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Bringing love into the world A Way of the Cross for children Note: This
"Way of the cross" sees the death of Jesus on the cross Manfred Hanglberger LINK to share:
Instructions for implementation When communion children celebrate a Stations of the Cross devotion in
a church for the first time, it makes sense to design them on
the basis of the Stations of the Cross pictures that are attached to
the church. In this way, the children learn to consciously perceive their
church and the images it contains and to find an inner connection to them. At each station, the leader has a short conversation with the children
about the respective picture. The texts "A" and "B" are read by two adults. The
leader says the prayer and for the first part of the alternating prayer at
the end of each station, children are to be divided before the devotional. For the "role play" in the 1st station, the child who takes
on the role of Jesus receives a copy of the corresponding text. For the song in the 14th station, either a poster of a space photo of
the earth and the lyrics “God loves this world” (GL 464, 1st and 6th verse)
are prepared, or a little earth in a bowl and the lyrics “A handful of earth”
(songbooks, 1st and 3rd verse). After the devotion, the children can be given a small wooden cross or
a devotional picture with a cross and the text of the cross meditation (see
in the 12th station) or “the prayer before the cross” (see in the appendix)
to take home with the invitation to pray this text as an evening prayer. Introduction Dear
children, today we
are dealing with something very sad: the Way of the Cross of Jesus. But in
this sadness there is hidden a great power and a
great truth. And we
want to discover this power and this truth today. Perhaps
you have already noticed the pictures on the church walls. Today we
want to take a closer look at them and understand what they mean. Count how
many pictures there are. The
children count the Stations of the Cross. Yes,
there are 14 Stations of the Cross. Let us
now begin with a prayer. Prayer Jesus, it is incomprehensible that the
leaders of your people have condemned you to death. You brought the love of God into our world
and showed that this love applies to all people, not just your people the
Jews, not just a certain religion, but to humans of all peoples and
religions. You wanted all peoples
and all humans in the world to live together in justice and peace. You have
shown that God is above all on the side of the weak, the oppressed and the
poor - and that he is also close to sinners in his mercy and wants to help
them to find the right path again. Help us, as we now
look at the images of your suffering, to get to know and understand you
better and that we too remain just and loving people when we are treated
unjustly or experience bad things. 1st
Station Jesus is condemned to death Leader: What do we see in the
picture?
The children tell. A Pilate is the powerful governor of
the Romans. He is the representative of the Emperor of Rome. B
The Romans had conquered and occupied the land of the Jews. Role play Two children are assigned the roles of Jesus
and a woman. Everyone stands in a circle. Leader: We will act out a story from the
Gospel so that we can see how Jesus fought against the condemnation of other
people: At the time of Jesus, a group of people once
wanted to kill a woman because she had sinned. The child playing the woman stands in the
middle of the circle. Everyone points their finger at her and says: All:
You are to blame! You are to blame!
You are to blame! Then Jesus goes to her, stands on her side
and says: Jesus: Don't judge! Which of you is
without sin? Why do you see the fault in others and are blind to your own
faults? So now take your fingers away and beat your own breasts! Everyone beats their own breast. Jesus: Once again
I say to you, do not judge! Prayer: Jesus, keep us from pointing a condemning finger at someone or put
someone down and accusing them unjustly. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 2nd Station Jesus takes the cross on his
shoulders Leader:
What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: After Jesus is condemned, he has to carry the cross himself out to the city where he is
to be killed. B: Jesus had lifted or lightened the
burdens of so many people: Prayer:
Jesus,
help us to free one another from burdens so that everyone can breathe a sigh
of relief and be respected again. Keep us
from making life difficult for others. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 3rd Station Jesus
falls the first time Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: It is cruel that Jesus, who has already been
unjustly condemned, should also have to carry this heavy cross, which is
simply too heavy for one person alone. B: Even today, some people burden others with
tasks that overwhelm them. Some parents and teachers expect something from a
child to do that it can't manage and then, full of fear, don't know what to
do. Some children also expect things from their parents for which they don't
have enough money. Then the children are angry and
the parents are depressed and sad. Prayer: Jesus, keep us from asking
others to do things that overwhelms them, that they simply cannot manage. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 4th Station Jesus meets His Mother Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Mary sees her son, who just a few days
earlier had been cheered by the people in the capital Jerusalem. They had
greeted him enthusiastically by waving palm branches. B: Now, condemned to death, he staggers under
the heavy cross towards the place of execution: Not cheers, but mockery and
derision from the people at the side of the road. Mary sees Jesus, her son,
suffering so much and is unable to help him. It is a terrible pain for the
mother. Prayer:
Jesus, sometimes we cannot
help a suffering person. Make us ready to go and show him without words that
we are close to him and suffer with him. That can sometimes be a great
comfort. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 5th Station Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus
to carry his cross Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: The soldiers see that Jesus can no longer
carry the cross alone. B: A farmer is just passing by from working in
the fields. His name is Simon of Cyrene. They tell him to help Jesus carry
the cross. Jesus, who had helped so many people in their suffering, is now
grateful that he is also getting help. Prayer:
Jesus,
make us ready to gladly help those who don´t know what to do or is at the end
of his strength. Keep us from being arrogant about it or looking down on
those in need of help. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 6th Station Veronica
wipes the face of Jesus Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Exhausted by the endless toil, drops of
sweat run down Jesus' forehead and into his eyes so
that he can no longer see. Then a woman overcomes her fear of the soldiers,
runs to Jesus and compassionately hands him a cloth so that he can wipe the
sweat from his face. B: How many of the curious onlookers on the
side of the road must have mocked this courageous woman? Prayer:
Jesus, help us not to be
curious onlookers and gawk when someone else is wronged or needs our help.
Let our compassion be stronger than our fear that we might make a fool of
ourselves and that others might gossip about us. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 7th Station Jesus falls the second time Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: The road to execution is long and the cross
is heavy. Despite Simon's help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground again. B: Perhaps it was not only the cross that was
an oppressive burden for Jesus, but also the indifference and envious
rejection of many people. Prayer:
Jesus, you have brought
faith in the power of love and faith in justice for all people into the
world. Help us to keep this faith within us and to work towards a better
world through this faith. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 8th Station Jesus meets the women of
Jerusalem Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Jesus had defended women and protected them
from the paternalism and oppression by men that was common at the time. Many
women therefore hoped that Jesus would usher in a new, better time for them. B: But now that they see that the powerful have
condemned Jesus to death and that they let him carry his cross so cruelly and
shamefully, they are full of pity for him and despair, because then nothing
will change for the better for them. Prayer: Jesus,
you have always taken the side of those who were oppressed, disadvantaged or
helpless. Let us make sure that boys and girls, women and men treat each
other fairly and that one respects the other. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 9th Station Jesus falls a third time Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Jesus is exhausted to death and falls to
earth for the third time. He is at the end of his strength. With great
difficulty, he gets up again to continue on his way. B: How many people who were emotionally
devastated and didn't know what to do, he had lifted up
just a few weeks earlier, encouraged them and showed them a way to get on
with their lives? Prayer:
Jesus, help us when we are
discouraged and powerless and do not know what to do. Let us then feel that
you are there to lift us up and give us the strength to complete our tasks
again. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 10th Station Jesus
clothes are taken away Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Jesus had reproached the rulers and those who
were clothed in noble garments for their injustices. B: Jesus had restored the honor and reputation
of so many people who were despised by others. Now he is to pay for it. Prayer:
Jesus, keep us from exposing
and despising another. Help us when we feel ashamed and inferior because we
have disgraced ourselves and fear the ridicule of others. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 11th Station Jesus
is nailed to the cross Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: It's always shocking how cruel and unfeeling
some people can be. Without mercy and without compassion, they inflict
endless pain on other people. B: But the soldiers at that time were acting on
orders. They were told that Jesus was a rebel against the Romans. They had
already crucified many Jews on Pilate's orders because some Jews resisted the
unjust rule of the Romans, and Pilate cruelly crushed all resistance. A: Yes, these people do not know that Jesus came
to convert all people to justice and humanity. Many don't even believe that
this is possible. Prayer: Jesus, it
is very difficult for us to be kind to those who have done evil to us. But you
want us to strive to understand why people are difficult and do evil. Help us to succeed in
reconciling and making peace with those with whom we have experienced strife
and enmity. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 12th Station Jesus dies on the cross Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: The cross on which Jesus died has become the
identifying mark of us Christians. B: What does this mean? Cross Meditation
with the Body Everyone
moves apart a little so that everyone has space to spread their arms to form
a cross with their body. I stand
upright and spread my arms so that my body forms a cross. I feel the vertical
line of my body from my head over my spine to my feet and the horizontal line
from my chest, where my heart is, to my outstretched arms and hands. Now I
feel my feet, feeling the firm hold they find on the ground. Through my feet
and the ground, I feel connected to the entire Earth, which produces all life
and provides living space for all and nourishes all. I am
"grounded," I belong to the great community of life on Mother
Earth. Now I
feel my body, which points upwards like a pillar toward the sky. The
"above," the sky, is a symbol of the divine. With my head, with my
senses, I perceive that God is looking at me with love. He says YES to me and
gives me inner support and deep self-confidence. He trusts me to handle the
gift of my life responsibly and to treat well my fellow human beings and
everything He has created. Now I
feel towards the horizontal line of my body: towards my chest with my heart
and towards my outstretched arms and hands. My hands are open, not closed,
not fists. Through my outstretched hands, I know I am connected to all people
around the world. Open hands allow us to reach out to one another, to connect
with others, to help and wave to others. Open hands can give and receive
gifts. Open hands are a sign of an open heart, of a heart that feels
compassion for the fate of others and is ready to offer sympathy and comfort. The cross of Jesus connects
heaven and earth and people worldwide as sisters and brothers. Likewise, as a
Christian, I am connected to the earth and to heaven. I want to respect
people of all nations and religions as children of God, with whom I want to learn
to treat each other fairly, honestly and helpfully. Prayer: Jesus, help us to feel that God looks with
love on each of us, but also on those we do not like. Help us to know that we
are connected to the great community of people, animals and plants on our
earth and to treat each other well. Let the sign of the cross, which was
imprinted on us at our baptism, become a blessing through us for this often
so sorrowful world. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 13th Station The body of Jesus is taken
down from the cross Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: When Mary gave birth to Jesus, she and her
husband brought the little child to the temple in Jerusalem to pray for him. B: Yes, Jesus accused the powerful and made the
little people courageous and strong inside. Now the rulers have succeeded in
killing him because of this. Mary cannot understand why all this has
happened. Her pain is so great that she has no words. Prayer:
Jesus,
help us that we too may protect the weak against those who oppress and take
advantage of them. Let us also fight for justice and consideration among
brothers and sisters, comrades and friends. And we
ask you to comfort the mothers who cry because a child has died because of an
illness or an accident. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. 14th Station Jesus
is laid in the tomb Leader: What do we see in the picture?
The children tell. A: Every human being must die once. All life
originated from the earth, and the earth takes all living beings - including
humans - back to itself after their death. B: But God placed the secret of love and
eternity in the earth. A: If, after death, we see everything in the new
light that God gives us, we will understand each other much better and be
able to respect and love everyone. And we will be more deeply connected with
all the beings that God has created, with the whole of creation, than ever
before and we will be able to rejoice with everyone - without fear or
suffering. B: Jesus gave people this knowledge after his
death. They felt and experienced that he and the power of his love were not
dead and gone. Prayer:
Jesus, help us that we too
may become loving and just people. Let us recognize that the earth and each
of us carries within us the secret of divine love and eternity. Let us be
good and caring stewards of our earth. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. Song A
poster with a picture of the globe is held by two children. Everyone sings
the song together: “God loves this world”, 1st and 6th verse Or: The leader holds out a handful of
earth in a bowl to the children. Everyone sings the 1st and 3rd verses of the
song “A handful of earth” (Songbooks). Conclusion: A: Anyone who loves people like Jesus and works
for justice in the world must expect rejection and often even hatred from
those who are unjust, from those who oppress and exploit the weaker. B: And when he looks at the cross of Jesus, he
knows that he must expect resistance and disadvantages if he takes the side
of the disadvantaged and the weak. A: God looks at each of us with loving eyes and
wants us to feel that everyone is unique, important and valuable. Child: Jesus, you look with love on each
one of us. All:
Let us become just and helpful people. Appendix Prayer before the Cross Jesus Christ, self-righteous people have brought you to the cross. But you did not curse your enemies, but you prayed for them. You believed in love and justice until death. Even the cruelty of the people could not destroy your faith. In your resurrection we recognize: Whoever carries God's love within them and gives it to others, cannot be held by death. Your love was stronger than the hatred of men, stronger than death and transience. When I look at the cross, then let me feel that you are also close to me now. Let me feel that you look at me with love and that in your eyes I am precious, important and lovable, even if I am sometimes not understood by those around me or if I've done something wrong or when there is no love in me, but only anger and dissatisfaction. Information
for the leader of the The crucifixion of Jesus in its redemptive effect The Crucified Jesus shows how cruel, how unjust, how insensitive and
hurtful we humans can be. Some reacted out of their
fear of the loss of power and positions of authority, the
others wanted to remove an unwelcome critic, others simply let him
down or abandoned him, they denounced their solidarity and friendship. And
some of his followers took flight in panic, and hid
themselves. The person who is slain and killed on the cross shows us like in
a mirror what we are capable of doing when we become
deeply afraid. For it is fear
that makes many people callous and hard, some even ruthless and cruel. But we see by looking at the crucified not only the evil effects of
our human actions, we also see the man who, in this
terrible situation, prays for his tormentors: "Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." Jesus does not curse people, he does not
curse the world in which it is so unjust and full of torment. From the cross comes a message of mercy and love that human beings
suffer in sinfulness and yet (he) does not discard us. Anyone who looks at
the cross this way knows that one is radically taken seriously in one’s human
limitations and guiltiness, but also in one’s "loving worthiness",
which is seen from the perspective of God. This is the
experience of salvation: To be deeply
understood and recognized, and to recognize oneself deeply and yet to be
acknowledged by God and held in His love. The friends of Jesus make the second experience of salvation through
the resurrection after such a death: the disciples experience God's action as
a confirmation of the truth and validity of the life of Jesus. Now they know who
is so boundlessly loving life and men, who so fearlessly and bravely also
opposes the powerful in religion and society for the incapacitated, the
deprived, the oppressed, the excluded and the despised, in him is God’s
Spirit alive, who lives in God and God lives in him, who gets an inner
strength and a self-consciousness, so that he cannot be suppressed by the
fearful and intimidating methods of the powerful and made small, he can with
himself and his history be one and consistently stand to what he has
recognized and lived as true and correct. He will discover
a freedom within himself as felt by Jesus, the “free man". He will be
saved from the fear of being worth nothing, and he will be saved from the
fear that the powerful in religion and society try
to awaken in him to maintain their rule. Thus, this experience of salvation has a dimension in the depths of
self-perception and self-sufficiency of people, and it has a dimension in its
social and political life. |
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