For the past year, Jose Alvarez prepared himself to walk in the shoes of Jesus.
“This process was a yearlong commitment,” Alvarez said. “You have to commit and try to live as Jesus did once, which is extremely hard because I’m not the holiest of people.”
Despite his hesitation, Alvarez took on the challenge of playing the role of Jesus in the annual Good Friday procession at Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Chicago.
“This was extremely difficult for me — emotionally, physically and everything else,” Alvarez said of the re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross, which shows the path Jesus took on his way to be crucified on the cross. “But it’s been extremely gratifying because it got me closer to my faith, and it’s been a total blessing.”
Onlookers frequently stopped on the streets around the church in the Indiana Harbor section of the city or came outside of their homes to watch. It drew hundreds of people as the procession moved through the neighborhood streets surrounding the church.
Alvarez, whose body was covered in scars and blood, suffered several theatrical beatings by Roman soldiers as they went station to station highlighting pivotal moments on Jesus’ path to the cross.
Carrying a large wooden cross, Alvarez moaned and cringed when the Roman soldiers whipped him. The procession ended with Alvarez bound to the cross with ropes, depicting the crucifixion of Jesus.
Eloy Garcia, an East Chicago resident and a participant in the procession for the past eight years, said he takes this event and service seriously.
“I took the day off work, and I even have my two kids involved,” he said. “People need to understand that this was real.”
Maria Quiroz, who’s been a parishioner for more than 40 years, couldn’t hold back her tears as she reflected on what the Stations of the Cross event meant to her.
“This just kind of reminds me of what Jesus went through to save all of us,” she said. “It’s not that we need a reminder, but this is touching.”
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When he was first asked to play the part of Jesus, Alvarez said his first reaction was to decline.
“I didn’t feel worthy of it because I considered myself somewhat of a disappointment,” he said. “It’s a big commitment. It’s just not the play because I have to go in front of everyone, in front of God himself and tell him I am going to be as pure and as clean as you were and take this commitment.”
But now that it’s over, Alvarez said he’s sad that he isn’t going to be Jesus again.
“It was more than the play itself,” he said. “It was connecting me to my faith more than I could ever imagine.”
Twitter @JavonteA