Stations of the Cross

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Leader: Lord Jesus, by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world. As we retrace your saving steps to Calvary, reveal to us how your Cross has become the new tree of life for all creation. May your mother, Our Lady of Sorrows, who walked those painful steps with you, accompany us. May she guide us on your way that leads through sacrifice and death to true life. Make known in our minds and hearts the power of your Cross, our only hope.

All: Amen.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: The crowd can be fickle, loving in one breath and condemning with the next. Today’s hero — whether rock star, candidate, or quarterback — rides into town amidst the din of a million delirious voices shouting hosannas of praise. Yet with any sign of weakness, real or imagined, adulation turns to anger; sweet voices become shrill. Disappointed masses rage in judgment, often destroying the one they so recently adored.

All: Jesus, as our Messiah, you faced the weakness of human power and endured torture while offering no resistance. Pilate proclaimed your innocence, yet sent you to the slaughter. your silent acceptance of that horrific end was the full flowering of divine Love in our weary human flesh. Lord Jesus, at times we join our voices in adulation of the false gods of our world; help us always to turn back again to you. In our own moments of suffering, may we come to witness to the same Love you have revealed to us in your passion.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our only hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: There was no way, really, to prepare for the arrival of their first child. Pregnancy was just the beginning. How could someone so small turn everything completely around? Sometimes she could feel so tired and drained. When he had no more to give, more was demanded. Yet when the young parents looked at the eyes and smile of their little one, they knew what the Lord had entrusted to them. There would be no limit to love.

All: Lord Jesus, you call us to carry our crosses; and you teach us how by having done so yourself. You chose the Cross. You embraced it. You tell us to believe in you and choose with you the way of finding new opportunity in challenge; love and hope in suffering; and even new life in death. Work in our lives to transform dead wood into the new tree of life. Give us your grace and strength so we too may say, “Your will be done.” Re-create our hearts through the ¨yes¨ we offer you each day.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our only hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: A farmer plants grain in an act of sheer faith. As each tiny kernel falls from coarse hands to the soil, the farmer knows that grain is being lost to decay in the dark earth, but that this death is necessary for a crop that yields thirty, sixty, or one hundredfold. A single grain falls to the ground and does not remain a single grain, but provides bread in abundance.

All: Jesus, you fell out of exhaustion, pain, and the sheer difficulty of your Way of the Cross. But your every step, your every fall, was not in vain. You offered your steps, your falls, and ultimately your whole life as a single grain of wheat that your Father might reap an abundant harvest in our lives. Lord Jesus, help us to see you in our every step and stumble as we strive to be faithful to you. Through your grace, may our failings yield a bountiful harvest in our lives, our Church, and our world.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope!

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: A young man and young woman embrace their mothers one last time before beginning a long journey to an unknown future in a country far from home. Knowing they may never see their mothers again, they are overcome with grief – unable to go on. With quiet courage the women urge their children to keep going, hoping they will escape the poverty, war, and oppression that have taken the lives of so many others. Bearing the searing pain of separation, these mothers give their children the gift of freedom to make the journey that lies before them.

All: Jesus, you met your mother’s gaze and saw the pain she was suffering. Her presence and love gave you strength to keep walking the road to Calvary. Help us to look into the eyes of our sisters and brothers throughout the world whose lives bear the mystery of the Cross. Amidst our own pain, open our hearts to see the sorrows and burdens others bear. Give us the courage and compassion to recognize you in them and not look away. In your mercy and through your gentle presence give them and us comfort, and heal our sorrow.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope!

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: The laborer has many concerns to contend with: the needs of his family, the pressures and long hours of work, his personal worries and failings. As he struggles to meet these competing responsibilities, there is always someone who is asking for more. What more can he give? What more does he have to give? Yet each time he says yes; giving even more of himself, he finds that he is somehow capable. He knows the truth of receiving through giving.

All: Jesus, with Simon’s help, you are not left alone to bear your Cross. Through the helping hands of our neighbors and through your grace, we also are not left alone to bear our crosses. The strength of your grace is such that even in the midst of our own struggles we, like Simon, are able to stand with our neighbors in their hour of need. Grant us confidence in your help as we bear our crosses, Lord Jesus, that we may never despair in our hardships nor shirk the opportunity to aid our neighbors.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: His life had shone with hope and promise. His friends were many, his grades were excellent, and his prowess on the athletic field inspired cheers. Yet the community gathered at his school one morning to grieve his untimely death. All wanted to do and say the right thing. So they offered prayers and remembered stories. Yet only in wiping each other’s tears and sharing consoling embraces did they understand that although their hearts ached with sorrow, they were not alone.

All: Jesus, you created quite a following. Many were excited about your ministry. Yet you were condemned to death and forced to carry your Cross through the crowded streets. Only a few offered comfort. Veronica did not remain with the crowd. She was bold enough to draw near to you and touch your face. She wipe the sweat and blood from your eyes and offered you comfort. Lord Jesus, help us to have the strength and courage to touch the hurt of those who need us most.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leader: The missionaries gathered in the thatched-roof hut of a forgotten village. A young mother was their host. Halfway through dinner her husband arrived, drunk and apologetic. In a town in which most men leave to work elsewhere, he had stayed behind. The following day they saw her again. It was Good Friday. Kneeling down, she pressed her cheek against the splintery wood of the Cross. She was crying. When one falls, others are brought to their knees. God’s grace alone lifts us up.

All: Jesus, you bore the Cross of the world’s sinfulness. That you fell shows the Cross to be as heavy for you as it is for us. That you continue onward speaks of your mission’s triumphant power. Let not the sins of others, nor the faults and failures of our own, be too great a burden for us. May the grace that lifts and carries you be our strength. And at the moment of trial, may your glory be our deepest desire.

Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: Though tired and exhausted from already having raised her own family, the woman wanted her daughter to have a much better life than her own. She would care for her new grandchild so that her daughter could work and go to school. It was enough for her to raise her own children, but to take on that parental role again with her grandchildren is something she never dreamed she would have to do. Yet this grandmother’s example continues to speak the truth about love to her family.

All: Jesus, in your words to the women on the way to the Cross, you did not hide the truth. You spoke to them because they understood what many of us often do not – a life sacrificed for love can bring new life. Prepare our hearts to listen as they did. Confide in us what you confided in them: the mystery of sacrificial love. Teach us to understand what your suffering and sacrifice have done for us and assure us of the value that our sacrifices have for others. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: An emaciated parent labors under a heavy burden. He knows not what weighs more, the load on his shoulders or the weight of needing to guarantee his children’s one meal for the day. In the scorching, unrelenting sun, and under the scornful stare of the unsympathetic multitude that elbows its hurried way, he trudges on, falling and rising, questioning the meaninglessness of his cursed life. Yet his efforts are not in vain, for he knows that each time he falls and gets up again, he moves a little closer to ensuring a fleeting smile on the faces of his waiting children.

All: Lord Jesus, your persistence, despite your battered and aching body, is a sure indicator of your steadfast commitment and steely resolve. Your desire to free us from the clutches of evil enables you to rise after this last and most painful fall. Each move towards the peak of Mount Calvary is a step closer to achieving your mission. Help us not to be disheartened by the trying circumstances of our lives. Taking strength from your determination, may we get up and shoulder our crosses once more. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: The soldiers began shouting and cursing at them to take off all of their clothes and lay them in a pile. A mother with her two small children watched in anguish as her neighbors who refused or hesitated were beaten and brutalized. When the soldiers approached her, she slowly removed her clothes while shaking with fear. She pulled her children to her as she tried to cover their nakedness. This humiliation was the last and final act of indignity before they were herded to their deaths.

All: Lord Jesus, when they ripped away your tunic, opening anew the wounds where blood had dried to your clothing, they tried to wrench the last trace of dignity from you. You stood there naked for all to see and to mock, not knowing if the pain or the shame was harder to bear. You suffered indignity and humiliation at the hands of your tormentors in order to restore all of us to the glorious dignity of the children of God. Teach us, Jesus, to recognize, respect, and cherish the precious dignity in each one of your children. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: A wayward soul, searching for meaning, enters the church and kneels. Like the Israelites – who looked to Moses’ staff and bronze serpent for hope and healing – the searcher looks upon the image of the crucified. The image comforts, as if to say that life’s present sufferings are not in vain. It mysteriously yet eternally points to a God who heals, redeems, and brings life in the midst of death. In the Cross we find not only life, but hope in life eternal.

All: Jesus, the physical torment you endure is excruciating, but perhaps more painful for you was having to see the anguished face of your mother. In that moment, you united your hearts in love and sorrow as you offer your mutual sufferings for our redemption. Lord Jesus, when swords of suffering and loneliness pierce our hearts, may we have the eyes of faith to see you and your mother gazing upon us compassionately. Unite your Sacred and Sorrowful Hearts with ours. Help us embrace the crosses we bear with your response of love and acceptance. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: The elderly priest raises the host, then the cup: “This is my Body. … This is the cup of my blood. … Do this in memory of me.” Even after repeating these sacred actions thousands of times, he remains in awe of the mystery they recall and once again make real – Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. It is the same sacrifice the elderly priest has sought to imitate for his flock. As he distributes Holy Communion with the words “the Body of Christ,” “Blood of Christ,” he declares what each person receives and what each becomes: the presence of Jesus as food for the world.

All: Lord Jesus, by your suffering and death on the Cross, you brought life to the world. Each time we receive Holy Communion, we are immersed in your death and resurrection. Your gift of love, offered freely on the Cross, becomes for us now the food of our salvation. Help us to live in faithful response to so great a sacrifice. Help us to die to self so that we may live for others. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: Holding her dying child, the young mother silently screams her questions to God: Why my child? Why this innocent suffering? Why now? She feels the warmth ebb away as death takes its final toll. She wonders why her heart continues to beat while her child’s is now silent. She closes her eyes and painfully sees the long road ahead of her – begging for a little more time, holding on, fearing to let go, and struggling to set her child free.

All: Jesus, your lifeless body now rests in the arms of your sorrowful mother. As she received you into her womb in Nazareth, held you at Bethlehem, clung to you on the flight into Egypt, reached out to you in the temple at Jerusalem, and walked with you to Calvary, her arms now cling to you while her tears cleanse your crucified body. Lord Jesus, your mother’s pierced heart opened her arms to hold the suffering of our world. Pierce our hearts with your grace and pen our arms to others. Make us the bearers of your comfort and your healing in our bruised and broken world. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: In the dark of the night, the mourners gather silently around the open grave. The circumstances surrounding the death do not permit a daytime burial. A small oil lamp provides the only light for the men as they jump down into the hole to lower the simple coffin. As the body of their loved one disappears into the shadows of the grave, the mourners’ anguished cries pierce the stillness of the night. The distinctive thump of dirt hitting the wood of the casket deepens their sense of loss.

All: Lord Jesus, in humbling yourself and being faithful to the point of death, you entered into the deepest darkness of our world, the darkness of death. Grant us the eyes of faith so as not to lose sight of you in the face of death. May the light of your life, the light that conquers all, pierce and dispel the darkness of death. Reveal to us the journey from this world into life eternal with you. Leader: Hail the Cross,

All: Our Only Hope.

Lord Jesus, your Cross is our only hope. The love that compelled you take the steps to Calvary is the very love that conquered sin and death forever throughout your glorious resurrection. Each time we follow the way of your passion, we learn again that you redeem our steps, pick us up from our falls, and unite our sacrifices and sufferings with yours in the transforming power of your Cross. Led and redeemed by you, our savior, may we die only to rise with you in glory. Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you,

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world! Leader: May almighty God bless us and keep us, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

All: Amen.