SECOND STATION
Jesus is Betrayed by Judas and Arrested
V.Adoramus
te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R.Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Mk. 14,43.45-46
And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said: "Master!" And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him.
MEDITATION
As soon as the Disciple
traitor fell from the tree,
the devil rushed to draw up to his face ...
with a kiss that burned right through the lips
that in the night of the betrayal had kissed Christ.
(Alexandr Puskin, Russian poet - 1836)
On that tragic, dark night in Gethsemane, "the night when he was betrayed" (1 Cor 11,23), the Son of God, by his words and actions, awakens in us different and even conflicting emotions: we sense the richness of his spiritual dialogue with the disciples and we experience the joy of the meal taken together; we contemplate the heights of pure intentions and shudder at the cowardice of betrayal. Jesus, wise and all-seeing, obedient to the Father's plan of salvation, goes to his death for the liberation of the human race. The disciple turned traitor is left with nothing but universal, ageless scorn: the "curse of Judas", the dark abyss. From the death of Christ new life flowers, memory and message of an undying hope: universal salvation.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
in our divisions, the bitter fruit of sin,
show us the way to unity,
the way that leads to the inexpressible richness
of the Gospel and of Redemption.
The time determined by the Father must come,
when we shall see the love which forgives
and unites.
You, wise Master of life,
kind and patient
in the face of betrayal by your disciple
and the insolence of rulers,
grant to us, in these days of unheard-of violence
and brutal conflict between men,
a ray of your calm and your serenity.
Let us know peace and forgiveness,
for there can be no peace without forgiveness,
nor forgiveness without compassion.
To you, Jesus,
who turn your meek face
to the friend who betrays you,
be honour and glory
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
today and in that day which will never end.
R.Amen.
All:
Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.
Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.
Through her heart, his
sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had passed.