Station V The Cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene

Luke 23:26

The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

Isaiah 53:4-5

“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,
    the pain that we should have borne.
All the while we thought that his suffering
    was punishment sent by God.
But because of our sins he was wounded,
    beaten because of the evil we did.
We are healed by the punishment he suffered,
    made whole by the blows he received.

Prayer
 
Simon the stranger, pressed into service
to help carry the Cross with Jesus,
how did it feel to shoulder that load
even for a brief time?
Suffering One, help us to help one another.
Increase the kindness of strangers
and enlarge all hearts with compassion
so that we might be made whole
even as we walk the way of suffering.
Through him who loves us,
and gave himself for us. Amen.