FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death
V. We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee:
R. Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
[Matthew 27.1-2,22-24,26]
1When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
22Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
23Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
24When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just
Person. You see to it.”
26Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
REFLECTION
It is necessary that we accept the cross of tribulation willingly, at least with the higher part of our soul, as Jesus accepted His condemnation in perfect conformity to the will of the Father. (St. Paul of the Cross)
All: Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy upon us.
LET US PRAY
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy, but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified; Mercifully grant that we, walking the Way of the Cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Words on the Word 
Reading the Stations is both a sorrow and a joy which anyone who calls themselves Christian should commit themselves to during Lent.
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I’m not certain, and please excuse my ignorance, but I’m not certain all Christians participate in the Stations of the Cross. Anglicans do and Roman Catholics do, but I don’t think Evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, or nondenominational churches have this tradition.
For the churches that do, you’ll find that turn-out for Stations is relatively low, even though most practicing churches hold Stations in the evenings so that folks who work are able to attend. What you will find is – for the most part; not making a blanket statement – you’ll find that the people who attend Stations are the same people you always see doing the work in the church; cleanup days and special cooking event days and special fund raising days, and that sort of thing. If we are all Christians, why aren’t we all at Stations of the Cross, those of us who have the tradition? Is it laziness, an incomplete understanding of what the Stations of the Cross is about, do people think it’s depressing, is it a shrinking from examining one’s self? Hard to tell.
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It is not common among the everyday C of E churches such as my parish church St Thomas I don’t think. I do wonder what a lot of the clergy do in these places because most of them don’t seem to do very much. I doubt any of the non conformist churches do them. I had not come across Stations until you suggested doing them last year. Fr. J does them at Holy Trinity as it is a Forward in Faith church, as you say, in the evenings and I guess it is the usual faithful few who attend. As you know it is a sixty mile round trip for me to go to HT and even now the clocks have gone forward into British Summer Time I would have to drive home across a not very good road in the dark. I will have to make an execeotion for nighttime driving on Maunday Thursday though and then be up early to go back for Good Friday morning. It is the old problem of getting folk to attend regularly I suppose or even attend at all. Look how many years it took for me to become a churchgoer but then I had thought myself an atheist for most of my adult life, how wrong I was and now of course I realise that all the time I spent denying God deep in my heart I DID believe but I just could not admit it to myself. Finally, I feel I have come home and found my place at the Lord’s table. Halleluja!
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Oh, my gosh! “Finally, I feel I have come home and found my place at the Lord’s table.” Simply beautiful, Alys. What a statement of faith. I am so humbled. Just beautiful.
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AMEN! THANKS BE TO GOD!
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