The
Ways of the Cross
On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross
at Calvary.
Each member of the Church tries to understand - at what cost
Christ has won our redemption.
In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday,
in the Adoration of the Cross,
we unite ourselves to our Savior,
and we contemplate our own death - to sin - in the Death of
our Lord.
God the Father
God the Son
And God the Holy Spirit
May our observation of these sacred stations
place us in the Graces which You poured onto
the world from the Cross.
We cannot rely upon our own strength
for we do not know how to pray as we should.
Therefore,
Bless us now so that we might be open to receive.
Bless our minds, that we might meditate on these Timeless Mysteries.
Bless our ears, that we might hear Your Voice.
Bless our lips, that we might speak Your Praise.
Bless our hearts, that we might know Your Love.
Give us, Oh
Lord,
An Ever-Watchful Heart, which nothing could ever distract us from
You.
A Noble Heart, which no unworthy love
can draw downwards;
An Upright Heart, which no sin can
warp or bend;
An Unconquerable Heart, which no suffering
can crush;
A Free Heart, which no perverted love
can claim from its own.
Give upon us,
Your Understanding to know You,
Thoroughness to seek You,
And Wisdom to find You,
A Life which pleases You,
And a Hope that may embrace You at
the last.
May our reviewing
of these sacred stations place us
Within the Graces which are poured forth on to the world from the
Cross.
May we grow to be obedient without complaint,
Poor without regret,
Patient without a whisper,
Humble without a falseness
Joyous without shallowness,
And Truthful without disguise.
Be with us,
Jesus, our Lord and God,
For with great humility, we seek to
understand Your Footsteps.
Amen
1)
Jesus is condemned
to death
Jesus, you now
stand all alone before Pilate.
·
There is no one to speak up for
you.
·
There is no one to help defend
you.
You have devoted your whole entire
life with helping others.
·
You have listened to even the youngest
of children.
·
You have cared for those who
were ignored by others.
o But now, it seems that no one remembers.
o You are all alone.
Sometimes, we feel alone.
Sometimes, we feel that
others do not support or defend us.
And sometimes, we are
afraid.
Sometimes, we don't feel
like we are being treated fairly.
And sometimes, we feel that
we are being abandoned and alone.
2)
Jesus Carries
His Cross
Jesus, as You accepted
Your Cross,
·
You knew You would be carrying
it to Your death on Calvary.
·
You knew it would not be easy,
o But You accepted it and carried it just the same.
Sometimes, we do not like
the problems that have come our way.
Sometimes, we try to get
others to take care of them or to solve them for us.
Sometimes, we become
upset and crabby when we have been asked
to
do even the smallest of things in order to help others.
Sometimes, we feel like we
are not appreciated.
Sometimes, we feel that we
have accepted more responsibility than what we needed to.
Sometimes, we feel sorry
for ourselves.
Even
when our own load is much smaller than what others have to carry.
And Sometimes, we choose
to stay within our own -self-pity.
And
not reach out to help them with their loads.
3)
Jesus falls the
first time
Jesus, the Cross which you have been given to carrying is very
heavy.
·
You are becoming weak and
almost ready to faint, and You have fallen down.
·
Nobody seems to care.
·
No-one wants to help You.
·
The soldiers are just interested
in getting done and getting home.
·
So, they yell at You. And they curse
at You. And they kick at You.
·
They are doing this all just to
get You up and moving again.
·
But our Jesus, it is because of
our heavy burden, the weight of our sin,
o That is what makes Your Cross so heavy.
Sometimes,
we start to do something, but then, we get tired of it.
Sometimes,
we just hurry through it just to get it done but we don't do our work well.
Sometimes, we don't pay attention to what we should be doing.
And
sometimes, when things get hard, we just give up.
And even sometimes, we just put things off
and never get them done.
Our Heavenly Jesus, the heavy burden which You carry is because of
our sins.
·
They are what weighs down your
Cross.
·
O’ Lord, we hate those sins.
·
We detest those sins.
·
We call upon Your pardon
because of them.
·
May Your Grace give us the
strength to never go near them again.
4)
Jesus meets His
mother
Jesus, You feel so alone with all those people yelling and
screaming at You.
·
You despise the words which
they are saying to You,
·
And You so desperately look for
a friendly face within the crowd.
·
You then - see Your mother.
·
She can't make the hurting
stop,
o But it warms Your Heart to see that she is on your side,
o That she is suffering there with You.
o That she understands and she cares.
Sometimes,
we feel like there is just too many things that are going on.
Sometimes,
others are picking on us and call us names.
Sometimes,
we too need to look around to find a friendly face within the crowd.
Sometimes,
we too need help.
Yes,
it is true.
Sometimes,
we need to share our troubles with those who truly care about us.
Sometimes,
we begin to feel overwhelmed by many things within our world.
Sometimes,
our lives become so competitive.
Sometimes,
we begin to worry about our future and of those who control it.
And
sometimes Lord, we need to remember that we are not called
to
solve every problem all by ourselves.
Yes, sometimes, we too need to look around
for a friendly face, for just the help we need.
5)
Simon of Cyrene
helps Jesus to carry His Cross
Jesus, the soldiers are becoming impatient.
·
This is taking much longer than
they wanted it to.
·
They begin to worry that You
won't make it to the hill
o where You will be crucified.
·
And as You grow weaker, they
grab a man who is passing through the crowd
o and make him help carry Your Cross.
·
He was just there, watching
what was going on,
o but all of a sudden, he is helping You carry Your Cross.
Sometimes,
we see people who need our help.
Sometimes,
we pretend not to hear the voices when others call for us.
And
sometimes, we disappear when we know others could use our help.
Sometimes,
we try to do as little as we can just to get by.
And
sometimes, others need our help, but we simply ignore their needs.
And
yes, even sometimes when we are asked to help, we claim to be too busy.
6)
Veronica wipes
the face of Jesus
Jesus, suddenly a woman comes out of nowhere from the
crowd.
·
Her name is
Veronica.
·
You can see
how she cares for You as she takes a cloth
o and begins to wipe the blood and sweat from Your
face.
·
She can't do
much, but she offers what little help she can.
Sometimes, we know of those who could use a little help and understanding.
They are being picked on or teased by others,
or just sad or lonely.
Sometimes, we feel bad that others don't step
in to help, but we choose not to help either.
Sometimes, we notice the needs around us.
Sometimes, we notice the needs around us.
Sometimes, it is our own family members who crave
our attention,
and yet, we act as if we didn’t even seem to
notice.
Sometimes, it is a co-worker, a friend, or even
a family member
who could use some help or understanding.
But we don't reach out to help because of our
fear that they may need
more than what we want to give.
7)
Jesus fall the
second time
This is the second time that You have fallen on the road.
·
As the Cross grows heavier and
heavier it becomes more difficult
o for You to get up.
·
But You continue to struggle
and try until you're up and walking once again.
·
You don't give up.
Sometimes,
things do get us down.
And
what makes it even harder to get back up is when we see that others
Are
not struggling like we are.
And,
each time that we fail, we find it even harder to keep trying.
Sometimes,
we think we should know more than what we do.
Sometimes,
we become impatient with ourselves
and
we find it even harder to believe in ourselves when we fail.
O’ Lord, please help us when things seem become difficult for us.
·
Even when it's hard, help us to
get back up and to keep trying as You did.
·
Please, help us to do our best
without comparing ourselves to others.
8)
Jesus meets the
women of Jerusalem
Jesus, as You carry Your Cross, You see a group of women along the
road.
·
As You pass by, You see they
are sad.
·
You stop, and spent a moment
with them.
·
You offered them some
encouragement.
·
Although You have been
abandoned by Your friends
o And You are in such pain,
§ You took the time to stop and offered help to them.
Sometimes,
we think a lot about ourselves.
Sometimes,
we think about what we want within this world.
Sometimes,
we think about how we want others to spend their lives pleasing us.
Sometimes,
we act like a child.
We
become so absorbed within ourselves and of what we want.
And
by being self-absorbed in this way, we totally forget about other’s needs.
O’ Heavenly Lord. Help us think more about others than of ourselves.
·
Help us remember that those
around us have problems, too.
·
Help us to respond to them even
when we are too busy
o Or even worse, when we seem to be preoccupied with our own
problems.
9)
Jesus falls a third
time
Jesus, Your journey has been long.
·
You have fallen again, beneath Your
Cross.
·
You know Your journey is coming
to an end.
·
You struggle and struggle.
·
The weight is enormous.
·
You get up and keep going.
Sometimes,
we fail, time after time and again.
Sometimes,
we find it hard to get along with our sisters and brothers.
Sometimes,
we are not honest.
Sometimes,
we are just lazy.
And
sometimes, we are tempted to just stop trying.
Sometimes,
we often feel we should have conquered our weaknesses by now.
Sometimes,
we get discouraged when we are confronted by the same problems
over
and over again.
Sometimes, we get weary.
And sometimes, when we have health
problems,
we
can become discouraged and depressed.
Jesus, please help us think of the Cross You carried.
·
Help us to continue to have Hope.
o Give us the HOPE that we can make the changes
§ within our lives as we need to.
·
You didn't give up.
o Through You, we can have the strength to get up again as well.
10)
Jesus clothes
are taken away
The soldiers notice You have something of value.
·
They remove Your cloak and
throw dice for it.
·
Your wounds are torn open once
again.
·
Some of the people in the crowd
make fun of You.
·
They tease You and challenge You
to perform a miracle for them to see.
·
They're not aware that soon, You'll
perform the greatest miracle of all!
Sometimes,
we are tempted to repeat stories that we know are unclean and disrespectful.
Sometimes,
we try to fit in by using crude and bad words.
Sometimes,
we repeat stories that are disrespectful of others.
And
sometimes, we even entertain thoughts that are not clean.
And
yes, sometimes, we give the young people around us a bad example to follow.
Help us O’ Lord, Help us to keep ourselves pure and clean.
·
Help us to say things that
build up the people who are around us.
·
Help us to overcome our worldly
desires so that, we may become more like Jesus. Help us to set a good example
for others to follow.
11)
Jesus is nailed
to the Cross
You are stretched out on the Cross which You have carried so far.
·
The soldiers take big nails and
drive them into Your hands and feet.
·
You feel totally abandoned by
the people You loved so much.
·
The people who are around you seemed
to have gone mad.
·
You have done nothing but Good,
o Yet they drive nails through Your hands and feet.
Sometimes,
we hurt others.
Sometimes,
we join in with friends and decide not to like another.
Yes
– sometimes, we gang up against another and cause them hurt and pain.
Sometimes,
we say or do hurtful things to our brothers and sisters.
And
even sometimes, we wonder what they must think about themselves
if
they believed everything which we have said about them.
Sometimes,
we discriminate against others.
Yes,
even without thinking, we judge others because
of
their color, intelligence, income level or just by their name.
Yes, sometimes, we forget that we to live
as brothers or sisters to all people.
Sometimes, we use harsh words when we
speak to our children and family members.
And sometimes, we look for the hurtful
words to use against
those
who are very important to us.
Our Lord, please help
us look again at the people around us.
·
Help us see the hurt and pain which
we have caused in others.
·
Be with us and help us to correct
the wrong and harm which we have done.
12)
Jesus dies on
the Cross
As Jesus hung on the cross,
·
He forgave the soldiers who had
crucified him,
o and He prayed for His mother and friends.
·
Jesus wanted all of us to be
able to live forever with God,
o so, He gave all that He had for us.
Jesus, let us take a few moments now to consider Your Love for us.
·
Please help us - Thank You for Your
Willingness to go to Your death for us.
·
Please help us express our Love
for You!
13)
The body of
Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Jesus, how brutally You were put to death.
·
And how gently You are taken from
the Cross.
·
Your suffering and pain have ended.
·
And You are now, placed in the
lap of Your mother.
o The dirt and blood are wiped away.
o And finally, You are treated with the Love that You deserve.
Sometimes,
we treat others better when they are sad or in pain.
When
somebody dies, we become very gentle and kind.
We
notice the good and kind things within those who are around us,
And
we always say positive things about those who have died.
And when someone dies, we often become kinder
and more loving.
If
only we could learn to see those same good things about them
while
they were still alive.
If only we would tell those around us just
how much we love them,
while
we still have the opportunity to do so.
Lord God, help us to look for the good within those who around us,
·
Especially those who we love
the most.
·
Help us live this day as if it
were our last.
·
Help us become gentler and more
loving
o and have a greater appreciation for those who are around us.
14)
Jesus is laid
in the tomb
Jesus, Your Body is prepared for burial.
·
Joseph gave You his own tomb.
·
He laid Your Body there and
rolled a large stone in front of it,
o And then, everyone went home.
·
What a sad day it has been for
so many people.
Sometimes, we try to keep everything for ourselves.
Sometimes, we find it hard to share our things with our
brothers or sisters
and even with our friends.
Sometimes,
we can be selfish too.
We
accumulate things and we keep them all for ourselves.
We
try to make sure that we have what we want before we share what we have extra with
anyone else.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Help us to think of Joseph of Arimathea.
·
He risked his own life as he
accepted Your Body for burial.
·
Help us to gain the type of
love which Joseph had.
o He loved you so much that he gave You his own tomb.
Please Lord, Help us all find that type of Love. Amen
Good Friday
is a day of fasting and a day of reflecting upon what Jesus did for you and for
me. There is no Service today and no
communion given and the church bells are silent and the altar is left bare. The
solemn, muted atmosphere is preserved until the Easter Service.
