Last night, the 8th graders did the Living Stations of the Cross and they did a beautiful job. They showed a reverence that was very refreshing. 4 of my students had prominent roles: narrator, Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, and one of the women of Jerusalem. I was very proud of them and of all the 8th graders, including the rest of my group that behaved well as part of the assembly. Kudos to our DRE, Arlene, for a job well-done!
The reverence shown by the kids doesn’t surprise me. I used to be involved with a junior high Passion play, and the teens were all very reverent in the presentation, year after year. I’ve also had the opportunity to attend Living Stations at several parishes in the last few years, and each group performed with a reverence due the occasion. I think such presentations are great ways to help kids really see the Passion in a different, more meaningful way. And when we expect much of them, we can get it.
Denise, I like what you say about expecting much from our young people…you’re right on target. As for the show of reverence, last year, I recall a good deal of giggling during the Living Stations. That was refreshingly absent this year. I’m glad that your experiences have been reverent.
I read your post and it made continue to wonder. I am in a new parish (started in August) and doing live stations was something that I was wanting to do. I did them as mime in grade school myself and put them on in my last parish I worked at. At this parish everything is pretty much repetitive and routine. Things don’t change that much. Do you have any advice on how to ask my pastor on me organizing Live Stations?
Jessica, I presume you are in the position of DRE. If you are a catechist, then the first thing to do would be to talk to your DRE about the possibility of doing the Living Stations. As a DRE, however, you have the latitude you need to simply go ahead and develop Living Stations. They do not need to replace any of the Stations of the Cross that the parish is offering but can be a special presentation of the religious education program. If however you feel that the best thing would be to speak with the pastor about it, I suggest you have a written plan ready that outlines in general what the Living Stations consist of…just a general description. I also suggest that you recruit a few allies so that this doesn’t appear to be something that you alone want to do but is a request of a group of people in the parish. Any other suggestions from folks out there?