A Prayer for Good Friday...

(Like Ms. Kitty I'm participating in a Good Friday service where each clergy person is offering a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. My homily is too long to post here, but the prayer is below.)

…Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. John 19:25b-27 (NRSV)

Spirit of Life,
God of our varied understandings,
Drawn to the story of Jesus
we reflect on his manner of death,
and how it affected those closest to him.

Who can know, now,
what went through his mother’s mind
as she watched her son,
bleeding, suffering?

Who can know, now,
what the beloved disciple thought as
Jesus asked him to care for his mother?
None but those who have suffered
as Mary, and as the disciple.
And there are too many who have.

Spirit of Love and Hope,
God of mystery and change,
Help us understand the love
that binds us one to another –
the love that compels us
to risk our lives for one another –

love that does not depend on
blood ties or tribal identification,
but love that brings courage,
love that overcomes obstacles,
love that does not limit or exclude
but frees us
and blesses
the whole world.

Blessed Be. Amen.