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NINTH STATION: Jesus Falls a Third Time

The Carrying of the Cross
 Martin Schongauer, year unknown
Copper Engraving

  

 

The weight of the Cross finally has overtaken Jesus as he falls a third time, barely able to drag his body along the ground as he approaches Golgotha. 

As you meditate upon the Ninth Station, contemplate the toll that crushing disease has on God’s children around the world.  Imagine the tens of millions in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia who have been infected with HIV/AIDS or Malaria, who know that treatments for their diseases exits but that they will never be able to afford them.  Contemplate the burdens they bear as they - like Jesus - move closer to death yet still are bound to move forward with the daily rhythms of their lives, supporting their children and families.  They know that if they die, the burden will only shift to those children who will join the swelling ranks of orphans in the developing world.

To learn how you can help, visit Friends of the Global Fight at http://www.theglobalfight.org/.


Officiant:              We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:
People:                  Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Officiant:              I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. He has besieged me and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes. "Remember, O Lord, my affliction and bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!"

Officiant:              He was led like a lamb to the slaughter:
People:                  And like a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he opened not his mouth.

Officiant:              Let us pray.

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.

People:                  Amen.

All:                         Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.

 

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