THE FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS LAID IN THE SEPULCHRE

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise You!
R/. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

“Now in the place where He had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.”
John 19: 41

There is a great silence over all the earth! The Lord Jesus lies still in the tomb. The hands that turned water into wine at Cana, now marked by nails, lie still. The feet that walked the hills of Galilee seeking out disciples, now scarred by the stones of Jerusalem’s streets, are motionless. The face of God as one of us, that peered into the eyes and hearts of the forgotten, the unloved and the suffering, pierced by thorns and stained with blood, sweat and tears – is lifeless. Jesus, God’s Incarnate Word, once wrapped in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem’s night, is now wrapped in a shroud within the shadow of the cross.

Sorrow fills the air. Abandoned by His closest friends and buried in another’s tomb, all seems lost. The world judges His mission a seeming failure. As the few brave men carry Him to the grave. As the Holy Women anoint His stilled body. As His Holy Mother weeps. They wait. He waits. God waits. We wait. Yes, we wait in hope for the Easter dawn.

(silent personal reflection)

Let us pray.

O Jesus Lord,
during the three days You rested behind the stone,
You sanctified the graves of all you trust in Your abundant mercy;
You blessed the spaces of earth in which we lay to rest those who believe in You; You consecrated the tombs where we wait in hope for Your coming again in glory.
As we meditate upon Your Way of the Cross,
our faith reminds us that Your burial is far from the end.
Yes, Good Friday is only one day — Easter is forever.
May we walk with You each day — from the horror of Calvary
to the exultation of the open tomb — from death to new life.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Crucified – have mercy on us!