wordsout
words
from the cross
Order
for words
from the cross
A meditation for Good Friday
using seven
original
poems by Godfrey
Rust. Read the poems here.
The original event in which the poems were used in 2004 lasted an hour and had seven sections (one for each sentence), as follows:
1. A bible reading which includes the sentence
2.
A series of images shown on screen in silence
3. A poem
4. A piece of music
5. A fragment of a psalm for audience/congregation response
The
length of the meditation depends on the music chosen and the
length of
silence. A short talk may be included for each sentence to expand it
into a traditional
three-hour Good Friday vigil.
The readings, poems, music and responses below were used in St Johns' Church, Ealing on Good Friday 2011. Appropriate images and the congregation's Responses were projected on an overhead screen. The readings are from the New International Version of the Bible, modified slightly where necessary so that each stands alone in the structure of the meditation.
Introduction
Music
as people arriveBarber
Adagio for strings (7:05)
Welcome and opening prayer
First
sentence
Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and
gathered the
whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and
put a scarlet
robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on
his
head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and
mocked
him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spat on him, and took
the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had
mocked
him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they
led him
away to crucify him. As they were going out,
they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a
place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to
drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When
they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Above his
head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE
JEWS. Two criminals were crucified with him, one on his right
and one on his left. Jesus said, "Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Silence and images
Poem accomplices
Music Rentaro Taki: Kojo No Tsuki (moon over the ruined castle) (3:40)
Response (from Psalm 51)
Have
mercy on me O God
according to your unfailing love
wash away all my transgressions
and cleanse me from my sin
Second
sentence
One
of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the
Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him.
"Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same
sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds
deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Jesus
answered him,
"I tell you the truth,
today you will be with me in paradise."
Silence and images
Poem thief
Music Cantaloube: la delaissado (4:35)
Response
(from Psalm 65)
O
you who hear prayer
To you all men will come.
When we were overwhelmed,
You forgave our sins.
Third
sentence
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the
wife of
Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the
disciple
whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is
your son," and to the disciple, "Son, here is your mother."
From
that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Silence and images
Poem son
Music Taize: Stay with me watch and pray (3:56)
Response
(from Psalm 23)
Though I walk through the valley
I will fear no evil
For you are with me
Your rod and staff they comfort me
Fourth
sentence
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the
land. About
the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani?"--which means, "My
God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?"
Silence and images
Poem wager
Silence
Response (from
Psalm 22)
My
God I cry out by day
but you do not answer
O Lord be not far off
come quickly to help me
Fifth
sentence
Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be
fulfilled, Jesus said, "I
thirst."
Silence and images
Poem animal
Music Taize: ‘O Lord hear my prayer’ (3:34)
Response (from Psalm 22)
I
am
poured out like water
My heart is melted within me
My strength is dried up like a pot shard
You lay me in the dust of death
Sixth
sentence
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the
sponge
on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.
When he had
received the drink, Jesus said, "It
is finished."
Silence and images
Poem masterpiece
Music Handel: Surely He hath borne our griefs (2:30)
Response
(from Psalm 25)
Show
me your ways O Lord
Teach me your paths
Guide me in your truth
For you are God my Saviour
Seventh
sentence
At
the ninth hour the
curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud
voice,
"Father, into your hands
I commit my spirit."
Silence and images
Poem legacy
Music Debussy: Claire de Lune (4:51)
Response (from Psalm 31)
I trust in you, O Lord.
You are my God.
You are my refuge.
Into your hands I commit my spirit.
Music and powerpoint The Power of the Cross by Chris Tomlin
Congregation sing When I survey the wondrous cross
Closing prayer
Blessing and dismissal
Music as people leave Albinoni: ‘Misere Mei’