Good Friday

From Just As I Am by Ruth Etchells

Christ, whose bitter agony
was watched from afar by women
enable us to follow the example
of their persistent love;
that being steadfast in the face of horror,
we may also know the place of the resurrection,
in your name. Amen.

- Janet Morley, All Desires Known

O my Lord Jesus, I cannot bring myself to watch you through this horror: yet their persistent love kept them watching by you to the end. Help me to face the Golgotha truth of human life, Lord; and so discover with wonder that you do not only watch alongside me, but shield me from its full terror with your own body and spirit. So may I join with you and the women in steadfastness: and with them discover that this is a place of redemption.

Lord, let us be with you, wherever you are crucified today,
Wherever the will of man crosses the will of God:
For being God and man, you are stretched out on the cross of God's purpose 
and our rebellion.
Where the will to violence crosses God's will for peace,
Where lying and corruption cross God's will for truth,
Where greed and possessiveness cross the use of God's plenty,
Where we live not for others but for ourselves,
Where ugliness and disease cross the will of God for beauty and well-being,
There let us find you, racked on the cross,
And there let us be with you and share your pain,
And bring about with you, in union with your sacrifice,
That redemption which you are accomplishing in your passion.

- Margaret Cropper, Draw Near

O Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times I have racked you on the cross of God's purpose and my rebellion. Let me gaze at that cross and recognize what my wilfulness has done. So join my grief with your passion, Lord; that with your whole creation I may be redeemed. Amen.