Ninth Station — Jesus Falls the Third Time

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

The Ninth Station. Jesus falls the third time.

The third fall, Lord. Calvary is in sight. The hill is steep. Your strength is gone. And You collapse one more time.

Three falls. One for the past. One for the present. One for the future. One for every kind of sin in every soul of every age. You went down under the full weight.

Lord, I think about the chronic falls in my life. Not just the falls I made yesterday or the falls I will make tomorrow. The patterns. The ones that have been with me for years. The ones I have despaired of ever overcoming.

You did not stay down. The third fall did not finish You. You stood up one more time, with Calvary right there, and walked the last meters to Your death.

Sometimes the third fall feels like the last. Like I cannot get up again. Like this is just who I am now, and there is no more reaching for transformation.

But You are not done with me. The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians one, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Carry it on. To completion. Even after the third fall. Even after the thirtieth.

Lord, give me the grace of perseverance. Not because I am strong. Because You are. Because Your grace is sufficient for me. Because Your power is made perfect in weakness.

I think tonight of the people I know who have fallen for the last time, who have given up. The friend who walked away from the faith. The relative who has stopped trying to overcome the addiction. The colleague who has surrendered to despair. Lord, send them grace. Send them a Simon to carry their cross beside them. Get them up.

And keep me on my feet, Lord. One more step. Then another. Calvary first. Then resurrection. The fall is not the end of the story. The Cross is not the end. The empty tomb is.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Have mercy on us, O Lord. Have mercy on us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.