This Lent, I’ve decided to pause reflecting on the weekly readings. Instead, I’m going to reflect on the Scriptural Stations of the Cross in a different way than I have before. (The readings and traditional prayers that go with these stations are here.) Beginning this Friday and continuing through Good Friday, I’ll follow Jesus along the way to the cross as it’s presented in the Gospels. If life and God didn’t have other plans, and if I’ve done the math the calendar right (and these are big ifs), I’ve calculated that I can share two reflections each week and arrive at the tomb with Jesus’s body during Holy Week. Still, may God’s will be done and not mine. Thank you for joining me on this journey.
First Station: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
(Matthew 26:36-41)
You reveal your heart to me, Lord, and yet I can’t comprehend the depth and weight of that heart. My soul wants to learn from you, to be Your companion and Your coworker, but my clouded mind and frail body aren’t equipped to satisfy holy desires. Thank you for the times that, despite my weaknesses You have made me and will make me able to cooperate with You anyway.
Thank You for surrendering to the will of our Father at this stage of Your journey. Place Your surrender in my soul, and help me to remember that when I dread a challenge or hardship, when I’d like to avoid something, You have felt what I’m feeling more than I’ve ever felt it because You’ve had to prepare to bear the weight of all the world. Thank you for understanding that neither I, nor any other disciple alone could bear that weight. Thank you for giving me an example of the power of preparing with prayer, of the power of waiting, and of making room for both silence and conversation. Thank you for showing that prayer means not only surrendering to the Divine Will but sharing Your deepest desires and most vulnerable moments with that Love and the people that Love has placed in my life. Thank you for placing Your creation in our care, and for placing us in the care of Your creation.
Second Station: Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested
(Mark 14: 43-46)
This experience reminds me to let my words and actions reflect the One whose image I am and You are. It reminds me to [l]et [my} ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and [my] ‘no’ mean ‘no’ — nothing more and nothing less (Mat. 5:37). Help me to love unselfishly and without possessiveness or covetousness. Help me to love in ways that respect spiritual freedom — my freedom and the freedom of others. Amen.
The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm
Sitting with the Sacred 
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