“Blessed Are They Who are Persecuted for justice, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”
Matthew 5:10
THE CROSS
Meditation for refugee and
homeless families in the Middle East
FIRST STATION: JESUS IS SENTENCED
TO DEATH
“Pilate delivered Jesus to be
crucified.” Matthew 15:12-13
An innocent man condemned to death.
What injustice! Lord, our families feel their suffering with you,
innocent victims in your image, through violence and persecution.
They are forced to leave homes, schools, parishes, towns, neighbors,
friends, and cemeteries, to live in refugee camps of misery and
indifference.
Pilate is always there to feed
injustice.
Lord, enlighten the minds of these
“judges” and make us messengers of justice. Amen.
SECOND STATION: JESUS CARRIES THE
CROSS
“ ..then they led him away to crucify
him..” Mark 15:20
Jesus is taken to the soldiers, he
“through whom all things were made and nothing was made without
him,” (Jn. 1:3) lowers his head and walks humiliated, carrying the
cross, defenseless.
Lord Jesus, the force of evil is still
rampant and destroys. Lord you identified with the weak, look at our
fragile families, humiliated and torn by violence. They are victims
of injustice as you were. Give them the strength to carry the cross,
to keep the faith, and to hope in you. Amen.
THIRD STATION: JESUS FALLS FOR
THE FIRST TIME
“He was pierced for our
transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:5
He who brings peace to the world is
wounded by our sins and falls under the burden of our sins.
Lord, we are crushed by the weight of
the cross and the great desolation around us. Our selfishness and
weakness pulls us down. Lord, lift us from our falls and direct our
mind back to your truth. Amen.
FOURTH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS
MOTHER
“And a sword will pierce your own
soul.” Luke 2:35; Isaiah 53.5
Wounded and suffering, carrying the
cross of humanity, Jesus meets his mother and the face of all
humanity. In this mutual suffering between son and mother a new
humanity is born.
O Mary, Mother of God, you saw your son
suffer. Help our moms who are deprived of their children, whose
children suffer and die alone away from them. In our daily life
children and parents are hurting mutually. Help us Lord to transform
our families and homelands into spaces of love and serenity in the
image of the Holy Family. Amen.
FIFTH STATION: SIMON OF CYRENE
HELPS JESUS TO CARRY HIS CROSS
“..they laid the cross on him and he
carried it behind Jesus.” Luke 23:26
This silent encounter between Jesus and
Simon of Cyrene is a life lesson. Two eyes met in a silent speech
that says a lot. Suffering received in faith traces a path of
salvation.
Lord, our families are left alone in
their misery. They are waiting for a hand, a heart, a “Simon of
Cyrene” that you send in the wilderness. Amen.
SIXTH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE
OF JESUS
“Your face, O Lord, I seek. Do not
hide your face from me.” Psalm 27:8-9
Veronica makes a strong symbolic
gesture. She wipes the pain of your face in a gesture of faith that
expresses her love for you. In Christian tradition this face is still
seen on Veronica’s veil. Who will wipe away the wounded faces of
our brothers, our mothers who weep for their children, and their
distress?
God grant that we see your face in that
of the poor, persecuted, and innocent victims of violence and
injustice. Amen.
SEVENTH STATION: JESUS FALLS FOR
THE SECOND TIME:
“Be not far from me, for trouble is
near; for there is none to help.” Psalm 22: 8-12
This second fall under the cross is a
sign of loneliness in suffering. Injustice and violence pound the
lowly people into the abyss. Your loneliness, Lord, joined the
isolation of the poor victims of the world’s selfishness.
Come Holy Spirit to comfort, strengthen
and sow hope in the hearts the oppressed so that, united to Christ,
they may be witnesses of his universal love. Amen.
EIGHTH STATION: JESUS MEETS THE
WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
“Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for
me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” Luke 23:27-28
These women saw in the cross a curse.
The Lord saw redemption, the taking away of sins, and consolation for
the oppressed. The eyes of the women were open to the truth of
Easter.
Lord, our wounded moms who are
suffering, need your consolation and comfort.
O suffering Christ, be peace and balm
for their wounds. Amen.
NINTH STATION: JESUS FALLS FOR
THE THIRD TIME
“For Christ's love compels us,
because we are convinced that one died for all,
and therefore all
died. And he died for all, that those who live should
no longer live
for themselves but for him who died for them
and was raised
again.” Cor. 5: 14-15
Jesus falls under the cross for the
third time and, despite his exhaustion, he seeks to get up again.
Lord this exhausted and weakened people gathers strength to get up in
vain.
Our divisions are deep even in the
Church as we work for Christian unity.
Lord, help us to get up and walk the
path of forgiveness and unity that flows from your saving suffering.
Amen.
TENTH STATION: JESUS IS STRIPPED
OF HIS CLOTHING
“…they divided my garments among
them and cast lots for my clothing.” Psalm 22:19
Lord you carry our humanity. The many
victims of indiscriminate violence are poor and can only join you in
your liberating suffering and your infinite love.
Lord, to our poor refugees who
encounter various difficulties, give strength to overcome fear and
remain committed to this holy land which empties of Christian
witnesses to your word. Lord, teach us to detach from material goods
so as to live in your evangelical poverty. Amen.
ELEVENTH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED
TO THE CROSS
“Pilate had a notice prepared and
fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.”
John 19:19
Lord Jesus, you were crucified for our
sins. The blows of the hammer echo in our hearts.
Our children are martyred, killed with
savagery, in aimless violence. These oppressed young people are close
your cross.
Lord, may your liberating suffering
release these young people and families from slavery so they may
discover your divine face. Amen.
TWELTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
“Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit.” Luke 23:46
This cry of abandonment breaks the
silence and opens the way to freedom. The whole meaning of the cross
takes its value from this saving suffering. These innocent victims
did not die for nothing. By your death Lord, you opened the door of
the kingdom of eternal life. Death does not defeat us. Death
introduces us to the Resurrection.
Lord, open the hearts of those who
endanger the lives of others to discover the value of human life, a
reflection of your divinity. Amen.
THIRTEENTH STATION: JESUS GIVES
US HIS MOTHER
“He said to the disciple, behold your
mother.” John 19:26
Lord Jesus, the one who loves you
stands beside you. Mary is the model of this love, the model of
faith.
O Mary, our Mother, we place in your
hands our martyrs, our refugees, those unjustly tortured, hated and
excluded. We entrust to you, our dear Mother, children without
schools, the sick who are untended, and our homeless refugees. Ask
the Lord that the blood of innocent victims is made the seed of a new
society, peaceful and just. Amen.
FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS LAID
IN THE TOMB
“They took the body of Jesus and
wrapped it in linen.” John 19:39
Nicodemus gratefully receives the body
of Jesus, prepares it for burial and lays it in the tomb. Jesus
crucified abandons himself completely into human hands, perfectly
united with humanity in all things. Indeed, by his death we are
buried with him so as to rise to new life with him.
These tombs of darkness await your
spring Lord, the light of the Resurrection. Give us the grace to
choose your redeeming cross, to keep faith and hope.
Lord, make us children of the light who
no longer fear the darkness.
Make our cross lead to forgiveness,
reconciliation and peace in the light of your Resurrection. Amen.
All Rights Reserved: Episcopal
Commission for the Family in Syria.
Translation: Sr. Margaret Kerry, fsp
Original French: Maronite Bishop
Samir of Syria
Photo by Sr M. Emmanuel Alves, fsp
1 comment:
Is it acceptable to pray the Stations of the Cross at home if you can't make it to church?
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