The Way of the Cross in the Words of St Paul

The Way of the Cross in the Words of St Paul by Fr Clement Parson, updated by Donal Foley (Published by CTS)

This is a set of meditations for the Stations of the Cross, put together from the writings of St Paul (with one or two verses from the Acts of the Apostles).

I love the idea of this: a very biblical approach to the Stations of the Cross; and St Paul is above all a preacher of Christ Crucified.  Nonetheless, I have some reservations about it too.

On the plus side, I found it a great read in terms of meditations.  There is so much richness in every sentence St Paul writes, that there is always food for thought.

Consider the Scripture Reading for the First Station:

Though they found nothing to justify his execution, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him put to death.  

And so Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed.

Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give.

Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her.

The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake.

There is enough there to meditate on for a good while, most fruitfully.

And yet that same reading illustrates a lot of my problems with this approach.

For a start, it is not a reading from Scripture, but a selection of verses put together (one from Acts, one from Corinthians, one from Romans, one from Ephesians, and one from Galatians).  That makes it seem somewhat disjointed: St Paul is hard enough to follow at the best of times...  It is a plus point of the book that every verse is referenced so one can see immediately where it comes from, and where the breaks are - and of course go back to the context if one is sufficiently diligent.

My second reservation is related: St Paul unfolds his arguments very carefully and precisely: taking verses out of context can strip them of their meaning or even distort it.  If one is soaked in Scripture and can hear the context for each verse, then this approach is hugely rich, setting off resonance after resonance (or so I imagine).  However if, like me, one can't do that, the result is the reverse: a diminution of meaning.  I am so used to Protestant friends using single verses of St Paul out of context to 'prove' some disputed point, that perhaps I am a little over-sensitive to this: but I think that in the case of St Paul's writings, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

My other reservation is my innate conservatism (my kids think one of the funniest jokes in the world is: How many Traditionalists does it take to change a lightbulb? to which the answer is: Change!!!???). That tells you something about their upbringing - and their father...

However, I do find it hard to like the idea of replacing:
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee;
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world

with:
He was humbler yet,
Even to accepting death, death on a cross.


And yet, and yet... there is so much richness here, that I am loathe to cast it aside.  I think my conclusion, therefore, is that this is a great booklet for private meditation on the Way of the Cross, but that I personally would not recommend it for public Stations.