Jesus suffers, because He wants to make us loving persons. He calls us to the imitation of the Cross, because He seeks our friendship. Praying the way of the cross is not just an expression of piety, which will bring tears to the eyes of a pious soul, contemplating-from a safe distance-the suffering of Jesus and one's neighbour. No, it is an invitation to follow along the same path. The goal is to let Jesus speak to me personally, then to climb up the Via Dolorosa of my own life. With him, this sorrowful street transforms into a Via Amorosa, a loving route, at the end of which I can discern that no suffering is meaningless, if it is accepted with a spark of love. Life is not about existing by the skin of one's teeth, but about finding salvation.
