Friday, March 27, 2026
The Ninth Station of the Cross
Jesus Falls for the Third Time
It seems we keep falling.
We long to be known and loved as we are, yet we fall into hiding,
placing masks over our true faces.
We yearn for community, yet we fall into division.
We say we seek peace, yet find ourselves at war.
Like Jesus, we sometimes feel the heavy weight of the crosses we carry.
We keep falling.
But falling isn't failure.
Jesus falls not because he has failed—
but because he chooses to enter fully into the places where we fall.
Into our hubris, self-reliance, need for certainty
Into our weakness, fear, and doubt
Into the dust and dryness of our repeated stumbling.
When we fall we easily lose heart.
How quickly we grow weary of rising again.
Yet even here, Christ does not turn away.
He falls to the ground we know so well
and rises again—
It’s an invitation. Take up your cross and follow me.
Because falling is not the end of the story.