Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Verse: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
Response: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Scripture: 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 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?” Luke 23: 27 - 31
Reflection: Jesus, as you carry your cross, you see a group of women along the road. As you pass by you see they are sad. You stop to spend a moment with them, to offer them some encouragement. Although you have been abandoned by your friends and are in pain, you stop and try to help them. In spite of your great pain, you stopped and tended to others’ pain. Sometimes, I am so self-absorbed that I forget or ignore the needs of others. I am too wrapped up in my own problems and pain to pay attention to anyone else’s needs. Yet in Your cross we find God’s immeasurable love and mercy. If we entrust ourselves to this love with a humble heart, the walls of our sins will fall, the voids left by our omissions will be filled, the bumps of our arrogance and vanity will be smoothed and the way of encounter will be opened. The suffering Jesus opens the door to the source of every true comfort.
Prayer: Beloved Jesus, with tears of pity these women of Jerusalem responded to You, broken, bruised, and beaten, on the road to Calvary. Deepen our faith, so that we may see You in our brothers and sisters, bruised by our envy, beaten down by injustice, and broken by our greed and our indifference. Lord, grant us gentle spirits that we may comfort those who mourn.
Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed by 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 thee. Blessed art thou 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.
Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
Response: Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Scripture: 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 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?” Luke 23: 27 - 31
Reflection: Jesus, as you carry your cross, you see a group of women along the road. As you pass by you see they are sad. You stop to spend a moment with them, to offer them some encouragement. Although you have been abandoned by your friends and are in pain, you stop and try to help them. In spite of your great pain, you stopped and tended to others’ pain. Sometimes, I am so self-absorbed that I forget or ignore the needs of others. I am too wrapped up in my own problems and pain to pay attention to anyone else’s needs. Yet in Your cross we find God’s immeasurable love and mercy. If we entrust ourselves to this love with a humble heart, the walls of our sins will fall, the voids left by our omissions will be filled, the bumps of our arrogance and vanity will be smoothed and the way of encounter will be opened. The suffering Jesus opens the door to the source of every true comfort.
Prayer: Beloved Jesus, with tears of pity these women of Jerusalem responded to You, broken, bruised, and beaten, on the road to Calvary. Deepen our faith, so that we may see You in our brothers and sisters, bruised by our envy, beaten down by injustice, and broken by our greed and our indifference. Lord, grant us gentle spirits that we may comfort those who mourn.
Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed by 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 thee. Blessed art thou 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.
Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us.
Photo used under Creative Commons from ethnosax
