"Living Stations of the Cross" presentation set

Mar. 28—oak hill — Jackson Pino is cognizant of the difficulties Jesus Christ endured on the path to crucifixion.

Pino will portray Jesus as the Catholic Youth Group of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church presents "The Living Stations of the Cross in Silhouette" on Good Friday, March 29, at 2 p.m. at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church at 129 Elmore St.

All are welcome to attend the free performance.

"The past two years, I've played Jesus every year," said Pino, an Oak Hill High School junior. "It's been wonderful. I've loved it. It really helps me grow in understanding.

"We do this for Lent, just learning and watching as you see Jesus' path down to Calvary. It's tough. It's tough to experience, and it's tough to go through."

Pino's hope is that, in viewing the youth group's performance, the public will comprehend "the sorrow of Jesus, the passion that He had for us to go through the awful walk that He did. That's what I want people to take out of it, is that He did all that to save us."

Laura Kiliany, one of the church's youth directors, says, "Basically, what we're doing is reliving the (14) stations of the Passion of the Christ."

The church has been presenting the production for about 20 years, she said.

A Palm Sunday performance was March 24.

"It's absolutely free to the public, and we welcome all denominations, all Christians, to come," Kiliany said.

The youth group features students in grades 8-12. Kiliany is joined in supervising them by Megan Gilkerson and Caitlin Watkins. There are 11 youth members, but 12 will be participating, including two special guests.

"What is so moving about this particular play is that we try to keep it to where you're not distracted by their faces," said Kiliany. "They're all behind a silhouette, so all you see is their shadows, so it leaves your imagination to go back and reflect on Jesus' life and be able to make it what you want to make it in your mind.

"It's essentially a long prayer. Narrators read the story of each station. Then, we pray at the end of each station, and there's music that leads us into the next station. It's very solemn, and it's really just a time to meditate on the Passion of the Christ."

Pino said participation in such activities has strengthened his faith. "You're supposed to start (in the youth group) as a freshman, and I've been doing it since I was a freshman," he said. "I've been altar serving in this church since third grade.

"I've been involved in the church for a while. I love this place. It's a beautiful place to be, and it's a great place to evolve spiritually."

Preparation for the Holy Week performances began in February, with two to three hours being committed each weekend to it, Pino said. "It's tough work. There's a lot of stuff we have to get right, and there's a lot of movements we have to have down before we do it."

"This is a great opportunity, and Lent as a whole in the Catholic church is a great opportunity to become closer with Christ, and this (performance) is a wonderful opportunity to experience what Jesus went through," Pino said.

The youth members "take much pride in this, and they pretty much run the show," said Kiliany.

"We want everyone to understand, of course it's held in our Catholic church, but we encourage all public to come," she added. "We believe that this is a very moving experience, and we want to share it with as many people that we can."

The production is roughly an hour in duration.

The cast includes:

—Jesus — Jackson Pino

—Mary — Gracie Littreal

—Veronica — Natalie Craddock

—High Priest — Cade Vargo-Thomas

—Pilate — Landon Kiliany

—Soldier 1 — Carson Treadway

—Soldier 2 — AJ Bane

—Apostles and women of Jerusalem — Natalie Craddock, Rebecca Gilkerson, Adriana Ibarra and Olivia Tweeddale

—Mary Magdalene — Rebecca Gilkerson

—John — Tyler Gilkerson

—Joseph of Arimathea — AJ Bane

—Nicodemus — Cade Vargo-Thomas

—Female narrators — Gracie Littreal, Olivia Tweeddale, Adriana Ibarra, Natalie Craddock and Rebecca Gilkerson

—Male narrators — Cade Vargo-Thomas, AJ Bane, Landon Kiliany and Tyler Gilkerson

—Youth leaders — Laura Kiliany and Megan Gilkerson

—Pianist/music — Caitlin Watkins

—Pastor — Father Jojan Joseph.

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