Reflections on the Stations of the Cross

GOOD FRIDAY ECUMENICAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS WALK

The First Station - Jesus is condemned (Mark 15:1-5)

Reflection
In his silence, Jesus challenges the power of the powerful.
What positions of power do I hold - in my family, in my work, in my circle of friends?
Do I use them to support or oppress?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Jesus, in a world that seeks power and control, help me to remember your silence. Help me to realise that true power always enhances life, never destroys it. May I be ever mindful that all power comes from you and must be used in your service.

The Second Station - Jesus Accepts His Cross (John 19:17)

Reflection
In his acceptance of his cross, Jesus challenges us to be mindful of the burdens we lay on others.
What unnecessary burdens do I lay on others?
Do I delight in adding to another's difficulties in life?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Gentle Jesus, you accepted your cross lovingly. Help me to always be aware that my actions can result in creating burdens for others I know and even those I don't know. May I always choose my actions, consciously trying to reduce the suffering of others.

The Third Station - Jesus falls the first time

Reflection
In his fall, Jesus challenges our apathy.
When have I been unmoved by the fall of another?
How often have I seen another's failure as a result of an inadequacy on their part and deserving of disgrace?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Jesus, you fell in front of everyone. Help me to notice those who fall around me because of weariness, pain, weakness or sorrow. May I never ignore the suffering of others but, with your image before me, be compelled to offer assistance to those in need.

The Fourth Station - Jesus meets his mother

Reflection
In his ability to look into the face of his helpless mother, Jesus challenges our sense of always needing to be in control.
The world wants us to believe that we can have everything and do anything. How do we balance that with a healthy sense that we are not always in charge?
How do we accept those awful moments in our lives not simply as failures but as part of the fullness of life?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Jesus, you teach us that there are always moments in our lives that bring pain and failure and sometimes there is nothing we can do to change them. Help us, like Mary, to accept those times with faith and trust and love. May we never let those moments defeat us but strengthen us for the next moment on our journey.

The Fifth Station - Simon helps carry the cross (Mark 15:21)

Reflection
In the willingness to continue alone, despite his weakness, Jesus challenges our lack of involvement, our fear of upsetting the status quo.
How can I look at the suffering that exists around me without responding?
What do I need to push me toward service?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Patient Jesus, you wait for us to come to realisations in our own time. Help me to have the wisdom to know that just because something continues to happen in front of me doesn't make it right. May I never lack the courage to do what I know is right, even if it involves a risk.

The Sixth Station - Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

Reflection
In his response to Veronica's act of kindness and courage, Jesus challenges us to do likewise.
We find no evidence of Veronica in the scripture.
Perhaps we created her because we refuse to believe that no one would step forward in the midst of this great tragedy to assist Jesus. Perhaps Veronica is my best self-prompted love, courage, no thought of danger or cost.
Is that when the imprint of Christ's own self is most clear in me?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Loving Jesus, you shared the image of your very self with Veronica. Help me to always believe in my own goodness and act on it. May my life always reflect the light of God's life within me.

The Seventh Station - Jesus falls a second time

Reflection
In the second fall, Jesus challenges our refusal to recognize the suffering of our brothers and sisters.
It might be possible to see and ignore one fall but not two.
Could it be that the fall of another adds to my stature or status?
Is it my gain, or my unwillingness to lose what I have that allows me to ignore it?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Suffering Jesus, you fall yet another time. Help me never to allow the suffering of others to continue so that my life can remain undisturbed. May I always be ready to lift up my sisters and brothers even at a cost to myself.

The Eighth Station - Jesus speaks to the women (Luke 23:27-31)

Reflection
In his ability to focus not on himself but on those around him, Jesus challenges us to the realisation that our lives are all interconnected.
Do I think that the lives of others have no connection to mine - as if I could just observe them, perhaps even weep, yet walk away unchanged?
When one of my brothers or sisters suffers or is oppressed, I too suffer and I too am oppressed.
Have I cried for others so that I would not have to work for them?
When will I realise that justice will come only when those who are not oppressed are equally as outraged as those who are?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Compassionate Jesus, in the midst of your own suffering you turned your face toward others. Help me to understand that my salvation is bound up with everyone else's. May I always work for peace and justice for others knowing that at the same time I am working for my own.

The Tenth Station - Jesus is stripped of his garments (John 19:23-24)

Reflection
In his nakedness, Jesus challenges us to treat each person with dignity.
How often do I strip others of their dignity?
How often do I ignore those who diminish the dignity of others through words or actions?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Loving Jesus, your life is a witness to the beauty and dignity of all human life.
Help me to respect that dignity in all persons, in all stages of life, in all races and creeds. May I work each day to appreciate and accept the uniqueness and goodness of all people and to guarantee that right when it is threatened.

The Eleventh Station - Jesus is nailed to the cross

Reflection
In his willingness to endure the agony of death, Jesus challenges us to stand by those who are dying.
How do I journey with those who are dying or dealing with life threatening illness?
How do I view my own mortality?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Suffering Jesus, though you were God, you willingness endured suffering and death. Help me to follow your example and never shrink from those things in my life that cause me pain. May I truly believe that the result of death and dying is always greater life.

The Twelfth Station - Jesus dies on the cross (John 19:28-30)

Reflection
In his death, Jesus challenges our fear and promises us new life.
What is my response in the face of death?
Not just my own but others - members of my family, people in war-torn places around the world, the death of the very earth itself.
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Abandoned Jesus, in your hour of death, even your closest friends fled. Help me to never shrink from the fear of death but to offer it as the final act of life. Help me to accept the death of others when I must, and yet fight against death when it comes as a result of injustice, war, hatred or neglect. May I come to know the life that is stronger than death.

The Thirteenth Station - Jesus is laid in the arms of his mother (Matthew 27:55-56, Mark 15:40-41, John 19:25-30)

Reflection
In his death, Jesus challenges us to accept the little deaths that enter our lives daily.
How do I react when sorrow and death enter my life, when suffering is "laid in my arms"?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Jesus, your suffering had come to an end, yet for those around you it became deeper than ever. Suffering never seems fair or deserved yet it comes to each of us without distinction. Help me to realise that though every loss is painful, that pain becomes an opening for new growth. May I never be conquered by death but embrace it as Mary did and in that embrace find the true fullness of life.

The Fourteenth Station - Jesus is laid in the tomb (Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42)

Reflection
In his burial Jesus challenges us to remain open to the mystery of life.
How often do I bury my hopes and dreams?
Do I lack faith in those around me or in myself, unable to see the potential?
How does Jesus challenge me today?

Prayer
Jesus, those who have loved you most still did not understand the promise of your life. Help me to have faith enough in myself and others to enable me to continue to believe in the richness of life despite fear and failure. Help me to trust that your life and your love are always available to me even when they seem hard to find. May I live every day filled with your life that is stronger than death until we are one together forever.