Stations of the Cross
We conclude our Stations of the Cross this morning by becoming aware of the small sculptures which hang around the walls of the church.
The Stations are not only the story of the death of Jesus 2000 years ago. They are the deeply human story, and your story and mine as well.
The term that Jesus uses of himself is “The Son of Man”, which means “the truly human one.”
Call to mind the Stations which we have visited this morning.
We invite you to stay for a few moments after this reflection, to gaze upon the Stations, to make it your own journey as well.
It is as if Jesus says to us
- First Station: Jesus is condemned to death
You too will be judged unfairly at least once in your life, and so destined to seeing the unfolding of events in a way you would not have chosen.
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Second Station: Jesus carries his cross
You too will be asked to carry the cost of living your own truth. We are asked to carry the responsibility for our life choices, and not blame or shame anyone else.
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Third, seventh and ninth Stations: Jesus falls
You too will fall at least three times during your life, where you experience the fallings from grace in the eyes of others because you have dared to be true to your calling.
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Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother
You too at some time in your life will find you need to let go of what you have cherished and nurtured, and see it go in a direction different from that which you may have dreamed and hoped.
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Fifth Station: Simon helps Jesus carry the cross
You too will experience along the way the help of people who you would least expect to be helpful along your journey.
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Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
You too will glimpse the face of Jesus imprinted within your suffering, when you let your wounds become ways into living from within the suffering heart of God.
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Eighth Station: Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem
You too will discover that your woundedness allows you to become far more compassionate, and lets you meet others in their woundedness.
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Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments
You too will find that the false needs to be right, to be acceptable, to be in charge, to play the victim, to be strong or “be the good boy or girl” eventually are stripped from you, so you can let your naked self come before the presence of God, with nothing to prove, nothing to protect, and nothing to boast about to God.
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Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross
You too will find that because you have chosen to deeply love people and situations, your life will be nailed to a particular circumstance. This love calls you to give your life away.
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Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the cross
You too will be led to a place of surrendering, where despite the un-knowing, the only way to deal with your pain is to let yourself fall into the arms of God, in complete trust that God knows what God is doing.
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Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the cross
You too are invited to hold your deaths gently, to let the endings be endings, and to let God’s tenderness hold you.
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Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the sepulchre
You are invited to wait with Jesus in the tomb, and to become partners with him in co-solitude, to stay until the timing of God calls you out into the new life which you cannot even begin to imagine.
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