This is a prayer.  It isn't an intellectual exercise.  It is in the context of our relationship with God.  We could read through the text of each of the stations, and look at some pictures, but that wouldn't necessarily be prayer.  It becomes prayer when we open our hearts to be touched, and it leads us to express our response in prayer.

This is an imaginative exercise.  Its purpose is not a historical examination of "what really happened" on that day in history.  It's about something far more profound.  This is an opportunity to use this long-standing Christian prayer to let Jesus touch our hearts deeply by showing us the depth of his love for us.  The historical context is the fact that he was made to carry the instrument of his death, from the place where he was condemned to die, to Calvary where he died, and that he was taken down and laid in a tomb.  The religious context is that today Jesus wants to use any means available to move our hearts that we may know his love for us. 

The point of this exercise is to lead us to gratitude.  It will also lead us into a sense of solidarity with all our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In our busy, high tech lives we can easily get out of touch with the terrible suffering of real people in our world.  Journeying with Jesus in the Stations, allows us to imagine his entry into the experience of those who are tortured, unjustly accused or victimized, sitting on death row, carrying impossible burdens, facing terminal illnesses, or simply fatigued with life.

The most important reason for reviving the practice of making the Stations of the Cross is that it is a powerful way to contemplate, and enter into, the mystery of Jesus' gift of himself to us.  It takes the reflection on the passion out of our heads, and makes it an imaginative exercise.  It involves our senses, our experiences and our emotions.  To the extent we come to experience the love of Jesus for us, is the depth of  the gratitude we feel.  Deep gratitude leads to real generosity and a desire to love as we have been loved.