Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Whalen participated in a Spanish-language Stations of the Cross procession throughout the Washington Heights and Inwood sections of upper west Manhattan on Saturday, March 28, the eve of Palm Sunday.

The morning procession was followed by a noon Spanish Mass at Good Shepherd Church (Inwood), celebrated by recently installed Archbishop Ronald Hicks, who with a big smile told the faithful at the start, “I won’t say welcome to you, because I want to give you thanks for welcoming me.” The faithful responded with joyful laughter and applause. “It is truly a pleasure and an honor to be present here with all of you,” the archbishop said.

United in our Lord and Savior

Later in his homily, delivered in Spanish and English, he spoke of the importance of the basis of the faith, “walking with Jesus,” in processions such as the five-church Stations of the Cross that preceded the Mass, and in life in general. “We walk with Jesus. We walk with him in faith. He’s with us in the good times and in the bad. We come together united in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – this is our salvation,” Archbishop Hicks asserted.

The Stations of the Cross featured brief prayerful stops at each church on the procession route. More than 500 people participated in the procession, during which some people took turns carrying the cross. They were joined at the Mass by an additional 200 people.

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The procession began shortly after 9 a.m. from Incarnation Church on St. Nicholas Avenue onto St. Elizabeth Church on Wadsworth Avenue. It then proceeded to Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs on Arden Street and St. Jude on West 204th Street before heading to Good Shepherd (Broadway at the corner of Isham Street), where clergy, deacons, nuns, and the faithful prepared for the noon Mass. (Queen of Martyrs and St. Jude form the same parish.) Bishop Whalen was among the Mass concelebrants. Father George Sears, pastor of Good Shepherd, offered opening remarks of gratitude.

“Although there are people in the world who are against us, we continue to walk with Christ,” Archbishop Hicks said in the homily, citing present times and the days of the Lord’s ministry. He noted that in the day’s gospel reading from John 11, many people walked with Christ, but there were also doubters, and there were haters – much like in present times. He said that as Christians, we are called to pray for all people, including the haters.

“Many people began to believe in Jesus because of the presence of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And we also have Mary in our lives; she is always guiding us to her Son. We give thanks to God that she was present for the people in the gospel, and also in our lives,” Archbishop Hicks said.

Caiaphas sets a good example

The archbishop spoke of the importance of the role of the high priest Caiaphas. “He (Caiaphas) says: it is obvious. He is your Messiah; he is your Savior…My friends, he sets a good example for us. He chooses God and the path to salvation. And the disciples – the disciples are one hundred percent with Jesus. We are his disciples also, and this Holy Week, we like the disciples in today’s gospel are invited to walk with him – just like you walked on the streets right now. He is always with us…Let us continue to walk with him and pray for each other.”

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Maria J. Gil, 62, participated in the procession and attended the Mass. “This is a very important time for me as a Catholic – to be here and accompany our Lord, Jesus Christ. In our family, the faith has always been very important,” Gil told The Good Newsroom after Mass in her native Spanish.

“The homily was great; it was beautiful. I didn’t know he (Archbishop Hicks) was going to be the celebrant. What a wonderful surprise.” Gil’s home parish is St. John-Visitation in the Bronx, but she also attends Mass at Good Shepherd.

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