No Greater Love
Stations of the Cross for Young People
Announcer: Good afternoon, please make sure you have turned off
or silenced any electronic device at this time. At the end of the
stations, please leave the building in silence. The worship aid
contains the response for each station; please respond after Father
says, "Let us pray". Thank you.
Announcer: Love is important to all of us. We spend our time on
earth engaged in so many activities, but in the end, it all comes down to
love. We are seeking a place in life where we can safely love and be
loved. We were made for love, and we all hope for a love that never
ends and that accepts us just as we are.
What is love, though? The wrong idea of love can take us down sad or
even dangerous paths. The Stations of the Cross are, above everything
else, about love. When we journey with Jesus on the Way of the Cross,
we learn what real love is, what it requires of us and how it gives us
hope for the future.
The Gospel of John tells us that at the Last Supper, Jesus told his
disciples that they were no longer servants, but friends of his—which
means friends of God. “” He said, “To lay down one’s life for one’s
friends.” In this Way of the Cross we see what this “laying
down” means for Jesus—and for us.
Priest and cross/candle bearers enter and stop before the Altar and Priest:
begins with Prayer:
Prayer before the Altar
Priest: Jesus, love has brought me here today. I am alive because of
love. I can stand here in hope and courage because of the love I know
you have for me. I am here because I love you and want to be more like
you.
I try hard to follow your voice in my heart and share your love with
others. Sometimes I do not, though. Sometimes I take the gift of my
life for granted. Sometimes I forget that everyone I meet is your
beloved child, too. I cut myself off from others and from you. I cut
myself off from life.
Even then, you do not stop loving me. You want me to return to you.
You reach out like a shepherd, like a father waiting for his prodigal
son. When I look at your image here on the cross, I see that love. I
see love poured out for your friends. Help me to rejoice in your
friendship and accept the love and forgiveness that you share with all
your friends. Teach me to love as you love, as I walk with you on that
way of great love, the Way of the Cross.
Person reading mediation will read Scripture Reading from
(John 14:12-17)
Please read slowly:
A Reading from the Gospel of John 15:12-17
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. No one has a greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not
call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the
Master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made
known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not
choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit,
fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him
in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one
another”
Move to first station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding
Announcer: FIRST STATION - Jesus Is Condemned to Die
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, condemned to die. Jesus,
Lord, be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Jesus stands before those who hold his earthly life in their
hands. He knows suffering lies ahead. He could lie about himself and
escape that suffering. He tells the truth, though, because he loves us,
and Love stands for truth.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads) : "Pilate succumbs to the Law and
obeys out of pride. He asks Jesus: 'Where do you come from? Who
is God?' Jesus replies: 'He is All.' Pilate says: 'And then? What does
the All mean? What is the All for one who is dying? You are
mad ...God does not exist. I do. Do you not know that I have the
power to free you or crucify you?' Jesus says: 'You would have no
power if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, he who
handed me over to you is more guilty than you are. Pilate says:
'Let him go to the cross.'"
Prayer: Jesus, so many times trying to be truthful seems just too hard.
If I’m completely truthful about my sins, I will have to suffer
consequences for my wrongdoing. If I’m completely honest about
my plans, I may face restrictions that will keep me from doing what
I want. If I am really, open about who I am and what I think, some
people might change the way they think of me. They might decide I am
not very good or something.
In this first station, I see you stand before your accusers in truth, out
of love. Help me be led by love, too. May knowing that you love me
as I am strengthen me to be honest about myself? May my love for
others help me see that they deserve the truth from me?
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: SECOND STATION - Jesus Carries His Cross
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you bear the load. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Jesus has been beaten and mocked by the Roman guards.
Now a huge, heavy beam is laid brutally on his shoulders. Jesus carries
the great weight of sin as he begins his journey to Golgotha, where they
would crucify him. He bears it willingly, for love bears all things.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "Before giving the cross to Jesus,
they tie the board with the inscription-JESUS NAZARENE KING
OF THE JEWS-round his neck. And the rope that holds it gets
entangled with the crown of thorns, w h i c h is moved and scratches
and pierces new parts causing fresh pain and making blood spout.
The people laugh with sadistic joy, they abuse and curse. The cross is
received by Jesus."
Prayer: Jesus, I may be young, but I have already learned that life
brings many challenges and burdens. In a way, these burdens are our
own crosses that all people must carry through life.
Sometimes, I condemn myself to carry a cross. I get myself into tough
situations that have tough consequences. But at other times, life just
lays a heavy cross on my shoulders. I did not ask for it. I do not want it.
But it is there, and it is hard to bear—especially because I do not
understand why it is there.
I see you carry your cross out of love. Help me see a purpose in the
cross I am carrying today. Help me find a loving way to bring good out
of this cross.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: THIRD STATION - Jesus Falls the First Time
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you bend and fall. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: The streets of Jerusalem are narrow and winding. Crowds
have gathered to watch Jesus make his way to the place of crucifixion.
Under the weight of the cross and pressed by the crowds, Jesus
stumbles and falls.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "So Jesus suffers tremendously in
climbing up the hill, also because the weight of the cross which
being so long, must be very heavy. He finds a protruding stone and
as he is exhausted, he can lift his feet only a little, so he stumbles
and falls on his knee, but he can hold himself up with his left hand.
The crowd howls with joy at his suffering."
Prayer:
Jesus, the cross you carry is not just made of wood. It is made of the
sadness of the world’s sin and all its consequences in human suffering.
That is a heavy burden to carry, and under its weight, you fall.
Sin brings me down to the ground, too. I may think I can handle it at
first, but after a while, I find that my lies, my casual cruelty, or my
closed heart is making it hard for me to walk upright. I fall.
I see you fall under all the weight, but I also see that you refuse to let
the heaviness of the world’s sin keep you down. You rise and keep
walking out of love. Help me to rise, too, and find the path of love once
again.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: FOURTH STATION - Jesus Meets His Mother
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you see her face. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: When Jesus was a baby, his parents took him to the
Temple. There, a prophet told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul.
Seeing her beloved son now wounded weak and walking to an unjust
death, Mary feels that sword tear at her heart.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "Jesus turns towards his mother and
with his eyes almost closed, as if he was blind, and he shouts:
'MOTHER! ' Since he began being tortured, it is the first word that
expresses his sufferings. Because in that cry there is the confession of
everything, and all dreadful sorrow of his spirit, of his morale, of his
body. It is the heart broken and heart breaking cry of a little boy who
dies all alone, among torturers and the most cruel tortures ...Mary presses
her hand against her heart, as if she had been stabbed, and she staggers
slightly...She shouts: 'SON!' But she says so in such a way that whoever
has not got a heart of a hyena, ·feels it breaking because of such grief
But Mary cannot kiss her son...Even the slightest touch would be
torture for his tom flesh, and Mary refrains ..Only the two tortured
souls kiss each other.
Prayer: Jesus, amid the crowd filled with mocking, curious and
indifferent faces, one face stands out. It is the face of your sorrowful
mother, Mary. She held you close as a baby, searched for you when
she thought you were lost in Jerusalem, and was there with you as you
changed water into wine.
As she has so often in the past, Mary stands near you now. But this
moment is different from all the others. She can do nothing for you
now; She can only watch in grief because she loves you so very much.
I suppose all parents must sometimes look at their own children with
this same kind of sadness. When we are sick, when we are running
down harmful paths, when we refuse to listen, our parents feel it,
because they love us.
I see you stop to give your mother comfort. Help me stop on my
journey and let my parents in to give me comfort. Help me love them
by being open to their love and support.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: FIFTH STATION - Simon Helps Jesus
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, your pain is eased. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: The cross only gets heavier with every step. The guards
pull a man named Simon out of the crowd and put the crushing weight
of the cross on his shoulders. Not that they care about Jesus, but they
have a job to do. They have to get him to the place of crucifixion.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "Longinus, the soldier in charge,
calls forward Simon of Cyrene. 'Do you see that man?' he asks.
And in doing so, he turns and points out Jesus. 'He cannot proceed
further laden as he is. You are strong. Take his cross and carry it in his
stead as far as the summit.'"
Prayer
Jesus, I wonder if the man named Simon knew you at all. He was not
one of the twelve disciples. Maybe he had never even heard of you
before that day.
He did not volunteer to help you, either; he was forced into it by
armed soldiers. But despite all that—despite being a stranger pulled in
to help against his will, for a moment, a burden on you was lifted.
Every day, my life puts me in the presence of people I have never
met before and never will see again—at school, at work, at the mall, at
a game.
As I see your burden lifted by a stranger, help me remember either that
every action and word I speak to a stranger can lighten their daily load
or make it heavier. Help me approach them with love. And help me
gratefully accept any kind-nesses that are offered to me.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: SIXTH STATION - Veronica Wipes Jesus’ Face
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, she soothes your face.
Jesus, Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: After Jesus was arrested, the guards put a crown of thorns
on his head. The long, sharp thorns pierced the skin on his scalp and
drew blood. Now hours later, the blood, sweat, and filth have
covered Jesus’ face. Veronica reaches out in love.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): Women approach Jesus and
kneel at his feet...One of them, holding a small casket in her arms,
opens it and takes out a square piece of very fine linen cloth and
offers it to the Redeemer. He accepts it. And as he cannot manage
himself with one hand only, the compassionate woman helps him to
take it to his face, watching not to knock against his crown. And
Jesus presses the cool linen cloth to his face and holds it there, as if
he felt a great relief He then hands the linen cloth back and says:
'Thank you .'"
Prayer: Jesus, I must admit that suffering frightens me. I do not mean
just the idea of my own suffering, but it is the suffering of others that I
find difficult to face.
I do not like to see people I love in pain. When someone I know
endures great suffering, it is hard to know what to say or do.
Sometimes when I am faced with that kind of suffering, I just want to
go far away until it is all over. Sometimes people are changed by
illness or the pains of age or grief. It is hard to recognize them under
the scars of their pain.
I see Veronica reaching out to you. Others are frightened off by your
suffering. Some do not know what to do or say. Veronica sees through
the blood and the dirt. She does a simple thing. She cleans your face.
Help me reach out as Veronica did and not be overcome by my fear.
Help me be strengthened by love to recognize your face in the suffering
of others.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: SEVENTH STATION - Jesus Falls the Second Time
Priest: Let us pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you fall again. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Just a few days ago, people were cheering when Jesus
entered this city. The feeling is different now. Now Jesus is condemned
as a criminal and hardly anyone seems to be on his side. He falls
again. Does anyone care?
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads) : "The board hung round his neck
that swings in front of him obstructs his sight; his long tunic, the
front part of which trails on the ground, as he now walks bending,
hampers his steps. He stumbles again and falls on both knees,
hurting himself where he is already wounded; and the cross,
which slips out of his hands and falls, after striking his back
violently, compels him to . bend to pick it up and to toil painfully
to put it back on his shoulders;"
Prayer: Jesus, I see people fall every day. Kids I know struggle in
school. They make mistakes. They lose games and forget their lines on
stage. They have family problems and dread going home at night.
My parents get stressed out because of all the things they have to do.
They lose their temper with me. Sometimes I deserve it, sometimes I
do not.
When I think about all of this, sometimes I feel let down by the way
people disappoint me. I watch them fall, and it makes me angry or feels
superior or even laugh at them.
I see you surrounded by pressures and cruelty, falling down under the
weight of all of it. I am sorry to see you fall. When I see other people
fall in my life, help me remember you and be more understanding
with them. When those I know fall, help me react with compassion and
desire to help. May love move me to care.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: EIGHTH STATION - Jesus Meets the Women
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you hear the cries. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: As Jesus preached and taught during his ministry, his
apostles were at his side. Now, they are gone, nowhere to be seen.
But along the sad road, a small group follows Jesus. It is a cluster
of women from Jerusalem, walking behind him in tears for what he
has endured and for his death that comes closer with every step.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): The women turn around upon
hearing the shouts of the crowd and see the procession turn towards
them...When Jesus arrives near them, they weep more loudly and bow
low to him...They- approach Jesus weeping and kneel at his feet,
while he stops panting, and yet he still knows ·how to smile at those
compassionate women ...One offers him a drink, he refuses it...He is so
breathless that he would not even be able to drink. He thanks them."
Prayer: Jesus, although you are exhausted and weak, you have strength
enough to speak to the women who are weeping for you. You tell
them not to shed tears for you, but for themselves and for their children.
Following you can sometimes be difficult.
I know that real love can be hard sometimes. Forgiving is hard.
Putting up with someone’s mistakes and weakness is hard. It is hard
being faithful to a friend or family member and supporting them when
I have other
things to do or when the situation makes me feel uncomfortable. Being
your friend, Jesus, can be a challenge.
I see you gently warning the women of hard times ahead. I listen to
those words and understand what they mean for me. Help me to be
faithful, and to keep following you in love.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: NINTH STATION - Jesus Falls a Third Time
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, you fall again. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Jesus has been arrested, unjustly condemned, whipped, and
beaten. He has been forced to bear the means of his own death on his
back. His friends have disappeared. He falls again.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "He falls because of a sudden lack
of strength...He falls headlong knocking his face on the uneven stones
and he remains in the dust under the cross that falls on him. With the
help of the two soldiers, he stands up. The crowd yells: 'Make sure that
he dies only on the cross!"
Prayer: Jesus, your journey on this hard road is a journey of pain and
struggle, but most of all, it is a journey of love. It is hard to see this
from the outside. Someone who does not understand sees nothing but
a shattered man falling under a terrible load on a Jerusalem street.
But there is more to it than this, I know. There is love. You endure all
of this because you love us. You suffer because you love me. It is hard
for me to fully realize that love involves suffering. I doubt anybody
truly understands the mystery of how love and suffering are joined.
But through your journey, I see how true this connection is.
I see you fall, broken and weak. But in this pain, I also see a love that
astonishes me and gives me hope. Help me love as you love. Help me
accept the suffering that comes with real love.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: TENTH STATION - Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, they lay you bare. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Jesus has passed through the city gates, out to the place of
the crucifixion called Golgotha. Wooden beams are stuck in the ground,
awaiting the crosspiece that he has been carrying on his back. On this
hill that means “skull place,” he is stripped of his clothes. All is ready.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "The two robbers are ordered to
undress. The executioners offer the condemned men three rags, so
they may tie them round their groins. Jesus, who strips himself slowly
because of the pangs of the wounds, refuses it. He perhaps thinks
that he can keep on the short drawers, which he· had on also during the
flagellation. But when he is told to take them off as well, he
stretches out his hand to beg for the rags of the executioners to conceal
his nakedness . He is really the annihilated one to the extent of
having to ask a rag from criminals."
Prayer: Jesus, you came into the world to share the Good News of
God’s love. You forgave sins, healed the sick and brought the dead
back to life.
And now you stand, God made human, totally exposed to the world,
the world that came into being through your own word, a world that has
now turned on you and is preparing to put you to death on a cross.
How could they not have recognized you? How can people be so blind
to goodness and love? Why does it scare us so?
I see you, the Lord of Creation, standing weak and vulnerable before
your own creation which has closed its
eyes to truth. Open my eyes to your love. Help me be open to the
many ways you are acting in my life every day. Help me to respond to
your voice as it calls me to love.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: ELEVENTH STATION - Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, upon the cross. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: The noonday sun burns down on Golgotha. Nails are
pounded through Jesus’ wrists. Ropes quickly pull the crosspiece up
into place. More nails pierce Jesus, now through his feet. The cross is
in place, bearing Love.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "Two executioners sit on his
chest to hold him fast...A third one takes his right arm...The fourth
one...watches whether the hole already made· in the wood
corresponds to the joint of the wrist, he raises the hammer and gives
the first stroke. The right hand is nailed...It is now the turn of his
feet. Those sitting on Jesus' chest, now get up to move to his knees,
because, Jesus, with an involuntary movement withdraws his legs
upon seeing the very long nail, which twice as long and thick as
those used for the hands, shines in the sunshine. They weigh on his
flayed knees and press on his poor bruised shins, while the other
two are performing the much more difficult operation of nailing one
foot on top of the other. And they hammer, hammer, hammer."
Prayer
Jesus, is this really what love looks like?
That is not what the world tells me. The world outside tells me that
love is about happy feelings, romance and pleasure. As you hang on
the cross, surrounded by people mocking you, gambling for your
clothes, giving you vinegar when you say you are thirsty, it changes the
way I think about love.
I see you suffering on the cross, suffering so much that you cry out
to the Father. I also see you are suffering for one reason only: you
love us. You want to pour out forgiveness of sins and open the doors
to eternal life—for us. So you accepted this cup of suffering, out of
love. Help me see love in this cross. Help me see how much I need this
love. Teach me, through your cross, how to love as you have loved.
Teach me that true love is what I have been made for.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: TWELFTH STATION - Jesus Dies on the Cross
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, I watch you die. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: Jesus hangs on the cross as the hours creep by. It is
harder and harder for him to breathe. One of the thieves crucified
alongside mocks him; the other defends him. Jesus promises this
good thief that today, he would be in paradise with him. After three
hours, Jesus breathes his last.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "There is dead silence. Then in
utter darkness the word: 'Everything is accomplished !' is clearly heard
and his death- rattle grows louder and louder, with longer and longer
pauses between one rattle and the next one. There is silence again.
Then e supplication pronounced with infinite kindness, with fervent
Prayer: 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!' His head falls
on his chest. His body leans forward, the trembling stops, he breathes
no more. He has breathed his last!"
Pause for a moment of silence (about 30 seconds) before Prayer is read. Prayer: Jesus, forgive me for my sins. All along the way, there were
many people involved in bringing you to this point. Some betrayed
you, others arrested, tried, and convicted you, and some whipped
you or nailed you to the cross. Hundreds stood by and watched. All
but a few of your friends abandoned you and hid.
But beyond all this, a whole ungrateful world brought you to
Golgotha. And, sadly, I have to admit that I am a part of that world.
I see you collapsed and lifeless on the cross. Sin is there with you. But
your response to sin was not anger or rejection of the world. You
accepted the whole world and everything about it, even its sinfulness,
in order to heal it. I am a part of that world. Help me see that through
your cross, I am healed and set free.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: THIRTEENTH STATION - Jesus Is Taken Down from
the Cross
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, they take you down.
Jesus, Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: For a moment, the world went dark. Thunder rolled across
Jerusalem and the earth shook. Something had happened. The world
had changed. But now, no one knows that. The guards have left the
crucified to his family. A tomb is made ready. In deep sadness, those
remaining watch Mary cradle her son in her arms.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "Mary has already placed herself
at the foot of the cross...ready to receive her Jesus in her lap...She
has opened her mantle ...and she is sitting with her knees apart to
form a cradle for her Jesus. He is now in his Mother 's lap...Mary is
holding him...Jesus' head is resting in his Mother's shoulder. She
detaches him from her shoulder and caresses him with her left hand.
She ·takes and stretches out his hands and before folding them on his
dead body, she kisses them and weeps on their wounds."
Prayer: Jesus, this moment at Golgotha is even more dark and bleak
than the others. Those who were caring for your lifeless body probably
had many thoughts just at this moment. They might have been thinking
of your laughter and wisdom, of a time they had shared a meal with
you, or of a moment when you had assured them that their sins—
even their worst sins—were forgiven. Your mother Mary must have
thought about all that had been promised—and once again, the sword
pierced her heart.
All of them were probably confused and hurt, wondering what would,
what could happen next. But in the midst of this enormous pain, they
continued to serve you, quietly, out of love.
I see you cared for by those who love you. Help me do the same. Help
me serve humbly and quietly, out of love.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Move to next station: wait until youth and Father with cross/candle bearers are in place before proceeding to the next station
Announcer: FOURTEENTH STATION - Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
Priest: Let us Pray
Announcer leads congregation: By your side, laid in the tomb. Jesus,
Lord be ever near as I walk, by your side.
Meditation: In a cave in the side of a hill, Jesus’ body, wrapped in
linens, is laid on a shelf carved from the rock, and a stone is rolled
across the opening of this tomb. Guards are stationed, and the
mourners drift away. Night falls with a heavy silence.
Announcer: Please kneel
Description of Station (Announcer reads): "The little procession after
descending Calvary, at the foot of it finds the sepulcher of Joseph of
Arimathea, hewn out of the limestone of the mountain. The
compassionate disciples enter it with Jesus' body. There is a burial
room.. Before this room is a kind of anteroom, in the middle of which
there is a slab of stone for anointing. Jesus is placed on it and is
wrapped in the sheet. Mary bends over her Son weeping. And once
again she wipes him with her veil ...It is the only washing cloth that Jesus'
body has, this one with his Mother's tears."
Prayer: Jesus, dying is a scary thing. It is sad to reflect on your unjust
death. It is scary to think about my own death and the deaths of those
around me. I just do not like to think about such things. Could a
stone rolled across a tomb, darkness, and silence, could this really be
the end?
Your journey to the cross seems to end in sadness. Sometimes when
I am trying to understand and to follow your way of love, I feel
frustrated and sad, too. It is hard for me to see the point, or to see how
good could come out of it.
I see you lying in the tomb, and faith tells me that death is not the
end. As I watch in sadness, help me remember your promise of eternal
life. Help me live, trusting that in your love lies joy and peace.
Pause for Silent Reflection
Announcer: Please Stand (wait 10 seconds after Prayer)
Priest and cross/candle bearers’ move to the center before the altar and
kneel.
Priest: Closing Prayer
Jesus, on this Way of the Cross, I have seen the way of love. I have
seen that love is brave, compassionate, and truthful. I have seen,
through your journey, that the mystery of genuine love involves
sacrifice and suffering.
It is a way of sadness, but amid the sadness, I remember your words.
I remember that throughout your ministry, you constantly spoke of
eternal life. You said that when we were reborn, we would live
forever, that when we eat the Bread of Life, we would never hunger
again. You promised the thief beside you that he would
live with you forever in paradise.
May this Way of the Cross strengthen that same hope in me. I know
that you are with me at all times, walking with me, as I have walked
with you here. Your way has taught me that there is no greater love
than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. Help me be your friend,
now and forever. Amen.
After Closing Prayer Announcer will say:
The service has ended. Please leave the church in silence.
Father is lead out by cross/candle bearer - participants will exit pew -
reverence the altar and go downstairs to change in silence