Dedication
These Stations are dedicated to three women Copyright © 1989 by William Hart McNichols, SJ
who walk courageously, faithfully, and lovingly,
beside those living and dying with AIDS...
Cissy Therese Grace
Louise Hay
and
Sister Patrice Murphy
All Rights Reserved
Electronically Republished with the Permission of the Author
Originally Published by Catholic AIDS Ministries
Archdiocese of Seattle
Produced by Roger I. Sandon/Wordsmith
Father McNichols has accompanied many an AIDS sufferer on the journey towards death. He has participated as a friend in that journey and has been powerfully transformed by it. Foreword
In this short work he conveys to us, in the imagery and symbol of the stations of the Cross, the insight his experiences have given him into the way persons with AIDS share in the sufferings of Christ. He enables his readers to stand, as it were, at the foot of the bed just as the loyal disciples once stood at the foot of the cross on Calvary.
I am happy to commend this work. May it be fruitful in stirring up understanding and compassion for those affected by AIDS. May it spur us all to be with these suffering brothers and sisters as they journey toward the Lord.
Raymond C Hunthausen
Archbishop of Seattle
A few years ago I was asked to speak to a religious community of men about the work I had been doing with people with AIDS. Introduction
We talked casually, back and forth, for a long time. Then one of the men decided to zero in. He asked me if I ever saw Christ on the Cross in any of the people suffering. The question startled me because I had brought with me a graphic depiction of an AIDS Crucifixion I had drawn during the previous Lent, and I had already shown it to the group. Then the man began to get to his real question. What he wanted to know was how the work had affected me personally. I answered quickly that I did not envision myself on the Cross because of the ministry, but that I was more in the position of Mary or the beloved John standing near the one on the Cross. He was not satisfied and persisted with, "But have you ever wondered what you are doing there? Why has God brought you so close to the Cross?" I mumbled something coherent, as I remember now, but felt more like a whole well of past sorrow was about to erupt. I saw vision after vision of people I had gotten to know and lovespent so much time with. I saw again their suffering for innumerable reasons. I saw their abandonment at times, and I left that evening with the question reverberating inside of me.
I, like many Christians of all persuasions, have been taught by the mystics and the saints that to know Jesus one must ask to be near him in his suffering. When Julian of Norwich actually begged for this experience, she was given a most extraordinary spiritual revelation from a vision of Christ Crucified which has fed people for centuries. And of course there is Francis of Assisi who all but became Christ Crucified near the end of his life when he was wounded with the stigmata.
Meditations on The Way of the Cross were originally made popular by the Franciscan mysticism which spread like a brush fire after Francis' death. I draw from this ancient prayer to try to uncover a part of the spirituality of persons with AIDS. I seek to look deeper into what already can be seen, to answer why God has called us to this profound gift of ministry to people with AIDS.
William Hart McNichols, SJ
The Stations of the Cross of a Person with AIDS is produced Acknowledgements
with special thanks to:
Ms. Judy Vitzhum
Father Ward Oakshott
Father Thomas Allsopp
Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen
The First Station