The Twelfth Station, Jesus Dies On The Cross

It is finished.  Death by violence.  It wasn't the first time and won't be the last.  Across the country each day, people are shot, stabbed, starved, frozen, they die in auto accidents, they die from disease and, for many, no one cares.  Jesus said "I am thirsty."  and everyday there are many who thirst for the uncommon wine of compassion and relief from suffering.

I know a Deacon who used to serve the Roman Catholic church. When his son, the church organist, contracted HIV and developed AIDS, he and his wife were ashamed and told no one.  Eventually their son died and everyone in the parish found out as word spread faster than the Good News being shouted from the roof tops.  The deacon and his family felt no compassion or support from their parish nor their priest.  People didn't even want to receive Holy Communion from the Deacon because in those days, people were ignorant about how HIV was transferred.  The Deacon left the Roman church and for the longest time he didn't attend anywhere.

He and his wife are no longer ashamed of their gay son, nor of AIDS, nor that he died, nor for the secret they kept for so long.  Now they are very proud because the death of their son has empowered them to do volunteer work helping men to get tested regularly and promoting safe sex.  Out of their son's death has come much life, love, support and compassion for others.  They have refused to allow differences to destroy life but to save lives.

Father in heaven above, as Jesus hung on the cross, he forgave the soldiers who had crucified him, and prayed for his mother and friends. Jesus wanted all of us to be able to live forever with God, so he gave all he had for us.  May our lives drink in the wine of your compassion for, in the cup of suffering are mingled all our tears and fears.  Help us to pass this cup around.  Amen.

Station Eleven, Jesus is nailed to the Cross

The soldiers take big nails and drive them into Jesus' wrists and feet.  He has done nothing but good, yet they crucify him.  The soldiers have their counterparts today.  Some countries torture, brainwash, water-board, beat, electrically shock and humiliate their political prisoners and seldom do the people protest too strongly.   Instead, many people turn to Facebook where they can spew venom, invectives and callous hate with seeming impunity.  Torture doesn't have to be as deliberate as driving nails into someone's flesh.  It could be an ill chosen word, a thoughtless action, a comment on a Facebook page, or, sometimes not to act is to act. 

Sometimes we discriminate against others. Even without thinking, we judge others because of their color, intelligence, income level or name. We forget that we are to live as a brother or sister to all people. Sometimes we use harsh words when we speak to our children and family members. We can find it easy to look for something that isn’t very important and make it very important.

An organist for a local Roman Catholic church was living with a secret:  He was gay.  He was a dynamic musician and brought much life to the church liturgies and was an instrument for growth in the parish.  When he contracted AIDS and became too ill to continue serving his parish, he quit, word spread quickly and the church was scandalized.  The priest said "If I knew he was gay, I never would have hired him."   There was no forgiveness or compassion.  His father was even the deacon for the parish.

Sister Karen Klimczak of Buffalo ran a halfway house for ex prisoners.  She took in a new resident who was struggling with drug addiction.  His name was Craig Lynch.  It was Good Friday, 2007 and when Lynch saw Sister Karen's cell phone on a table,he strangled her and took her phone to sell for drug money.  Sixteen years earlier Sister Karen predicted her murder and wrote a letter forgiving the person who would one day take her life.  The letter was found in her belongings after her death and read in court at Lynch's sentencing:

“Dear Brother, I don’t know what the circumstances are that will lead you to hurt me or destroy my physical body.  No, I don’t want it to happen.  I would much rather enjoy the beauties of this earth, experience the laughter, the fears and the tears of those I love so deeply!  Now my life has changed and you, my brother, were the instrument of that change.  I forgive you for what you have done and I will always watch over you, help you in whatever way I can. . . . Continue living always mindful of His Presence, His Love and His Joy as sources of life itself — then my life will have been worth being changed through you.” 

Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita stood up afterward and said, “There’s been talk of forgiveness, but, Judge, forgiveness is for God. Sentencing is for court.”  Lynch received the maximum of 25 years to life.  At that, the other nuns and co-workers of Sister Karen stood up and hugged the family of Lynch. 

Forgiveness can be hard, but, forgiveness is also very easy; Living with hate is very hard.  It is an endless downward spiral with the gravitational pull of a black hole but, it is surprisingly very simple to step out of.  Just like the cross - a symbol of death can be a symbol of life, compassion and forgiveness.  But, only to those with eyes to see. 

Almighty Father, help us look again at the people around us. Help us see the hurt and pain in others. Help us make amends for the harm we have done.Clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your name.  Amen.

Seek Ye First

I sketched out this little improvisation with the intention to transcribe it but got lazy half way through the first verse.

The Tenth Station of the Cross; Jesus is stripped of his garments, by Maggie

His clothes are stripped away and he is left naked before the crowed.  Stripped of the little that is his.  Stripped of dignity.   Forced to feel shame.  Humiliated. 

I had a normal and happy childhood, I thought.  I didn’t know I was different until other kids told me.  I was adopted by an American couple.  They came to Korea and chose me out of a nursery of a dozen other children.  Children can be merciless and hurtful.  They made fun of my slanted eyes and made up names about me and my heritage.  I felt my dignity was being taken away from me through emotional assault and humiliation.   I am able to forgive the mindless abusers who reduced and denied my humanity.   They didn’t really know what they were doing, they didn’t know the scars they were creating inside me that would last a lifetime.   They did however teach me to have a profound respect for those who are different.  Jesus didn’t allow evil to strip him of his dignity on the cross.  He has taught me to honor this humble house of flesh in which God is at home and we are garbed in spirit-strength and dignity. 

God, help us to keep ourselves pure and clean. Help us say things that build up the people around us. Help us overcome worldly desires that we may become more like Jesus. Help us set a good example for others to follow.  Amen.

The Ninth Station; Jesus falls the Third Time, by Mary.

At one time, I had everything and my life was filled with happiness and promise.  Then, one day I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  I fell the first time.  Eight months later my husband left me because he was afraid that in time he would have to take care of me as my condition worsened.  I fell the second time.   Later that year a mugger outside the hospital slashed my palm with a knife, I had to have surgery and it took a long time to heal.  I fell the third time.  I even fell a fourth time when I became addicted and dependent upon pain killers.  During this time however, I discovered a purposeful religious life.  I found out that I could help other people and that by sharing my story, I could inspire others.  Wrestling with my grief, pain and anger, I found my destiny.  The old saying goes three strikes and you’re out but not for Jesus.  He got up and kept going.   I too had to keep going.  I discovered that life is to live intensely.  It doesn’t matter how many times you fail or fall, or even how many lives you touch.  No matter how many times you fall, courage is found in getting up again.  The road of life may be long and hard and strewn with pain and suffering, but the destination and destiny is in living life to the fullest.    I thank God that I have the strength to keep getting up and going on because with every turn in life I discover beauty and something worth living for, especially when I discover it is in living for others that I discover that life is worth living. 

Thanks to our beautiful prison ministry here at our loving church, I can forgive the mugger, I can forgive my husband, I can even forgive myself for blaming God for the MS.  They were all blood stained gifts to the discovery of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness.  They have made me a better person and in turn, helped me to make other people, better people.

O God by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Eighth Station; Jesus Meets the Women, by Christine

Forgetting his own pain, Jesus consoles the woman who are weeping for him.  If we reflect on the millions who are facing death from hunger, those imprisoned, those living under bridges, the jobless, we too may feel like crying, but tears do not produce comfort or bread.

When the institutional church fails to practice the justice it so movingly proclaims to the world, we are diminished as Christians.  How many tears must a woman shed for her sons?  How many tears are being shed today by mothers for their children; by sisters for their brothers; by daughters for their fathers?  The tears of women around the world water the earth every day.   As I got off the bus which took me to visit a loved one in prison, the women gathered in the waiting room with tears, fear, anger, and eagerness.  Some of them shared their stories and some of them brought their children.  Their tears were real and so was their faith. 

I volunteer for the wonderful prison ministry here at our church and it was the week of Thanksgiving.  I was hired to play the guitar for a special Thanksgiving Mass to be held that week in a local jail.  The local Bishop and priests were invited to say Mass for the inmate population.  Over fifty priests showed up and the press was there to take pictures of the church living its ministry to the poor, oppressed and imprisoned.  The tiny chapel could only hold about sixty people.  Only ten inmates were invited to attend this Mass.  If there were not so many priests present for this ministerial photo-op, there would have been room for more inmates to attend.   I can only imagine, if Jesus were there, as in the temple, he would have stormed in and knocked over the tables and maybe even punched a few priests in the noses.   Jesus wasn’t angry over money changing hands that day as much as he was angry that the vendors displaced the poorest of the poor from being able to enter the temple to pray.   

Like Jesus himself, the women and children and the inmates are like grain to be ground by the millstone of injustice.  The powers and principalities will one day be vanquished, but in the interim, there is solace in mutual love and steadfast resistance.     

Jesus, as you carry your cross you see a group of women along the road. As you pass by you see they are sad. You stop to spend a moment with them, to offer them some encouragement. Although you are have been abandoned by your friends and are in pain, you stop and try to help them.  Sometimes we act like children. We become so absorbed in ourselves and in what we’d like that we forget about the needs of others. We take them for granted, and often ignore their needs. Help us to think more about others. Help us to remember that others have problems, too. Help us respond to them even when we’re busy or preoccupied with our own problems.

Look up.

You may not see them in the sky just yet, but drones are on their way. And without legislation regulating their use, local police departments won't need a warrant to secretly track you or your family 24 hours a day.

Thankfully, legislators in Virginia aren’t waiting around to witness the abuse of power that using drones this way creates. They passed a bill in February that halts their use for two years, while privacy protection can be properly addressed.

But bigwigs in the drone industry, afraid of losing business, launched a smear campaign against the bill this week, putting it in severe jeopardy. Governor Bob McDonnell could kill the bill or sign it into law at any moment, so we have to act fast to push back against the corporate lobbyists.

This bill could be the first domino to fall on drones in the U.S., for bad or good. If we win in Virginia, states across the country can follow suit to stem the tide of unregulated drones. But if the drone industry wins, the warrantless use of drones could spread across the country. Act now to keep profits from trumping privacy.

Help pass the first law in the nation to say "no" to drones. Sign the petition telling Virginia’s governor to support the moratorium on drones.

The use of unmanned aircraft to spy on Americans is a growing national problem. Drones are already cheap and readily available on the market, and now the federal government is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to open domestic airspace to drones by 2015.

In the past, Governor Bob McDonnell embraced Department of Homeland Security funds for drones with open arms. But mounting pressure from his own party against drones, his national aspirations, and the potential for a huge media moment could mean that the governor is ready to change his stance.  Let him know now that  he has the opportunity to make Virginia an important national example of protecting Americans from abuse of government power.

Drones may be useful surveillance tools for law enforcement, but they pose a newly grave threat to our privacy and could usher in an era of constant monitoring of our movements when we leave our homes. And contrary to the claims of drone manufacturers, the Virginia bill accounts for public safety and emergency preparedness while simply calling for reasonable regulation in use of this new technology by law enforcement.

With federal bipartisan legislation about drones being introduced this month on Capitol Hill and over 30 state bills about drones pending around the country, victory in Virginia would set the national stage to prevent a scary surveillance society in the present and demand the same for the future.

Go to this site to quickly sign a letter from the ACLU to Governor McDonnell:

https://www.aclu.org/secure/tell-gov-mcdonnell-sign-drones-bill