Joint Project Commissariat of the Holy Land in Canada and Antennes de paix à Montréal
2nd station
Station 3: Jesus falls for the first time
1st voice
“He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured.” (Isaiah 53, 3-4a)
Jesus reaches a point where his body can take no more. He hits a physical limit that crashes him to the ground. Yet, lying there in the street Jesus gathers his strength, rises and continues the journey. The Spirit calls us at times, to recognise our limits and also to confide in the divine presence that strengthens us to move on. Can peace lie beneath the turmoil raging around and in us? Is it not this peace that sustains us in our vulnerability?
2nd voice
At times we hit the wall of our limitations and fragility. We are stopped in our tracks by circumstance, driven to physical and emotional collapse.
3rd voice
Let us pray:
O God, our refuge and our strength, cast out fear even when the earth rocks and the storm rages around us. Help those who work for peace to break the logic of violence through the power of love. May we transform our broken world into your reign of peace.
Amen.