Leave a Comment / Blog / By Scott & Clare
“I surrender my own life, and no one has the power to take my life from me. I have the authority to lay it down and the power to take it back again.”
Jesus, Gospel of John 10:18 TPT
In my (Clare’s) childhood, stations of the cross were the gateway to Easter. There was no resurrection without first contemplating the cross from 12 to 3 pm on Good Friday. This rhythm, which has lasted my entire life, allows me to encounter this almighty and all-vulnerable God with skin. Jesus Christ came to earth with full knowledge that his incarnation, loaded with loving, healing, and the Good News, would come to an end by humans who required violence to remedy their guilt and religious fears.
Theologian John Dun Scotus said, “Our predestination to glory is prior by nature to any notion of sin.” Franciscans describe the cross as a “…freely chosen revelation of Love on God’s part. In so doing, they reversed the engines of almost all world religion up to that point, which assumed humans had to spill blood to get to a distant and demanding God. On the cross, Franciscans believed, God was “spilling blood” to reach out to us! This is a sea change in consciousness. Instead of being a theological transaction, the crucifixion was a dramatic demonstration of God’s outpouring love, meant to utterly shock the heart and mind and turn it back toward trust and love of the Creator.”*
Dear friends, we invite you today to join Christians all over the world who will meet Christ in the Stations of the Cross. Today, receive God as Love. Allow yourself to love God with a new heart, mind, and strength. See what God will speak to you through this tradition and the Holy Spirit’s ever-present awareness of what you need to hear today.
We have 3 ways for you to join us-
- Join us in-person for Good Friday service. OUTDOOR service on the labyrinth. We will walk the Stations of the Cross together at 7 pm.
- 2. Come anytime on Good Friday to walk the labyrinth with Stations of the Cross on your own or with your family/friends. Good Friday booklets will be available in a box at the labyrinth (back right corner of the campus) or utilize this link for art and prayers.
- We have a shortened prerecorded version below if you can’t come in person or participate live at 7pm.
Walking slowly …
Richard Rohr, OFM
Source and Resources
**Art by Scott Erickson https://www.scottericksonart.com
Station 14: Arts Formation Pastor Stacey Livingston (notice the world in God’s eye)
Prayers written by @csloughrige2021
We give a huge thank you to Bruce Allen, Stacey Livingston, and Don Coppo for the film, music, and art. We thank God for your lives and gifts, which bring us closer to Jesus.