Act of Contrition
Oh my God, I am heartly sorry for having offended thee.
I detest all my sins because of thy just punishment,
but most of all because they offend thee my Lord,
whom art all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
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~ Jesus is Condemned ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Jesus stands in the most human of places.  He has already experienced profound solidarity with so many on this earth,
by being beaten and tortured.  Now he is wrongfully condemned to punishment by death.  His commitment to entering
our lives completely begins its final steps.  He has said "yes" to God and placed his life in God's hands.  We follow him in
this final surrender, and contemplate with reverence each place along the way, as he is broken and given for us.
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~ Jesus Carries His Cross ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Jesus is made to carry the cross on which he will die.  It represents the weight of all our crosses. 
What he must have felt as he first took it upon his shoulders!  With each step he enters more deeply into our
human experience.  He walks in the path of human misery and suffering, and experiences its crushing weight.
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~Jesus Falls the First Time ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
The weight is unbearable.  Jesus falls under it.  How could he enter our lives completely without
surrendering to the crushing weight of the life of so many on this earth!  He lies on the ground and
knows the experience of weakness beneath unfair burdens.  He feels the powerlessness of wondering
if he will ever be able to continue.  He is pulled up and made to continue.
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~ Jesus Meets His Mother on the Road to Calvary ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Jesus' path takes him to a powerful source of his strength to continue.  All his life, his mother had taught
him the meaning of the words, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord."  Now they look into each other's eyes. 
How pierced-through her heart must be!  How pained he must be to see her tears!  Now, her grace-filled
smile blesses his mission and stirs his heart to its depth.  Love and trust in God bind them together.
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~ Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Jesus even experiences our struggle to receive help.  He is made to experience the poverty of not being
able to carry his burden alone.  He enters into the experience of all who must depend upon others to survive. 
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~ Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Jesus' journey is at times brutal.  He has entered into the terrible experiences of rejection and injustice. 
He has been whipped and beaten. His face shows the signs of his solidarity with all who have ever
suffered injustice and vile, abusive treatment.  He encounters a compassionate, loving disciple who
wipes the vulgar spit and mocking blood from his face.  On her veil, she discovers the image of his
face - his gift to her.  And, for us to contemplate forever.
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~Jesus Falls the Second Time ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Even with help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground.  In deep exhaustion he stares at the earth
beneath him.  "Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return."  He has seen death before. 
Now he can feel the profound weakness of disability and disease and aging itself, there on his knees,
under the weight of his cross.
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~ Jesus Speaks to the Women ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
The women of Jerusalem, and their children, come out to comfort and thank him.  They had seen his
compassion and welcomed his words of healing and freedom.  He had broken all kinds of social
and religious conventions to connect with them.  Now they are here to support him. 
He feels their grief.  He suffers, knowing he can't remain to help them more in this life. 
He knows the mystery of facing the separation of death.
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~ Jesus Falls the Third Time ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
This last fall is devastating.  Jesus can barely proceed to the end.  Summoning all this remaining strength,
supported by his inner trust in God, Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross.  His executioners look
at him as a broken man, pathetic yet paying a price he deserves.  They help him up so he can make it up the hill of crucifixion.
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Jesus is Stripped of His Garments ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Part of the indignity is to be crucified naked. Jesus is completely stripped of any pride. 
The wounds on his back are torn open again.  He experiences the ultimate vulnerability of the defenseless.
No shield or security protects him.  As they stare at him, his eyes turn to heaven.
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~ Jesus is Nailed to the Cross ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Huge nails are hammered through his hands and feet to fix him on the cross.  He is bleeding much
more seriously now.  As the cross is lifted up, the weight of his life hangs on those nails. 
Every time he struggles to pull himself up to breathe, his ability to cling to life slips away. 
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~ Jesus is Crucified ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
Between two criminals, a mocking title above his head, with only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene
to support him, Jesus surrenders his last breath:  "Into your hands I commend my spirit." 
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~ Jesus is taken down from the Cross ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
What tender mourning!  Jesus' lifeless body lies in his mother's arms. 
He has truly died.  A profound sacrifice, complete.
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~ Jesus is Buried ~
We adore you, O Lord, and bless You.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 
They take the body of Jesus to its resting place.  The huge stone over the tomb is the final sign
of the permanence of death.  In this final act of surrender, who would have imagined this tomb would
soon be empty or that Jesus would show himself alive to his disciples, or that they would recognize
him in the breaking of bread?  Oh, that our hearts might burn within us, as we realize how he had
to suffer and die so as to enter into his glory, for us. 

In the fullness of faith in the Risen One, given by his own Holy Spirit, I express my gratitude
for this way of the cross.  I ask Jesus, whose hands, feet and side still bear the signs of this
journey, to grant me the graces I need to take up my cross to be a servant of his own mission. 

Amen.