Stations of the Cross

  1. Jesus washes the feet of his disciples

After that, he poured water into a basin

and began to wash his disciples’ feet,

drying them with the towel

that was wrapped around him.

May we be willing humbly to serve others

Amen

  1. Jesus at the Last Supper

While they were eating, Jesus took bread

and when he had given thanks,

he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

“ take and eat; this is my body”.

Let us all come to receive your bread of life

and having received it,

may we be sent out into the world fed by your love

and so carry it to all whom we meet

Amen

  1. Jesus is condemned to death

God of the accused

and the accusing,

who made the mouth, the ear and the heart

of all in conflict.

May we turn ourselves towards that which must be heard,

because there we will hear your voice.

Amen.

  1. Jesus takes up the cross

Burdened God,

who bore the weight of wood

on torn shoulders,

We pray for the torn and the burdened, that they may be held together by

guts and goodness.

Because you were held together by guts and goodness.

Amen.

  1. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross

Simon of Cyrene,

stranger from afar,

You were a help

to an unknown man.

We pray for all who help:

that their help may be helpful; that their kindness may be kind.

Because yours was,

even though you knew you couldn’t do enough.

Amen.

  1. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

Women of Jerusalem,

while you mourned,

Jesus saw you

and spoke to you –

he in his sorrow seeing you in yours.

May we see each other, even when we feel unseen.

Because when we see each other, we are seen ourselves.

Amen.

  1. Jesus is nailed to the cross

Jesus of Nazareth,

This cross was a torture.

It only gives life

because you made it hollow. Bring life to us, Jesus,

especially when we

are in the places

of the dead.

Because you brought life

even to the instruments of death.

Amen.

  1. Jesus dies on the cross

Jesus of the imagination,

You never grow old, always a young man, and most of us grow older

than you did.

When lives are cut short

the living question the meaning of living. May we live with meaning,

even when meaning fades,

making meaning

so that we

have something to live for.

Amen.

  1. Jesus is placed in the arms of his mother

Mary, Mother of Death,

You held the corpse of your young son – the worst of fears –

in your arms,

as he went where we have not yet gone. We mark this

with silence and art.

May we also learn from fear,

because fear

won’t save us from anything.

Amen.

  1. Jesus is placed in the tomb

Jesus of the unexpected,

for at least some of your life

this was not how you imagined its end. Yet even at the end,

you kept steady in your conviction. Jesus, keep us steady.

Jesus, keep us steady.

Because, Jesus, keep us steady.

Amen.