Jesus Carries His Cross

Priest:
We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.

(GENUFLECT)

All:
Because by your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
 

Priest:
And Pilate said to the Jews, "Behold, your king!" But they cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered,"We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. And so they took Jesus and led him away, bearing the cross for himself.
(John 19:14-17)

All: (KNEEL AND PAUSE)
Who would believe what we have heard? / To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? / He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; / there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, / no appearance that would attract us to him. / He was rejected and avoided by men, / a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, / one of those from whom men turn away, / and we held him in no esteem.
(Isaiah 53:1-3)

Priest:
Let us pray. Father in heaven, your Son, Jesus Christ, still carries his Cross in his persecuted brothers throughout the world. Make us feel the needs of all men so that we might as readily help them as we would help Jesus himself.

All:
Amen.

All Sing: (STAND)
Weakened, prodded, cursed, and fallen,
His whole Body bruised and swollen,
Jesus tripped and lay in pain.