The Zanzucchis are the first married couple to be asked to compose the texts.

A friend from the Focolare Movement sent me the text. I thought I would share it with you all in case you were looking for something to personally reflect on or if you were needing some last minute inspiration for a teen led Stations of the Cross at your parish! Thanks for all you do for the young Church! May we all enter into the Paschal Mystery every day, but especially the next 3 days!

 WAY OF THE CROSS
AT THE COLOSSEUM

GOOD FRIDAY 2012

MEDITATIONS BY

Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi

Focolare Movement
Founders of the “New Families” Movement

INTRODUCTION

Jesus tells us: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross each day and follow me”. This is an invitation addressed to everyone: to those who are married and those who are single, to young people, adults and the elderly, to the rich and poor, and to people of every nationality.  It is also meant for every family, for its individual members and for the little community as a whole.

Before entering upon his final sufferings, Jesus, in the Garden of Olives, left alone by his sleeping Apostles and fearful of what awaited him, turned to his Father and asked: “If it is possible, let this chalice pass from me”.  Yet he immediately added: “Not my will, but yours be done”.

In that dramatic and solemn moment, a profound lesson is offered to all those who choose to follow him.  As with each individual Christian, so each family has its own way of the cross, marked by sickness, death, financial troubles, poverty, betrayal, wrongdoing, clashes with relatives, natural disasters. Yet each Christian, each family, in walking this path of sorrows, can look resolutely to Jesus, man and God.

Together let us enter once more into Jesus’ final experience on earth, an experience received from the Father’s hands: an experience both sorrowful and sublime, one in which Jesus distilled the most precious lessons of his life and teaching.  In this way we can learn to live our own lives fully, on the model of his own.

OPENING PRAYER

 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen.

The lector: Let us pray.

A moment of silence follows

“Jesus, at the hour when we recall your death, we wish to fix our loving gaze on the unspeakable sufferings which you endured. These sufferings were gathered up in your mysterious cry from the Cross before you drew your last breath: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus, you seem a twilight God: a Son without a Father, a Father lacking his Son. That cry, human and divine, which pierced the air on Golgotha, challenges and confounds us even today; it shows us that an unprecedented event has taken place.

An event which saves us: from death has come forth life, from darkness, light, from complete separation, unity.  Our thirst to be conformed to you leads us to see you forsaken, everywhere and in every way, amid our individual and collective pain, in your Church’s sufferings and in humanity’s dark nights, and everywhere and in every way  to bring your life, to spread your light, to beget your unity. Then as now, were you not forsaken,  we would have no Easter. “

1. Amen.

FIRST STATION

Jesus is condemned to death

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 18:38b-40

“After Pilate had said this, he went out to the Jews again, and told them: “I find no crime in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again: “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Barabbas was a robber.”

”Pilate finds no particular crimes to charge Jesus with, so he gives in to the pressure of the accusers and thus the Nazarene is condemned to death. It seems we can hear you say: “I have been condemned to death; so many people who seemed to love and understand me have listened to lies and accused me.
They did not understand my words.
They handed me over to judgement and condemnation. To death by crucifixion, the most ignominious death.” More than a few of our families suffer because of betrayal by a spouse, the person we hold dearest. Whatever became of the joy of being close, of living in unison? What happened to the sense of being completely one? What became of the words “from this day forward” which were once spoken?

I look to you, Jesus, the victim of betrayal, and experience with you the moment when the love and friendship which had grown in our life as a couple fell apart, and I sense deep in my heart the wounds of trust betrayed, confidence lost, security gone. I look to you, Jesus, at this very moment when I stand judged by someone who has forgotten the bond that united us in total self-giving.
Only you, Jesus, can understand me, can give me courage,
can speak to me words of truth, even though I struggle to understand them.
You can give me the strength
that enables me not to judge in return,
not to succumb, for love of the little ones
who await me at home,
for I am now their only support.”

All: “Our Father….”

Stabat Mater dolorosa, iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.

SECOND STATION

Jesus takes up his cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 19:16-17

“Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.”

“Pilate hands Jesus over to the chief priests and the guards. The soldiers put a purple robe on him and on his head they set a crown of thorns. They mock him throughout the night; they mistreat him and scourge him. Then, in the morning, they burden him with a heavy beam, the cross on which thieves are nailed, so that all can see what becomes of evildoers. Many of his followers flee.

This event which took place two thousand years ago is repeated in the history of the Church and of mankind. Even today. Once more, Christ’s body, the Church, is struck and wounded. Seeing you like this, Jesus, bleeding, alone, forsaken and derided,
we ask ourselves: “But all those people whom you so deeply loved,
and helped and guided, those men, those women, are they not us today?
We too have hidden for fear of getting involved, forgetting that we are your followers”.

But the worst part, Jesus, is that I too have added to your pain.
We who are spouses and our families have also added cruelly
to the burden you must bear. When we failed to love one another,
when we blamed one another, when we refused to forgive one another,
when we did not begin anew to love one another.

And yet we continue to yield to our own pride, we want to be always right, we demean those close to us, even those who have united their lives to our own.
We no longer remember what you, Jesus, have told us: “Whatsoever you do to the least of these little ones, you do also to me”. These were your very words: “to me”.

All:  “Our Father…”

FOURTH STATION

   Jesus meets his mother

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 19:25

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

”On the way to Calvary, Jesus sees his mother. Their eyes meet. They understand one another. Mary knows who her son is. She knows whence he has come. She knows what his mission is. Mary knows that she is his mother; but she also knows that she is his daughter. She sees him suffer for all men and women, those of the past, present and future. And she too suffers.

Certainly, Jesus, it pains you to see your mother suffer in this way.
But you must make her a part of this tremendous divine drama.
For such is God’s plan for the salvation of the human race.

For every man and woman in this world, but especially for us families, the meeting of Jesus and his mother on the way to Calvary is a powerful and ever timely event. Jesus gave up his mother so that each of us – including the spouses among us – might have a mother who is always there for us. Sometimes, sadly, we forget this. But, when we think about it, we realize that countless times in our lives as families we have turned to her. How close she has been to us in times of trouble! How many times have we entrusted our children to her, how often we have asked her to intervene for their physical health and, even more, for their moral protection!

How often has Mary heard us, and have we felt her near to comfort us with a mother’s love. Along each family’s way of the cross, Mary is the model of that silence which, even in moments of overwhelming pain, gives birth to new life.”

All: “Our Father…”

Quæ mærebat et dolebat pia Mater, dum videbat Nati poenas incliti.

FIFTH STATION

Jesus is helped to carry his cross by Simon of Cyrene

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Luke 23:26

“As they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.”

“Perhaps Simon of Cyrene represents all of us, at that moment when we suddenly face a difficulty, a trial, an illness, an unforeseen burden, a heavy cross. Why? Why me? Why now? The Lord calls us to follow him, though we know not where or how.

The best thing to do, Jesus, is to follow you, to be open to what you ask of us.
Many families can confirm this by direct experience: it does nothing for us to rebel, it is best to tell you “yes”, for you are the Lord of heaven and earth.

But not only because of this can we, and must we, say “yes” to you.
You love us with an infinite love. More than a father, or mother, or brothers and sisters, more than a wife, or husband, or children.
You love us with a far-seeing love, a love which, above and beyond all things,
even in our moments of unhappiness, wants us to be safe and happy, in your company, for ever.

Even in families, at the most difficult times when momentous decisions must be made, if peace dwells in our hearts, if we heed and understand what God desires for us, then a light shines upon us, helping us to see matters clearly and to carry our cross.

The Cyrenean also brings to mind the faces of all those people who have been close to us at times when a heavy cross befell us or our family. He calls to mind the many volunteers throughout the world who generously devote themselves to comforting and assisting those suffering and in distress. He teaches us humbly to let ourselves be helped at times of need, and to be Cyreneans to others.”

All: “Our Father…”

Quis est homo qui non fleret,Matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio?

SIXTH STATION

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the second letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 4:6

“God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

“Veronica was one of the women who had followed Jesus, who understood who he was, who loved him; she suffers to see him suffer. Now, standing nearby, she sees his face, that countenance which had so often touched her soul. She sees it distraught, marred and covered with blood, yet ever meek and humble.

He cannot long endure. She wants to relieve his suffering. She takes a cloth and tries to wipe the blood and sweat from that face.

In our lives we have had occasion at times to wipe the tears and sweat of those who suffer. Perhaps we have assisted a terminal patient in the wards of a hospital, or helped an immigrant or someone looking for work, or listened to someone in prison. And in trying to ease their suffering, we may have wiped their face simply by looking upon them with compassion.

And yet, all too seldom do we remember that in each of our brothers and sisters in need you, the Son of God, are hidden. How different would our lives be if we would but remember this! Little by little we would become aware of the dignity
of every man, woman and child living on the earth. Each person, beautiful or not, gifted or not,  whether newly conceived in a mother’s womb or advanced in age, represents you, Jesus.
And not only. Each of our brothers and sisters is you.
Looking upon you, utterly abased on Calvary,
we will understand with Veronica
that in every human being we can recognize your face.

All: “Our Father…”

Qui non posset contristari, Christi Matrem contemplari dolentem cum Filio?

SEVENTH STATION

Jesus falls for the second time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the first letter of Saint Peter 2:24

“He bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

“For the second time as he makes his way along the narrow path to Calvary, Jesus falls. We can sense his physical weakness after the long night and the torture he had endured. Perhaps it was not just that ordeal, his own exhaustion and the heavy cross on his shoulders that made him fall. An unfathomable burden weighs on Jesus, something personal and profound which makes itself felt more clearly with each step.

We see you as a just another poor man,
one who made a mistake in life and now must pay for it.
You seem to have no physical or moral strength left
to face the new day. And so you fall.

We recognize ourselves in you, Jesus,
even in this further, exhausted fall!
Yet you get up again; you want to carry on.
For us, for all of us,
to give us the courage to get up again.
We are weak indeed,
but your love is greater than our failures;
it is always ready to accept and understand us.

Our sins, which you took upon yourself,
crush you, yet your mercy
is infinitely greater than our misery.
Yes, Jesus, thanks to you we get up again.
We made our mistakes.
We let ourselves be taken in by the temptations of the world
perhaps for nothing more than a glimmer of satisfaction,
at the thought that someone still wants us,
that someone says he or she likes us, even loves us.
At times it is a struggle even to maintain
the commitment to fidelity made in our marriage vows.
We no longer feel the freshness or the enthusiasm we once had.
Everything is repetitious, every act seems a burden,
We just want to escape.

But we try to get up once more, Jesus,
And not to fall into the greatest temptation of all:
that of not believing that your love can accomplish all things.”

All: “Our Father…”

Pro peccatis suæ gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis et flagellis subditum.

EIGHTH STATION

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, who weep for him

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Luke 23:27-28

“And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”

“Among the throng following Jesus there is a group of women from Jerusalem: they know him. Seeing him in this sad state, they join in the crowd and ascend to Calvary. They are weeping.

Jesus sees them and feels their sorrow for him. Even at that tragic moment he wants to leave them a word which communicates more than sorrow alone. He desires, for them as for us, not simply pity but heartfelt conversion, a conversion which acknowledges past failures, seeks forgiveness and begins a new life.

Jesus, how often, for weariness or blindness, for selfishness or fear do we close our eyes and refuse to face reality! Above all we choose not to get involved, we do not share, deeply and actively, in the lives and the needs of our brothers and sisters, near and far. We continue to live comfortable lives, we deplore evil and evildoers, yet we do not change our lives and we do not personally pay the price to change things, so that evil can be overcome and justice served.

Often situations fail to improve because we have made no effort to change them. We withdraw without having wronged anyone, but also without having done the good that we might have done and ought to have done. Perhaps someone else pays the price for us, for the fact that we were not there.

Jesus, may these words of yours revive us, and give us a portion of that strength which impels the witnesses to the Gospel – often martyrs, fathers or mothers or children – who by their blood, united to your own, have opened and continue to open even today a path to goodness in our world.”

All: “Our Father…”

Eia, Mater, fons amoris, me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam.

NINTH STATION

Jesus falls for the third time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Luke 22:28-30a

“You are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom”.

“The ascent is brief, yet his weakness is extreme. Jesus is physically spent, but spiritually too. He senses that he has taken upon himself the hatred of the elders, the priests, the crowd, all of whom seem to want to unleash on him all the repressed anger caused by past and present oppression. It is almost as if they are seeking some sort of vengeance by lording it over Jesus.

And you fall, Jesus, you fall for the third time.
You seem to give up.
But see! With utter weariness you rise again
and take up anew the journey to Golgotha.
So many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world
are enduring tremendous trials because they follow you, Jesus.
They are going up with you to Calvary
and with you they are also falling
beneath the persecutions which for two thousand years
have been inflicted on your Body which is the Church.

We wish, alongside these beloved brothers and sisters of ours, to offer our own lives, our weaknesses, our poverty, our daily sufferings great and small. Often we live lives anesthetized by prosperity, without making a strenuous effort to rise or to help humanity to rise. But we can rise, because Jesus found the strength to stand and take up the journey anew.

Our families are also a part of this threadbare fabric, tied to a life of ease which becomes the goal of life itself. Our children grow up: let us try to train them in sobriety, sacrifice, renunciation. Let us try to give them a fulfilling social life through sports, clubs and recreation, but not in such a way that these activities become simply a way of filling up their days and giving them whatever they want.

And so, Jesus, we need to listen to your words,
and we ourselves want to bear witness:
“Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers,
blessed are those who suffer for justice’s sake…”

All: “Our Father…”Fac ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum, ut sibi complaceam.

TENTH STATION

Jesus is stripped of his garments

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 19:23

“When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom.”

“Jesus is at the soldiers’ mercy. As is the case with every condemned person, he is stripped to humiliate him, to reduce him to nothing. Indifference, contempt and disregard for the dignity of the human person here are joined to greed, covetousness and private interest: “They took his garments”.

Your robe, Jesus, was seamless.
This shows the care shown for you by your mother and your followers.
Now you find yourself disrobed, Jesus, and you experience the distress of those at the mercy of people lacking respect for the human person.

How many people have suffered and continue to suffer because of this lack of respect for the human person, for their privacy. At times we too may not have shown the respect due to the personal dignity of our neighbours by being possessive of those closest to us, a child or a husband or a wife or a relative, someone we know or a stranger. In the name of our supposed freedom we impinge upon the freedom of others: how casual, how negligent we have been in our way of acting and treating one another!

Jesus, who let himself be exposed in this way to the eyes of the world of his time and to the eyes of mankind in every age, reminds us of the grandeur of the human person and the dignity which God gives to each man and woman; nothing and no one should violate this dignity, for we are made in the image of God. Ours is the task of promoting respect for the human person and for his or her body. In particular, the spouses among us have been given the task of uniting these two fundamental and inseparable realities: personal dignity and complete self-giving.”

All:  “Our Father…”

Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide.
ELEVENTH STATION

      Jesus is nailed to the cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 19:18-19

“They crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.

“Having come to the place called Calvary, the soldiers crucify Jesus. Pilate has a sign written: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”, to insult him and to humiliate the Jews. But, without intending to do so, this inscription testifies to a reality: the kingship of Jesus, the king of a kingdom unlimited by time and space.

We can only imagine the cruelty and the unrelenting agony which Jesus experienced during the crucifixion. We enter into the realm of mystery: why did God, who became man for love of us, let himself be nailed to a piece of wood and lifted up amid  atrocious physical and spiritual torments?

It was for love. Love. It is the law of love that leads us to give our own lives for the good of others. We see this in mothers who face even death in order to bring their children into the world. Or parents who have lost a child in war or in acts of terrorism, yet choose not to seek revenge.

Jesus, on Calvary you embody all of us, every man and woman, of the past, present and future. On the cross you taught us to love. Now we begin to understand the secret of that perfect joy of which you spoke to the disciples at the Last Supper. You wished to come down from heaven, to become a child, then an adult, and thus to go up to Calvary, in order to teach us by your life the meaning of true love.

Gazing at you on the cross, we too, as families, husbands and wives, parents and children, gradually learn to love one another, and to love and cultivate around us that openness which generously gives and gratefully receives. An openness capable of suffering, and of transforming suffering into love.”

All:   “Our Father…”

Tui Nati vulnerati tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide.

TWELFTH STATION

Jesus dies on the cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:45-46

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’, that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’.”

“Jesus is on the cross. Hours of anguish, terrible hours, hours of inhuman physical suffering. “I thirst,” says Jesus. And they lift to his lips a sponge dipped in gall.

An unexpected cry rises up: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Is this blasphemy? Is the dying man crying out the words of the psalm? How are we to accept a God who cries out, who groans, who doesn’t know, who doesn’t understand? The Son of God made man, who dies thinking he has been abandoned by his Father?

Jesus, until now you had been one of us,
one with us in all things but sin!
You, the Son of God made man,
You, the Holy One of God,
became completely one with us
willing even to experience our sinful state,
our separation from God, the hell of the godless.
You experienced darkness in order to give us light.
You experienced this separation in order to unite us.
You accepted pain in order to leave us Love.
You became an outcast, forsaken, hanging
between heaven and earth, in order to receive us into God’s life.

A mystery surrounds us,
as we relive each step of your passion.
Jesus, you did not cling to your equality with God
as a jealously guarded treasure,
but made yourself completely poor, in order to make us rich.

“Into your hands I commend my spirit”.
Jesus, how were you able,
in that abyss of desolation,
to entrust yourself to the Father’s love,
surrendering yourself to him, dying in him?
Only by looking to you, only in union with you,
can we face tragedies, innocent suffering,
humiliation, abuse and death.

Jesus experiences his death as a gift for me, for us, for our families, for each person, for every family, for all peoples and for the entire human race. In that act, life is reborn.”

All:  “Our Father…”

Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum.

THIRTEENTH STATION

Jesus is taken down from the cross and given to his mother

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

 From the Gospel according to John 19:38

“After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body.”

“Mary sees her son die, the Son of God and her son too. She knows that he is innocent, but took upon himself the burden of our misery. The mother offers her son, the son offers his mother. To John and to us.

Jesus and Mary: here we see a family that on Calvary suffers as it experiences the ultimate separation. Death parts them, or at least it seems to part them: a mother and son united by an unfathomable bond both human and divine. Out of love they surrender it. Both abandon themselves to the will of God.

Into the chasm opened in Mary’s heart comes another son, one who represents the whole human race. Mary’s love for each of us is the prolongation of her love for Jesus. In Jesus’ disciples she will see his face. And she will live for them, to sustain them, to help them, to encourage them and to help them to acknowledge the love of God, so that they may turn in freedom to the Father.

What do they say to me, to us, to our families, this mother and son on Calvary? Each of us can only halt in amazement before this scene. We know instinctively that this mother and this son are giving an utterly unique gift. In them we find the ability to open our hearts and to expand our horizons to embrace the universe.

There, on Calvary,at your side, Jesus, who died for us,
our families welcome the gift of God:
the gift of a love which can open our arms to the infinite.”

All:  “Our Father…”

Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero.

FOURTEENTH STATION

Jesus is placed in the tomb

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to John 19:41-42

“Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.”

“A deep silence surrounds Calvary. John, in his Gospel, tells us that at Calvary there was a garden containing an unused tomb. It was there that the disciples of Jesus laid his body.

That Jesus, whom they had only slowly come to recognize as God made man, is there, a corpse. In this unfamiliar solitude they are lost, not knowing what to do or how to act. They can only console, encourage and draw close to one another. Yet precisely there the faith of the disciples begins to deepen, as they remember all the things which Jesus said and did while in their midst, and which they had understood only in part.

There they begin to be Church, as they await the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit. With them is the mother of Jesus, Mary, whom her son had entrusted to John. They gather together with her and around her. And they wait. They wait for the Lord to appear.

We know that three days later that body rose again. Jesus thus lives for ever and accompanies us, personally, on our earthly pilgrimage, amid joys and tribulations.

Jesus, grant that we may love one another,
and to have you once more in our midst,
each day, as you yourself promised:
“Where two or three are gathered in my name,
I am there, in their midst”.”

All: “Our Father…”

Quando corpus morietur, fac ut animæ donetur Paradisi gloria. Amen.

Rejoice! We’re getting so close to the greatest celebrations of our Church: Holy Week and Easter! For me, and many others that work in the Church, this is definitely the busiest time of the year. From practicing with music groups to putting scripts together, right down to making sure the cleaning people will be straightening and cleaning the Church in between the Holy Day Masses. There is so much to do. Some of you reading this might just be responsible for the Sunrise Teen Mass at your parish or whenever you celebrate your Easter Mass with your teens so you may not be experiencing as much of the craziness associated with Holy Week that those of us who are Musicians and Liturgists for the entire parish deal with.

Whether that’s the case or not, we all need to look at how we are preparing for this Holy season and how we will celebrate it. Often times we can get caught up in the fact that this is our “job” and we just get into the “punching a time clock” mentality. I have seen it happen all too often and I have to admit that at times, it’s happened to me. Will we actually participate in the parish penance service by going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or just sing a song or two at the service? Will we attend the Liturgies and other Holy Week events at our parish even if we aren’t singing or playing music at them? What if the music will be more traditional than we prefer at these Liturgies? Will we still celebrate with the community or will we stay home and catch a show on TV? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. Are we truly connected to the vine or are we just kind of hanging on the branch?

It’s said that Christmas is the “Most Wonderful Time of The Year,” and although Christmas is an amazing time and celebration, Holy Week and Easter trump Christmas. This is the most wonderful time of the year! The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Maybe you’ve never gone to an Easter Vigil before . . . What are you waiting for? This is the preeminent celebration of the year when we welcome in those candidates and catechumen seeking full initiation into our Church. What a great Liturgy to take part in. What a great Liturgy to invite our teens to. Have we involved our teens by inviting them to be a part of these holy days? It may not be too late to ask your parish Liturgist or Liturgy team if a teen can have his/her feet washed on Holy Thursday evening at Mass. What a witness to the community that would be. The challenge is to be rooted in Christ and be connected to our parish wholeheartedly.

Take the time to pray this Holy Week and make it more meaningful than any other we may have celebrated in the past. Remember that you get out of it what you put in. Christ is waiting with open arms, even for us who lead in the Church, to come to him humbly, without reservation, and give our lives to him again this holy season.

One of the first and best pieces of advice I learned early on as a high school journalist was K.I.S.S. — Keep it simple, stupid. I am going to propose the same for this Lenten season. Keep it simple.

In her beauty, the Church seems to always find a way to keep it simple for us — seven sacraments, five precepts, you name it. With Lent, it’s also quite simple. Three things: prayer, fasting, almsgiving.

As we begin this Lenten season, we ought to take a closer examination of how we can implement these three keys in order to more deeply enter into a season that prepares us for the next season — Easter.

Prayer

How can we increase our prayer? Recently I was reading an article by Peter Kreeft regarding prayer. In it, he said:

“Let’s get very, very basic and very, very practical about prayer. The single most important piece of advice I know about prayer is also the simplest: Just do it! How to do it is less important than just doing it. Less-than-perfect prayer is infinitely better than no prayer; more perfect prayer is only finitely better than less perfect prayer.

…No program, method, book, teacher, or technique will ever succeed in getting us to start doing anything unless there is first of all that simple, absolute choice to do it. Just say yes.”

Kreeft puts it in simple words. He says something very true and, fortunately for us, something easily applicable. What’s being said is don’t hesitate to stop into the chapel this Lent — even if it’s for three minutes. Don’t think about following a formula or whether your prayer time is “fruitful.”

Don’t worry about how the words are incoherent as you thank God for the coming day while getting ready for work. Don’t make excuses not to pause at your desk and offer a prayer of gratitude. Don’t worry about how you will pray to start a Core meeting. Just pray.

Fasting

Now, most Catholics know the obligations for fasting during Lent or they jog their memory via church bulletin or Google search. I won’t go on a diatribe about the essential ones. Let’s look beyond the surface with fasting.

What I will ask us to consider is other ways we can fast this Lent. You see, fasting (from TV, your iPod, candy, snacking, drinking, excessive spending, etc.) reminds us of our reliance on God. What are the ways we can fast in ministry?

Maybe it means not using the Life Night outline one week and writing/preparing something original. Maybe it means not complaining about the ways a night failed or Core Members who didn’t pull through. Or, perhaps, it’s intentionally eliminating a resource, such as the projector, for a couple of weeks of Edge or Life Night.

Not every parish has a sound system, projector, wireless microphone or laptop. Fast. Because, you see, the more we have, the more we tend to forget about God. Even in ministry. Our prayer is as ardent because we have all the resources (even through the opposite should be true).

I work at a parish where most of the teens are very blessed, living in households with middle to upper middle incomes. For them, being convinced of a God isn’t the issue. Being convinced they need God is the issue, in general.

When we have every need met — and met quickly — it’s as if we forget God is there because we don’t need Him — everything’s taken care of.

In fasting we recall we have nothing except through God, because of God. Everything in the world — the world itself — exists because of the love of the Creator. Because of God. So, as we fast this Lenten season, let us remember our reliance on God and thank Him more frequently for the gifts He bestows on us.

We could all fast for selfish reasons. Jesus knew this, warning in Matthew’s gospel,“’When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.’”

So, when we fast, make it challenging. Most of all, make about God. Not you.

During Lent, how will our Liturgies change? From the environment, to the music, will people notice a shift in season when they enter into our churches this Ash Wednesday or will they just notice that we don’t sing Alleluia or the Glory to God? If these are the only changes they encounter then we’ve missed the mark. There should be an environment created that we are truly entering the desert with Christ for forty days. We also need to ask ourselves how our music ministry will become more of a desert experience? Prayer with our ministers is number one. If it’s not a common practice every Sunday, we need to make it a priority.

Less Instruments

Maybe we decide to scale back the instruments a bit during lent and let the voices shine through a little more to better support the singing of the congregation. Although this is always a good idea and should be practiced commonly, Lent is a great time to practice musician restraint. The Church also asks that in this season, the instruments only be used to support the singing of the congregation (GIRM 313).

In regards to a Youth Liturgy, how can we live this out? It might be a good idea to not have any instrumental music during Lent such as instrumental verses or instrumental postludes after the Recessional Song. You may want to make it a practice at your parish to have only light percussion instead of a full drum set on all or most of the songs during lent. I hate to make the reference, but sort of an “Unplugged” version of the music ministry would be appropriate during this Lenten season to bring a greater expectation to the season of Easter we will soon celebrate.

Maybe you’re considering not using instruments at all on one Sunday during the season or just one instrument that introduces the song and supports the singing. Maybe you put away the electric guitar for the season and have your guitarist play an acoustic adding a different texture and sound. Two acoustic guitars can be well done if one plays a capo version of the chords in a different key or if one plays some lead parts and the other rhythm.

Of course, we need to remember that on Laetare Sunday, which is the fourth Sunday in Lent, we are called to a greater joy and expectation of the coming Easter season celebrating that we are almost to the celebration of the Triduum and Easter (GIRM 313). This Sunday can be celebrated with more joy and anticipation of Easter. Departing in Silence during Lent or on Passion Sunday is a valid option as well calling our youth to practice a silence that will lead them to a fuller desert experience.

Hold the Alleluia

A common mistake that musicians sometimes make is not going through ALL the lyrics of a song while planning the music. Many songs use the word “Alleluia” in them. “God of Wonders” or “I Can Only Imagine,” both have the word “Alleluia” in them, but it’s easily forgotten until you go to sing it and realize that it’s there. Take the time to analyze all the lyrics of songs before setting them in stone on a worship aide or telling your group that it’s one of the songs you’re singing that week and having to make a last minute change.

Theme Song

Having a set theme song for the season that is sung every week might also be a good idea. Ask your Presiders to try and tie in the focus of the song into the Mass. It can really help to bring the season alive.

Some examples are:

• Christ In Me Arise (Thomson) spiritandsong.com [Christ In Me Arise]
• Desert Song (Fraser) Hillsong Publishing [This Is Our God]
• Journey For Home (Bolduc) WLP [The Face of God, Voices As One]
• Lead Me Home (Maher) OCP [Welcome to Life, Spirit & Song II]
• Restored (Blakesley, Hart, Byrd) spiritandsong.com [From “The Commons: Restored”]
• Revive Us, O God (Manibusan) OCP [Power of Peace, Spirit & Song]
• Rise From The Ashes (Colson) Colsongs [craigcolson.com]

This lent, may we truly change our hearts and draw nearer to our Lord, especially through our Liturgies and the ways that we worship.

The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility

By St. Josemaria Escrivá
1. To think that what one says or does is better than what others say or do
2. To always to want to get your own way
3. To argue with stubbornness and bad manners whether you are right or wrong
4. To give your opinion when it has not been requested or when charity does not demand it
5. To look down on another’s point of view
6. Not to look on your gifts and abilities as lent
7. Not to recognize that you are unworthy of all honors and esteem, not even of the earth you walk on and things you possess
8. To use yourself as an example in conversations
9. To speak badly of yourself so that others will think well of you or contradict you
10. To excuse yourself when you are corrected
11. To hide humiliating faults from your spiritual director, so that they will not change the impression they have of you
12. To take pleasure in praise and compliments
13. To be saddened because others are held in higher esteem
14. To refuse to perform inferior tasks
15. To seek to stand out
16. To refer in conversation to your honesty, genius, dexterity, or professional prestige
17. To be ashamed because you lack certain goods

How are you doing with these 17?

Each Lent, we have another great opportunity to immerse our teens into the heart of the Church. We have such a gift in the 40 days of Lent. We need to walk with our teens through the desert of Lent and help them meet our Lord there.  Our ministry should be a reflection of the changes happening in the Liturgy and be an invitation to fully participate in the mystery of Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection.  There are a lot of resources that Life Teen has for you to being Lent to Life in your program. Here are just a few:

Ash Wednesday

If your parish has an early morning Mass before school starts on Ash Wednesday, invite the teens to Mass. If time allows, have a light breakfast and explain the significance of the ashes and why Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Encourage the teens to share with their friends at school what the ashes represent and why we are reminded of our mortality at the beginning of Lent. If possible, use the Life Night “Ashes to Ashes” early in the season of Lent to help the teens prepare.

Prayer

Lent is a great time to teach teens new types of prayer. One type of prayer that would be especially appropriate during Lent is the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Invite the teens to gather right before Mass and pray the Chaplet together.  Life Teen just released a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for Teens on DVD that would be a great resource to use.  You could also challenge the teens to a 40-day commitment of prayer.  The Life Teen book 40 More is a great resource for that.

Reconciliation Service

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of Lent, allowing us to prepare our hearts by turning away from sin.  Encourage your teens to participate in the parish’s Reconciliation service. Have an examination of conscience specifically for teens ready to give to the teens there, or use the booklet Come Clean: A Teen Guide to Reconciliation.  Also, invite your priest(s) to be available for Reconciliation at Life Nights or weekly bible study during Lent.

Stations of the Cross

Have a night of reflection where the teens walk and pray through the Stations of the Cross. Have a few Core Members and teens help by reading the reflection at each station.  Check out Come Walk: a Teen Guide to Stations of the Cross as a resource for this prayer time.

Holy Week

Holy Week is the highest time in our Church. It is packed full with opportunities to fully enter into the Easter Season.  If possible, have a Life Night on Palm Sunday that explains the Triduum. There is a Life Night called “UUM” in the free resource section of this website.  At the end of the night, pass out your parish’s Holy Week schedule.

By incorporating the liturgical seasons into your ministry we give the teens a unique opportunity to fully participate in the life of the Church. Thank you for all the ways you are serving the young people of the Church.  May God continue to bless you and those you serve in abundance during this Lenten season.

Ask Jesus today to allow you to share in His suffering, death and to lead you to the cross.

Open your heart, mind and soul this powerful day. A few years ago while visiting Cardinal Stafford at the Vatican, he told me “Don’t Blink during Christ’s suffering especially at the piercing of His side – for you might lose sight of the Glory”

It is my prayer that you will ask Jesus to allow you to share in His suffering, death and lead you to the cross and when you do, you won’t blink! Have a great Good Friday!

“Tomorrow the Church begins her celebration of the Easter Triduum, a time devoted to silent prayer and contemplation of the mystery of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. The liturgies of these days invite us to ponder Christ’s saving sacrifice and His promise of new life. In this Year for Priests, the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass, at which priests renew the promises made on the day of their ordination, will take on a particular significance. May priests everywhere be conformed ever more closely to Christ as heralds of his message of hope, reconciliation and peace! The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated the evening of Holy Thursday, recalls the institution of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders. The liturgy of Good Friday, in which we enter into the mystery of Christ’s redemptive death, invites us to contemplate the deep relationship between the Last Supper and the sacrifice of Calvary. Following the great silence of Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil proclaims the resurrection of Christ and his victory over sin and death. May the joy of the resurrection even now fill our hearts as we prepare to celebrate the great events of the Lord’s Passover from death to the fullness of life.”

The past couple of weeks priests, bishops and even the pope have been under criticism from the media especially in Europe. Last week while visiting parishes in Germany and the Netherlands we could really feel this heaviness. In this year for priests – we continue to lift up the holy priests – may their example as foot washers this Holy Thursday remind us all about the call to serve in a deeper way. We are not called to serve only those who we easily love, we are called to wash the feet of the most difficult in our lives as well. Most priests I encounter, know this and live it by example. Thank you to all the Holy Priests who serve Life Teen throughout the world. We truly could not do this without your support and example.

Join Life Teen this year in praying for priests the following prayer:

Almighty Father, Hear the prayers of Your teens and their families and for the priests of our Church.

Grant to Your servants the dignity of the priesthood. Renew within them the Spirit of holiness. As a co-worker with the order of bishops, may they be faithful to the ministry that they receive from You, Lord God, and be to others a model of right conduct. As they stand at Your altars throughout the world offering Your Body and Blood to a people in need of Your love, unite their hearts with Your own Sacred Heart.

May Mother Mary wrap her mantle around Your priests and lead them always to Your Son. May the intercession of Saint John Vianney, the patron of Priests, keep them joyful in their vocation as Priests of Jesus Christ. We make this prayer in the name of the same Christ our Lord, Amen.

Watch this video on Vimeo!

Are you ready for Lent?

Each Lent, we have another great opportunity to immerse both ourselves and our teens into the heart of the season and get them thinking with the mind of the Church. We have such a gift in the 40 days of Lent. The Church knows that we need time to ready our hearts before the great celebration of Easter. We need to walk with our teens through the desert of Lent and help them meet our Lord there. Our ministry should be a reflection of the changes happening in the Liturgy and be an invitation to fully participate in the mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The following are a few suggestions to make the season of Lent come alive for and tangible to the teens in your parish.

Ash Wednesday

If your parish has an early morning Mass before school starts on Ash Wednesday, invite the teens to Mass. If time allows, have a light breakfast and explain the significance of the ashes and why Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Encourage the teens to share with their friends at school what the ashes represent and why we are reminded of our mortality at the beginning of Lent.

Fasting, Prayer, Almsgiving

Fasting:

Explain the purpose of fasting and abstinence during Lent and how to make the sacrifice a prayer. Instead of having an elaborate snack before or after Life Night, try something much simpler like chips and salsa and water.

Prayer:

Lent is a great time to teach teens new types of prayer. One type of prayer that would be especially appropriate during Lent is the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Invite the teens to gather right before Mass and pray the Chaplet together. Try hosting a weeknight Lenten prayer series on the themes of Lent (such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, desert, Baptism, repentance, and purification). Each of these nights could be split between discussion and prayer.

Almsgiving:

Lent is a good time to give back to the parish community. Most parishes will have a fish fry or spaghetti dinner. Volunteer to help set up, serve dinner, and clean up. You can also give back to the larger community by serving at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

Another national program to get involved with during Lent is Souper Bowl of Caring. Souper Bowl of Caring is an outreach program that helps to fight hunger and poverty. It uses the excitement of Super Bowl Sunday to empower youth to give a weekend of service. For more information on how to get involved visit www.souperbowl.org

Visible signs: Transforming the Youth Room / Office

By visually transforming the youth room or office, teens can be reminded that the Church is in a time of preparation and purification. Pull all the excess stuff out of the office or youth room and make it as barren as possible. Decorate the space with Lenten symbols like a crucifix, crown of thorns, purple accents, large nails, sand and water. If you cannot decorate the entire youth office or room, a table set up with a few of these symbols would work just as well.

Prayer / Reconciliation Service

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of Lent, allowing us to prepare our hearts by turning away from sin. Encourage your teens to participate in the parish’s Reconciliation service. Have an examination of conscience specifically for teens ready to give to the teens there. Also, invite your priest(s) to be available for Reconciliation at Life Nights or weekly bible study during Lent.

Stations of the Cross

Have a night of reflection where the teens walk and pray through the Stations of the Cross. Have a few Core Members and teens help by reading the reflection at each station.

Holy Week

Holy Week is the highest time in our Church. It is packed full with opportunities to fully enter into the Easter Season. If possible, have a Life Night on Palm Sunday that explains the Triduum. At the end of the night, pass out your parish’s Holy Week schedule. Talk to your parish liturgist about getting teens involved in the various celebrations throughout Holy Week.

Holy Thursday:

Include teens in the Liturgy by having them represent the teens of the parish in the washing of the feet, reading, serving or greeting.

Good Friday:

Encourage the teens to attend the Veneration of the Cross Service. Have a few teens be a part of the service by participating as lectors for the Passion of Our Lord reading.
By incorporating the liturgical seasons into your ministry we give the teens a unique opportunity to fully participate in the life of the Church. Thank you for all the ways you are serving the young people of the Church. May God continue to bless you and those you serve in abundance during this Lenten season.