Wednesday
PREPARATIONS: PRINTING & LAY-OUT
FOR STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Start with prayer:
Let us pray:
Gracious One, today we need to remember your presence with us in our times of
sadness, fear, struggle, fragility, and worry.
We are grateful for this story. Let us handle it with respect, with gratitude, and with
joyful hope.
Let your light shine within this house. We are ready to see and to be your light in the
shadows.
Empowered by your Spirit, we pray. AMEN
Prepare Bible texts
Copy your numbered station location list
*so everyone knows how to move from one station to the next, in order.
Print the Reflections and Prayers for each Station.
*The following pages contain the outline for each station, including the Bible reading excerpt, prayers, and reflection prompts.
*Print pages 16-29 for a one-page outline for each station.
Jesus Is at Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane
BREATHE
READ
36-38 Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then [Jesus] said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.” (MSG)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
REFLECT
Jesus:
...is afraid.
...trusts God, but is led to a terrifying reality.
...prays: silent resting in God can calm an anxious heart and mind.
...urges us to stay alert and follow God’s lead, not let fear and anxiety rule
our lives.
God is with you; with every person who is afraid and worried.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us in our worst fears and worries.
Thank you, Christ, for being with all who are afraid.
Jesus Is Betrayed, Arrested & Abandoned
BREATHE
READ
At once [Judas] came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus said to [Judas], “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. 51 Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...a friend, even after betrayal.
...non-violent and non-dominant.
...willing to accept “defeat”.
...willing to suffer so as to prevent the suffering of others.
...abandoned and isolated in the middle of his most terrifying moments.
God is with you; with every person who is betrayed and threatened.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we feel betrayed.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is threatened by violence or
abandonment.
Jesus Is Condemned by the Sanhedrin
BREATHE
READ
59-60 The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable. (MSG)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...called a liar.
...called a blasphemer.
...called “wrong”.
...condemned by his religious leaders.
God is with you; with every person who is shunned by religious institutions.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we feel shut out.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is rejected by a faith
community.
Jesus Is Denied by Peter
BREATHE
READ
73 Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”
74-75 Then [Peter] got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” [Peter] went out and cried and cried and cried. (MSG)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...snubbed by his best friends.
...denied an advocate.
...alienated from and by his support network.
God is with you; with every person who is rejected by their peers.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we feel left out.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is denied by their friends.
Jesus Is Judged by Pilate and Condemned to Die
BREATHE
READ
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”
25The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”
26Then [Pilate] pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion. (MSG)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...wrongfully accused and condemned.
...tried on false evidence.
...denied due process.
...denied an advocate before the law.
...scapegoated.
...made the outcast.
...hated to the point of sacrifice.
God is with you; with every person who experiences injustice.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are wronged.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is denied justice.
Jesus Is Mocked
BREATHE
READ
28They stripped [Jesus] and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...ridiculed and mocked.
...the brunt of the worst kinds of “jokes”.
...beaten: physically, verbally, emotionally and spiritually.
...seen as being reduced to nothing.
...made completely vulnerable: naked in front of contempt.
God is with you; with every person who is marginalized and bullied.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are bullied.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is pushed to the outside.
Jesus Is Helped by Simon to Carry the Cross
BREATHE
READ
26As they led [Jesus] away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...reduced to dependence on someone else.
...made completely vulnerable.
...weakened.
...unable to fulfill his responsibilities without help.
God is with you; with every person who is stripped of or loses personal
agency.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are made to feel insignificant.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone whose personal power is taken
away.
Jesus Acknowledges the Women of Jerusalem
BREATHE
READ
27 A great number of the people followed [Jesus], and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus:
...breaks with tradition and social norms in order to show love.
...befriends people others consider to be “unclean”.
...welcomes and empowers people others deem worthless.
God is with you; with every person who is oppressed.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are devalued.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is dehumanized.
Jesus Is Crucified
BREATHE
READ
33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. (NSRV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus is:
...stripped bare.
...humiliated.
...counted as nothing.
...forgiving and forgiven.
...familiar with death.
God is with you; with every person who is broken down and broken open.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are vulnerable.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is made to feel like nothing.
Jesus Promises a Condemned Thief Paradise
BREATHE
READ
42Then [the criminal at his side] said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kindom.” 43[Jesus] replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus:
...comforts the incarcerated.
...promises the condemned a better world, a better life.
God is with you; with every person who is bound and imprisoned.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are tied to harmful ways of
being.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who is in any kind of prison.
Jesus Invites Mary and John into Relationship
BREATHE
READ
26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27Then [Jesus] said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus knows:
...the pain of a child separated from their parent.
...the pain of a parent separated from their child.
...the power of family and the loss when family is torn away.
...the deep grief of death’s abiding emptiness.
God is with you; with every person who grieves the loss of beloved family.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we are separated from our loved
ones.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who cannot experience love.
Jesus Dies on the Cross
BREATHE
READ
50Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus knows:
...what it is to feel cut off even from God.
...what it is to be recognized only after the fact.
...what it is to be completely alone and utterly helpless.
God is with you; with every person who is lost and lonely.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we feel lonely.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who has no one.
Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
BREATHE
READ
57When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58[Joseph] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. (NRSV)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus knows:
...death.
...the cold separation from life.
...the extinguishing of blood and spirit.
...the fall into the Divine Mystery.
God is with you; with every person who faces the mortality of the body,
mind and spirit or the finiteness of social norms, hopes and dreams, or ways of life.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAY
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we believe that everything
important or beautiful is gone.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who has sacrificed on behalf of
Others.
Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
BREATHE
READ
60Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. (MSG)
WONDER
Pick one question that speaks to you.
~What is your sensory or emotional experience of this story?
~Where are you in this story?
~How is God’s love revealed in this story?
~What questions does this story raise in you?
REFLECT
Jesus knows:
...complete isolation.
...the permanence of death.
...total emptiness.
God is with you; with every person who faces any tomb with fear, doubt,
anxiety or grief.
BREATHE
Focus on the reflection object for a moment.
PRAYER
Thank you, Christ, for being with us when we sink into despair or sorrow.
Thank you, Christ, for being with everyone who grieves.
If you are waiting until Thursday or Friday to lay out the Stations, you might conclude with the prayer, below.
When you are ready to set up the Stations:
*Take necessary precautions for wind and rain, if setting up outside.
*Place Station Printouts, Bibles (if reading more than the printed excerpts),
and each focal object in your chosen locations.
*Be sure readings are easily visible for all participants (consider height,
mobility concerns, etc.).
*Place the prayer object in a central, easy to see space within each Station.
Once all of your Stations are prepared, you might close with the following prayer:
PRAYER
Spirit of Love, we thank you for helping us to remember and pray the story of
your love for the world. AMEN
Following the prayer, let each person close their eyes, take a few deep breaths, in and out, and rest until they are ready to move into the next part of the evening.