Stations of the Cross – 7th Station
7th Station – Jesus takes his cross
We adore you O Christ and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him’…. But they shouted, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him.’ Pilate said, ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king except Caesar.’ So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. They then took charge of Jesus, and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
St John’s Gospel 19:6,15-17
Reflection
The cross is the major Christian symbol. Jesus carried the cross along the road to Calvary, feeling its heavy weight. The soldiers marched along, before and behind him. Peter is there too and must be feeling remorseful and repentant. As we contemplate this station, the words of St Paul in the letter to the Galatians rings true. “In His cross is salvation and life – Behold the wood of the cross on which hung the saviour of the world”. Help me to carry and accept the crosses that come to me in life, and see the hand of God in them.
Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, help us to follow you faithfully.
