Stations of the Cross

We are in the third day of our walk to the cross. In addition to the three stations for today, you will find Debra’s midweek meditation and all the regular features of the Pax. Tomorrow you will receive stations 10-12, and on Good Friday, the last two stations.

7. Jesus falls a second time

We adore you O Christ, and we bless you
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
- Edward Shilleto

The stanza from the poem above was written in the trenches of World War I. For the wounds of himself and his fellow soldiers, the author sought the solace of Christ, the God with wounds. Jesus stumbled as we stumble. He bore pain as we bear pain. He walked in difficulty as we do. This infinitely human, infinitely divine person understands the weight we carry. He has carried it. Our burdens, our stumblings, are safe with him.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place,
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face;
Content to let my pride go by, to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.
- Elizabeth Clephane

Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.

8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

We adore you O Christ, and we bless you
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children."
- Luke 23:27, 28

Why did women follow Jesus? Because he gave them back the dignity with which they had been created. Jesus treated women as intelligent and capable persons. He flew in the face of custom and spoke with them as one soul to another.

On this day, Jesus met the women of Jerusalem, who knew more than most what it meant to suffer. They knew what it meant to be falsely accused. They knew oppression in many forms.

On his way to the cross, Jesus found supporters in a group that were, at that time, downtrodden.

Almighty Father, whose beloved Son Jesus suffered the agony of crucifixion: give us the strength to stand at the foot of the cross as did the women on Calvary so long ago; in the name of your Beloved, our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave is life for us and for our salvation.

Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.

9. Jesus falls a third time

We adore you O Christ, and we bless you
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The falling continues on this long journey down the Via Dolorosa. The weight of the world settles upon Jesus’ battered shoulders. One step more...one step more, on the way to giving his life in the jarring experience of crucifixion.

What hands helped Jesus to his feet? A rough guard? A kind onlooker? A questioning passer-by? Who helped him stand to continue on his despairing way?

God’s love is most often received through the hands of another person. Each time we reach out to help someone up, we hold Christ in our arms.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgment given.
There is plentiful redemption in the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members in the sorrow of the Head.

For the love of God is broader than the measure of the mind;
And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful, we should take him at his word;
And our life would be thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.

Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.

Debra's Midweek Meditation
The Music of Holy Week
"The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward."
Isaiah 50:4-5

St. Benedict begins his rule with the words, "wake up", now is the time to pay attention to what our God is saying to us.
And yet, to be awake to the movement of Holy Week means that I am willingly entering into betrayal and suffering.
This is the path to Easter.
We can move thorough Holy Week preparing for the holiday that is Easter which includes, for many of us, family obligations and expectations--or--
we can let our prayer join with Christ as He walks to Jerusalem.
This doesn't mean that we ignore our families but while we are baking or coloring eggs, we might let our prayers rise up through the smell of bread or vinegar
and remember the Cross.

Holy Week is the culmination of the letting go that has informed our Lent.
This week we watch Our Savior let go of friends, of loyalty, of confidence, and of life.

Surrender isn't easy and it isn't for the faint-hearted.
I have been especially aware of the many sides of surrender these past few days
-surrender of dreams, expectations, possibilities and outcomes.
Releasing these projections becomes the pathway to deeper communion with God.

And my surrender is met with God's abiding presence and grace, as God loves me into transformation.

In Isaiah, the prophet opens his ears to listen as "one being taught". In other words, listening is opening to the certain understanding that I don't already know everything.

I listen to God to hear a new thing, sometimes a surprising thing!

Listening to Holy Week is our theme, and its sharp sounds echo throughout the ages of faith.

The breaking of bread, water dripping from washed feet, nails hammered into a Cross, a split of thunder which creates a silence so deep the Son of God may die within it.
These are the percussion of our Holy Week music
and the tune is Love.
So listen to the music of Holy Week and enter into the
beauty of surrender.

From The Trackless Solitude
by Jessica Powers

Love leads, and she surrenders to

His will. His waylessness of grace.

She speaks no words save his, nor moves
until he marks the place.

Hence all her paths are mystery.
presaging a divine unknown.
Her only light is in the creed
that she is not alone.

The soul that wanders, Spirit led,
becomes, in His transforming shade,
the secret that she was, in God.
before the world was made.

Have a Blessed Easter,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer:
http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/churchonthewebpage.htm

This Week at St. James:

Thursday: 8:00 pm Maundy Thursday liturgy
Friday: Church office closed; 8:00 pm Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday: 11:00 a.m. Preparation for Candidates for Baptism and their families/sponsors; 8:00 pm Easter Vigil with baptisms
Sunday: 8:40 Music begins for 9:00 Easter service; Easter Egg Hunt between services; 10:40 Music begins for 11:00 Easter service; Coffee hour follows BOTH services in the Parish Hall
Monday: Church office closed.
Tuesday: 7:30 Admin meeting

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:
Pam; Owen B.; Ken; Nancy; Sue; Brittany
Craig; Jason; The Parker Family; The Hamill Family
David; Rob; Annabelle; Andy B.; Mac K.; J.B.
Martina; Lori; Rosemary; Donna and Jim; Jeffrey
Mary Beth; Mike H.; Matt S.; Judy E.; Maia P.
Mimi and Poppa B.; Bill; Mike P.; Joanne; Nancy
Gus; Anna B.; Annie J.; Belinda; Charlotte H.
Pat; Sue; Alouise; Ray; Paul; Melanie
Clem B.; Barbara W.

For Laura and Lyle
For peace in the Middle East.
For those who are deployed and their families.

In Closing:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and forever. AMEN
Prayer for Good Friday

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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