9:00 a.m. Participants gather outside St. Joseph Cathedral, 4th Street at Main, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Fr. Jerry Young, Pastor of St. Joseph Cathedral: If we have heard His word, we must walk His way in solidarity with those who are suffering in our midst. We gather this morning to express our desire to walk the way of the cross along with all who suffer in our world today. The root of the word compassion means “to suffer with.” It is in the cross of Jesus that God shares divine compassion with us. Redemptive love is born out of suffering.
1ST STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH Poverty and Homelessness: BR Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance, Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul Shelters, Missionaries of Charity Reader: Jesus is condemned to death. The social turmoil marking Jesus’ world is tragically evident today. We are an affluent society where too many live in poverty lacking food, shelter, and other essentials. Food security should be a priority for agriculture. Farmers and farm workers who grow, harvest and produce food deserve a just return for their labor. Supporting rural communities enriches our nation. Jesus has special concern for the poor and vulnerable and identified himself with the least of these. As faithful citizens, we are called to embrace this preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, embody it in our lives and have it shape public priorities and policies. A fundamental measure of our society is how we care for and stand with the poor and vulnerable.
God, source of all light, we are surrounded by the injustices experienced by your people, the poor who are hungry and who search for shelter, the sick who seek relief, the homeless and downtrodden who seek help with their hopelessness. Surround us and fill us with your Spirit. Lead us in your way to be the light of your people. Help us to be salt for our community as we share your love with those caught in the struggle of life and, especially this year, with those who continue to recover from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. We desire to be your presence in the least among us and to know your presence in them as we work through You to bring justice to this world which is in desperate need. We ask this through Jesus the Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.
2ND STATION: JESUS ACCEPTS HIS CROSS Illiteracy and Poor Education: St. Paul Learning Center Narrator: Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him (Mt 27:27-31).
Reader: Jesus continues to carry the Cross. Today we must remember our sisters and brothers who have never learned to read, who haven’t mastered the basic skills of writing and computing. We grieve over those who have never felt the thrill of learning. All persons have a right to receive a quality education. Young people, including those who are poor and those with disabilities, need to have the opportunity to develop intellectually, morally, spiritually and physically. As faithful citizens we must ensure that services aimed at improving education, especially those at risk, are available to students and teachers in public schools and should also be available to students and teachers in private and religious schools as a matter of justice.
ALL: Jesus, as we follow you, carrying your Cross, we acknowledge our sinfulness as a people in not loving every child as our own, in not providing equal access to the means of learning for every single person, and in refusing to let ourselves be taught. Forgive us, Lord Jesus. Jesus, we beseech you, by the love with which you carried your own Cross, to help us to carry, with courage, with faith, and with practical wisdom, our common and glorious cross of responsibility for all children.
Processional Hymn: Just a Closer Walk with Thee. I am weak but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long...As I walk, let me walk close to Thee. Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. When my feeble life is o’er, Time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
3RD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME Immigration and Migration: Catholic Charities Office of Migration and Refugee Services, Hispanic Apostolic and Vietnamese Apostolic of the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge Narrator: So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha (Jn 19:16 - 17). After withdrawing about a stone’s throw from them and kneeling, he prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” (Lk 22:41-42).
Jesus is still falling. The Gospel mandate to welcome the stranger requires us to care for and stand with immigrants, both documented and undocumented, including immigrant children. Comprehensive reform is urgently needed to fix a broken immigration system. The right and responsibility of nations to control their borders and to maintain the rules of law should be recognized. As faithful citizens we must seek basic protection for immigrants, including due process rights, a path to permanent residency, family reunification policies, and policies to address the causes of migration. We believe our nation must remain a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution and suffering exploitation - refugees, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking.
O Good Jesus, you were forced to flee into Egypt to avoid political persecution. You know well the pain and suffering of refugees. Remember in your mercy refugees who have lost home and land, who are threatened by disease and hunger, who are separated from their families. Jesus, the refugee, we ask you to direct the minds of politicians and the hearts of all people so that the sufferings of the displaced are relieved and their sorrows healed.
Processional Hymn: At the Cross, Her Station Keeping 1) At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping, Close to Jesus to the last. 2) Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, all his bitter anguish bearing. Now at length the sword had past. 3) Oh, how sad and sore distressed, was that Mother highly blessed of the sole-begotten One! 4) Christ above in torment hangs; she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying, glorious Son.
4TH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER Family Life: Catholic Charities Counseling, Maternity & Adoption Narrator: There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. These women had followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him. There were also many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem (Mk 15: 40 - 41). Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son” (Jn 19: 25 - 26).
Jesus continues to meet his mother. God established the family as the basic unit of society. Families are the first school of compassion and mercy, of solidarity and justice. It is in the home that children learn about their responsibility within family and to the common good of the larger society. The family is the fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. It should be defended and strengthened, not redefined or undermined. Respect for the family should be reflected in every policy and program. It is important to uphold parents’ rights and responsibilities to care for their children. As faithful citizens we must strive to make the needs and concerns of families a central national priority, and affirm our commitment to the protection of children in all settings.
Loving God, thank You for Your miracle of life. Please give comfort and strength to all women who are struggling with the uncertainty of an unplanned pregnancy. Allow them to place paramount the interest of their unborn child as they face many decisions in the coming months. Dear God, allow the people struggling with the pain and sorrow of infertility to accept and mourn their loss and allow them to open their hearts and homes to Your children. May they understand that a family built by adoption is as wonderful as a family created through biology. And for all families, created by You, Lord, who are hungry, homeless or unemployed, give them the strength to love and trust in You so that they will have the dignity and grace to survive the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Processional Hymn: At the Cross, Her Station Keeping 5) Is there one who would not weep, Whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ’s dear Mother to behold. 6) Can the human heart refrain, from partaking in her pain, in that Mother’s pain untold? 7) Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, she beheld her tender Child, All with bloody scourges rent. 8) For the sins of His own nation, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent.
5TH STATION: SIMON HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS Health Care: St. Anthony’s House, St. Vincent de Paul Community Health Services and Pharmacy Narrator: As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus (Lk 23:26). If God is for us, who can be against us?
Reader: Simon the Cyrenian continues to offer help. On this Good Friday, as we commemorate Christ’s suffering and crucifixion, let us remember that we are called to serve Jesus in those who are sick. Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life, a fundamental human right and an urgent national priority. With tens of millions of Americans lacking basic insurance, we as faithful citizens must support measures to ensure that decent health care is available to all as a moral imperative.
All: God of health and healing, bless all who share in your ministry of wellness. Work them to restore the sick and injured. Renew the compassion and strength of all health care workers. God of grace, sustain them with your love; fill them with your presence, and strengthen them in their weakness. Touch their hearts. Increase their compassion and patience. Work through them to break the bonds of pain, despair and isolation of all who suffer in mind or body. God of love, enter into their lives, their pain, their brokenness. Heal them so that they may spread the joy and peace of reconciliation with You. Restore to wholeness all that has been broken by sin. Touch and heal all hearts burdened by anguish, fear and desolation. Bring all, at death, into Your loving presence. O God, we lift before you all who die this day. In You all darkness is turned to light and all brokenness is made whole. Look with compassion on those for whom we pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
Processional Hymn: Jesus, Remember Me Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom. Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.
6TH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS Discrimination Against the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities: Senior Citizens Employment Program (Catholic Charities), Citizens Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (Catholic Charities) Narrator: A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured (Mt 9:20 -22).
Veronica is still wiping the face of Jesus. The face of Jesus that Veronica wiped is the face of the seventy percent of those with disabilities who seek employment but are unfairly rejected. It is the face of the twenty-five percent of the senior or elderly population of our country who are unfairly rejected, especially elderly women. As faithful citizens we must support policies that create jobs for all who can work and support efforts to overcome barriers to equal pay and employment for those facing unjust discrimination. ALL: Dear suffering Jesus, we pray here for all the people who deal with exclusion and discrimination. Look with compassion on all your people who are discriminated against, for all those who walk with you to Calvary and who share your experience of rejection and pain. Forgive our oppressors, enlighten their minds and hearts. Please help all of us to step forward as Veronica, show compassion and care about all excluded because of their age, sex, or disability.
7TH STATION: JESUS FALLS A SECOND TIME Care of God’s Creation: LEAN (Louisiana Environmental Action Network, LIC Stewardship of the Environment Commission Narrator: On his way to Calvary, Jesus fell several times.
Jesus falls again and again. Care for the earth and for the environment is a moral issue. The world that God created has been entrusted to us and our use of it must be directed by God’s plan for creation not simply for our own benefit. Our stewardship of the earth is a form of participating in God’s action in creating and sustaining the world. In our use of creation, we must be guided by a concern for generations to come. As faithful citizens we must show our respect for the Creator by our care for His creation.
In the spirit of St. Francis we pray with God’s creation of which we are part, remembering that spending time with nature is praying - being with God. We pray for God’s good creation. Like all creatures we humans play a special role in creation - not to be above nature or apart from nature but to care for nature. “Praise God all the earth,…fire and hail, snow and mist, storm winds that fulfill God’s word. You mountains and all you hills, you fruit trees and all you cedars, you wild beasts and all tame animals, you creeping things and flying birds. Be this God praised by all faithful ones.” (Ps 148)
Processional Hymn: Amazing Grace Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved and strengthened me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed! The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
8TH STATION: JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM Racism: YWCA, BR Council on Human Relations Narrator: A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and the hills, ’Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” (Lk 23:27 - 31).
Reader: We are one human family whatever our national, ethnic, economic and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers., Loving our neighbor has global dimensions and requires us to eradicate racism and address the extreme poverty and disease plaguing so much of the world. Discrimination constitutes a grave injustice and an affront to human dignity. As faithful citizens it must be aggressively resisted. Where the effects of past discrimination persist, society has the obligation to take positive steps to overcome the legacy of injustice. ALL: Wake me up Lord, that the evil of racism finds no home within me. Keep watch over my heart, Lord, and remove barriers to your grace that might oppress and offend. Fill my voice, Lord, with the strength to cry freedom. Free my spirit, Lord, so I may give services of justice and peace. Clear my mind, and use it for your glory. And remind us that you said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
Processional Hymn: Be Not Afraid 1. You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way. You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand. You shall see the face of God and live . . . Refrain: Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest. 2. If you pass through raging waters in the seas, you shall not drown. If you walk a-mid the burning flames, you shall not be harmed. If you stand before the pow’r of hell and death is at your side, know that I am with you through it all... Refrain 3. Blessed are your poor, for the kingdom shall be theirs. Blest are you that weep and mourn, for one day you shall laugh. And if wicked tongues insult and hate you all because of me, blessed, blessed are you...
9TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME Solidarity: St. Joseph Cathedral, Working Interfaith Network (WIN) Narrator: My iniquities overwhelm me, a burden beyond my strength (Ps 38: 5).
Reader: Jesus keeps falling, again and again. We are a powerful nation in a world marred by terrible violence and conflict. In light of the Gospel’s invitation to be peacemakers, our commitment to solidarity with our neighbors – at home and abroad – also demands that we promote peace and pursue justice. Decisions on the use of force should be guided by traditional moral criteria and undertaken as a last resort. As faithful citizens we should humanize globalization, should promote religious liberty and other basic rights. We must reject the use of torture as fundamentally incompatible with the dignity of the human person and ultimately counterproductive in the effort to counter terror. A more just world will be a more peaceful world.
Dear God, help us to remember that whenever we put your word into practice, we are telling the story of Jesus once again. As we watch the news and read about world events help us see in today’s world, today’s saints, who live the Gospels and bring hope to the world.
Refrain: Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on us.
As we make this pilgrimage to remember the experiences of Jesus on his Way of the Cross, remember the narrow streets and hills of Jerusalem... Kindly turn to those beside you and offer any help necessary to move up the hill to the next station marker
10TH STATION: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS Victims of Violence: Myriam’s House Narrator: When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled (that says): “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” (Jn 19:23 -24).
Reader: Jesus still suffers humiliation. The mockery and the condemnation, the scourging and the carrying of the cross, the crowning with thorns and the public spectacle -- all were part of that humiliation. Now the final act of indignity, the last shred of covering is pulled off. Human life is sacred and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision.
Direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable. Catholic teaching about the dignity of life calls us to oppose torture, unjust war, and the use of the death penalty. Nations are called to protect the right to life by seeking effective ways to combat evil and terror without resorting to armed conflicts except as a last resort, always seeking first to resolve disputes by peaceful means. As faithful citizens we must revere the lives of children in the womb, the lives of persons dying in war and from starvation, and indeed the lives of all human beings as children of God.
ALL: Forgive us Lord for the dignity we have taken from you in our stripping of each other, in the child whose self-confidence and trust are stripped by sexual abuse by those whom they trusted, in the teen whose self-respect is stripped by humiliation and unfair expectations from the adults in their lives, in the elderly parent whose dignity is stripped by the impatience and disrespect of an adult child, in the spouse who is stripped of integrity, honor, human respect, self-esteem and even life itself by the physical, psychological, and sexual abuse of a partner.
Processional Refrain: Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on us.
11TH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS Militarism: Bienville House Center for Peace and Justice Narrator: It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him... With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left (Mk 15: 25 - 27). Live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God (Eph 5:2).
Jesus continues to be nailed to the Cross. All religions call us to work to avoid war and promote peace. Our church has raised fundamental moral concerns about preventive use of military force. Even when military force is justified as a last resort it should not be indiscriminate or disproportionate. Our nation has a responsibility to work to reverse the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and to reduce its own reliance on weapons of mass destruction. Our Church honors the commitment and sacrifice of those who serve in our nation’s armed forces, and also recognizes the moral right to conscientious objection to war in general, a particular war, or a military procedure. As faithful citizens we must urge our nation to take steps to reduce its own disproportionate role in the scandalous global trade in arms which contributes to violent conflicts around the world.
We confess, O God, our dependence on systems, institutions and ideologies which perpetuate military might as the defining force in the life of peoples and nations - Christ suffers grievously in the countless military conflicts. Deliver us, Lord, from squandering the vast resources of intellectual and financial capital which militarism demands, and from the perversion of education, culture, and science in order to develop our capacity for destruction and domination. We thank you, Lord, for those who continue to plead for a world without war, for those who stake their lives on being instruments of peace and reconciliation. Dear Lord, lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust, from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our hearts, our world and universe. Amen. Processional Hymn: Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Processional Hymn: Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi 1. Make me a channel of your peace - Where there is hatred, let me bring your love. Where there is injury your pardon, Lord, And where there’s doubt, true faith in you. Refrain: Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek - So much to be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, - To be loved, as to love with all my soul. 2. Make me a channel of your peace - Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness - only light, And where there’s sadness ever joy. Refrain: 3. Make me a channel of your peace - It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, in giving of ourselves that we receive, and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
12TH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS Death Penalty: Louisiana Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Prison Ministry Program (Catholic Charities), LA Cure Narrator: At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”... Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last (Mt 27:46).
Reader: Jesus still dies on the cross each day. Our nation’s increasing reliance on the death penalty cannot be justified. We do not teach that killing is wrong by killing those who kill others. The penalty of death is both “cruel and unnecessary.” The antidote to violence is not more violence. We as faithful citizens must encourage solutions to violent crime that reflect the dignity of the human person, and urge our nation to abandon the use of capital punishment and, in the meantime, to restrain its use through broader use of DNA evidence, access to effective counsel, and efforts to address unfairness and injustice related to the application of the death penalty.
ALL: Oh Jesus, united with the Father and the Holy Spirit, give us your compassion for those in prison. Mend in mercy the broken in mind and memory. Soften the hard of heart, the captives of anger. Free the innocent; parole the trustworthy. Awaken the repentance that restores hope. May prisoners’ families persevere in their love. Jesus, heal the victims of crime. They live with the scars. Lift to eternal peace those who die. Grant victims’ families the forgiveness that heals. Give wisdom to lawmakers and to those who judge. Instill prudence and patience in those who guard. Make those in prison ministry bearers of your light, for all of us are in need of your mercy! Amen.
Processional hymn: Were You There? 1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, oh, oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 2. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree: Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, oh, oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? 3. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, oh, oh! Sometime it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you they when they laid him in the tomb?
13TH STATION: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS Abortion and Euthanasia: Marriage and Family Life Department, Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge Narrator: Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus... Pilate gave the body to Joseph. Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in the tomb (Mk 15:43, 45 - 46).
Reader: The mother of God continues to weep over her children. Let us picture our Lord Jesus Christ’s lifeless body being lowered into his grieving mother’s arms. There are some things we must never do as individuals or as a society as they are incompatible with love of God. These intrinsically evil actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. A prime example of this is the intentional taking of innocent life, as in abortion and euthanasia. Abortion is never morally acceptable. The destruction of human embryos as objects of research is wrong. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are never acts of mercy, but an unjustifiable assault on human life. As faithful citizens we must protect human life, and begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill or collude in the killing of any human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem.
ALL: Lord, we pray that all who suffer heartache, isolation and/or rejection at our hands (unwed parents, the terminally and chronically ill, the poor and the homeless, prisoners, battered spouses, and all who do not see the giftedness of life) may be treated with concern, true support, and God’s own immense compassion. Lord, we pray that the dignity and respect for life of the unborn, the elderly, the suffering and the dying be upheld, given due support and compassion. We pray that euthanasia does not become an accepted method of choice in difficult times by those mistaking it as an act of mercy or compassion. We pray that the true compassion of patience, kindness and love be given.
Processional Refrain: Refrain: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. 1. Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain, But then, the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
2. If you cannot preach like Peter, If you cannot pray like Paul, You can tell the love of Jesus, and say, “He died for all.” Refrain. 3. Don’t ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend; And if you lack for knowledge he’ll ne’er refuse to lend. Refrain.
14TH STATION: JESUS IS PLACED IN THE TOMB Addictive Disorders and Mental Illness: Tau Center, O’Brien House Narrator: Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb (Mt 27:59 - 61).
Reader: Jesus is still being placed in the tomb. Jesus, Son of the Living God, please hear us. Your lifeless body was placed in a tomb – a sure sign that your last breath had been offered to our Loving Father in surrender. Surrender – that word sounds weak, but it is pure gold to those of us who know our addiction and the road to recovery. We are in a tomb of self-destruction when we simply feed our addictions. Give us the grace to surrender, to ask for help, and to start moving toward recovery. We are desperate, Lord, in our addictions. Open our hearts to surrender to you, and lead us to eventual victory. As faithful citizens we must advocate effective, compassionate care that reflects moral values for those suffering with mental illness and those coping with addiction
ALL: Call us to new life, to renewed and life-giving relationships. Help us to stop needless suffering experienced by children, spouses, siblings and friends. Call parents to total accountability and deep spirituality. Help us to choose, like you, a surrender that leads to victory, and a death to self that will bring life, hope and peace. Christ, the entombed One, the Victor, our Redeemer, hear us. Forgive us.
Help us to choose Life, NOT death, to rise with you from our tombs.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom. Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom
JESUS RISES FROM THE DEAD Hope of Youth: St. Joseph Cathedral School of Religion Narrator: “They put him to death, hanging him on a gibbet; but God raised him to life on the third day, and allowed him to be clearly seen, not by the whole people, but by witnesses whom God had chosen in advance — by us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10, 39-41) The passion of Christ is meaningless unless the Resurrection is kept in mind. Passion, Death and Resurrection is the new Passover from the death of sin to the life of freedom and love.
Leader: Jesus rises from the dead. After the cross comes the crown. After three days of mourning and waiting, the Church celebrates Jesus’ Resurrection. His triumph is ours as well. On Easter Sunday, and in the many other Easters of our lives, we rise above our failures, our burdens, and our struggles. We, too, emerge victorious.
Throughout our own Good Fridays, the risen Lord is by our side, pledging that we, too, will rise again, both here on earth and hereafter, in the life yet to come.
All: Lord Jesus, through your cross and resurrection you opened to everyone the way to eternal life. Out of love for us you died and rose again on the third day.
Grant us Dear Jesus, a share in your victory over death and in the glory of your resurrection as you live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit–One God forever and ever, Amen.
Peace is flowing like a river; Flowing out of you and me; Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
Love is flowing like a river; Flowing out of you and me; Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
Joy is flowing like a river; Flowing out of you and me; Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
Peace is flowing like a river; Flowing out of you and me; Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free
