Via Crucis or Way of the Cross is one of the practices highlighted in Christian communities every Friday during the Season of Lent. This is a way of participating more closely in the mystery of our Lord’s passion and death which is recalled every Good Friday of the Holy Week.In the forthcoming celebration of the World Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney, this coming July, the Via Crucis will also be a major event, as it was in World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. The reenactment will be telecast live to the world, hopefully with around a billion people watching.
As I read today's news from Zenit.org, an interesting article caught my attention in this regard. The Director of the Via Crucis, Father Franco Cavarra and Fr. Peter Williams, the WYD liturgical director, shared their impressions while conducting the personal interviews with the persons who auditioned for the roles in the Via Crucis. (Names have been concealed at the request of those auditioning).
I quote some excerpts here.
Fr. Cavarra recounts, "Australia is a multicultural land, World Youth Day is universal and so is Jesus' message. […] What I am searching for are individuals who possess a particular bearing about them that reflects the spirit of these outstanding characters."
"I've been pleasantly surprised by the talent so far," the priest added.
Fr Peter Williams narrates: A 25-year-old man of Japanese origins felt he would "just be honored to carry Jesus' cross for him in the role of Simon."
Jovina, 23, considering herself "incapable of living up to the part of Mary, the Mother of God," but believed that "as a woman who tries to follow the path of God everyday," she could represent one of the women who follows Christ on his path to Calvary.
Anthony, 30, has been acting in the "Life Theatre" group for the last decade in plays such as "A Man for All Seasons." He considered the chance to contribute his acting skills and faith to this exercise in any way as "an act of worship, an offering to God […] almost like being involved in a liturgy."
Father Cavarra truly sees the great potential of the event as a way of transmitting the Gospel message. But he also admits feeling a little overwhelmed by the task at hand: "It's not only a very exciting time, but it's a time of apprehension too, because you become very conscious of how big the thing is going to be and what lies ahead […] a bit like Jesus before the event itself. "
Perhaps the task is quite daunting because the event will not just present the Passion of Our Lord. It also aims to present the host city of Sydney in all its glory.
Father Cavarra explained: "Our aim, when we selected the locations, was to consider how best to show off what wonderful natural scenes we've got here. Obviously in staging the different settings and different points of the journey we had to find a truth about them -- so when we stage the 'Condemnation of Jesus' we went for the facade of the Art Gallery of New South Wales because it's very imposing and dramatic. (...) Similarly when we decided to use the steps of the Opera House for another station, it was to represent the power of Rome and then travel under the Harbor Bridge, only to end at Darling Harbor and Cockle Bay Wharf as the light is fading."
He adds, "But there's still a little way to go before production time... We've been able to cast some very good people as Roman soldiers. We've got all of the people that we need as the 12 Apostles. We've got some very good Judases and some excellent good thieves and bad thieves (…) but I have to say, we're still looking for Jesus."
Anybody out there who wants to try out...?
