EIGHTH STATION   
JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM WHO WEEP FOR HIM

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Luke – Chapter 23.
Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us”; and to the hills,
”Cover us.” For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

Meditation
Hearing Jesus reproach the women of Jerusalem who follow him and weep for him ought to make us reflect. How should we understand his words?...He shows us both the seriousness of sin and the seriousness of judgment. Can it be that, despite all our expressions of consternation in the face of evil and innocent suffering, we are all too prepared to trivialize the mystery of evil? Have we accepted only the gentleness and love of God and Jesus, and quietly set aside the word of judgment? “How can God be so concerned with our weaknesses?” we say, “We are only human!” Yet as we contemplate the sufferings of the Son, we see more clearly the seriousness of sin and how it needs to be fully atoned if it is to be overcome…To us too, he says, Do not weep for me, weep for yourselves…if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Prayer
Lord, to the weeping women you spoke of repentance and the Day of Judgment, when all of us will stand before your face, before you, the Judge of the world. You call us to leave behind the trivialization of evil, which salves our consciences and allows us to carry on as before.  You show us the seriousness of our responsibility, the danger of our being found guilty and without excuse on the Day of Judgment. Grant that we may not simply walk at your side, with nothing to offer other than compassionate words. Convert us and give us new life. Grant that in the end we will not be dry wood, but living branches in you, the true vine, bearing fruit for eternal life (cf. Jn 15).

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Stabat Mater: Let me share with you his pain, who for all my sin was slain, who for me in torments died.