Station 1

The Stations of the Cross are not just an exercise in trying to imagine the suffering of Christ. We are to apply them to ourselves, to think about our own attitudes, to come closely to Christ in humility and sorrow. It is all too easy for us to condemn, to be negative. See in this first Station see what human judgement can lead to and how wrong it can be. Here is God's own Son judged, condemned. See how faulty and misguided our judgement on people can be. INFO

Station 2

Most of us don't want to make people suffer. We would not willingly set out to hurt another human being. But we do so - by our insensitivity, irritability, careless words, thoughtlessness. We cause others to suffer just as surely as if we placed a heavy wooden Cross on their shoulders and goaded them on. INFO

Station 3

The tradition that Jesus fell three times is not recorded in the Bible. It emphasises the immense weight Jesus had to bear and reminds us that it symbolises all our sins, which he took to himself to transform by his love and self-sacrifice.

Jesus is spread out on the ground for all to see. His exhaustion, the ill treatment have led him to this point of collapse. What he is going through is obvious - plain for all gathered around to witness. All around us today there are people who find life hard. People who find living a burden. People who are near to breakdown. It is all too easy for us to close our eyes and ears to them. Unless they actually beg for help we usually ignore their need. INFO

Station 4

Station 5

Simon was a black man. He stuck out in a crowd of Jews because of his features and colour. That is why the guards pounced on him and made him carry the Cross - an outsider. It seems unjust that he should have been pressed into a shameful job. It offends our sense of natural justice. And yet - aren't we all prejudiced against people of different religion - colour - education - background? INFO

Station 6

It is said that a woman, moved with pity, ran forward to wipe the face of Jesus and that afterwards the image of his face could be seen on the cloth. She is known as Veronica which means 'true image'. Those who nurse the sick often identify with this woman.

We may think that in the circumstances we would have acted like Veronica. But would we? To wipe blood and sweat from a condemned man's face - to stand out from the crowd and be beside a man everyone was jeering- it is the action of a brave woman. How brave are we? When did we last stand up for someone in trouble or someone being criticised? Aren't we more likely to be in the group doing the gossiping, afraid to speak out or act? INFO

Station 7

The second fall is portrayed at a point where the road becomes particularly steep. Physical suffering is always appalling to watch. Sometimes it can be even worse for the watcher than for the one undergoing pain. Mary must have found her Son's agony well and truly nigh intolerable to watch. But watch it she did. She could do nothing but be there. What about us when people are suffering pain? Do we run away, scared for ourselves, unable to cope? Or do we stay, identifying ourselves with the person in pain, showing by our presence that we care and that we want to help? INFO

Station 8

It was the custom to have professional wailers at funerals. It was expected that women would come to mourn openly and noisily. The women on the Way of the Cross turned out to do their duty. They do not understand the true significance of what is going on. They cannot really help Christ in the last minutes because their sympathy is not heartfelt. We are often content to chatter in the conventional way without really trying to understand, without listening and watching to see what makes people tick, without talking about things that really matter deep down. INFO

Station 9

Time and again people feel "I can't go on, I just can't cope any longer." To onlookers this Station must have looked like the end of the road for Jesus - the final collapse. But Jesus knew the sacrifice had to be accepted and offered in the fullest way. The strength is forthcoming. Christ moves on. In our live too we can by God's strength find the inner resources to go on. Whatever happens he will see us through. Do we really believe this? INFO

Station 10

We surround ourselves with so much that we think is necessary today. We all enjoy a high standard of comfort and security. Yet what does it all add up to? Christ is stripped of everything, yet he need not worry. Those qualities that are lasting - faith, hope and love - still shine out from him. Nothing can strip him of these. And it is the same with the saints. What about us? If the nice things with which we surround ourselves were removed, what would be left? A real human being knowing the value of eternal truths? Or a broken, empty vessel? INFO

Station 11

Has our faith ever really been tested? How would we stand up to great physical pain? Would we cry out to God against his unfairness? Would we ask "Why do you let this happen to me?" Or would we, like Christ, be able to accept the suffering? Able even when in great pain of mind and body to reach out to others and realise their needs? Christ forgives his torturers - would we be able to do the same? His thoughts are for others. Ours would be for ourselves. INFO

Station 12

Jesus died saying, "Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit" - the response of complete faith, complete obedience. What about us - does the prospect of your death scare you? Can you bear to think about it? To talk about it to others? Death is the great unmentionable today. But if we are Christian then we can come to see death as something positive, good, full of hope. INFO

Station 13

As we look at the faces of those burying the body of Jesus - Mary, John, Nicodemus - the word furthest from our minds as we see their expressions would be joy. Yet as we contemplate the thirteenth Station there should be a deep-down joy in us. Even in this terrible hour - when all goodness seems defeated - we know that a renewed, glorified life is about to spring from the tomb. Even in our worst moments, when things are going terribly wrong for us, we must hold on to the sense of this deep-down joy. Because God is working his purpose out - all things are coming to fruition. INFO

Station 14

"It is finished." So they all thought. But no - in reality it is all beginning. Just a few hours after the sadness and the sealing of the tomb Christ will break through as King. He will conquer death. Do we live in expectancy that God's splendour is just beneath the surface of this world and that any moment it might be clearly revealed? Do we look for God's hand in our daily life? Are we waiting for him to show his face at every moment of our life? INFO

Station 15

At first the women and disciples did not recognise the Risen Christ. They did not expect a dead man to rise to new life. They couldn't quite believe what they saw. The Risen Christ had something new about him - even greater peace surrounded him, even greater love shone out. Do we really look forward to our resurrection? On that day God will transform our bodies into images of his glorious body. He will change us so that our scarred and twisted lives will be filled with new hope and love. By the glorious Resurrection of Christ we can sense that he is preparing us, even now, to share the fullness of eternal life. INFO