Good Friday, March 25, 2016 ~ Walking the Cross in the City
On this Good Friday, in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, the parish of Sts. Andrew and Matthew (SsAM) and members of various other congregations and denominations will gather for the third year in a row at 3:15 pm EST, to walk the city streets in procession using 7 different stops as the Stations of the Cross, concluding for the 8th and final meditation, prayer, and song at Brandywine United Methodist Church. The theme for this year's walk is, Jesus: Me, Thee, and the World. The following prayers by this writer are being used for each of the 8 Stations that form part of the overall service in addition to other meditations and singing of Spirituals. The full service leaflet will be available at www.ssam.org. Please join us in prayer and in spirit if you cannot be with us in person.
1. Jesus is Condemned to Die
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
In
Your earthly form, you were subjected to the whims and wiles of political power
and injustice that whipped the ill-informed throngs into a manipulated
bloodlust, blindly and voraciously feeding off the senseless energy of evil. Let
us not condemn to death, in flesh or in spirit, any God-created human sister or
brother, child or adult, like us or unlike, as a scapegoat for our own frustration,
bigotry, and irrational fear. We must stand with You in this world to show love,
mercy, and forgiveness for our sins and the sins of others.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
In Your genuine humility and
obedience to God, You bore the burden of the world’s sins, past, present, and
future, within the punishing beams of the cross on Your back. Fill us with the
courage to be humble and acknowledge the unimaginable weight we have each added,
and strengthen us to carry more than our share to walk the full distance with
You. We must stand with You in this world to restore the dignity and hope of
every person along the Way.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
3. Jesus Falls the First Time
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
Your
physical frame gave way to the ungodly and inhuman mass upon Your shoulders. Yet
You rose again with the strength of God and the Spirit of perseverance, to
continue the wearying trek through the hostile streets, enduring the pain and
agony of temporal life. Grant us the willingness to climb out of our trenches
of fear, and the fortitude to be the faces of faith, especially in adversity. We
must stand with You in this world, and rise again and again every time we fall
through our own fault, or the demeaning and damage from others.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
4. Jesus Meets His Mother
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
In
all the anguish on this path to death, You and Your mother share a moment
within the unspeakable torment of this dread-filled ordeal. Infuse our hearts
with the depth and breadth of such mutual love, that we become as mother,
father, sister, and brother to all of God’s children in the worst times and the
best, with the faithful and the faithless, in the days of hope and the nights
of despair. We must stand with You in
this world and radiate the love and peace that surpasses all understanding.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
5. The Cross is Laid on Simon of Cyrene
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
Simon,
pulled out of the crowds, is compelled against his will to lift Your cross onto
his own shoulders. How often have we resisted sharing the burdens of others in
Your name? How often do we resist help for ourselves, either earthly or divine?
Remind our souls that there is grace in weakness and strength in being
vulnerable. We must stand with You in this world to gratefully and readily
share with, give to, and wholeheartedly receive from each other.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
6. Jesus and the Women of Jerusalem
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
In
Your sacred knowing, the words You gave to the women of Jerusalem tell us all
to look toward the work and responsibility of saving each other and ourselves
from the tyranny of political suppression and violence. Open our eyes to see,
our ears to hear, and our minds to actively engage in choosing those who will
seek peace, equity, justice, and mercy in all positions of our various forms of
government. We must stand with You in this world, in this country, in this
City, as a positive and steadfast force for change through compassion, empathy,
and selflessness.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
7. The Crucifixion
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
Tortured,
battered, and brutally pierced, Your human life ebbed through the flow of the
Precious Blood that cleanses our souls and purifies the life we give to Your
service. Intensify our desire and ability to forgive even the most horrible of
people, so that we may in turn forgive ourselves and ask forgiveness of others.
We must stand with You in this world to follow Your light and be as a beacon,
that all who search for life’s meaning will find it in You.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
8. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Holy Jesus, Son of God, Brother of All Humanity,
The tempests and travails of Your
human existence have ended. The anguish and suffering of all mortal life will
ultimately lead to the indescribable peace of new and eternal life in God. In
this moment, let us rest with you in the stillness of the tomb gathering
strength and renewing our faith, as we await Your coming in Glory. We must
stand with You in this world to bear
witness to Your Gospel of Hope, Joy, and Resurrection, the Good News for life before
Life.
Jesus,
Lamb of God, Innocent yet Still Slaughtered
Your earthly death calls us
to new life now and in eternity
Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.
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