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WAY OF THE CROSS
The way of the Cross is a way
of prayer. I walk, in spirit, with Jesus on his journey to Calvary and
meditate on his suffering and death. Each meditation can be a personal
meeting with Jesus and a new discovery of his presence in my life. Each
meditation can be deeply personal by recalling specific persons, places and
experiences in my own life.
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS:
In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
OPENING SCRIPTURE READING:
The Son of Man is destined to
suffer grievously, to be rejected, and to be raised up on the third day.
If anyone wants to be a follower of mine; let him renounce himself and take up
his cross everyday and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life
will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save
it. (Luke 9: 22-24)
OPENING PRAYER:
Almighty, ever living God, you have given
the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He
fulfilled your will be becoming man and giving his life on the cross. Help
us to bear witness to you by following his example of suffering and make us
worthy to share in his resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
fore ever and ever. Amen. (Roman Missal)
"Lord Jesus, help me to be open to
your closeness and presence as I begin this journey to Calvary with you.
Help me to find in your Passion and Death the strength to take up my cross and
follow you."
BEFORE EACH MEDITATION:
We adore you, O Lord, and we praise
you. Because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.
AFTER EACH MEDITATION:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be
thy name; Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us
from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with
you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb
Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour
of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and
to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
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1. PILATE CONDEMNS
JESUS TO DIE
Meditation: Jesus has been scourged and crowned with thorns.
Now, Pilate unjustly condemns Him to die upon a cross.
Lord Jesus, often I judge others and fail to be
understanding or loving. Help me to see the people in my life
through your eyes, not the eyes of a Pontius Pilate.
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2. JESUS ACCEPTS HIS
CROSS
Meditation: Jesus is given a cross to carry on His bleeding and
bruised shoulders. He takes this cross upon Himself as He takes upon
Himself all of our sins.
Lord Jesus, you embraced your cross to redeem the
world. Help me to embrace the crosses in my life - the hardships,
struggles, disappointments, pain. Only by recognizing my own
weakness, can I discover your strength.
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3. JESUS FALLS THE
FIRST TIME
Meditation: Jesus, weakened by all His suffering, stumbles and falls
on the way to Calvary. He struggles and rises, despite His pain, to
go onward toward His death.
Lord Jesus, you know how often I fall trying to
follow you. Yet you are always there to life me up. Help me
always to trust in your loving care for me.
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4. JESUS MEETS HIS
MOTHER
Meditation: Jesus, on His way to Calvary, sees His Mother.
Both are stricken with grief. Her love for Him is surpasses only by
His love and concern for her.
Lord Jesus, your mother Mary's grief was surpassed by
her love for you. So often you come to me in others and their love
gives me new life. Helo me to see how often you love me through the
people in my life.
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5. SIMON HELPS CARRY
THE CROSS
Meditation: Jesus is growing weaker. Fearing that He may not
be able to go on, His executioners force Simon of Cyrene to help Him carry
His cross.
Lord Jesus, sometimes, I am indifferent to the needs
of others in my life. I even neglect those whom I love. Help
me to see that loving others is the surest way to find you in my
life.
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6. VERONICA WIPES
THE FACE OF JESUS
Meditation: Jesus' face is bathed in sweat and blood.
Veronica, moved by pity, wipes His face with her veil and the image of His
holy face is imprinted on the cloth.
Lord Jesus, at times I am afraid to reach out to
others. I do nothing when I should act, I say nothing when I should
speak out. Give me a deeper and more courageous faith. Help me
to trust that you are with me.
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7. JESUS FALLS THE
SECOND TIME
Meditation: Jesus falls again under the weight of the cross.
His executioners drag Him to His feet and force Him to go onward to
Calvary.
Lord Jesus, failure and disappointment sometimes lead
me to despair. I hide behind my pride and self-pity, withdrawing
from you and others. Give me the hope I need and help me never to be
afraid to begin again.
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8. JESUS SPEAKS TO
THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
Meditation: Jesus is so bruised and bleeding that the women of
Jerusalem weep when they see Him. He tells them, "Weep not for
me, but rather for your children."
Lord Jesus, your great compassion for others
overwhelms me. I feel petty and selfish when I think of you and the
way you love. Help me to pour out my love, that you might fill me
with your love.
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9. JESUS FALLS THE
THIRD TIME
Meditation: Jesus, weak and exhausted, falls for the third
time. Though He hardly has strength to move, they try to make Him
walk faster.
Lord Jesus, your failing strength makes me see how
helpless I am. Without you, I can do nothing. Help me to rely
on your strength, to see how much I need you.
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10. JESUS IS
STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
Meditation: Jesus has reached the summit of Calvary, the place of
His execution. As they strip Him of His garments, they reopen His
bleeding wounds.
Lord Jesus, seeing you so cruelly humiliated
makes me realize how I cling to my accomplishments, my possessions, my
way. Help me to let go of those things in my life that prevent me
from growing closer to you and others.
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11. JESUS IS NAILED
TO THE CROSS
Meditation: Jesus is now thrown down upon the cross. His
executioners violently stretch His limbs and fasten them with crude nails
to the wood.
Lord Jesus, I can never doubt your great love for me
when I see you crucified. Help me to see your cross as the great
sign of your love for me.
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12. JESUS DIES UPON
THE CROSS
Meditation: Jesus is crucified. After three hours of agony and
pain, He commends His spirit to His Father, bows His dead and dies.
Lord Jesus, your broken and lifeless body calls me to
deeper faith. You chose death, even death on the cross. Help
me to see my crosses as ways of loving you.
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13. JESUS IS TAKEN
FROM THE CROSS
Meditation: Jesus' lifeless body is taken from the cross by His
disciples Joseph and Nicodemus. Tenderly, they place Him in the arms
of His sorrowing Mother.
Lord Jesus, seeing your body taken from the
cross reminds me how fearful I am of letting go of my own life. I am
frightened when I think of being unimportant, useless, helpless.
Help me to place my life in your hands.
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14. JESUS IS LAID IN
THE TOMB
Meditation: Jesus' body is wrapped in a shroud and placed in a
nearby sepulchre of a friend. Then a large stone is rolled against
the entrance and they depart.
Lord Jesus, when I see the great stone sealing your
tomb, I feel alone and abandoned. Even though you sometimes seem
distant or absent in my life, help me always to believe in your closeness
and loving presence.
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CLOSING SCRIPTURE READING:
On the first day of the week,
at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had
prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb,
but on entering they discovered that the body of the Lord Jesus was not
there. As they stood there not knowing what to think, two men in brilliant
clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women lowered
their eyes. But the two men said to them, "Why look among the dead
for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has rises. Remember
what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be
handed over into the power of the sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on
the third day?" And they remembered his words.
(Luke 24: 1-8)
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, help me to walk with you each
day of my life, even to Calvary. The sorrow and joy, the pain and
healings, the failures and triumphs of my life are truly small deaths and
resurrections that lead me to closeness with you. Give me the faith and
trust I need to walk with you always. Amen.
Nihil Obstat: Very Rev. Msgr. Carroll
E. Satterfield, S.T.D., Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: William Donald Borders, D.D., Archbishop of Baltimore,
December 12, 1979
The
Cross Shows That "God Is Love," Says Preacher
Father Cantalamessa Cites Encyclical in Good Friday Homily
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 14, 2006 (Zenit.org).-
The preacher to the Pontifical Household says that the teachings that come to us
"from God's love" are manifested historically "on the cross of
Christ."
Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa delivered that message in his Good Friday
homily at the Celebration of the Lord's Passion, in St. Peter's Basilica, in the
presence of Benedict XVI, on whose encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," he
leaned.
Father Cantalamessa read from the encyclical: "To fix one's gaze on the
pierced side of Christ, of which John speaks, helps to understand what has been
the starting point of this encyclical letter: 'God is love.' It is there, on the
cross, where this truth can be contemplated. And, beginning from there, we must
now define what love is. And from that gaze, the Christian finds the orientation
of his living and loving."
"God is love, and the cross of Christ is the supreme proof, the historical
demonstration" of this, said the Capuchin Franciscan.
And God has loved us "with a munificent love, in creation, when he filled
us with gifts, within and outside us; he has loved us with a suffering love in
the redemption, when he invented his own annihilation, suffering for us the most
terrible torments, for the purpose of convincing us of his love," the
priest added.
"Therefore, it is on the cross that one must now contemplate the truth that
'God is love,'" he said.
Passion of love
Father Cantalamessa alluded to "the passion of love" that "God
has always nourished toward the human race and that, in the fullness of time,
led him to come on earth and suffer for us."
He continued: "The encyclical 'Deus Caritas Est' indicates a new way of
engaging in apologetics of the Christian faith, perhaps the only way possible
today and certainly the most effective. It does not oppose the supernatural
values to the natural, divine love to human love, 'eros' and 'agape,' but shows
the original harmony."
The Capuchin then read again from the encyclical: "God's 'eros' for man is
at the same time 'agape.' Not only because it is given altogether freely,
without previous merit, but also because it is forgiving love," a quality
that "shines in the highest degree in the mystery of the cross.
"The love of Christ on the cross … is a love of mercy, which excuses and
forgives, which does not wish to destroy the enemy, but, if anything,
enmity."
"It is precisely this mercy and capacity for forgiveness of which we are in
need today, so as not to slide ever more into the abyss of globalized
violence," Father Cantalamessa warned.
"Humanity is enveloped in so much darkness and bowed under so much
suffering that we must have some compassion and solidarity for one
another," he reflected.
"There is another teaching that comes to us from the love of God manifested
on the cross of Christ," the preacher added. "God's love for man is
faithful and eternal. … God has bound himself to love forever; he has deprived
himself of the freedom to turn back.
"This is the profound meaning of the Covenant that in Christ became 'new
and eternal.'"
Toward eternity
Father Cantalamessa recalled that, as Benedict XVI says in his encyclical,
"the development of love toward its highest level and its most profound
purity entails that it now aspire to the definitive," both in the sense of
"exclusivity -- 'only this person'" as in the sense of
"forever," as love comprises all the dimensions of existence,
"including also time": "Love tends to eternity."
In this context, and at a time in which the relationship between love and
marriage is questioned, Father Cantalamessa also alluded to what philosopher
Soren Kierkegaard said about love: "Only when the duty of love exists, only
then is love guaranteed forever against any alteration; eternally liberated in
blessed independence; assured in eternal blessedness against any
desperation."
"The person who loves, the more intensely he loves, the more he perceives
with anguish the danger his love runs," the Capuchin said. Because the
person knows that love is inconstant, he "binds" himself to love
"with the bond of duty, thus anchoring in eternity his act of love in
time."
Likewise, "the duty to love protects love from 'desperation,'" in the
sense that it protects from "the desperation of not being able to love
forever," the preacher said.
"These considerations are not enough to change the present culture that
exalts (…) the practice of 'use and discard' applied even to love,'" he
added. "[But] at least they serve to confirm the goodness and beauty of the
choice of those who have decided to live love between man and woman according to
God's plan."
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Way
of Cross Includes Consolations, Says Benedict XVI
Cardinal Ruini Among Those Who Join Ceremonial Walk
ROME, APRIL 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).-
Benedict XVI made special mention of the sufferings of the world, especially
those of children, in the first Way of the Cross at the Colosseum that he led as
Pope.
Some 50,000 people illuminated the night with their candles, gathering at the
ancient Roman landmark, "where many suffered for Christ, gave their lives
for the Lord and, in this way, the Lord has suffered again in so many
persons," said the Holy Father in an impromptu address at the end of the
Good Friday event.
The 14 Stations of the Cross took place in the Colosseum and in the area that
leads to the Palatine Hill which looks over the Imperial Forum.
Benedict XVI carried the cross at the beginning and at the end. It was carried
to the other stations by several "Cyreneans," among whom were Cardinal
Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for Rome; a family from this city; an American
seminarian; a nun; a young Mexican woman; and two friars of the Holy Land
Custody.
"On the cross of Christ," the Pontiff said, "we have seen today
the suffering of abandoned and abused children, the threats against the family,
the division of the world between the arrogance of the rich, who do not see
Lazarus at the door, and the poverty of so many who suffer due to hunger and
thirst."
A reason
He added, however, that, with the suffering of the Way of the Cross, there is
also consolation.
The Holy Father cited the Blessed Virgin Mary, who consoled Jesus with her
presence; Veronica, who wiped the sweat from his face; and Simon of Cyrene,
"an African who carries the cross with Jesus."
"Thus we have understood that the Way of the Cross is not simply a list of
what is dark and sad in the world or a moralism which in the end is ineffective;
it is not a cry of protest which changes nothing," Benedict XVI said.
"On the contrary, the Way of the Cross is the way of mercy, mercy that puts
a limit to evil, as we learned from Pope John Paul II," he added. "It
is the way of mercy and so the way of salvation. It invites us to undertake the
way of mercy and, with Jesus, to put a limit to evil."
On this occasion, the meditations and prayers of the Way of the Cross were
written by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, the Pope's vicar for Vatican City State
(see ZENIT's Documents
section).
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