The Way of the Cross

Session 11 Retreat: The Way of the Cross

 

1. Personal Reflections: 

 

When have I been falsely accused by others? As I hear the false accusations made against Jesus, how might I unite my own painful memories or current situations with Jesus’ experience?

 

Reflecting on the trials and death of the innocent Jesus, pray in compassion for the many other innoncent people in our worlde who are unjustly tortured, condemned and executed.

 

2. Reflective Meditation: Reread the story of the trials of Jesus before Pilate and Herod Antipas (Luke 23:1-25), reflecting carefully on each episode and each statement of thiis text.

 

3.  Imaginative Contemplation: Imagine yourself encountering Jesus on the road to Calvary, like the group of women in Luke 23:26-32. What do you want to say to him? What does he say to you in return?

 

4.  Prayerful Journeying:  Take a walk and pray the “Way of the Cross” using either the traditional form or the text of Luke 23:26-56 or one I will send later the Good Friday Stations in the Tenderloin.

 

5. Centering Prayer: Focus on the final words of the Lukan Jesus on the cross, “Father into your hands I comment my spirit” (Luke 23:46; citing Psalm 31:5)