Our Own Stations of the Cross
Introduction: May our meditations make this most somber moment of Scripture real and vivid to us. We want to walk with you Lord, as intimately as we can. May our meditations on these sacred Stations dispose us to the graces that flow from the Cross. Amen.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
I. Jesus is condemned to death. Mr. Merola.
Who has condemned Jesus to death? A Roman who doesn’t really want to kill him but is willing to do it anyway as a political move. Who has condemned Jesus to death? The leading influencers of his own religion. Who has condemned Jesus to death? The loudest belligerents in the crowd surrounding him. Who has condemned Jesus to death? His own people. Who has condemned Jesus to death? He is God, and these are his own creatures. His own children.
Imagine yourself at this condemnation. What would you do? You see tears in his eyes. He loves these people but they want to crucify him. You join your heart to his sorrow at being condemned by his own children. Imagine you are a mother, or a father, and your own children wanted to kill you. Think of the psychological burden alone. How could you deal with that? You would be a broken, helpless human. Would you even have the will to go on at all? To fight back? To survive? But, lo, he has “set his face like flint.” (Isaiah 50:7) He is unshakable and resolved in the conviction of his mission and the faith that his Father will save him in His own good time. We could never do this. Be he can. My God! My savior! Jesus goes forward, his passion is begun…
Lord Jesus, thank you for accepting the condemnation of your own people, in order to save them and us.
II. Jesus carries the cross. Ruth Roberts.
Jesus is given a heavy and crude cross. Splinters drive into the open whip wounds. Exhausted, Jesus wills himself to stumble forward. There is no human suffering that Jesus has not made holy by his presence. He is with us when we carry our own crosses, no matter how big or how small.
Jesus, thank you for being with us in every moment throughout our life.
III. Jesus falls the first time. Mr. Cuddy.
Still crowned with thorns, still met with jeers and blows from the crowds, Jesus’s body collapses into the dirt. The soldiers laugh. The Pharisees feel justified, even empowered. This Man seems no greater than any other who has been tasked with carrying a cross to Golgotha. But in retrospect, Christians know that Christ’s human suffering reveals a clear path to integrity, and therefore to righteousness. As Paul writes to the Romans, “...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…” (Romans 5:3-5).
Lord, help us to see the hidden fruits of suffering, and to joyfully endure with the knowledge that the closer we draw to Your cross, the nearer we are to salvation.
IV. Jesus meets his mother. Martha Roberts.
No person could experience the pain of Jesus’ death the way Mary could. Ever since she was a teenager, Jesus had been her life’s root and meaning. She had given up her sexual relationship for Him, she had given birth in a stable for Him, all her life she had watched Him teach, heal, and serve. Mary must have felt fear to her very core- what would happen to her son’s work? Would it all be undone? Who would she be if not the mother of the savior of the world? Would the salvation last? Yet, as Mary saw the humbled, loving face of her son, she saw the assurance in His eyes.
Lord, help us to trust as Mary trusted.
V. Simon helps Jesus carry the cross. Jacqueline Perry.
Imagine your body is covered with wounds. Open, bloody, dirty wounds that burn your skin each time you move. Your body has lost so much blood and you are being crushed by the weight of the cross. The Romans are using your suffering as a spectacle - they refuse to kill you quickly. The Romans force a nearby man to help you carry the cross. You do not know whether he’s doing it because he’s your friend, or only because he has been forced. You feel so lonely. You wonder how humanity could be so cruel.
Lord, you know what it was like to be lonely and to suffer. When we suffer and are lonely, help us to know that you are nearby, that you are with us, that you understand.
VI. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Abby Dickerson.
Jesus's face is covered in blood and sweat. The soldiers take no notice until a woman comes forward with her veil. Her name is Veronica and she sees the anguish in Christ's eyes. She wipes his face with the Veil and when she pulls it away she sees that the image of Christ's face is still on the cloth. It is a reward of her faith and her compassion. We are likewise called to have such faith and compassion, with our friends, family, and even our enemies. It is through this that we come to see Jesus in such an intimate way.
Lord, make me like Veronica. Please help me to see you when you appear in my life, and to comfort you, to serve you in the way that you need.
VII. Jesus falls the second time. Mr. Merola.
“The iniquities of my people are put upon my neck. My strength is weakened. The Lord has delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise.” (Lamentations 1:14)
My Jesus, I see you bent over with the cross upon your shoulder. I see you bearing the burden of all of our sins, and all of mine. You have taken the crushing consequences of sin upon your own experience. In your humanity, your blood drained muscles can only do so much. Yet, you do not prevent the effect of the physics that you have made. You fall to the earth under the weight of the cross yet again. Jesus, how can you take this? How can you go further?! Your body may fall but your will won’t falter. You continue on your Way, heart pumping with a love beyond measure and beyond science…
Christ Jesus, I am in awe of your strength. You are my Lord and my God.
VIII. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. Martha Roberts.
Jesus did not condemn the women for their tears. He, like with His mother, told them to trust in the efficacy of His death. However, He was moved by their tears. Crying is a way our emotions can reveal themselves without words. It can be easy to feel nonchalant about things, to cultivate a “cool” aloofness, and it can be hard to tell if someone is interested or concerned when their face is emotionless. But Jesus sympathizes with these women’s tears, He sees that they must love him and trust in His divinity if sadness has consumed their hearts.
Lord, help us not to fear showing emotion for the things which move us. Let us learn to believe and trust in you with our hearts as well as our words.
IX. Jesus falls a third time. Mr. Cuddy.
Yet again, Christ is seen collapsing under the weight of this cross. While many disciples have already abandoned Jesus, what is passing through the minds of those still present? Confusion? Doubt? Righteous anger? This was to be their long-awaited Messiah. Yet, he is fatigued, bloody, spat upon, derided, and face-down in the dirt. Christ spoke to the twelve of his Resurrection, but imagine how difficult it must have been in this moment to believe that this man could become the Savior of the world. He could have called for those twelve legions of angels, He certainly could have redeemed us with a great display of power and might. But He chose to undergo this suffering to reveal His depth of love for us and to model the sacrificial love we must be willing to embrace, both for His sake and the sake of one another.
Lord Jesus, thank you for willfully enduring spiritual and physical torture for love of us. It is shocking and hard to wrap our minds around it, but you have revealed God and his ways to us, and so we thank you.
X. Jesus is stripped of his garments. Ms. Lindmeier.
“Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” (Philippians 2:6-7).
At this point in Christ’s Passion, He has rendered Himself totally vulnerable.
According to its Latin root, to be “vulnerable” is to make oneself “able to be wounded.”
When we choose to be vulnerable with another person, we run the risk of rejection, ridicule, and potentially the loss of relationship. So why do we do it? At its core, there is something so natural, even human about it. Perhaps it’s thrilling to know there’s something at stake – that it matters how much we give (or don’t give) of ourselves. While running the risk of rejection, we also run the risk of greater intimacy with that person. We run the risk of really knowing them, seeing them, loving them… and receiving that love in return.
In the Garden of Eden, the first man felt this thrill yet he made himself vulnerable to sin. He disobeyed, he grasped, he ate from the tree, and the knowledge incurred was a death-dealing blow. He was naked, he felt shame, and so he hid. The result of his vulnerability was the loss of relationship, of intimacy, with His Creator. The result of his vulnerability was death. And here we find Christ, the New Man, making Himself vulnerable to sin, to us, to the will of His Father. He prepares to consume the fruit of a different tree – the wood of the cross. He obeys, he is stripped, and yet He does not hide. Rather, He clothes Himself in our shame, even our death. It’s human, it’s thrilling, but this time, it is also Divine. This time, man's vulnerability wins eternal intimacy for creation and her Creator. This time, man’s vulnerability brings life.
Lord, we thank you for reversing the sin of Adam, for undoing our primal sin, for showing us a new way to be human in your image.
XI. Jesus is nailed to the cross. Jacqueline Perry.
Throughout this long and grueling journey, Jesus has kept you in His mind. The love of Christ is a mystery to us. Imagine you are being put on the cross, where you will soon die in agony in front of a sea of faces. These faces are filled with contempt for you, and whose only wish in the moment is to see you suffer and die. Imagine the terror of seeing the large, sharp nails pierce first your hands and then your feet. Each strike hits you with unimaginable pain, pain that brings you closer and closer to death. However, you are not yet dead. You know you will hang helpless in front of the world.
Lord, you loved and suffered for each one of us personally. Thank you for undergoing suffering for each of us. We long to repay you and love you back.
XII. Jesus dies on the cross. Ruth Roberts.
“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” - John 19:30
As Jesus hangs on the cross, he must feel agonizing pain and abandonment. The weight of his body and the sins of the world bury him. Yet, on the cross, his arms open, he surrenders to God the Father. Jesus gives Him his aching, bleeding and beaten body. Jesus gives him his loneliness, fear, and sadness. And as he surrenders, he triumphs. In this moment the great canyon between God and man begins to heal. In this moment “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” In this moment “the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.”
Oh most holy Jesus, King of the Cosmos, we kneel before you. We are overwhelmed by your love, for you loved us so much as to die for us, to die for us.
Please kneel to acknowledge Jesus’ death.
XIII. The body of Jesus is taken down from the cross. Abby Dickerson.
The body of Jesus hung lifeless on the cross. Imagine you are Mary, gazing at your only son, as they take Him down from the cross and lay Him in your arms. Mary must have recalled the times when she held a sleeping baby Jesus. Imagine the joy Mary must have felt whenever baby Jesus would wake up and smile at her. Now imagine the sorrow she feels knowing that her son is about to be laid in the Tomb. While praying this station, let us keep all mothers who have lost children in our hearts.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
XIV. Jesus is laid in the tomb. Deacon Roberts.
Jesus, at the conclusion of your passion, I think about all that has happened.
At times, I have been like Peter. I have denied you, more than three times.
For those times when I have been lukewarm or hard-hearted, please forgive me.
For those times when I could have reached out to someone in kindness, but I was sluggish and self-absorbed, please forgive me.
For my failures of virtue and love, please forgive me.
Jesus, I have been like Pilate, proud but also afraid, trying to wash my hands of the truth, to evade you, to bargain with you.
Jesus, I have been like the Pharisees, judging others without helping them, more concerned with my social status than being your disciple.
Jesus, I have been like the Roman soldiers or the crowd, at times deliberately cruel, at times aloof and indifferent.
But now Jesus, seeing all of my sins, I apologize and lament. I am truly sorry.
Right now, Jesus, I want to be like the women wrapping your precious body.
Right now, Jesus, I want to be like Joseph of Arimathea, who donated a tomb and gave you a place to lie.
Right now, Jesus, I want to be like Nicodemus, and anoint you with myrrh, aloes, and spices.
Jesus, please take the offering of my contrite and humble heart; I offer my repentance as a balm for your wounds. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and love. Please make me ready to follow you, even if the world does to me what it did to you.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
