Station VIII Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

Luke 23:27-31
 
A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him.  Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem! Don’t cry for me, but for yourselves and your children.  For the days are coming when people will say, ‘How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!’  That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Hide us!’  For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Lamentations 2:10

Jerusalem’s old men sit on the ground in silence,
with dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies.
Young women bow their heads to the ground.
 
Prayer

Encountering God,
who meets all who look for you,
we hold silence
in face of horrendous suffering.
Comfort those who mourn,
heal those who are wounded,
lift those who have fallen
and keep alight hope for a better future
where tears will be dried
and old men will rejoice
and young women will stand tall
and all who call Jerusalem home
will live together in peace.
In the name of the holy one. Amen.