Exhaling

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. [Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."] The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”  Luke 23: 33-38

We pray:
Lord Jesus, You are stretched out on the wood of the cross, exposed to the ridicule of a pitiless crowd, and yet You give everything willingly. In total freedom, You open Your arms and accept every detail of this execution – the rough wood against torn skin, exposure to the cold stinging wind, the crudeness of the executioners, the blood in Your eyes, the raging pain of thorns in the skull, and the sickening violence of iron driven into flesh. Utter agony. A sign proclaims You “King of the Jews.” You reign from the cross. Earthly kings reign by making people subject to them; You reign by making yourself subject to us, by giving Yourself wholly to us. Raised on the throne of the cross, crowned with thorns, You reign; and Your gift to all of us is forgiveness and love. As You are raised on the cross and offer Yourself to the Father, You offer each one of us and all we suffer – within Your Heart, capable of transforming all things with love, we are present to You in this moment of salvation. 

All:

Lord, because You desire to share Your victory with us, the Cross is always open to love willing to suffer for others, and the Redemption is always being completed by our own self-giving. Help us to move beyond intellectual assent or commitment to action and to become oblation, pouring ourselves out for others in union with You, so that by carrying Your death in our bodies, Your life may also be manifest (2 Cor 4:10). In this way, we present our own bodies as a holy and living sacrifice, which is our spiritual worship (Rom 12:1), and all we do for love is transformed into glory.

May Your willingness to give all for each of us enable us to walk toward you in the shadow of the Cross, which fills every void and makes sense of every difficulty and every pain.