Way of the Cross shows faith and devotion
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald A Sacred Heart parishioner portraying Jesus carries his cross to Calvary in the Good Friday Passion Play.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald A Roman soldier looks on at the Passion procession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Othello Friday.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald An actor portraying Jesus is lashed to his cross and ready to be crucified in Sacred Heart’s Good Friday Passion Play in Othello.
OTHELLO — “Vamos! Camina!”
The man dressed as a Roman soldier is serious as he yells. He holds in his hand a whip made of rope, and he flogs the large wooden cross resting on another man’s shoulder.
A man dressed as Jesus, covered in red, wearing a crown of thorns.
It’s Good Friday, the day Christians mark the crucifixion of Christ. And the parishioners of Sacred Heart Catholic Parish here in Othello are commemorating this day with the Viacrucis en Vivo — the Living Way of the Cross — a symbolic re-enactment of the crucifixion as an act of religious devotion.
Everyone from the story is here — Jesus, Pontius Pilate, the two thieves, the high priest, Simon of Cyrene and a whole company of Roman soldiers yelling at Jesus to keep moving.
Keep moving all the way to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.
“This is a tradition in the Hispanic community,” said Father Alejandro Safedo, a priest at Sacred Heart. “We come from Mexico or other countries, it’s the way we pray, accompanying Jesus in his passion, what he did for us. We try to give this experience to the people of Othello.”
Sacred Heart has been doing this Good Friday ritual for five years now, drawing several dozen participants and as many as a hundred worshipers to follow the procession around as they circle the block, beginning with Pilate’s condemnation and ending with the wrapped body of Jesus being placed in a tomb.
“Every year we have improved things, we try to do better every time,” Safedo said.
While there are four Gospel accounts, much of Sacred Heart’s passion is drawn from the Gospel of John.
“John is different,” Safedo said. “In John’s gospel, Jesus is the main actor. Jesus is in charge. Even though he’s on the cross, even though he’s dead, he’s always in charge.”
Moises Lopez-Cortes, who played a Roman soldier in the procession this year, said it takes about a month to prepare. And they try very hard to get into their parts.
“We take everything how it was at the time, we take it to heart,” Lopez-Cortes said. “They treated him really bad. We try to do it exactly, so the people can see how bad the Romans were with Jesus.”
Lopez-Cortes said he it is an honor to be a Roman soldier — a part he has played for the last two years. But three years ago, he was Jesus, and he said playing that role changed his life.
“I’m Catholic, but I never came to church or Mass. When I participated as Jesus, it changed my life,” he said. “It’s really beautiful, the love he has for us. It changed my mind, how to live my life, and also how God sacrifices his life for us.”
Now he attends Mass regularly, Lopez-Cortes said, and he’s studying to be confirmed and take his first communion. Portraying Jesus, and then portraying someone who tortured and humiliated Christ, has shown him what it means to truly follow, and truly believe.
“The way he loves us is the way we love each other. No matter who we are, we are created in the image of God,” Lopez-Cortes said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.