TWELFTH STATION
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS
Jesus, you hang high on the cross transfigured before us. On this new mount of Transfiguration called Calvary, the vision of you, the Suffering One, can’t be hidden. The whole world sees the cross. Everyone suffers. Everyone deals with dying words. Everyone has to deal with death.

Jesus, you hang there on the cross talking about forgiveness and feelings of being forsaken, talking about thirsting and taking care of each other, talking about paradise and letting go.

Jesus, you finally die into your Father’s hands. You go into the place of darkness and death, trusting in the promise of Resurrection and new life.

12th STATION PRAYER – CRUCIFIED

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to die to myself each day in order to bring new life to others.

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to trust in your Father, when it comes my turn to die.

THIRTEENTH STATION
JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN
FROM THE CROSS

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

They take out the nails and then they take Jesus down from the cross. Mary holds him. She is not a statue made of marble or stone. She is flesh and tears and sorrow. She holds her dead son, Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb. The sword of sorrow twists once again in her heart.

Thank God she is not alone. First of all, there are the women friends of Jesus, the women who have been faithful up to the end. Then there is Nicodemus, the man who came to Jesus in the night. He is there in this night of sorrow. Next there is Joseph of Arimathea. He went to Pilate and arranged for Jesus’ burial. Lastly, there is John, another close friend of Jesus. He is the one Jesus asked to take care of his mother after his death. They all stand there trying to help one another in this place of horror - the place of the skull: Calvary.

13th STATION PRAYER – PRESENCE

Lord Jesus, be with us in our moments of tragedy:
when we have to deal with sickness,
when we have to deal with death,
when we have to deal with helping others in their moments of sorrow.

FOURTEENTH STATION
JESUS IS PLACED IN THE TOMB

LEADER: We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you.

ALL: Because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.

LOOKING AT JESUS

Jesus, you are buried in a new tomb. You are locked in by a big stone. And as you cried and called out to Lazarus in his tomb, your Father cries out to you, “Jesus, come forth.”

And the echo of the Father is heard throughout the halls and hills of eternity. “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!” Resurrection! Alleluia! Jesus returns to the Father in glory. There is a Heavenly Palm Sunday parade down through the streets of eternity! Resurrection and Ascension together. The Son returns to the Father. Bring out the finest robes and put them on him, “because this son of mine who was dead has come back to life.” Let the banquet, the music and the dancing begin. “And the Father will dance.” Bring in your older brother. Go out to highways and byways and invite all your sisters and brothers into the eternal banquet.

Resurrection! Alleluia! Jesus is given the name, “Lord,” a name above every other name. Jesus is Lord! The Son, who emptied himself, is once again filled with the fullness of God. Alleluia! “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

14th STATION PRAYER – RESURRECTION

Lord, don’t let me stop at Good Friday. Help me to move toward Easter.

Call to me, as you called to Lazarus when he was in the grave, “Come forth.”

Lord, stand on the shore of my life, especially when I have the feeling that I have worked the whole night long and caught nothing.

Invite me to the banquet of life. Amen! Let me to come to you, Lord Jesus.

STEVE

I forgot that I asked him,
but he remembered.

“Remember last year
when you asked me
why I am always smiling?
Well, I’ve been thinking
about that for months now
and I came up with an answer.
It’s this: ‘I am able to receive
the body and blood of Christ. Amen.’”

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

VICIOUS CIRCLE # 6


“You remind me of my father.”

“There you go again.
What do you mean by saying,
‘I remind you of your father?’”

“Well, you remind me of my father.”

“Now, that’s stupid.
He and I are two totally different persons.”

“Well, you are so like him.”

“Listen. Years ago, someone said,
‘Be careful of women who say,
you remind them of their father.’”

“Well you do."

“Well, I don’t. You’re just being stupid.”

“There you go again.”

“Wait a minute. If you’re so smart,
tell me how I remind you of your father?”

“Well, when he talked, he talked at me.
He kept on saying I was stupid.”

“Well, if you think I’m like your father,
then you are stupid.”

“There you go again - calling me
stupid just like my father."

Silence!

“Well, I never liked my mother
and you remind me of my mother.”

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

LENT

Lent
is forty days of annual leave
from being self centered.

It’s a time to repair
broken relationships
with God, with others
with self.
It’s a time of prayer.
It’s a chance to sacrifice time and money
for the forgotten and the poor.
It’s a forty days journey
with Christ to Jerusalem.
It’s a time to stop along the way,
to listen to his parables
and his teachings,
to help his body,
to be present to all we meet,
along the way.

It’s a journey with Jesus
towards the Father,
towards the cross,
to die with Him,
to rise with Him,
to a new way of living,
year after year after year.

© Andy Costello,

Reflections, 2009

BACK BENCH PRAYER


Lord, here I am in this back bench again.
To be honest,
I don’t know how to pray.
To be honest,
I don’t know what to say.
To be honest,
I wish I could pray like that person
up there in the front of church,
but I can’t. In fact, right now
I want to run. I have this crank
in my soul that keeps mumbling,
“What’s the use? I keep repeating
these same old sins. I keep making
these same mistakes and resolutions
over and over again.”
Yet, here I’m am Lord – half sitting,
half kneeling – half present
with all these back bench folks in churches,
each of us repeating and praying
the same old prayer the man
in Luke chapter 18, verses 9-14
whispered,
“God, be merciful to me a sinner.”
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

© Andrew Costello,

Prayers, 2009