Sunday, April 19, 2026 – The Third Sunday of Easter
Though I did not participate, I spoke to individuals who on Good Friday continued the Cincinnati tradition of walking up and praying on the steps at Holy Cross-Immaculata. It was reported that from midnight throughout the day and into the evening on Good Friday, the steps were packed with faithful individuals “praying the steps” in their individual ways. The line was long to reach the steps, about as long as the time to travel the steps to the top. Many people had to park their cars at a distance and then had a long walk to reach the line and wait.
I personally have never walked the steps on Good Friday; however, I have considered at other times climbing them prayerfully with a particular prayer intention in mind as I ascended. Back to Good Friday, I cannot imagine the number of prayer intentions those who participated had—prayers for peace, deliverance, thankfulness, thanksgiving, gratitude to Jesus for the wonderous love and great sacrifice made for the salvation of us all.
But perhaps the most important takeaway from this year, and it would be the case on past Good Fridays, was the witness of faith made visible by all these faithful people. In our times we may wonder who has faith. Some say religion is dead. We now are beginning to see a turning with more claiming religion as a value. Evangelization and bringing people to God remains to be a strong emphasis for our church, but we can take heart that faith is alive and well and the possibilities are endless.
Moving beyond this Good Friday tradition, we also see great faith here in East Walnut Hills at St. Francis de Sales Parish. We are a strong worship community and a growing one. Every Sunday roughly two hundred and fifty people (give and take) bring their lives and prayers here to the corner of Madison and Woodburn to pray and to pray for one another and to be sent forth. It is a great witness.
Be it at the steps at Holy Cross-Immaculata, at St. Francis de Sales, or other church sites around us, may we practice our faith with great zeal, hope and expectation. In doing so, Jesus can look down on us and repeat his words he said to the centurion in Matthew’s Gospel: “When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Isreal have I found such faith.” (8:10)