BY ERIKA DE LOS REYES AND RYAN HENRY | STAFF WRITERS
SAN JUAN — The display of tenderness and compassion was surreal here. On a particularly hot and humid Good Friday, children in attendance at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle surrounded the statue of Jesus, depicting Him lying on the cross and destined for crucifixion.
As they gazed upon the statue, they looked for ways to help Him. One little boy attempted to bring water to the statue.
Other people prayed as parishioners gathered for the Stations of the Cross, which consists of 14 different stations that portray the last moments of Jesus before he was resurrected on the third day.
People of faith, one by one, came to the statue and placed a hand on the feet of Jesus as a way of feeling connected to Him.
These scenes provided moments of veneration among those who came to the basilica to express their passion for faith, as the stations portray the passion of their messiah, Jesus.
For Bishop Daniel Flores of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, who has been part of the church for about 12 years, the most compelling aspect of the walk is seeing the emotions.
“It is very impactful to just watch the families follow along and the children who are very moved by the images of Jesus,” Flores said.
Reenacting the stations is a tradition in communities of faith, occurring every year during Holy Week. However, like most community events, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted spiritual leaders to opt for virtual means of expressing faith, which some believe hurt the intimacy of events such as these.
After two years in a community previously ravaged by the coronavirus and reaching for a sense of normalcy, intimacy was no longer a problem Friday.
Mission resident Leticia Quezada and her mother attended the event every year prior to the pandemic. When she heard the basilica was holding the procession live once again, she was happy to return to the church.
“Growing up this has always been something important to us. While I am alive I will continue to attend this event,” Quezada said.
The scenes in Brownsville were not unlike those in San Juan.
Station by station around the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy in Brownsville, an actor dressed as Jesus carried a massive wooden cross. Roman centurions in armor lashed at him with whips, and the townspeople of Jerusalem looked on, with growing grief.
They staged the biblical scenes of the last moments of the Christian faith’s messiah as part of the annual Good Friday tradition.
Massed together under the canopies of handheld umbrellas, against the heat of the midday sun overhead, the congregation walked and intoned a somber song.
The faithful voices lifted the pleading words of the song “Perdona a Tu Pueblo,” which were carried softly by the chords of a six-string guitar being strummed near the front of the procession.
“Is that Jesus?” a woman asks at a station. “His face is so swollen it doesn’t even look like Him.”
The crowd numbers a couple hundred, with large families who range from grandparents to grandchildren.
“In a sense, we are reenacting the Stations of the Passions of Christ,” said Father Robert Moreno Jr., a parochial vicar at the parish, “to allow us to more deeply appreciate His (suffering) and the gift of love and mercy God has given us.”
The crowd stops time and again, leading to the crucifixion, now emblematic of the Christian doctrine across the world.
At each station, they repeated the words of a call and response: “We adore you, oh Christ, and we praise You.”
And the call was answered each time: “Because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.”
