The Way of the Cross for Deacons
3rd Station: Jesus Falls the First Time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
He stumbles, falls, strikes the ground, and you hear the hard wood crash on the street. The crowd stirs. Could he not even make it the first few steps?
A pause. A breath. A groan, and he scrambles to his feet. Once again, he picks up the beam and begins dragging it further, wood scraping on stone. He won’t stop. Not yet.
A sob is heard and some in the crowd turn to find a small woman straining to see — but clearly, worried of what she will find. She is instantly recognizable. It is his mother.
The crowd parts and she inches forward and she catches sight of him as he staggers up the street. She closes her eyes and whispers a silent prayer and no one knows what to say or do.
Some decide to move on, to see just how far he can make it.
For years, he showed them The Way, and many followed.
And now they follow still.
Reflection
Jesus,
It took so much out of you.
Yet, you never paused, never stopped, never gave up.
You did what was asked of you,
And then did even more.
You walked, fell, got up, moved on.
You showed us The Way of the Cross — and the way of living.
Lord, some days I just want to give in
and give up.
I am overwhelmed.
I make mistakes.
I try. I stumble. I fall.
I feel like I fail.
But my burdens, my crosses, are so small
when considered beside yours,
and I realize as I follow you on your journey,
that so much of life is not measured in how we succeed,
but in how we get up when we fall.
Jesus, show me as a deacon
how to keep walking,
even though the path is hard and the burden is heavy
and I sometimes stumble along The Way.
— From A Deacon Prays
