A reflection for Holy Week
Read each Station one by one. Spend time looking at each image and reading the reflection. Then sit quietly before reading
the prayer. You can read all the Stations in one go or spread them out across the week. You could do this with your family.
Discuss the Station with them before reading the prayer.
Jesus is standing before angry people who are yelling and saying mean, hurtful things to him. They scream at him. Some of them tell lies about him, saying that he did bad things.
But Jesus stays quiet, even though he knows that he will be hurt. He knows that God is with him. He even asks God to help him to forgive the people who are yelling and telling lies about him.
Jesus, when we feel sad or alone or angry, help us to be as brave as you were when you were sentenced to death. Help us to remember that God is always with us, just as he was with you on that sad day.
Amen.
When the soldiers put a big, heavy cross on Jesus' shoulders, Jesus doesn't fight with them or say angry words to them. He knows that he has to carry this cross a long way, and he knows that the way will be very hard for him at times. But Jesus knows that God is with him, and he asks God to help him to carry this cross, even though it is heavy.
Jesus, when we feel unable to achieve the challenges God sends us and when we feel unable to carry on, give us a heart like yours, a heart that is strong enough to continue the journey to the end.
Amen
Jesus is so tired as he walks along the road with the heavy cross on his shoulders. The cross keeps pushing into his shoulder, and the stones on the road hurt his feet. People yell and push him; the soldiers shout for him to move faster.
Then Jesus falls, and the soldiers yell at him more. How tired Jesus is! Jesus prays in his heart, “God, help me remember that you are here.”
Jesus, as humans we sometimes make mistakes and feel like we have failed. When this happens we can feel like giving up. Help us when we feel like this to be more like you when you fell for the first time. Give us the strength to stand up and carry on.
Amen
As Jesus walks slowly with the cross on his shoulders, a woman comes up to him. It’s Jesus’ mother, Mary. How sad for them to see each other now. Mary feels so sad because she sees how much he is suffering, and Jesus sees the sadness Mary feels. Even though they both know that God is with them, they can’t even say anything to each other, because they are so sad.
Lord, sometimes we hurt the people we love, our mums and dads, our family or our friends. Sometimes we don’t even realise that we have hurt them because we turn away from them and cannot see what we have done. Help us lord to be more like you. Help us to be able to see when we are hurting others and to show them that we are sorry.
Amen.
Jesus is so tired that the soldiers know he cannot carry the heavy cross by himself. So they look around and see someone who looks strong enough to help Jesus carry this cross. This person's name is Simon.
Jesus just looks at Simon and quietly whispers, “Thank you” to Simon. Then they continue on the long road, carrying the cross together.
Jesus, Simon risked his life to help you to carry the cross. Help us to be more like Simon and to be brave to help people, especially when other people refuse to. Help us to make the right choices and to show we are Christians by sharing your love.
Amen
Jesus is hot, tired, and sweating. His hair is all tangled, and he is covered in dust from the long walk.
Suddenly, a woman pushes her way out of the crowd and stands in front of Jesus. Her name is Veronica. She takes a clean cloth and gently wipes Jesus’ face. Jesus is so thankful that he leaves a picture of his face on her cloth.
Lord, help us to be more like you. Help us to love and care for each other just as you love and care for us. Help us to show this love by doing kind things for others, just as we would like other people to do kind things for us.
Amen
How very tired, weak, and sad Jesus is now. Even though he keeps trying to walk with the heavy cross, he just can’t keep going.
The noise from the crowd and from the soldiers makes him feel even worse. Then Jesus falls, because he just can’t take another step.
Lord, sometimes, while we are trying to do something well, we seem to keep failing. We fall, rise again, and fall again. Sometimes it seems like no matter how hard we try we will never succeed. When this happens we just want to give up and let someone else finish the job. Help us when we feel like this to carry on, knowing that with your help we will always succeed.
Amen
After Jesus gets up, he continues on the road carrying his heavy cross. He passes some women who are crying because they are so sad to see Jesus suffer.
But instead of thinking only of himself and how bad he feels, Jesus tells the women not to keep crying because of him. He tells them, instead, to take care of others, and especially to take care of their children.
Lord, how typical of you to think of other people while you yourself were facing such hardship. You must have been tired, scared and in great pain but you still found time to talk to the women of Jerusalem. Help us to be less selfish and more like you. Help us to think of our family and friends and all of those people who are kind and helpful to us. Let us show how much we appreciate them in our lives.
Amen
Jesus is so tired now that he can hardly take another step. It is hard for him to breathe. He has been walking a long time along the dusty road, and he has no energy left. He just can’t go on anymore.
Then Jesus falls down in the street for the third time. He is so very tired. Jesus asks God to help him. And Jesus gets up again, even though it is hard for him to do.
Lord, we can all remember a time when we felt too tired to do something. Maybe we were told to help at home or to do our homework but were too tired to do them. Maybe our friends needed our help with a problem but we were too tired to help them to work it out. Help us to be more like you, a good listener, wise and patient. Help us to be there for others and to never tire from helping them.
Amen
Finally, Jesus reaches the hill that is the end of the road he has to walk. Jesus knows that he will die here. But before he dies, the soldiers will do more to him. They pull off his long robe, and almost all his clothes are taken from him.
Jesus stands in front of the crowd with only a small piece of cloth covering part of his body. Jesus asks God to help him remember that he is not alone, that God is with him through all this.
Lord, help us to be as generous as you were. Generous with our time so we spend more time with the people we care about. Generous with our resources so we can share what we have with those who have little, and generous with our love so we can make all those we meet feel special.
Amen
How much Jesus hurts as the soldiers nail him to the cross. He hurts all over; he is tired and thirsty; he knows that he is going to die. But he looks at the people who have hurt him and, instead of saying bad things to those people, Jesus asks God to forgive them. He looks at his mother and tells her to take care of others. Even when he is dying, Jesus is thinking of other people.
Lord, there have been times when we have hurt ourselves. We may have tripped and fallen in the playground from running too fast, grazed our knee or even banged our head on the ground. We may have been in a more serious accident and broken an arm or a leg. Each of these can cause us much pain but this is nothing compared to the pain you must have felt on that day. Help us to remember the pain you suffered for us, Lord, and to understand why you did what you did for us.
Amen
Finally, after the long walk, after falling three times, after having the men beat him, after being nailed to the cross and suffering on the cross, Jesus bows his head and dies.
Now this part of his life is over. There is nothing left for Jesus to give or to do. Jesus has given his life for all of us.
Lord, you were sentenced to death for something you did not do. You were humiliated, whipped, forced to carry a heavy cross for miles, stripped of your clothes and nailed to the cross where you eventually died. You did all this because of our sins. Help us, Lord, to always remember this great act of love, not just at Easter time, but throughout the whole year.
Amen.
Now Jesus’ lifeless body is taken down from the cross. No more pain or suffering for Jesus; all the pain is over. Mary, Jesus’ mother, holds him tenderly in her arms. How sad she is.
And how sad Jesus’ friends are. They are crying as they hold his body.
Dear God, Mary must have been very sad to watch her son die in such a terrible way. But she had faith in you and she knew that he would be going to a very special place. This must have helped her to feel a little better. Help us to have that same faith which tells us that one day we too will be with you and our loved ones again in heaven.
Amen
Jesus’ friends wash his body and wrap it in a clean sheet. They touch his body gently, and then they put his body into a tomb. When they are finished, they push a very large stone over the entrance, so that no one can go inside.
Now there is darkness in the tomb where Jesus’ body lies, and all of his friends go home because they are very sad and tired.
Lord, saying goodbye can be very sad and difficult. There are many times in our lives when we have to say goodbye to people we have been with for a long time and become good friends with. Year 6 leaving St Charles for a new school, friends moving to a new house in a new area, loved ones who have died. Lord, when we have to say good bye to someone help us to be as brave as your mother Mary and all your friends who were sad to say goodbye to you.
Amen
What a wonderful surprise for his friends when they see that he is alive. His body is like a new kind of body -- full of light! And he is no longer tired, sad, or suffering. He has no more pain.
Yes, he is alive in a new and special way. Jesus will live forever, now, in this new and special way.
Lord, thank you for dying on the cross for us and rising again. You are proof that God’s promise is real and that one day we too can be resurrected just like you. Help us, Lord, to be more like you in the way we live our lives. Help us to love God above all things and to treat people with the same love and respect that you showed for them when you were living on the Earth. Help us to be worth of our place with you in heaven.
Amen