Hi,
This is Mark Gludman welcoming you to this special Let Theo Divina Stations of the Cross Meditation and Contemplation.
Each station will be represented with a reading from scripture,
Which will be read slowly and contemplatively.
Between each reading there will be about a minute's silence where we invite you to grab onto a phrase,
A word,
A scene you've seen in your mind as you've reflected on the passage and as we approach Easter to reflect on that,
To think about what it means for you and what that holds for you as you look beyond Easter Sunday.
Just invite you now to close your eyes,
To breathe deeply,
To still and centre yourself as we begin now to move through the Stations of the Cross.
Let us pray.
God,
We thank you for this time of contemplation and reflection on Jesus as he moved towards the cross.
And we pray as we reflect on the words of scripture that you will open our ears to hear carefully what it is that you might be wanting to say to us today.
That you'll open our minds to think carefully through the words that we hear and to contemplate their meaning for us.
That you'll open our hearts to receive the seed of that word today.
That that seed might be planted deep in good soil and bring forth beautiful fruit for the Kingdom of God.
Amen.
Then he said to them,
My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch with me.
When he returned to his disciples,
He found them asleep.
He said to Peter,
So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing,
But the flesh is weak.
Amen.
Station 2.
Jesus,
Betrayed by Judas,
Is arrested.
Then,
While Jesus was still speaking,
Judas,
One of the twelve,
Arrived,
Accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs,
Who had come from the chief priests,
The scribes and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them,
Saying,
The man I shall kiss is the one.
Arrest him and lead him away securely.
He came and immediately went over to him and said,
Rabbi,
And he kissed him.
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
Then they came and they said,
The man I shall kiss is the one.
The man I shall kiss is the one.
The man I shall kiss is the one.
Station 3.
Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin.
When day came,
The council of elders of the people met,
Both chief priests and scribes,
And they brought him before their Sanhedrin.
They said,
If you are the Messiah,
Tell us.
But he replied to them,
If I tell you,
You will not believe,
And if I question,
You will not respond.
But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.
They all asked,
Are you then the Son of God?
He replied to them,
You say that I am.
Then they said,
What further need have we for testimony?
We have heard it from his own mouth.
Station 4.
Jesus is denied by Peter.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
One of the maids came over to him and said,
You two were with Jesus the Galilean.
But he denied it in front of everyone,
Saying,
I do not know what you are talking about.
As he went out to the gate,
Another girl saw him and said to those who were there,
This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.
Again he denied it with an oath,
I do not know the man.
A little later,
The bystanders came over and said to Peter,
Surely you two are one of them.
Even your speech gives you away.
At that he began to curse and to swear,
I do not know the man.
And immediately a cock crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken,
Before the cock crows,
You will deny me three times.
He went out and began to weep bitterly.
Station 5.
Jesus is judged by Pilate.
The chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
That is,
The whole Sanhedrin,
Held a council.
They bound Jesus,
Led him away,
And handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
Are you the king of the Jews?
He said to him in reply,
You say so.
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.
Jesus gave him no further answer,
So that Pilate was amazed.
Pilate,
Wishing to satisfy the crowd,
Released Barabbas,
A known murderer,
And handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Station 6.
Jesus is judged by the elders and the scribes,
That is,
The whole Sanhedrin,
The whole Sanhedrin,
The whole Sanhedrin,
The whole Pilate.
Station 6.
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
And clothed him in a purple cloak.
And they came to him and said,
Hail,
King of the Jews!
And they struck him repeatedly.
Station 7.
Jesus bears the cross.
When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus,
They cried out,
Crucify him!
Crucify him!
Pilate said to them,
Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him.
They cried out,
Take him away!
Take him away!
Crucify him!
Pilate said to them,
Shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered,
We have no king but Caesar.
Then he handed him over to be crucified.
So they took Jesus,
And carrying the cross himself,
He went out to what is called the place of the skull,
In Hebrew Golgotha.
Station 8.
Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrenian to carry the cross.
They pressed into service a passerby,
Simon,
A Cyrenian,
Who was coming in from the country,
The father of Alexander and Rufus,
To carry his cross.
Station 9.
Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrenian to carry the cross.
Station 9.
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.
A large crowd of people followed Jesus,
Including many women who mourned and lamented him.
Jesus turned to them and said,
Daughters of Jerusalem,
Do not weep for me.
Weep instead for yourselves and for your children.
For indeed the days are coming when people will say,
Blessed are the barren,
The wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.
At that time people will say to the mountains,
Fall upon us,
And to the hills,
Cover us.
For if these things are done when the wood is green,
What will happen when it is dry?
Station 9.
Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrenian to carry the cross.
Station 10.
Jesus is crucified.
When they came to the place called the Skull,
They crucified him and the criminals there,
One on his right,
The other on his left.
Then Jesus said,
God,
Forgive them,
They know not what they do.
Station 11.
Jesus promises his kingdom to the good thief.
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus saying,
Are you not the Messiah?
Save yourself and us.
The other,
However,
Rebuking him,
Said in reply,
Have you no fear of God?
For you are subject to the same condemnation.
And indeed we have been condemned justly,
For the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
But this man has done nothing criminal.
Then he said,
Jesus,
Remember me when you come into your kingdom.
And he replied to him,
Amen.
I say to you today,
You will be with me in paradise.
You will be with me in paradise.
Station 12.
Jesus speaks to his mother and the disciple.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister,
Mary,
The wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,
He said to his mother,
Woman,
Behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple,
Behold your mother.
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
The other,
However,
Rebuking him,
Said,
.
Station 13,
Jesus dies on the cross.
It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun.
Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
And when he had said this,
He breathed his last.
Station 14,
Jesus is placed in its home.
When it was evening there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph,
Who was himself a disciple of Jesus.
He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.
Taking the body,
Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had home in the rock.
Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.
God,
The passion of Jesus,
His death is the sacrifice that unites earth and heaven and reconciles all people to you and to one another.
May we who have today reflected on these mysteries follow in the steps of Jesus,
Living as he lived,
Doing as he did,
Following as he taught,
To love God with all our heart,
Soul,
Mind and strength and to do so by loving our neighbor as an extension of ourselves.
And that as we do,
We might bring a part of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
May these mysteries stir in our hearts and move us to action this day and always.
Amen.
