Fourth Station of the Cross – Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

Look closer for scripture 

+++++++++++++ (the cross and the crown of thorns) Luke 23:31 “If people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Matthew 26:68b“Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?” Luke 23:21b Crucify him!” +++++++++++++ (The person of Jesus) Matthew 26:56b “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled” Matthew 26:74b “I don’t know the man!” 
Luke 23:18b “Release Barabbas to us!” Luke 24:30b-31a “he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened” 
Luke 23:28a “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me” 
+++++++++++++ (The person of Mary) Luke 1:30 “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” 
Luke 1:38a ^“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. Luke 1:46b “My soul glorifies the Lord” Luke 2:48b “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Luke 2:51b “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

+Context++++++++++++ (the cross and the crown)

Luke 23: 29-31 

²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then “‘theywill say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”    and to the hills, “Cover us!”

³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Matthew 26: 63-68  

⁶³ But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him ⁶⁸ and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Luke 23: 20-21 

²⁰ Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹ But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

+Context++++++++++++ (The person of Jesus)

Matthew 26: 55, 56 

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Matthew 26: 69-74 

⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹ Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Luke 23: 13-21 

¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶ Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” ^[17]

¹⁸ But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Luke 24: 30-35 

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Luke 23: 28-30 

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”    and to the hills,“Cover us!”

+Context++++++++++++ (The person of Mary)

Luke 1:30-33

³⁰“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

Luke 1: 38 

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song
⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

Luke 2: 44-52 

⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

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Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross (or The Way of the Cross) is a prayerful devotion that recalls the series of events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. In the early centuries of the Christian faith, pilgrims to Jerusalem often visited the places connected to the final hours of Jesus’ earthly life. Over time, Christians unable to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem developed the practice of recalling those events using images and “stations” to imitate the Jerusalem pilgrimage and to meditate on the final hours and events of Jesus’ life. There are fourteen traditional stations. Eight stations correspond to events found in the Bible, and the remaining six stations are either based on inferences from the Bible or on pious tradition.

The Stations provide powerful visual images to all who pray them . . . as an individual devotion, or with others. If prayed with others, typically one person leads by reading the portions in standard print, with others responding with the portions that are in italicized print.

Opening Devotion

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

We will glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ:
In whom is our salvation, our life, and resurrection.

Let us pray.  (Silence)  Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

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

To what can I liken you, to what can I compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? What likeness can I use to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

A sword will pierce your own soul also:
And fill your heart with bitter pain.

Let us Pray.  (Silence)  O God, who willed that in the passion of your Son a sword of grief should pierce the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary his mother:  Mercifully grant that your Church, having shared with her in his passion, may be made worthy to share in the joys of his resurrection; who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

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

-credit St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, College Park, Maryland

Jesus, you feel so alone with all those people yelling and screaming at you. You don’t like the words they are saying about you, and you look for a friendly face in the crowd. You see your mother. She can’t make the hurting stop, but it helps to see that she is on your side, that she is suffering with you. She does understand and care.

As a child, sometimes I feel like too many things are going on. Sometimes other kids pick on me and call me names. I need to look around me for a friendly face, and for the help I need. I need to share my troubles with those who truly care about me.

As an adult I sometimes feel overwhelmed by many things. Life is so competitive, and I worry so much about my future and those who have some control over it. I need to remember that being an adult does not mean having to solve every problem all by myself. I need to look around me for a friendly face, for the help I need.

-credit catholic.org

Lord, as we contemplate how Jesus needed a friendly face while carrying his cross, may we each be keenly aware of those around us who are desperate for a friendly face. Help us, by your wisdom and strength, to willingly be a friendly face. Amen.

-Tobin Bortner