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SEVENTH STATION: Jesus Falls a Second Time

The Carrying of the Cross
 Giotto, 1304-06
Fresco
Jesus falls a second time.  His burden is becoming overwhelming, but he continues to march forward to Calvary, the point of our redemption.

As you meditate upon the Seventh Station, contemplate the will to survive and march forward among the one billion of God’s children who live on less than a dollar a day.   Consider the life of an impoverished family in Vietnam.  A dollar a day might buy a third of a pound of rice and a third of a pound of beans.  Tomatoes, onions, flour, sugar, soap and other staples might have to wait until money can be saved.  There is no electricity, clean water, or sanitation.  Hunger tears at adults and children alike as a persistent, never-absent part of life.  And yet, people march forward because they have no other choice.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent a recognition that the horror of crippling poverty can be alleviated only though partnerships between rich and poor nations that seek to lift the barriers that perpetuate inequality.  Rich nations are called to help build a “global partnership for debt, aid, and trade.”   To learn more about building this global partnership, and how you can get involved, visit  DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) at http://www.data.org/. 


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

Officiant:              Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. For the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Officiant:              But as for me, I am a worm and no man:
People:                  Scorned by all and despised by the people.

Officiant:              Let us pray.

Almighty and ever-living God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

People:                  Amen.

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

 

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