Living Stations of the Cross teach students the deeper meaning of Christ's Crucifixion

Courtesy photo/ St. John the Baptist Middle School

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At the Living Stations that will be presented at St. John the Baptist Middle School, eighth-grade students will enact Jesus Christ's journey to Calvary.

DRAPER — Fifteen eighth-graders at Saint John the Baptist Middle School will walk in the footsteps of the Savior this year as they enact the Living Stations of the Cross on March 30 and 31. But unlike Jesus in his final walk to the cross, they will not be alone. Instead, they will be accompanied by more than 100 of their classmates.

The school’s five eighth-grade classes have been preparing for this experience for months. While they have addressed scripts, staging, costumes and other aspects of the production, the most important part of that preparation has been spiritual, said Maria Moynihan, the school’s eighth-grade religion teacher.

“The goal of this is for them to let go of their eighth-grade selves and be with Jesus in a very holy way in this presentation,” she said.

Those students who play the key roles of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were chosen by each of their classes because they exemplify Christ and the Blessed Mother in their everyday lives. Each tries to keep this in mind as they prepare for the Living Stations. Moynihan encourages the actors to pray to their character in heaven for the strength to really understand what that person was feeling during the events that are portrayed in the Stations.

Britain Bennett, 13, will take on the role of Jesus at the First Station, where the Savior is condemned to death.

“I’ve really felt like what he had to go through” when the Pharisees influenced Pontius Pilate to send Jesus to be crucified, he said. “It was almost a feeling of sickness with me. I know Jesus was scared and sad, but he still had the will of God to do.”

Britain has been changed spiritually by the experience, he said. “In the past years I’ve only been watching the Stations, and my perspective was just listening and watching them. I only got the feeling of what happened and not necessarily the emotion of it. This year I really gained those emotions and really feeling how Jesus felt at that time.”

Scarlette Wood, 14, will portray Mary, the mother of God, at the Second Station, where Jesus is made to carry his cross.

“Mary has always been someone I looked up to,” she said of her own willingness to play the role. “Mary was born completely human, and she decided to do the impossible: get pregnant, and she said yes. She knew how hard it was going to be and how dangerous, and she still did it. It’s just insane to think about because she was around our age when she said yes, and I wanted to have her level of faith and trust.”

At the Fourth Station, where Jesus meets his mother, Camilla Rey, 14, will represent a woman of Jerusalem. She is also composing a final prayer that will be said at the Living Stations.

“I am at the Station where Jesus meets his mother, and we wanted to have the prayer dedicated to mothers and my mother as well,” she said. “I love my mother deeply, she has always been there for me, and with Mary I have also always looked up to her. I’ve been always praying to her and Jesus for love and peace and for my mom.”

Presenting the Living Stations is an overwhelmingly positive experience for all of the participants, Moynihan said. “Jesus is really moving their hearts, which is what I hoped for. I’m really privileged to be in this position to lead them on this journey and to watch them take this journey themselves and really be there with Jesus.”

Over the course of the two days, the students will present the Living Stations more than 40 times between 11 am and 1:20 p.m.  at 10-minute intervals to their peers at St. John the Baptist Middle School, students at St. John the Baptist Elementary School and Juan Diego Catholic High School, along with parents, grandparents and parish members. In case of inclement weather, the Stations will be moved to the gymnasium.