COME BACK TO ME
Hymn- O Cross erected above the world, cross
of our Saviour King.
Fount from
which gushed the waters
Straight from
the wound in his side,
Filling our
lives with his gift of grace,
Cross of our
Saviour King..!
Introduction: “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected, and to
be raised up on the third day. If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let
him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow Me. For anyone
who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for My
sake, that man will save it”.(LK.9:22-24 )
Lord Jesus, I truly repent of all my
sins that caused you torment, suffering and death. Help me to recollect my
sinfulness and meditate on Your goodness and your gift of salvation to all
mankind, as I walk with You along Your
holy Way of the Cross.
THE 1ST STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
V. We adore you o Christ and we bless
you.
R. Because by your holy cross, you
have redeemed the world.
‘Here is your king!’ said Pilate to
the Jews.”Take him away, take him away!’
they said. ‘ Crucify him!’ Jn 19:15
Reflection:
Today we condemn Jesus to death in:
the physically handicapped, the blind, the hearing impaired, the mentally
retarded, the elderly, the outcaste. We fail to make them full members of our
communities.
S. Pause.
Prayer:
Lord, you call us to protect these least
of our brothers and sisters. Forgive us for the times when we have been like
the crowd shouting ‘crucify him,crucify him.’
S. Pause:
Have mercy on us o Lord, have mercy
on us.
2nd STATION : JESUS TAKES
UP HIS CROSS
We adore you..........
Because by your..........
They then took charge of Jesus, and
carrying his own cross he went out of the city to the place of the skull, or as
it is called in Hebrew, Gologtha. Jn. 19:17
Reflection:
Let us think of all those who bear
crosses: women who have been raped and must live with that memory; parents with
retarted children; a family in which the bread-winner has been made redundant
and is unable to find another job; children with alcoholic parents.
Prayer:
We pray for all those who bear
crosses. May they experience Jesus walking with them as they struggle with
their cross.We pray that all cultures may respect the rights and dignity of
women.
Have mercy on us o Lord, Have mercy on us.
Hymn - If
you wish to be my deciple,
Take up your
cross and follow me.
Whoever loves
his life, will only loose it.
It’s only
sacrifice that brings one gain.
THE 3RD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
We adore you........
Because by your ........
For though the virtuous man falls
seven time, he stands up again, the wicked are the ones who stumble in
adversity. Proverb 24:16
Reflection:
Let us think of people who experience
their first fall: broken families; public figures who preach high ideals and
yet are weak in some area of their private lives; people who enter politics or
trade unionism and then find themselves
making compromises; critizing;
gossiping; pulling down one another & breaking hearts for their selfish
desires & ulteria motives.
Prayer:
We pray for all those who have
experienced their first fall. May the first fall of Jesus remind them that they
need not give up their high ideals. May they accept the challenge to stand
again.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to
the father.........
THE 4TH STATION: JESUS
MEETS HIS AFFLICTED MOTHER
We adore............
Because .........
Near the cross of Jesus stood his
mother’s sister; Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala Jn.19: 25
Reflection:
Mary lives in the afflicted mothers
who watch their children carry a cross: mothers who see their children go to
prison or even condemned to death; mothers who watch their children die from
illness; mothers who watch their children are misunderstood; unfairly
criticized and humiliated, mothers whose children are drug addicts, homosexuals
or lesbians or gays, mothers who see their children as rag pickers and are on
the streets and railway stations.
Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for the Mary’s
today, the courageous women whom you call to stand by the cross on which their
children are being crucified. We pray to strengthen their faith and courage
and bless them with good health of mind, body and spirit.
Hymn-
From
the depths I call to you, O Lord, listen to my cry.
Lord, in
compassion, listen to my pleading,
Listen to my
cry,
If you
refuse, Lord, to forgive your peoples sins,
We shall
surely die
The 5th STATION: SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS TO CARRY HIS
CROSS
We adore you.............
Because by ...........
As they were leading Him away they seized on a
man, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and made him
shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus.
Lk. 23:26
Reflection:
Let us think of those who are Simon
of Cyrene today: teachers who give extra attention to slow learners; the worker
who is Simon of Cyrene for his or hers fellow workers; groups who are Simon of
Cyrene to the young people who have been considered failures; organizations
which provide for the homeless; orphanages, house bound; countries which assist
other countries in times of natural
disasters.
Prayer:
We thank you Lord, for calling on men and
women to shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus. We thank you that they
answer this call with courage and dignity.
Hymn : Come back to me with all your heart
Don’t let
fear keep us apart.
Trees do
bend, though straight & tall;
So must we to
others call.
Long have I waited for your coming home to me
And living deeply our new life.
THE 6TH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
We adore.....
Because by.........
‘But you’, he said,’ who do you say I
am?’ Lk. 9:20
Reflection:
We would like to live at peace with
all, we want a good life without conflict. Veronica preserves on her towel the
disfigured face of Jesus. She is the preacher who shows up our conpromises, the
hungry children, the disfigured bodies we see on the t.v., the people we have
hurt because we took the easy way out. Hide from it as we try, Veronica still
shows the world the face of Jesus.
Prayer:
We pray for all those who must be
Veronicas in the world today. Give them courage to preserve the towel and be
always ready to show the true face of Jesus to those who seek him.
Hail Mary...
THE 7TH STATION: JESUS
FALLS THE SECOND TIME
We adore you....
Because by .........
It was essential that he should in
this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a
compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for
human sins. Heb. 2:17
Reflection:
In this fall Jesus experiences the
weakness of his brothers and sisters: we see in him people of power who freely choose
to walk with little people, sharing their frustrations; the adults who confess
their mistakes and failures to the
young, and ask for their forgiveness and encouragements; in Church leaders who
search for the truth along with everyone else, experiencing pain and the
anxieties that are common to all; teachers who toil side by side with their
students, helping and being helped by them.
Prayer:
We thank you , Lord, for those
leaders who keep alive in the world today Jesu’s way of authority. We pray
especially for the Church,our Holy Father Pope Francis, Cardinals, bishops, priests,
religious, nuns and for many new vocations to priesthood and religious life to consecrate their lives to proclaiming
the Gospel.
Our Father,Hail Mary,Glory be......
Have mercy on us O Lord, have mercy
on us.
THE 8TH STATION OF THE
CROSS: JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF
JERUZALEM
We adore you........
Because by..........
Large numbers of people followed him,
and of women too, who mourned and lamented for him. But Jesus turned to them
and said: ‘Daughters of Jeruzalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for
yourselves and for your children’. Lk
23: 27-28
Reflection:
Let us think of those today who turn
to us with the message ‘weep not for me’ weep rather for yourselves and for
your children’:The person afflicted with a terminal illness whose spirit is not
crushed but who teaches us, the strong and the healthy, how to treasure the
gift of life; a blind person who shows us that we are closing our eyes to the
truth; the family that chooses to live a simple life-style and must face the
scepticism of friends and relatives, but their way of life challenges our
consumer society.
Prayer:
We thank you , Lord, for those people
who, when we would console them, turn and challenge us to examine our lives.
Have mercy on us O lord, have mercy
on us.
Hymn- Mother
of God, plead with your son,
Pray for us
sinners, Mary most pure.
THE 9TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
We adore you.....
Because by.......
‘I have toiled in vain, I have
exhausted myself for nothing.’ Isaiah
49:4
Reflection:
Jesus is falling today in those who
are being crushed by others: people who live under dictatorships; battered
wipes ; children habitually abused and raped by their own parents or guardians;
people so insulted are rejected that they have neither self-confidence nor
self-respect.
Prayer:
Lord we pray for all those who remain
in despair under the weight of their cross. We pray that, like Jesus, they may
get up again knowing their cause is with the Lord and their reward with God.
Hymn – Yes, I shall arise and return to my
Father,
To you O
Lord, I lift up my soul,
In you, O my
God, I place all my trust.
We adore......
Because by......
When they had finished crucifying him
they shared out his clothing by casting lots.
Mt.
27:35
Reflection:
Today, Jesus is stripped of his
garments whenever people are stripped of their dignity: children made to feel
failures by parents because they fail their examination; elderly people when
they are treated hashly at government offices and in their own families; people
whose culture is looked down upon because of the caste discrimination.
Prayer:
Forgive us for the time when we too
strip others of their dignity. You call us to clothe the naked. Help us to be
people who encourage others to grow in awareness of their dignity as children
of God. We pray for all broken families, for unity within our community that
God may enlighten & strengthen our bond of love with one another.
Hymn – We hail thee, Saviour and Lord, Thy
cross ever be adored!
We adore you......
Because.......
The people stayed there watching him.
As for leaders, they jeered at him.’ He saved others’, they said, ‘let him save
himself if he is the Christ of God, the chosen one’.
Lk.23:35-36
Reflection:
Let us think of those who have been
nailed to a cross: the worker who tries to organize his colleagues and is
therefore victimized; the female employee who refuges to give in to the advances
of her boss and suffers victimization or loses her job; those imprisoned for
their commitment to justice and right.
Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for those people
whom you have called to be nailed to the cross. Forgive us for the time when we
too have been among the leaders jeering at them.
Hymn - Were
you there when they crucified my Lord ?
Were you there
when they crucified my Lord ?
Oh! Sometimes
it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you
there when they crucified my Lord ?
THE 12TH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
We adore you ....
Because.....
‘Father into your hands I commit my
spirit’. With these words he breathed his last.
Reflection:
Let us think of those who, like
Jesus, have died on a cross; martyrs like Martin Luther King, Archbishop Romero,
Maximilian Kolbe; our ancestors who died struggling against their oppressors,
the silent prophet, the artist, the craftsman/woman whose talents have died
under the cross of cultural domination.
Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for the witness of
these people. We thank you that they, having lived and died like Jesus, have
become a source of life for us. We pray for the safety and empowerment of our women and our girl
child.
Hymn- Into your hands we commend our spirit,
O Lord,
Into your
hands we commend our hearts.
For we must
die to ourselves in loving you,
Into your
hands we commend our love.
THE 13 TH STATION: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
We adore you.....
Because by.....
Having been assured by the centurian
that Jesus was dead, Pilate granted the corpse to Joseph who brought a shroud,
took Jesus down from the cross and wrapped him in the shroud.. Mk. 15: 45
Reflection:
Let us think of those today who have been
taken down from their own cross and placed in a tomb: parents in their old age
abandoned by their own children, and now who see the sacrifices they made as
futile; workers suddenly made redundant after working for a company for many
years; people in places like Middle East who live daily with war and see no
immediate prospect of peace.
Prayer:
Lord teach us what it is to endure in
faith the emptiness of the tomb, save us from despair. Help us to realise that
it is in silence and darkness, in the womb and in the earth, that new life
forms. We pray for our young people who spend more time before the t.v. set,
computers, mobiles.. and neglect their studies and family life.
Hymn-
Coming home, coming home, never more to roam!
Open wide thy arms of love, Lord am
coming home.
THE 14TH STATION: JESUS
IS LAID IN THE TOMB
We adore you ....
Because by the .....
They wrapped the body in the linen
clothes and placed it in the tomb. It was not a kind of farewell they wanted to
say. Everything had to be done quickly because the sabath rest began at sunset.
Having rolled large stone across the mouth of the tomb,they went away.Mk.15: 46
Reflection:
Let us spare a thought for those who
are grieving, and for those who are in a tomb of loneliness or depression ;
those who do not even have the
consolation of a burial because the bodies of their loved ones are never found.
Like Jesus ,we too must lie in the
grave. But Jesus rises in triumph on the third day.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, grant eternal rest to all
who sleep in death. Have mercy on us and
grant us the grace to rise to a new spiritual life, that dying to ourselves
now, we may rise gloriously with you on the last day.
Hymn- Forgive my sins O Lord...
CLOSING PRAYER: Thank you lord,for sharing our struggles, our pain, our fear of death,
and even death itself. Be with us in our sufferings. May we who have followed
your painful journey to calvary, Witness to you by lives of prayer, love and
service, and so come to share in your Easter victory. We ask this through, who
live and reign with the father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever
.Amen.
For the intention of
the Holy Father: Our father, Hail Mary
and Glory....
Concluding Hymn- When
the sun has set & the night is on,
When the
darkness falls and the light has gone,
You be my
light O Lord, and lead me on.
You be my
light O Lord, and lead me on.
When am
growing weak and my steps are slow
When the
hopes are bleak and I’ve strength no more.
You be my
strength O Lord and lead me on.
You be my
strength O Lord and lead me on.
Sr. Cristina Pereira. C.m.
