The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross
We adore you O Christ and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Remember ‘You are dust and
unto dust you will return’ (Genesis 3:9).
In this station we remember all our dead.
Meditate
The term ‘Ground Zero’ is associated with 11 September 2001.
But the term was first used during the 1945 bombing of Japan.
The fearsome weapons killed 200,000 civilians. … unto dust….
Ground Zero came to mean that part of the ground situated
directly under the detonated bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. … unto dust….
Look at the Genesis words: the dust of the earth, the dust of the desert,
the dust of trampled dreams, the dust of fire-ravaged bodies,
the dust of Auschwitz, Srebrenica, Phnom Penh, New York 9/11. … unto dust….
Today’s gathering dust in war-torn Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan,
the dust covering the mass-graves because of the coronavirus.,
the focal point of another destruction. … unto dust….
Gethsemane, Golgotha and Calvary, all were Ground Zero zones.
But at least these latter places gave rise to something amazingly good.
Holy Thursday gave us the Body of Christ,
Good Friday gave us the Sacrifice and the whisper that changed the world,
Easter Sunday gave us the hope of our resurrection. … unto Life eternal
God started from zero and created something eternal.
Our hope is in God’s promised whisper from the top of the Cross,*
‘Today you will be with me in Paradise’ (Luke 23:43).
Hymn
‘Thyself, dear Jesus, trace me
that passage to the grave.
And from thy cross embrace me
with arms outstretched to save.’
(13th century hymn, # 23 Hymn, O Sacred Head ill-used, Divine Office, Volume 2)
Pray
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord
and may perpetual light shine on them,
may they rest in peace,
and rise in glory!
Amen
Sing
‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
(American spiritual, composed in 1899)
*Ardnacrusha is a village in County Clare that is the location of the Electricity Power Base. In Irish, Árd na Chroise means the top of the Cross. Since 1111, a Cross marks the boundary between Killaloe and Limerick Dioceses.
Thanks
Our Thanks go to John Cullen, P.P., author of the book ‘Calvary Covenant’ and Donal Neary, S.J. author of ‘Gospel Reflections for the Sundays of Year B’: Mark for the use of their books published by Messenger publications, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
