Valed

• Jesus, the Son of the Father, obeyed His Father's will until death. He is indeed the perfect example of obedience and of true love for the Father
• As baptized Christians, we are likewise called to obey the will of the Father in our daily undertakings and to radiate this saving love of Jesus that He has given us
• Jesus models for us how we should accept the Father's will in our regard
• Jesus' death on the cross saved us because it was Jesus' act of self-giving love for the Father and for us
• The cross is a symbol of Christ's saving love
• The message of the cross is the message of God's completed finished work in Christ. The message of the cross is the liberating freedom to be all that God intends us to be through the power of the Spirit
• Praying the Stations of the Cross is a popular devotion in both the eastern and western Churches
• The Stations of the Cross became an important catechetical tool
• The last station of the New Way of the Cross is the Resurrection, which was not usually included in the Lenten observation of this devotion
• Each station of the Stations of the Cross is taken from the Scriptures
• The cup that Jesus mentions in the Agony in the Garden

  Refers to His "passion and death which He feared
• Through prayer and obedience to the will of the Father, Jesus was able to accept the cup, His suffering and death, with dignity and with the assurance of the Father's unconditional, steadfast, and everlasting love
• Jesus clearly leaves the important message to His disciples that prayer is indeed very important if one is to do the will of the Father
• Jesus felt lost, abandoned, afraid and weak; yet the love of the Father and Jesus' obedience to His will triumphed over these human weaknesses
• The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when He offered Himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by Him from His Father's hands in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, making Himself obedient unto death
• Stauros


  The Greek word translated as "cross", originally indicated a pointed, vertical stake firmly fixed in the ground
• Death by crucifixion was an especially cruel and agonizing way to die for the Romans, who employed this form of execution primarily for slaves and also used it for foreigners, traitors, and criminals
• The condemned criminal was often forced to carry the cross-beam, the "patibulum" to the site of his/her own execution, thus exposing himself/herself as an object of public reproach
• The Stations of the Cross is one of the most popular devotions to the suffering Jesus, the best image of Jesus for the Filipinos
• The Catechism for Filipino Catholics states that the Stations of the Cross poses a challenge based on the Second Plenary Council admonition on the renewal of Popular Piety to have the courage to correct what leads to fanaticism or maintains people infantile in their faith
• The account of the Last Supper appears in the Synoptics while in the Gospel of John, we have the Washing of the Disciples' Feet, Jesus Farewell Discourse, and the Miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand
• The Last Supper is considered to be the New Passover Meal
• During the Last Supper, Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
• The four solemn actions that Jesus did at the Last Supper - took, blessed, broke and gave - are the exact structure of the Liturgy of the Eucharist within the Mass celebrated today
• Feast of the Passover


  Most important feast in the Jewish tradition, where Jews recall their deliverance from slavery in Egypt
• Preparations for the Feast of the Passover

  1. Prepare cups of wine

  2. Prepare bitter herbs

  3. Prepare other symbolic food
• Celebration of the Feast of the Passover by Jesus and His disciples


  Became the very first Mass ever celebrated, now called the New Passover Meal
• Actions done by Jesus during the Last Supper

  1. Took

  2. Blessed

  3. Broke

  4. Gave
• These four actions are the exact structure of the Liturgy of the Eucharist within the Mass celebrated today
• Catechism for Filipino Catholics: '"At the Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood."'
• Holy Eucharist

  The meal that will bring us to the Kingdom of God and participation in the very life of Jesus, the Messiah
• The Last Supper is an unbloody re-enactment of the sacrifice of the Cross that brings us redemption
• The challenge is to understand the Holy Eucharist more, so that we may celebrate it more meaningfully and with proper respect and attitude
• The call is not only to attend the Holy Mass and become mere observers, but also to participate actively in this Holy Sacrifice by giving ourselves completely
• The account of the Last Supper gives us the truth of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which He instituted during this meal
• Catechism for Filipino Catholics: '"Within the Eucharistic Celebration itself, Christ is really present in the assembly itself, gathered in His name, in the person of the minister, in His word (since He speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read), and indeed substantially and unceasingly under the Eucharistic species."'
• Jesus' presence in the Eucharist


  • Sacramental presence that can be seen and touched in the form of bread and wine
  • Personal-real presence that moves one to a communion within the Body of Christ through the Spirit
  • Presence in His glorified body that is entirely different from Jesus' presence in the Last Supper
  • Dynamic and lasting presence in the body and blood that moves us to His love and to respond in love
• As Catholics, we believe in the dogma of transubstantiation that in the Eucharist, the bread and wine we offer become the real body and blood of Christ after the Consecration
• Fruit of communion that the Eucharist brings


  Feeling of unity as we celebrate together as one family, one nation, the sacrifice of Christ
• Catechism for Filipino Catholics: '"But perhaps the best scriptural concretization of loving God with all one's heart, soul and strength is not in Christ's teaching, but in His very life."'