God of community and love,
there are many times when
we are too quick to abandon Christ
on the cross.
Like those disciples who
feared for their lives,
things great and small cause
us to fear for ours.
Help us to see the two sides
of your Son’s passion,
the love and suffering that Jesus reveals to us,
models for us, calls us to live.
Open our eyes to the
truest meaning of bearing the name Christ,
so that we too may strive to love as you love,
while embracing the suffering that such true love entails.
We offer our gratitude for the community formed
that day beside the cross:
formed out of great love, formed amid great suffering.
We make this prayer in your name.
Amen.
— from The Last Words of Jesus: A Meditation on Love and Suffering by Daniel P. Horan, OFM
