Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross: Meditating the Passion of Christ

Jesus is Condemned to Die.

Jesus stands in the most human of places.  He has already experienced profound solidarity with so many on this earth, by being beaten and tortured.  Now He is wrongfully condemned to punishment by death.  His commitment to entering our lives completely begins its final steps.  He has said "yes" to God and placed His life in God's hands.  We follow Him in this final surrender, and contemplate with reverence each place along the way, as He is broken and given for us.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

As you view the scene, you become moved by both outrage and gratitude. You look at Jesus.  His face.  The crown of thorns. The blood.  His clothes stuck to the wounds on His back. Pilate washes his hands of the whole affair. Jesus' hands are tied behind His back.

This is for you.  That you might be free. That you might have eternal life. As the journey begins you ask to be with Jesus. To follow his journey. You express your love and thanks.

The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Die.

Jesus Carries His Cross.

Jesus is made to carry the cross on which He will die. It represents the weight of all our crosses.  What He must have felt as He first took it upon His shoulders!  With each step, He enters more deeply into our human experience.  He walks in the path of human misery and suffering and experiences its crushing weight.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You contemplate the wood of that cross.  You imagine how heavy it is.  You reflect upon all it means that Jesus is carrying it. You look into His eyes.  It's all there.

This is for you.  So you place yourself with Him in this journey. In His anguish. In His freedom and surrender.  In the love that must fill His heart.  With sorrow and gratitude, you continue the journey.  Moved by the power of His love, you are drawn to Him and express your love in the words that come to you.

The Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross.

The Third Station:  Jesus Falls the First Time.

The weight is unbearable.  Jesus falls under it.  How could He enter our lives completely without surrendering to the crushing weight of the life of so many on this earth!  He lies on the ground and knows the experience of weakness beneath unfair burdens.  He feels the powerlessness of wondering if He will ever be able to continue.  He is pulled up and made to continue.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You stare at the weakness in His eyes.  You can look at His whole body and see the exhaustion.  As you behold Him there on the ground, being roughly pulled up, you know forever how profoundly He understands your fatigue and many defeats.

This is for me.  In grief and gratitude, you want to let Him remain there.  As you watch Him stand again and gain an inner strength, you accept His love and express your thanks.

The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time.

The Fourth Station:  Jesus Meets His Mother.

Jesus' path takes Him to a powerful source of His strength to continue.  All His life, his mother had taught Him the meaning of the words, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord."  Now they look into each other's eyes.  How pierced-through her heart must be!  How pained He must be to see her tears!  Now, her grace-filled smile blesses His mission and stirs His heart to its depth.  Love and trust in God bind them together.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother.

The Fifth Station: Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross.

Jesus even experiences our struggle to receive help.  He is made to experience the poverty of not being able to carry His burden alone.  He enters into the experience of all who must depend upon others to survive.  He is deprived of the satisfaction of carrying this burden on His own.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You look into His face and contemplate His struggle.  His weariness and fragility.  His impotence. You see how He looks at Simon, with utmost humility and gratitude.

This is for you. So you feel anguish and gratitude.  You express your thanks that He can continue this journey.  That He has help.  That He knows your inability to carry your burden alone. You say what is in your heart, with deep feeling.

The Fifth Station: Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross.

The Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.

Jesus' journey is at times brutal.  He has entered into the terrible experiences of rejection and injustice.  He has been whipped and beaten. His face shows the signs of His solidarity with all who have ever suffered injustice and vile, abusive treatment.  He encounters a compassionate, loving disciple who wipes the vulgar spit and mocking blood from His face.  On her veil, she discovers the image of his face - His gift to her.  And, for us to contemplate forever.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.

The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time.

Even with help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground.  In deep exhaustion He stares at the earth beneath Him.  "Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return."  He has seen death before.  Now He can feel the profound weakness of disability and disease and aging itself, there on His knees, under the weight of His cross.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You contemplate Jesus brought very low.  As you behold Him there on the ground, with all the agony taking its toll on Him, you let your heart go out to Him. You store up this image in your heart, knowing that you will never feel alone in your suffering or in any diminishment, with this image of Jesus on the ground before you. This is for you, so you express the feelings in your heart.

The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time.

The Eighth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.

The women of Jerusalem, and their children, come out to comfort and thank Him.  They had seen His compassion and welcomed His words of healing and freedom.  He had broken all kinds of social and religious conventions to connect with them.  Now they are here to support Him.  He feels their grief.  He suffers, knowing He can't remain to help them more in this life.  He knows the mystery of facing the separation of death.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You look at their faces.  So full of love and gratitude, loss and fear.  You contemplate what words might have passed between them. You remember all His tender, compassionate, merciful love for you. You place yourself with these women and children to support Him. This is for you.  So, you let this scene stir up deep gratitude.

The Eighth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.

This last fall is devastating.  Jesus can barely proceed to the end.  Summoning all His remaining strength supported by His inner trust in God, Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross.  His executioners look at Him as a broken man, pathetic yet paying a price He deserves.  They help Him up so He can make it up the hill of crucifixion.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You pause to contemplate Him there on the ground. The brokenness that makes you whole.  The surrender that gives your life. You pause to experience and receive how completely He loves you. He is indeed completely poured out for you. As you treasure this gifted experience, you express what is in your heart.

The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time.

The Tenth Station:  Jesus is Stripped.

Part of the indignity is to be crucified naked. Jesus is completely stripped of any pride.  The wounds on His back are torn open again.  He experiences the ultimate vulnerability of the defenseless. No shield or security protects Him.  As they stare at Him, His eyes turn to heaven.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

I pause to watch the stripping.  I contemplate all that is taken from Him.  And, how He faces His death with such nakedness. I reflect upon how much of himself He has revealed to me.  Holding nothing back.  As I look at Him in His humility, I know that this is for me, and I share my feelings of gratitude.

The Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped.

Eleventh Station:  Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.

Huge nails are hammered through His hands and feet to fix Him on the cross.  He is bleeding much more seriously now.  As the cross is lifted up, the weight of his His life hangs on those nails.  Every time He struggles to pull Himself up to breathe, His ability to cling to life slips away. 

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You make yourself watch the nails being driven through His flesh. And you watch His face. You contemplate the completeness of His entry into our lives. Can there be any pain or agony He would not understand?

This is for you.  Nailed to a cross to forever proclaim liberty to captives.  What sorrow and gratitude fill your heart!

Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.

The Twelfth Station:  Jesus Dies on the Cross.

Between two criminals, a mocking title above His head, with only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene to support Him, Jesus surrenders His last breath:  "Into your hands, I commend my spirit."

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You stand there, at the foot of the cross, side by side with all of humanity, and behold our salvation. I carefully watch and listen to all that is said. And then, you experience the one who gives life pass from life to death, for you.  You console Mary and John and Mary.  And let them console you. This is the hour to express the deepest feelings within yourself.

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross.

Eleventh Station:  Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.

Huge nails are hammered through His hands and feet to fix Him on the cross.  He is bleeding much more seriously now.  As the cross is lifted up, the weight of His life hangs on those nails.  Every time He struggles to pull himself up to breathe, His ability to cling to life slips away. 

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You make yourself watch the nails being driven through His flesh. And you watch His face. You contemplate the completeness of His entry into our lives. Can there be any pain or agony he would not understand?

This is for you.  Nailed to a cross to forever proclaim liberty to captives.  What sorrow and gratitude fill your heart!

The Thirteenth Station: Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross.

The Fourteenth Station:  Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb.

They take the body of Jesus to its resting place.  The huge stone over the tomb is the final sign of the permanence of death.  In this final act of surrender, who would have imagined this tomb would soon be empty or that Jesus would show himself alive to his disciples, or that they would recognize Him in the breaking of bread?  Oh, that our hearts might burn within us, as we realize how He had to suffer and die so as to enter into His glory, for us.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

You pause to contemplate this act of closure on His life.  In solidarity with all humanity, His body is taken to its grave. 

You stand for a moment outside this tomb.  This final journey of His life has shown you the meaning of His gift of himself for you.  This tomb represents every tomb you stand before with fear, in defeat, struggling to believe it could ever be empty.

In the fullness of faith in the Risen One, given by his Holy Spirit, you express your gratitude for this way of the cross.  You ask Jesus, whose hands, feet and side still bear the signs of this journey, to grant you the graces you need to take up your cross to be a servant of his own mission.

The Fourteenth Station: Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb.