 SEVENTH
STATION
Jesus falls for the second time
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
From the Book of Lamentations. 3:1-2,9,16
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his
wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without
any light. He has blocked my way with hewn stones, he has
made my paths crooked. He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes.
MEDITATION
The tradition that Jesus fell three times beneath the weight
of the Cross evokes the fall of Adam the state of fallen
humanity and the mystery of Jesus' own sharing in our
fall. Throughout history the fall of man constantly takes on
new forms. In his First Letter, Saint John speaks of a
threefold fall: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the
pride of life. He thus interprets the fall of man and
humanity against the backdrop of the vices of his own time,
with all its excesses and perversions. But we can also
think, in more recent times, of how a Christianity which has
grown weary of faith has abandoned the Lord: the great
ideologies, and the banal existence of those who, no longer
believing in anything, simply drift through life, have built
a new and worse paganism, which in its attempt to do away
with God once and for all, have ended up doing away with
man. And so man lies fallen in the dust. The Lord bears this
burden and falls, over and over again, in order to meet us.
He gazes on us, he touches our hearts; he falls in order to
raise us up.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, you have borne all our burdens and you
continue to carry us. Our weight has made you fall. Lift us
up, for by ourselves we cannot rise from the dust. Free us
from the bonds of lust. In place of a heart of stone, give
us a heart of flesh, a heart capable of seeing. Lay low the
power of ideologies, so that all may see that they are a web
of lies. Do not let the wall of materialism become
insurmountable. Make us aware of your presence. Keep us
sober and vigilant, capable of resisting the forces of evil.
Help us to recognize the spiritual and material needs of
others, and to give them the help they need. Lift us up, so
that we may lift others up. Give us hope at every moment of
darkness, so that we may bring your hope to the world.
All:
[Our Father, who art in heaven]
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