Via Crucis 2006

Via Crucis Grid Blog: The Corner Stations 13 & 14

photo from Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani | Greenbelt 2004
taken by Steve Collins

I do not want him taken off that cross.  I spend most of my spiritual energy keeping Jesus on that cross, victorious, filled with hope.  When I get the chance to preach, a buddy of mine always says to me "...get to the hope faster...".  This is odd feedback for me - I am an optimist and filled with enthusiasms galore.

For me, there is no more true statement of faith than "the Gospel is bad news before it is good news". The son of God was killed by those he lived with, those who awaited his glorious reign.  The authorities looked for a way out, for a loophole that would allow them to let this prophet go free.  But we villagers would have none of it.  So we killed him.  And now he is dead.

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Via Crucis Grid Blog: World of Your Making Stations 11 & 12

Jesus is laid in the tomb

It is now over. Body buried, neatly tombed. Spices ready.
Cloths in proper place. Little things are done. No one can face the larger agonies, of loss, of loneliness,of anxiety. Faithful friends busy with tiny things. Jesus Christ is dead.

Jesus, our brother,
you have shown us that you are a fellow-sufferer, a fellow participant in the agony of creation.  We could not know it then.  But in faith, we know it now.  You suffer from the inside of creation and not simply from the outside.  If we matter to you and to your Father in this life, (and we do), then we must matter to you and to your Father forever.

Jesus, Lord, your gift accepted,
In three days you resurrected,
You did first what we should do.

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Via Crucis Grid Blog: Surviving the Workday Stations 13 & 14

From a metaphorical perspective, this time during Holy Week, Holy Saturday, is the time of mourning and transformation, of mystery and secrets. This is the time when Jesus is truly dead and we grieve. Yet, some suspect that change is in store and that he may rise again.

I've tried to focus this week on how we all make a journey through life, complete with falls and touched by moments of comfort. For many of us, that journey takes place in work because that is simply where we are for a large part of the day.

During this journey, most of us experience something devastating at work: being fired or laid off. And this is the time, our own metaphorical Holy Saturday, when we have to cocoon and find a way to be reborn, in another job, in another workplace, or in a different profession. This is the period of growth and rebirth. This is our time of mourning and of transformation.

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Via Crucis Grid Blog: sententiae et clamores Stations 11 & 12

How many mothers are cradling their sons in their arms now, their bodies pierced with bullets or knives, broken by sticks or rods, disfigured by torture? How many women stand at a distance and watch cruelty unfold as it has for centuries? Mater Dolorosa, ora pro nobis.

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