GOOD FRIDAY, April 3, 2015
in Wilmington, Delaware, has organized its Second Annual Urban Way of the Cross.
In a small city on the east coast of the US, halfway between New York and Washington, DC,
with a resident population of about 60,000, we routinely rank in the top ten in the nation
for violent crime per capita. This year, the theme of the Way of the Cross is I AM My Brother's Keeper.
In coordination with the City of Wilmington and the Wilmington Police Department,
and the participation of the Wilmington Peace Keepers, the Movement for a Culture of Peace,
and the participation of the Wilmington Peace Keepers, the Movement for a Culture of Peace,
and a number of other Churches, and individuals, the procession will move through 7 Stations in the City,
stopping for meditation, prayer, and a sung Spiritual
where there has been a shooting and/or homicide in the last year.
The 8th Station will be at SsAM to conclude the service.
If you cannot join us, please pray along with us.
The Meditations and Prayers are below.
The Meditations and Prayers are below.
The Urban Way of the Cross:
A time to remember, a time to mourn, and a time to pray
Join us as we journey through the streets of Wilmington on Good Friday, April 3, filled with prayer and spirituals. Begin outside the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center at 3:00 PM (501 N. Madison Street) and end at The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew (719 N. Shipley Street) at 4:30 PM where there will be time to place your prayers and commitment to being your brother’s keeper on the Cross. Except for the station at The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, all the stations will be held outdoors.
Music by The SsAM Adult Choir and all of you; Meditations by Bebe Coker, Prayers by Christina Brennan Lee
Music by The SsAM Adult Choir and all of you; Meditations by Bebe Coker, Prayers by Christina Brennan Lee
The Stations:
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to die, Hicks Community Center
MEDITATION: An eye-for-an-eye will make the whole world blind! Jesus the Christ lived in the midst of His enemies. We, too, live in the midst of evil-doers; in the center of Sanhedrin darkness; in the center of hatred and commitment to the crucifixion of a sinless Humanity. A Jesus who knew no sin yet He was nailed to a wooden Cross bearing the sins of Cain and Abel and each one of us….AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
PRAYER: Holy Jesus, Holy Son, Holy Brother, There is trouble all over this place. There is pain and grief, rebuke and scorn. Cain kills Abel again and again and the blood of our brothers cries out to us from this very ground. Let us find the courage to stand with you and face Caiaphas and Pilate together, to renounce the violence in our City, to live and work every day for peace, justice, and mercy as you did, and never let us ever forget that we are our community’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: I've Been 'Buked
Station 2: Jesus takes up his cross, 7th and Monroe
MEDITATION: What Cross do we bear? What splintered beams do we place on our shoulders? What Jericho roads have we traveled? What grief and sins do we bear? Do we bear our brothers’ burdens? Our sisters’ burdens? Do we reach out to share each others’ pain? ....AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders amidst the jeers and taunts of those who only look to the angry crowd to guide their own behavior. We walk with you to share the heavy burden and hard work, to learn how to love the unlovable, to restore dignity to the rejected, and to give respect to those who have been disrespected. Never let us ever forget that we are our neighbor’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: They Led My Lord Away
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time, 5th and Monroe
MEDITATION: Who among you lifts his brother’s burdens in love? Who leaves his fallen brother in the Samaritan’s way? Who stoops to lower himself to the level of where his brother finds himself alone? Who claims to love the Jesus who he has not seen and loves not his brother who he has seen? Who lifts the brother whose cries are heard and seen and known? …. AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
It’s no wonder that you collapse with the physical exhaustion and the tortuous pain of dragging this heavy wooden beam. Yet you show us how to rise again in obedience to God’s call. Give us the strength and the patience to face with love those who accuse us, who fight with us, who demean us as we walk through these mean streets. Let us carry those who have sons and daughters of their own, who have tried hard in life, who are too tired and too grieved to go on alone. Never let us ever forget that we are our father’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: Soon'Ah Will Be Done
Station 4: Jesus meets His Mother, 5th and Madison
MEDITATION: Poor and miserable unbelievers all around us dying without the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus the Christ…and we let them die, be killed. We let them wrestle in the bowels of a fearful community, a dispassionate community. A community blinded by self-hatred, a community in darkness; a community that cannot see the only light to dispel its darkness…the light of God’s love. The invisibility of Man’s inhumanity to man….AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
the agony in your bruised and bloodied body is only matched by the anguish in the sorrowful face of your mother who suffers at the sight of your torment – Bless’ed Mary, mother of us all. Grant us the faith and the love and the hope to surround and enfold those now childless mothers and all mothers devastated by the needless violent loss of their daughters and sons. Never let us ever forget that we are our mother’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Station 5: The Cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene, 7th and Madison
MEDITATION: I AM MY BROTHER’S KEEPER! He is not heavy, he is my brother…no matter his race, color, creed, origin, differences… I am my brother’s keeper. Where is your brother Abel? Have we done all that we can to lift the burden of our brothers? Our sisters? Have we served our own as well as others who are not blood kin? Where is your Abel? Where is your Cain? Who is your brother? ….ARE YOU…ARE WE OUR BROTHERS’ KEEPER?
another mother’s son is made to bear the weight of your cross and he shows us how to give the gift of mercy even if reluctantly at first. Grant us the ability and willingness to share another’s burden as we see need beyond race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and any element of life that is different from our own. Remind us to pray for each other in times of good and in times of trouble, and never let us ever forget that we are our companion’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, Lord
Station 6: Jesus and the women of Jerusalem, 7th and Jefferson
MEDITATION: How clean is the house I live in? Women of Jerusalem…Women of Wilmington…is your house swept clean? Are our own children given our love and protection? Our brothers and sisters? Others that we claim to know and love…have we done all that we can do to be the “Christ” in daily living that they need to see in order to be? Have we shared the God of our salvation with the ones for whom we have been given direct responsibility? Where is Abel? Are we our brothers’ keeper? Do we pretend to be contaminated by the presence of those who are not like us? Do we shake their dust from our feet? Is the blood of Abel on our hands? Lord, grant us vision to render no man invisible to the eyes of our hearts. I AM MY BROTHER’S KEEPER.
you tell us not to weep for you but to weep for ourselves, not with mere emotion, but through facing the harsh realities of the serious evil in our streets, and the heavy responsibility we all must share to end it. Dry our tears, Dear Christ, and give us the heart and the energy to not look away but to do all that needs to be done, and never let us ever forget that we are our sister’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word
Station 7: The Crucifixion, 7th and Washington
MEDITATION: If I am not my brother’s keeper…..LET ME NOT BE HIS EXECUTIONER! We crucified Jesus on Calvary’s Hill…where three men were crucified…Crucified for so-called extreme crimes, crimes of extremism. The two thieves were crucified for extremes of immorality, for evil deeds. JESUS WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS AND CRUCIFIED FOR BEING AN EXTREMIST OF LOVE, TRUTH, GOODNESS, FORGIVENESS, FOR MERCY. Jesus an extremist for Love…Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. He loved us enough to die for us…do we Love Him enough to live for Him? I AM MY BROTHER’S KEEPER.
PRAYER: Holy Jesus, Holy Son, Holy Brother,
the hammering, my Lord, the hammering – it reverberates in my ears, in my heart, in my soul. Each cruel blow to the spike rips at the fibers of our very being. How can humans created by God do such things to one another? Jesus, show us the way to care for those who do despicable acts, to love them back into your Kingdom as you did from your cross. Never let us ever forget that we are our enemy’s keeper.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spiritual: Hammering
Station 8: Jesus is laid in the tomb, Saints Andrew & Matthew
MEDITATION: The killing of a man does not always mean a stabbing or a bullet or any other so-called “violent means of death.” Violence is the last refuge of the insecure, the incompetent, the undefined, the dispassionate, the brother who does not know the meaning of love. Violence has its roots in wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; worship without sacrifice and politics without principles…
WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER…
WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER…
WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER.
Jesus, Bearer of my sins, never ever let me forget
I AM My Brother’s Keeper
Spirituals: Calvary, Any How, Were You There
Let Us Depart in Silence
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment