The season of Lent contains many devotional customs, but few of them compare to the seriousness or popularity of the Stations of the Cross. As the heart reflects on the Lord Jesus’ passion in the 14 Stations, the body is engaged and walks the Via Crucis.

The whole person is taken up into the mystery of the Lord’s redemption and hears within the proclamation of St. Peter:

“In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:18-19).

While the grace of the Stations of the Cross are for us, they aren’t meant to be only for us.

In fact, we can spiritually carry others with us as we reflect upon and walk the stations, which are a powerful means to pray for those who are away from the Lord Jesus.

Many of us have experienced the heartache of having a loved one leave the faith and abandon any semblance of its practice. For those of us who believe, there can be no greater tearing of our hearts.

The reasons people have for leaving the Church are vast and varied. They include anger with God over evil in the world; religious indifference; bad examples by believers; a contemporary thirst for material prosperity; disagreement with moral teachings; and the scandals in the Church.

Polls in the last few years have indicated that for every one convert to the Catholic faith, we lose six members. So it shouldn’t surprise us that, of all the pastoral concerns that arise in parish life, the one most consistent and piercing sorrow is the one caused by loved ones who walk away from the faith.

The departure of so many can be overwhelming. We can find ourselves being caught up in an array of emotions as we discern how to help hasten their return. But, often, conversations are cut short, dialogue is dismissed and discussions are concluded with mockery.

As believers, we seem at times to be hitting the wall. The apologetics that we study and prepare are given no hearing or credence by our loved ones who have fallen away from the faith. Research that we’ve done to address various points of disagreement and our efforts at empathy with our loved ones may be drowned out in apathy and callousness.

In such situations, we need to remind ourselves: There is hope. The Lord Jesus gives us hope. He also dealt with those who did not believe; and in his own heart, he also suffered and was sorrowful over the indifference of so many people who disregarded or mocked his offer of salvation.

In all these scenarios, however, the Lord did not respond with self-pity, resentment or accusation. In every situation, the Lord responded with selfless love and compassion.

In reaction to the cold detachment of others, the Lord Jesus prayed, fasted, selflessly served and offered up his immense sufferings for the good of those who ignored him.

Even from the cross, the Lord Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

The offering of the Lord culminated in his passion, death and resurrection. In his torturous passion, Christ showed us the depth of his love. In carrying his cross, he showed us the extent of his love for us and how much he desires to share his friendship with us. St. Paul tells us:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

The Lord sought our salvation in spite of our sinfulness and negligence. He loved us with all he had — and he loved us to the end.

In this way, Jesus modeled a noble response for us. By his own self-oblation and desire for the salvation of all, the Lord exemplified and passed on to us his “most excellent way” of love (1 Corinthians 12:31).

In seeking the return of our loved ones to the faith, we are called to generously offer them our prayers, selfless accompaniment, understanding and compassion.

We are called to take the hard and often long road of loving others back into the consolation of faith and into the fold of the Church. This can be a difficult task, filled with moments good and bad. Through them all, however, and in spite of some of them, we are summoned to stay the course, persevere in hope, and pray tirelessly for the return of our loved ones.

As we contemplate the Lord’s sacrificial love, we are led to the Church’s beautiful and powerful devotion of the Stations of the Cross.

As a devotion, the stations allow us to take our loved ones to the cross and ask for their conversion (along with our own). We are invited to walk with the Lord Jesus and bring our concerns, heartache and intercession before God the Father in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Along the Stations of the Cross, we are able to walk with the Lord Jesus as he literally carries his cross for the salvation of humanity and to offer in that moment our specific supplication for our loved ones and their return to Christ.

By the cross, Jesus saved humanity. By devotion to the cross, we can seek the return of our loved ones to him.

There is no greater way to bring others back to the Lord than through the power of his cross.

While we need to know basic apologetics, and learn to actively listen and show empathy, we have to remind ourselves that the loss of faith and the discarding of its practice is a spiritual problem. And spiritual problems need spiritual solutions.

Through the 14 Stations of the Cross, therefore, we are able to offer a spiritual solution and intercede for our loved ones who have fallen away. We are able to spiritually carry the cross with the Lord Jesus and pray for their return.

The Church, always devoted to her Master, promotes the devotion of the Stations of the Cross so that we can know this power, receive its help as we seek to work out our salvation, and extend it to those who have walked away and need to come home.

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD, is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and the author of the book, Way of the Cross for Loved Ones Who Have Left the Faith.