Stations of the Cross

CHRIST SPEAKS:

These fourteen steps
that you are now about to walk
you do not take alone.

I walk with you.

Though you are you,
and I am I,
yet we are truly one –
one Christ.

And therefore,
my way of the cross
two thousand years ago
and your “way” now
are also one.

But note this difference.
My life was incomplete until I
crowned it by my death.
Your fourteen steps
will only be complete
when you have crowned them
by your life.

CHRIST SPEAKS:

In Pilate’s hands, my other self,
I see my Father’s will.
Though Pilate is unjust,
he is the lawful governor
and he has power over me.

And so the Son of God obeys.

If I can bow to Pilate’s rule
because this is my Father’s will,
can you refuse obedience
to those whom I place over you?

CHRIST SPEAKS:

This cross, this chunk of tree,
Is what my Father chose for me.

The crosses you must bear
are largely products of your daily life.
And yet my Father chose them, too, for you.

Receive them from his hands.

Take heart, my other self,
I will not let your burdens grow
one ounce too heavy for your strength.

I REPLY:

My Jesus, Lord,
I take my daily cross.
I welcome the monotony that often marks my day,
discomforts of all kinds, the summer’s heat, the winter’s cold,
my disappointments, tensions, setbacks, cares.

Remind me often that in carrying my cross,
I carry yours with you.
And though I bear a sliver only of your cross,
you carry all of mine, except a sliver in return.