Spiritual Practices for Eastertide
The Stations of the Cross: 4-6
Janet McKenzie – Holy Mother of Comfort and Solace
Preparing for Eastertide
There will be other offerings presenting throughout the 50 days spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost. But, it’s good to prepare our hearts, souls and minds for the journey ahead.
The Stations of the Cross
To enter into Eastertide, now through Sunday morning, I’d like share a practice of meditation called The Stations of the Cross.
The Stations of the Cross is a practice that began in the 1500s. It’s a contemplative walk through the story of Jesus’ final days and hours in his human body on this earth. Here are fifteen stations of the cross:
Jesus Is Condemned
Jesus Carries His Cross
Jesus Falls for the First Time
Jesus Sees His Mother Mary
Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Jesus Falls a Second Time
Jesus Comforts the Women of Jerusalem
Jesus Falls a Third Time
Jesus Is Stripped Bare of His Earthly Possessions
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
Jesus Dies on the Cross
Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
Jesus Gives Us Glimmers of Hope
Steps and Application
Using excerpts from Clàudio Carvalhaes’ Liturgies from Below: Praying with the People at the End of the World and Henri Nouwen’s Walk with Jesus: Stations of the Cross, each day I’ll post the stations—three at a time—along with a verse from the Sermon on the Mount and a prayer.
There are really no rules of engagement in regards to how we should approach the stations. You can pray through each one or simply hold each in silence. Some people like to read them as a daily office, hour-by-hour. Others like to read them all at once. Do what feels right to you.
My only advise is that you bring true, most authentic yourself to these stations. Perhaps you’d like to worship with a song alongside each station. Maybe you’d like to go through a yoga flow in between each reading. You might prefer to go into a period of solitude as you hold each station in silence. Or, maybe you’d like to go through the stations in community. Again, please do whatever feels good to you.
This practice will be our Wednesday bible study lesson for this week and this month’s spiritual practice of Black-Eyed Bible Study. However, I’m also inviting free subscribers to participate as well since this practice will be our hope challenge for the rest of the week.
Invocation
Find a quiet time and space to lean in. Light a candle, maybe. Take a deep inhale. Hold it for one heartbeat and then exhale. Let’s begin.
Shalom,
Marcie
Janet McKenzie – Jesus Meets His Mother
STATIONS OF THE CROSS: FOUR, FIVE, SIX
Brief History and Introduction to the Stations: This is a way to enter into the mystery of the gift given to us by Jesus. This began with early pilgrims wanting to follow the footsteps of Jesus to the cross. In the 1500s, small replicas or shrines were made depicting the story. The hope is to fill us with a sense of deep gratitude for what God has done for us in Jesus.
—Clàudio Carvalhaes, Liturgies from Below: Praying with the People at the End of the World
FOUR: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER MARY
Mary knows the pain of a mother watching her child be murdered. It is a pain that so many mothers know in our own [cities.] It is the pain of having a part of you die with your child. Jesus looks into the mirror of his mother’s eyes and sees how she is suffering. It is the pain of loss and grief, a pain that he cannot take away from one that he loves so much. It is the pain of watching a loved one suffer. They look at each other and stand together in the suffering, when it would be so much easier to look the other way.
Clàudio Carvalhaes
From the Sermon on the Mount
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. Matthew 5:4 The Message
Prayer – Adapted from Henri Nouwen
Jesus, Son of a Woman Named Mary—You paved your way through the heart of human suffering. Wars come and go, and come again. Oppressors come and go, and come again.
In the midst of it all, you taught us to choose the ever-narrowing path, and do whatever we can to resist the oppressor as we struggle for peace.
The path of sorrow is the path of hope.
The way of Mary is to ponder the sorrowand wonder at the hope.
Many mothers like Mary have come and gone, and will come again.
May the sorrowful mothers of this world be our guides to how we can remain standing in our pain—yet keep a forgiving heart and not look away.
FIVE: SIMON HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS
Jesus is one with us; he needs help. He knows dependency and enters into the struggle to receive help. He did not ask Simon to help carry the cross; still he received the help that was offered. This is not so easy for many of us to do.
Clàudio Carvalhaes
From the Sermon on the Mount
He who asks [orders, forces] you to go with him a thousand steps, go with him two thousand. Matthew 5:41 The New Messianic Version
Prayer – Adapted from Henri Nouwen
Jesus, Our Teacher and Friend, The fellowship of the weakest amongst us is made strong when bound together in trust and belief—only then can it become a message of hope for a broken world.
Simon of Cyrene discovered this new, and impenetrable communion amongstthe least of these who live at the margins.
In our weakness and vulnerability, we shoulder the cross with you, Jesus—exchanging our swords for powerlessness, trading our independence for dependence, and relinquishing our apathy for passion.
SIX: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
Veronica, a woman in the crowd, offers Jesus her veil and wipes his face. His gift to her is the imprint of his face on her veil; it is a reminder of the God who not only created us in God’s own image but also became flesh and lived among us in a very real way.
Clàudio Carvalhaes
From the Sermon on the Mount
You are the light of the world. You don’t build a city on a hill, then try to hide it, do you? You don’t light a lamp, then put it under a bushel basket, do you? No, you set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, your light must shine before others so that they may see your good acts and give praise to your Abba God in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 Inclusive Bible
Prayer – Adapted from Henri Nouwen
Jesus, Our Light—You look at me and seal my heartwith the imprint of your face.
I will always keep searching, waiting, and hoping to see the impression of your suffering on every surface of earth, and follow you to heal, comfort and liberate.
To face your suffering alleviates despair and emboldens me to take courage. My sorrow is a hunger—my loneliness a thirst. A gracious love that is gentleand humble can illuminate a worldwhere neither pain, harm, nor violence cannot abide.
Benediction
O Spacious God, have mercy on us.
O Creator hear us.
O Lady Wisdom, have mercy on us.
O Spirit, hear us.
O The Anointed Son, have mercy on us.
O Christ, hear us.
Amen
This is a communal practice. Please feel welcome to add your prayers, thoughts, questions or reflections in the comments below.
Shalom.
I love how Jesus identifies with us in everything we go through, all the joys and sorrows.
This very much touched the sorrow and loneliness I’m feeling as the 20th anniversary of my sister’s death nears. So very hard to articulate the turmoil but knowing that Jesus shared this humanity is a comfort. And also what Mary went through. Thank you