-changing experience,” Avila said after he was lowered from the wooden cross, then carried into the “tomb” of the parish school. “… Emotionally, the hardest part was getting mentally prepared. I prayed a lot.
“I tell everybody, I’m just being used. I’m just a tool of his word to make faith stronger, to touch people who had never been touched before. It’s such a beautiful thing.”
The outdoor stations have been a Good Friday tradition at St. Boniface Church for seven or eight years, said Hector Vargas, co-coordinator with Juan Pablo Alvarez. It’s a project of a Hispanic youth group called Jovenes De Maria.
“In Mexico, thousands and thousands of people come to see this,” Vargas said. “It’s an amazing experience, and people take it really personal.”
Father Tim Alkire, pastor of St. Boniface, blessed the event and thanked associate pastor Father Gustavo Lopez for his help.
“Your cross, Lord, is at the center this afternoon, blessed cross that brought us the Redeemer,” Father Alkire said, “blessed cross that has brought us salvation and blessed cross that brought life to this world. Lord, we want to accompany you on your painful Passion.”
Details of the drama were planned over several months. Between 80 and 100 volunteers were involved, most of them serving as actors or actresses. Roman soldiers beat and whip Jesus; Pontius Pilate condemns him to death; costumed women weep for him and others shout “Crucify him!” in Spanish.
Avila, barefoot and wearing a white robe, artificial blood and a crown of thorns, dragged the heavy wooden cross through the streets.
He fell repeatedly, and was mocked by soldiers in helmets and breastplates. Their “whips” were actually made of cotton, but they created resounding “cracks” as they struck the cross.
The audience walked to each station, then read a meditation. A trailer carried the narrator and sound system.
The crucifixion scene, staged on a straw-covered platform outside the doors to the parish school, was startlingly real. Actors hit the cross with heavy hammers to simulate nails being driven through the hands of Jesus and the thieves, who were held to their crosses by standing on blocks and putting their fingers through steel rings.
Each cross was hinged at the bottom. A moan swept through the wide-eyed crowd as the crosses were pulled upright with ropes.
The somber production was gripping for audience members and the actors.
Jeff and Marlene Jarboe, of nearby Battle Ground, said they had seen the presentation several times … but it continued to move them.
The actors, Jeff said, demonstrated “what the Lord went through and how he died for all of us and one of us. It’s a very moving rendition of the Passion of Christ.”
“It brings it from a story to a real-life occurrence,” Marlene said. “It seems very, very real. It’s hard to imagine that anyone seeing this couldn’t believe it truly did happen.”
March 21 was sunny and fairly warm. But when Good Friday is cold and gray, those portraying Jesus and the thieves — all stripped of their robes — do suffer.
“I’ve seen them shivering and turning blue, almost,” she said.
Vargas said that when he portrayed one of the soldiers, “I’d get into it so much that I’d feel like a Roman soldier.”
A woman in the audience once hugged him and begged him to stop torturing Jesus. He played his part and told her to get away. Then he began to cry.
“I saw a lot of people crying,” he said.
“I hope this shows people how Jesus died for us,” Vargas said. “I hope they don’t hide it from their kids. You need to try to teach the children their faith. I hope they are able to see, a little better, what happened 2,000 years ago. He did it for us.”
Jesus Rodriguez portrayed Barabbas twice, but this year he was a Roman soldier.
“This is something wonderful, something beautiful to me because we need to represent what happened on that day,” he said.
Leslie Muro was a woman in the crowd, dressed in a long dress. In 2007, she portrayed Veronica, and lovingly wiped the bloodied face of Jesus with her veil.
“The way Jesus acts could change somebody’s life. It could change the way they feel and think,” she said. “We try to touch their hearts. When you’re in your role, you feel it. It really hits you. It makes you feel what they felt that day.”