It was warm and sunny at San Jose’s Alum Rock Park last Friday. At 11:45 a.m., a group of more than 50 people, varying in age from children in strollers to seniors with canes and including four clergymembers, gathered in the uppermost parking lot. They could have been there for a picnic.
Actually, they were gathered to reenact an ancient Christian devotion, the Way of the Cross. This was the 40th annual observance of Good Friday sponsored by several Eastside churches, and participants represented St. Philip’s Episcopal, Foothill Presbyterian, Alum Rock United Methodist, St. John Vianny Roman Catholic, Gloria Dei Lutheran and several others.
The group, led by the Rev. Ben Daniel of Foothill Presbyterian Church, walked along a trail on the bank of Penitencia Creek, three people taking turns to carry the rugged 10-foot wooden cross. Along the way they made 14 stops, each commemorating a stop in the journey of Jesus of Nazareth, from the house of Pontius Pilate to the hill known as Golgotha where he was crucified.
No. 1: Pilate condemns Jesus
No. 2: Jesus accepts the cross
No. 3: Jesus falls for the first time
No. 4: Jesus meets his mother
No. 5: Simon helps Jesus carry the cross
No. 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
No. 7: Jesus falls a second time
No. 8: Jesus meets the weeping women
No. 9: Jesus falls for the third time
No. 10: Jesus is stripped of his clothing
No. 11: Jesus is nailed on the cross
No. 12: Jesus dies on the cross
No. 13: Jesus is laid in the arms of Mary
No. 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb.
At each step the pattern was repeated: The leader began a prayer; the people completed it. Then a reader narrated the thoughts of the gospel character involved at that stop. The people responded with a prayer connecting the Biblical event with current life. Everyone sang a song to the tune of the familiar hymn, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” as they continued on to the next station. (The substituted words relate to what has occurred at the previous station.)
Along the way participants were invited to pick up and carry along small stones from the pathway. At the final station, near a grotto built into the hillside to collect the area’s natural mineral water, the cross was placed and the stones were piled at its base, representing “the sins, failings, and hopes for renewal” of the participants.
This Good Friday devotion is very popular, with some people returning year after year. Worshippers this year came from as far away as Saratoga, Sunnyvale and Morgan Hill. One woman brought along her grandchildren because she wanted them to “share this beautiful spiritual experience.” In the words of Pastor Daniel, “We Christians have nothing more in common than the cross.”
No doubt this annual event will be repeated again April 18, 2014. For more information, call St. Philip’s Church at (408) 251-8621. There is no charge to participate, but the City of San Jose charges a $6 parking fee, so carpooling may be advisable.
