Jesus Falls the First Time
The fallen state of the environment causes people to emigrate
Meditation
To the weight of the cross, an even heavier burden is added: the powerful beatings, the lies and betrayals, abandonment by his own disciples, the cruel humiliations. Because Jesus cannot bear the terrible pain, he falls. Climate-related displaced persons “are not recognized by international conventions as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind, without enjoying any legal protection whatsoever. Sadly, there is widespread indifference to such suffering…”(LS 25) there are so many times that migrants fall on their journeys; the way to the promised land becomes a journey of the cross as they deal with hatred and many obstacles. Only faith in an active God gives them strength.
We Pray
God of migrants, you were driven through the streets as a criminal, your true identity ignored, help us to see your face in those driven from their homes by environmental forces, and to be their voice in a world that does not recognize their rights or dignity. We pray for the protection of our migrant sisters and brothers on their journeys full of risks and dangers, as they escape devastation in their homelands. Help them to overcome obstacles; do not allow families to be separated or lost. Walk with them and lift them up after they fall. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.
♫ HYMN
Were you there when He fell the first time?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
The above is excerpted from a booklet prepared by the Franciscan Friars Conventual JPIC commission and a combined adaptation from a Catholic Climate Covenant (CCC) parish resource (from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis’s 2022 ACCT) and a Jesuit Refugee Service resource (JRS Renew the Earth—Stations 2022).
The Stations will be posted individually over the next weeks of Lent. Check out our Resources page if you would like to view the entire document.
