St. Isidore Parish in Macomb brings story of Jesus' suffering to life on Good Friday with interactive Living Stations of the Cross
MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Across the Archdiocese of Detroit, Catholics observed the solemnity of the Lord's Passion through Good Friday services April 7, reflecting on Christ's suffering in the hours leading to his death on the cross.
At St. Isidore Parish in Macomb, parishioners immersed themselves in the account of Jesus' agony through a "Living Stations of the Cross" performance, hosted each year at the parish before its Good Friday service.
Members of the parish took part in St. Matthew’s telling of the Passion as actors, singers and musicians, recreating the steps Jesus took on the way to Calvary. Each station was accompanied by hymns, a reflection, and the familiar refrain, “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, for by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world."
The performers acted out different stations from the Gospel of St. Matthew in different parts of the church, allowing parishioners an up-close look at the interactive stations.
“I’ve been in this play before, and it gets me spiritually centered on Good Friday, which is a very important day,” Michael Smith, who played Pontius Pilate, told Detroit Catholic. “I feel the show is honorable as well to Jesus, and that gives me a good feeling. People love this show, and I love giving that to them.”
The church was packed for the performance, under the direction of Amy Righi, director of music and liturgy at St. Isidore. The choir accompanied the performers, particularly Richard Smith, who played Jesus in the production.
“It was an absolute honor to play Jesus, as unworthy as I am,” Richard Smith said. “I was chosen for the role and am very thankful for that. People enjoy the prayerfulness, watching the Passion of the Christ unfold before them, and just having that sense of them being fully engaged with what is going on around them.”
The performance was truly interactive, with lyrics for hymns projected on the church’s overhead screen for the congregation to sing, and a narrator reading a reflection on each station and calling the audience to apply the suffering Christ undertook to the sufferings of today’s world.
“I feel like maybe these days we’ve lost sight of what Good Friday is all about and the Lord’s Passion,” Michael Smith said. “And people love to be brought back. It’s a very solemn and spiritual experience, and we have a lot of music we do with the readers, and people get emotional.”
The 14 stations depicted follow the story from the time Judas Iscariot agrees to hand Jesus over to the Sanhedrin to Joseph of Arimathea laying Jesus in the tomb. The play climaxes with the lights of the church going out at the moment of Jesus’ death.
“The performance brings a deeper meaning behind each station,” Michael Smith said. “When we look at pictures or statues, we tend to not get behind the deeper meaning of the stations, so by having people act it out, it brings it all to life in a good way.
“The performance reminds people that Christ is a real person who lived and died for us, and that makes Easter so much more real,” Michael Smith added. “People keep coming back to this performance year after year, because you always need that reminder. It’s so important for our faith.”
Copy Permalink
