BAGUIA
V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You.
R. Because by the wood of the Cross and the light of the Resurrection You have redeemed the world.
First Station: Jesus rises from the dead.
Why look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He is risen.
We hear the word of the Easter angel.
We hear the word of the Lord: Tell my brothers: Go to Galilee; they will find Me there.
Let us leave the tombs of our lives: the addictions and decadence, corruption and indifference.
The risen One has spirited us out of these graves. He waits for us in our Galilees: the places where we discovered our mission, the hearts we are called to love, the causes we are invited to advocate. Wherever we take steps to restore a broken world, the risen One is our energizing fire.
Second station: The disciples discover the empty tomb.
Peter and John run to the tomb. John, the beloved disciple, sees and believes when his turn comes to enter and he sees only burial clothing and no corpse. The head cloth has been folded neatly.
The body cloth is on the ground. Christ the head has accomplished his task.
The Church, his body, still has much to do.
The Church’s son and daughters must pray for strength to carry the cross of the world’s pain, soothe the wounded and mourn those who pass until humanity reaches its endless Easter.
Third station: The risen Lord appears to Mary of Magdala, apostle to the apostles.
Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended, the Lord tells Mary.
No longer are believers to behold the Lord in himself alone.
Mary must learn to find him in spirit, in the people to whom she is sent.
Do our women behold the beauty and presence of the Lord in the men and children to whom they speak?
Do our women find in those around them ears willing to heed the message of resurrection, nurture, care and affection with which they especially resound?
Fourth station: The risen Lord appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
How foolish you are! How slow to believe! Was it not necessary that the Son must suffer and die and then enter into glory?
The disciples listen to the risen One. He explains Scripture to them, starting from Moses.
The living Christ joins our conversations.
He whispers the conviction that there is meaning to suffering as a consequence of love.
He tells us that the death of the lover is the immolation of a phoenix.
The one who loves never dies. He is always reborn.
Fifth station: The risen Lord is recognized in the breaking of bread.
The disciples invite the risen Lord to supper. He takes, give thanks for, and breaks bread with them. They recognize him. He vanishes.
We recognize him in our time in every person who gives, every giver who knows he is only passing forward what he has no power to create, each man and woman who loves us without condition.
They are the ones who warm our hearts with their word, because their word is love in truth.
Sixth station: The risen Lord appears to the community of disciples.
The doors were locked in the upper room. Still, the Lord appeared in their midst.
His message: Peace be with you. No reprimand, no retribution for all the betrayal, abandonment and denial of Good Friday.
Peace be with you. As the Father sent me so I send you, the Lord said.
Let us preach, teach, heal, endure crucifixions, experience resurrections.
As the Christ was sent, so are we.
Seventh station: The risen Lord breathes peace and gives the power to forgive.
To err is human, to forgive, divine.
The great gift of Easter is the power to forgive.
Each time we forgive, we reveal the face of God more clearly to the world. He is a God of new beginnings, the Lord of the eternal spring.
To be continued