We know that powerful political and economic forces, in a macabre mirroring of Jesus' journey to the cross, are dealing death in our world by war and by working to the benefit of a privileged few while millions of people live and die in a debt and in dire poverty. We touch, we feel, we live the pain of these many excluded ones and we see the brokenness of the earth. Because we are a global church we are compelled to be in solidarity, to respond. We have witnessed the horror of war and can taste the frustration of unending drudgery.

We know that the institutional roots of this suffering are painfully close to home - in government, in transnational corporations, in international financial institutions, in the set of transnational agreements that give shape to economic activity around the world, and even in our own religious institutions.

To some of these institutions - often staffed by dedicated and well-intentioned individuals - we come in prayer to name our common guilt, to ask in public for pardon, to call for repentance and transformation.

But also present in our community are signs of hope - those organizations and institutions that nurture solidarity and action for justice. To some of them we come as well - to pray for courage and strength on the journey toward a better world.

All: By this action we are donning the sackcloth of repentance,
acknowledging our own complicity
calling for justice in the global economy and an end to war.

We are seeking justice, mourning suffering, repairing community.
We are claiming hope; recreating the world . . .praying for peace
and the fullness of life for all of creation. Amen.

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FIRSTSTATION: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

Suppression of the image of God/Lack of authentic democracy
[Washington institution: Congress Local institution: e.g. federal building, state legislature, city hall]

Left: By condemning Jesus Christ to death, the powers of Jesus’ day believed they could suppress the image of God. Today, powerful interests still attempt to suppress the image of God in humanity. They seek to exclude ordinary people -- made in God’s image -- from participating in the decisions that affect their lives. They enact unjust laws that lay heavy burdens on the backs of the people (Matt. 23:4).

Yet, in the mystery of redemption, the cross of Christ has restored and exalted the divine image in humanity, returning dignity and power to ordinary people. God’s liberating reign restores human beings to their proper place as stewards of the governing order (Luke 1: 51-53; 4:18-19; 6:20-26)

Right: In our local communities and throughout the world, ordinary people -- especially those who are impoverished and vulnerable -- carry a cross of exclusion and marginalization. They are oppressed by the undemocratic influence of wealth and power.

• L: We observe the ideology of tax and spending cuts that undermine the common good;
• R: We allow government to give extra money to people who can afford both summer and winter houses, while cutting money that would help a person who has no home;
• L: We accept laws that protect corporate profits, but not workers’ wages;
• R: We observe legislation that punishes people for being poor and unskilled, while providing for corporate welfare instead of education and economic development;
  
• L: We permit our nation to increase its military budget, while ignoring our brothers and sisters around the world who suffer from poverty and disease.

ALL: We long to see the face of God who lives.

Right: We call for profound changes: Laws must not harm the majority of people in the United States and impoverished countries. Public legislation must empower ordinary people throughout the world through fair and honest economic policies. Laws must help ensure that corporations and other economic institutions exist to serve human beings and the needs of the human community, rather than to be served by them. This is the hope – and the measure – of genuine democracy.

Leader: God, we confess that we often fail to fully respect and appreciate Your image in all persons. We lament that so many people are excluded from genuine democracy and burdened with the cross of unjust laws. We pray that all people everywhere be able to participate in shaping their own lives and a common future according to Your will. May legislators find a more hopeful vision of politics that respects human dignity and responds to the needs of people everywhere.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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SECOND STATION: JESUS BEARS THE CROSS

Exploitation of Labor/Sweatshops
[Washington institution: Department of Labor
Local institution: local store with unfair wage practices]

Scripture: (leader) "Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the

harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." (James 5:4).

Left: Jesus bore the cross in order to bring an end to exploitative relationships. He lived as a servant, taught, died and was raised in order to unite people in love and justice.

Yet working people in the global South bear a heavy cross of oppression. They are forced to work long hours for inadequate pay. They endure unsafe and unsanitary working conditions that lead to appalling accidents and early death. They face discrimination, harassment and violence. And they can experience arrest and even torture for attempting to form trade unions.

Right: In the United States inequality has widened and economic insecurity has increased for many working people. Sweatshop labor has returned to U.S. industry, and itinerant farm workers and below-minimum wage piece workers struggle to survive. Forced to compete with one another, U.S. workers and workers in the global South are both locked into a "race to the bottom."

Left: Yet transnational corporations are increasing their profits and market share. They pay inordinate salaries to their executives and undermine wages and working conditions. Workers overseas are paid mere pennies a day. As consumers looking for inexpensive products we ourselves may seem to benefit from this exploitation of our sisters and brothers, but all of us are harmed by injustice.

Right: Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, as well as the New Testament writers, condemn the affluent for greedy accumulation at the expense of the poor (Isa. 5:8; James 5:1-6) and for exploiting laborers (Jer. 22:13; James 5:4). As people of faith we too must insist prophetically that the products we purchase not come to us from the hands of coerced and degraded workers.

Leader: God of justice, revealed in a carpenter's son, we pray today for all who labor and for all who are charged with protecting their dignity. Forgive us, God, for our own unfair treatment of others and for benefiting from the oppression of others. We seek a renewed commitment -- in our government and among ourselves and our neighbors -- to the rights of workers and the protection of international labor standards everywhere.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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THIRD STATION: JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Idolatry of Money (Consumerism and Financial Markets)
[Washington institution: e.g. Dept. of Commerce
Local institution: e.g. a bank]

Scripture: (leader) “No one can serve two masters; you will either hate one master and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money.” (Luke 16:13).

Left: Jesus fell on his way to the Cross as he led human beings from the seductive and destructive powers of evil. Among them is the lure of consumerism (Luke 16:1-13). The global financial system is organized to benefit powerful governments, corporations, individuals and institutions. It empowers them to increase their wealth and secure their position of domination over the weaker members of the human family. It places a priority on the accumulation of wealth over the well being of people.

Right: Financial speculation has brought about the collapse of national economies, from Mexico to Brazil to East Asia. Every day, some 2.5 trillion dollars moves around the world, and each year there is less control of financial capital. Free trade agreements seek to further limit such control. More recently, in the case of Argentina, the flight of financial capital reduced the economy to a shambles. Old people lost their pensions, the middle class lost their bank accounts, and the people were reduced to bartering in order to survive.

Left: Former labor leader and now President of Brazil, Luis Ignacio Silva (Lula) spoke of the cumulative effect of these global economic policies as a war against the poor: “The Third World War has already started – it is a silent war, and not for that reason any less sinister. This war is tearing down practically all the Third World. Instead of soldiers dying, there are children dying; instead of millions of wounded, there are millions of unemployed; instead of the destruction of bridges, there is a tearing down of factories, schools, hospitals and entire economies.”

Right: The demands of global financial interests undermine labor standards, environmental protection, social spending, consumer protection and tax laws. More and more people are affected by unemployment, poverty and malnutrition. Globalized greed directs resources away from basic human needs like education and health.

All: We ourselves -- not being content with having adequate “food and clothing” (1 Tim 6:8) -- demand that the economy meet our escalating desires for more. Yet these decisions can mean tremendous suffering for ordinary people and their local communities.

Leader: O God, we pray today for new global relationships that are more accountable to Your demand for justice. We mourn the especially heavy burden of discrimination and injustice that falls on the poor throughout the world. We pray that the world’s money serve the common good, rather than undermining it. And we confess our own desire for more than we need, and we ask you to free us from the idolatry of greed.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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FOURTH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER

Degradation of Family Life
[Washington institution: Dept of Health and Human Services
Local institution: local agency linked to cuts in federal and state family services or welfare programs]

Scripture:Leader For God executes justice for the fatherless and the widow” (Deut. 10:17-18).

Left: Jesus met his mother on his way to die on the cross to bring justice and liberation to widows and orphans, the vulnerable and impoverished.

Global economic injustice is destroying families and creating widows and orphans. Millions of workers are forced to search for jobs far away from their families and communities. Multitudes of girls and women are snarled into the globalized sex trade.

Right: Family farmers in the global South are forced off their farms because subsidized products from wealthy countries undercut local prices; trade agreements lower barriers to agricultural imports; and IMF-designed policies require their governments’ to end public credit and technical assistance.

In the United States, many families live in fear of plant closings and layoffs, as companies seek ever lower-wage workers. Family farmers can no longer survive. Insecurity, stress, abuse, divorce, delinquency and crime grow.

Left: The social costs of globalization are disproportionately borne by women and children. Too often uncounted among the costs of globalization are the breakdown of families and communities.

Right: Global economic and trade policies can and must be reshaped so as to protect and nurture ordinary families and local communities.

Leader: O God, we confess our own hard-heartedness toward the widows and orphans of the world. We mourn the especially heavy burden of discrimination and injustice that falls on Your daughters and their children. We pray for economic and trade policies that strengthen vulnerable families rather than destroying them.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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FIFTH STATION: JESUS IS HELPED BY SIMON

Degradation of Community Life/Promotion of Community Life
[Washington institution: e.g. a national community or civic organization, or INS
Local institution: local community or civic organization, or INS office]

Scripture: (leader) For God . . . loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

Left: Simon, a Cyrene, was forced by the soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross. Like many immigrants and other people of color in the United States today, Simon was forced to share the burden of the cross of Jesus. His forced labor and unjust burden brings him into a closer identification with Jesus’ own cross and suffering.

Yet out of this unjust suffering, in the mystery of redemption, God has brought together those called “alien” and those called “native” into one new humanity in Christ, “reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death the hostility” (Eph. 2:11:22).

Right: Today, immigrant workers and other people of color, like the poor in Latin America, Africa and Asia, disproportionately bear the cross of a globalized economy. They are paid the lowest wages and work the longest hours. Those who are not so lucky to find employment – even under such harsh conditions - are simply excluded from the global economy to form part of a growing and permanent underclass.

Left: In the United States, 35 million people live in poverty – 12 per cent of the population – and for African Americas and Latino immigrants, the numbers are double. One in every three black or Latino children in the United States live in poverty. Yet without the labor of immigrant workers and impoverished people throughout the global South, there would be no fruits for people in the affluent countries to enjoy.

Immigrants and communities of color also suffer the heaviest burden of an economy that gives tax breaks to the wealthy and disinvests in social services in poor communities, privatizing health care and education, and providing less and less affordable housing. Yet these communities of the marginalized have worked hard to develop our land, deepened our history of social movements for justice and contributed rich and diverse cultures to our common life.

Leader: O God, this action of Simon was small in itself, and it was not voluntary; yet, it gave Jesus some relief in his suffering. Work is a means by which we support our families and build just and sustainable communities. Our work, and the work of immigrant workers and other impoverished people of color, plays a role in lessening the suffering of the others. We pray for an end to such oppression and to destructive, self-serving economies. We pray for a new vision of community and peace with justice. We pray for a future of true human solidarity and hope.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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SIXTH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

Churches/Solidarity with the Poor
[Washington institution: church known for its peace and justice witness
Local institution: church known for its peace and justice witness]

Scripture: (leader) Blessed are you who are poor, yours is the reign of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, you shall be satisfied..” (Luke 6: 20-21)

Left: Veronica risked accompanying Jesus as he struggled toward Calvary. Her simple, loving gesture models for us the virtue of solidarity, a virtue essential to faithful discipleship in a broken world.

Right: Every year 12 million children die as a result of hunger and poverty-related diseases. 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 per day. The annual income of the richest 1 percent of the world's people is roughly equivalent to that of the poorest 57 percent.

Left: Many churches and Christian communities respond generously to the needs of the poor, providing food, shelter, health care, education and love to those in need. But Veronica’s action invites us to do more: to join those who are impoverished as they struggle to claim the life of dignity that is rightfully theirs.

Right: To move from pity to love, charity to justice, from one poor person to the many … To identify and challenge the unjust social, economic and political structures that perpetuate poverty.

All: We have often failed to acknowledge the systemic and structural injustices that perpetuate poverty. Solidarity requires that we see with new eyes the reality of our world and give witness with those who are impoverished to the need for transformation. We ask you, O God, for vision and courage to advocate for justice in the global economy.

Leader: God, help us move step by step from our positions of privilege into greater solidarity with impoverished people and with Jesus who accompanied them on the Way of the Cross. From our churches and soup kitchens and shelters, may we learn to become advocates for justice, asking why so many in our world live in misery while a few have so much more than they need.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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SEVENTH STATION: JESUS FALLS A SECOND TIME

Debt Bondage (Treasury Department)
[Washington institution: U.S. Dept. of Treasury
Local institution: e.g. local bank known for predatory lending practices]

Scripture: (leader) “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12).

Left: Jesus fell a second time on his way to Calvary to liberate human beings from all poverty, oppression, sin and captivity (Luke 4:18-19). As we hope to receive God’s liberation for ourselves, we must work to set others free from every oppressive burden (Matt. 6:14-15).

Right: Over a billion people in the impoverished world still suffer under a crushing burden of international debt and oppressive “structural adjustment” policies. These destructive conditions for debt relief devastate communities throughout the world.

Left: They also mirror U.S. domestic policies cutting vital public programs and reducing or privatizing essential services such as health, water, and education.

Right: In response to the Jubilee 2000 campaign, some countries did receive some debt relief, and it has had important results. School enrollment in Uganda has nearly tripled and a half million children in Mozambique have been vaccinated from killer diseases.

Left: Yet much more needs to be done. In particular, debt cancellation must be complete and reach all impoverished countries. In countries where poverty is overwhelming any debt payments are a deadly diversion from critical social needs. Nor should debt cancellation be conditioned by economic policy requirements that harm people who are living in poverty.

Right: The AIDS pandemic provides a new urgency as thousands of lives are lost daily. Experts estimate that it will take at a minimum $10 billion annually to fight AIDS just in Africa alone. Meanwhile Africa pays $15 billion each year in debt service. Immediate debt cancellation to free up resources to fight AIDS and poverty is a moral imperative.

All: We raise our voices for a fresh start through a definitive debt cancellation that responds to God’s good news. This is the continuing call of the worldwide Jubilee movement. We call for foreign and economic policies that choose life, not debt.

Leader: O God, in Jesus Christ you have forgiven our sins, canceling our debts. Yet we are not always quick to forgive others and work with them for liberation from every injustice. We pray that the burden of economic debt no longer be carried by the poorest people of the world. We ask that the governments of the world recognize that impoverished countries do not owe any debt to the wealthy countries that have exploited them. We pray for an end to unjust conditions for debt cancellation.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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EIGHTH STATION: JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

The Double Burden of Economic Injustice on Women
[Washington institution: Homelessness in Lafayette Park
Local institution: e.g. local women’s shelter]

Scripture: Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children." (Luke 23:28).

Left: Jesus spoke to the women of Jerusalem who wept as they saw him being taken to his death. Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead, restoring to women their dignity, equality and power as daughters of God created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27, Gal. 3:28).

Yet, women today carry an oppressive cross of inequality. As the number of people living in poverty grows, the number of women among them grows disproportionately. Because of discrimination it is women who bear the greatest cost of the burden of poverty.

Right: When impoverished countries seek dollars to pay debts they often court multinational corporations with promises of low taxes, low wages and weak labor standards. It is most often women who are employed in the difficult and sometimes dangerous work in low wage assembly plants. Global accumulation has relied heavily on the work of women, paid and unpaid.

When government spending and public services are cut, it is women's unpaid labor that enables families and communities to survive. As it is most often women who sustain families and communities, caring for children, ill family members, and the elderly.

Left: In the United States, as in the global South, women continue to bear a cross of domestic violence, workplace inequality and under-representation in government institutions.

Since women carry a disproportionate share of the burden of poverty, they often have the greatest potential to see things differently and challenge the status quo. Women in poverty, struggling to sustain lives, cultures, families and communities can help us look more critically at ourselves, question our values and transform our actions.

Leader: Let us pray: O God, we ask forgiveness for not heeding the voices of our sisters around the world. We pray for governments to represent the just demands of ordinary people, especially those oppressed because of gender or race. We pray for an economy at home and abroad that exists to serve people, families and communities. We pray that all may be heard and that the justice and mercy of God shall govern humanity and all of God's creation.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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NINTH STATION: JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME

Violence (Department of Defense/Homeland Security)
[Washington institution: e.g. White House or National Security Council
Local institution: federal building, military base or army reserve]

Scripture: (leader) “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One . . . or consult God!” (Isa. 31:1).

Left: Christ fell a third time, following the way of the cross in order to heal broken relationships, end violence and cause the nations to “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isa. 2:4).

Right: Yet people living in poverty throughout the world are daily crucified by violent conflicts. These are often caused by the wealthy and powerful as they seek to protect and acquire economic resources. As the book of James tells us: “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. You covet something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts” (James 4:1-2).

Right: We see this violent craving writ large where U.S. foreign and economic policy identify U.S. interests with the interests of corporations abroad, regardless of the needs and aspirations of the peoples of the world. Under the regime of “free market” economic globalization, local economies have been rendered incapable of meeting the needs of their own people, but are restructured to serve the economies of distant powers.

Left: To preserve and expand economic power, U.S. policy has supported – and where necessary installed by force -- violent regimes that govern by brute force, torture and terror.

Right: The result is vast corporate profits, massive impoverishment, cultural disintegration and natural devastation. The hopelessness thus engendered contributes to cycles of violence in the global South, hatred of the U.S. government and terrorist attacks against the United States. In this way our common insecurity escalates – for ourselves and all people.

Left: Here in the U.S., our budget resources are misspent to maintain and wield a colossal military machine and provide an illusory “homeland security.” Instead, resources should be directed toward the urgent needs of our people and communities.

Leader: O God, we confess that we too often attempt to enforce our will through the violence of angry words and selfish acts. On a larger scale, violence and injustice are destroying Your daughters and sons. We pray that the governing authorities will help renew our nation and the world by repenting of violence. We pray for military spending to be cut. We ask that the resources saved be used to help bring our nation and the world an economic order that is just and sustainable without the intervention of violence.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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TENTH STATION: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS CLOTHES

Lies and Deceit in Public Policy / Unmasking the Power of the Media
[Washington institution: e.g. Media headquarters
Local institution: local media outlet]

Scripture: (leader) "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. (John 8:32).

Left: Although Jesus was stripped of his clothes, the rulers of this world were stripped of their legitimacy and ultimate power. The cross of Christ unmasked falsehood and deceit, “disarm[ing] the rulers and authorities and ma[king] a public example of them” (Col. 2:15). In the cross, the dominant powers of this world, disguised by cloaks of benevolence and respectability, are shown to oppose the work of God. Christ’s resurrection proclaims the victory of life over death, of justice over unrighteousness.

Right: Yet the corporate-controlled media often covers-up the reality of poverty and war. It fails to reveal the institutions responsible for condemning a majority of the world’s people to poverty and insecurity. The media usually presents a picture of the world that reflects the views of those who dominate the world’s political, social and economic institutions.

And we are all guilty of turning our face from the crucified ones and ignoring their human dignity and basic needs.

Left: Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit theologian from El Salvador, speaks of four commandments being violated by a global economic order that transfers wealth from the poor to the rich. The first commandment - “Thou shalt not steal” – is broken. When the poor organize and protest, they are violently repressed. A second commandment is broken: “Thou shalt not kill.” In order to defend that violence, the media ignores or lies about it. This violates a third commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” And finally, the name of God is invoked and a fourth commandment is broken: “Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain.”

Leader: We confess that we too try to hide the truth and hide from the truth. We see this happening on a global scale as wealthy nations ignore the plight of the poor crushed by poverty, war, AIDS and starvation. We pray, today, to see the truth about our world; we pray for the courage to speak truth to power; and we pray that the truth will set us free to live justly.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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ELEVENTH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

Trade Injustice and the Denial of Social and Economic Human Rights
[Washington institution: e.g. USTR
Local institution: e.g. Chamber of Commerce]

Scripture: (leader) "When human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, when one's case is subverted -- does not the Lord see it?" (Lamentations 3:35-6).

Left: Jesus Christ was unjustly tortured and killed by the powers and authorities of his day. He identified with all whose human rights are denied. In the mystery of redemption, the nails of his oppression become the linchpins of a just new order.

Unjust trade policies and relationships deny basic human rights. The U.S. government and other wealthy countries often bully low-income countries -- desperate for any opening to affluent markets -- into accepting trade agreements that can harm their poor majorities.

Right: U.S. trade negotiators push hard for trade rules that provide market access for U.S. products, services and corporations, but destroy local industries and rural livelihoods. They also require impoverished countries to limit their right to make use of generic medications.

Unfair trade rules often destroy jobs in both developing countries and in the United States. The U.S. farm subsidy system serves giant agribusiness traders, while undermining family farmers both here and abroad.

Left: Any trading system should serve the common good and benefit ordinary people, especially people struggling against poverty. It should preserve natural resources, be democratically accountable and respect human rights. The right of each person, as a bearer of God's image, to participate in decisions that shape society is especially sacred.

It is a sign of hope that in 2003 at the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun and the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations in Miami, governments of many developing countries stood up the United States and other affluent countries and refused to submit to their unfair demands.

Right: Just and fair trade relations among nations can help us recognize our need for each other and inhibit recourse to war. Because of the redemptive possibilities present in the world through Christ, we can work with hope to bring about trade rules and practices that help rather than harm humanity.

Leader: We confess that we too try to dominate others and violate their human dignity. We pray today for the global trading system to become open to popular participation and democratic accountability. We pray for agreements that support food security, sustainable agriculture, the right to life-saving medications, and in which human rights and God’s creation are central.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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TWELFTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

Market Ideology/Destruction of Moral Values
[Washington institution: e.g. Vice President’s office
Local institution: e.g. Chamber of Commerce]

Scripture: (leader) Seek first the Reign of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things [your basic material needs] will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

Left: Jesus Christ chose death on the cross in order that "the just requirement of the [moral] law might be fulfilled in us" (Rom. 8:4). He gave his life on Calvary to restore a right relationship with God and with others. In the mystery of redemption, he died in order to create a human community in which people care for each other and for all God's creation, a community where moral commitment and social justice flourish.

Right: Today, however, government and corporate leaders have united to promote the market as the highest social value. Powerful economic actors seek to enshrine materialism, individualism, unrestrained consumption – and the military violence required to protect such values.

Left: The market has expanded to intrude in the familial, communal, compassionate spaces of life. Issues and relationships that were once discussed in terms of morality, mutual responsibility and democratic accountability are more and more viewed as subject only to the laws of the market. Families and communities are subverted. Indeed, the market has usurped the place of the sacred and become the idol that stands at the center of human society.

While entire societies and peoples are being overhauled to fit into this ideology of the market-place, ordinary people throughout the world are being stretched on a cross of growing insecurity, inequality and poverty.

Right: Yet the nature of the economic system is fundamentally a moral issue. The economy can and should exist to serve the whole development of the human person in the image of God. It is intended by God to be a servant, not the master. Called by Jesus to be salt and light, we seek a renewal of moral order in society.

Leader: O God, we confess that we, too, fail to seek your reign and justice above all things, trusting in you for our daily needs. Remind us that we are called first to relationships of mutual care and responsibility. Only secondarily do we serve as workers, owners, managers, producers and consumers. Help us place authentic moral values above the demands of the market and work to subject the economy to the principles of justice for all.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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THIRTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS

Corporate Rule/Domination of Society
[Washington institution: e.g. TNC corporate headquarters
Local institution: e.g. local franchise of a global retailer or TNC]

Scripture: (leader) “Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until everything belongs to them and they are the sole inhabitants of the land!” (Isaiah 5:8).

Left: Jesus died and was buried in order to usher in an “upside-down kingdom,” where the “first will be last and the last first” (Mark 10:31). Jesus brings a new order in which domination is ended and people who have been oppressed and marginalized are empowered and honored (Luke 1:51-53).

Transnational corporations, in every industry sector, are spiritual principalities that use their power to influence governments and international institutions, like the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, to support their interests. These interests often undermine the livelihood of people who must bear the cross of low wages and unemployment. The environment and the social fabric of local communities are often destroyed.

Right: Corporate objectives have become detached from authentic national interest and the human community’s sense of moral order and well-being.

Yet the gospel gives us hope that public policies will be crafted that put people first. Corporations can be regulated to benefit society, respect diverse cultures, and preserve God’s natural creation.

Leader: God, we confess that we ourselves often try to dominate others. We often failed to live as servants. Help us to follow more closely the example you gave in your life and in your death. Help us to fashion economic relationships that respond to the real needs of human communities and the earth. Help us to rein in corporations that trample the poor and despoil the earth, so that they, too, may be servants of the common good.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS PLACED IN THE TOMB

Destruction of the Human Family/Destruction of God’s Creation
[Washington institution: World Bank and International Monetary Fund)
Local institution: ]

Scripture: (leader) Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21).

Left: Jesus was laid in the tomb after giving his life to free all of creation from bondage to the effects of sin.

Right: Created by God as “very good” (Gen. 1:31), the whole community of life has borne the cross of human sin and misuse. Subject to the control of the world’s most powerful governments, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been dominant in shaping the model of economic development in the global South. Under this model, poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor have increased in many places, while environmental degradation has worsened.

Left: Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden, light” (Matt. 11:30), but the yoke of World Bank and IMF policies -- imposed on low-income countries in the name of free markets and free trade -- have been an intolerable burden for too many people and for the earth.

Right: The IMF and the World Bank have said that economic reform measures will be subordinated to the goal of poverty reduction. Yet there is no indication that this has begun to occur, nor that it is really intended. It is time for the IMF, the World Bank and other international institutions to acknowledge their accountability to the demands of love and justice. The welfare of the poorest person and the integrity of creation should be the standard by which their policies are judged.

Leader: O God, we confess our indifference to massive destruction of human life and our failure to protect the integrity of creation. We have been wasteful and have benefited from economic policies that oppress others. We pray for a sustainable, people-centered development that meets the needs of the impoverished majority of humanity and allows the creation to survive and flourish.

All: We pray for the coming of the New Creation; we believe that Another World is Possible.

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IFTEENTH STATION: THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

(Signs and Seeds of Hope/Another World Is Possible)

Scripture: (leader) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among human beings. God will dwell with them and be their God; and they will be God’s people.’ …. And the One who was seated on the throne said, ‘See I am making all things new.’ (Revelations 21:1-5).

Left: Mindful of our own complicity in and responsibility for the global crises of our times, but claiming the hope that is rooted in the Resurrection, we now reflect on our lives and choices, to claim our God-given power as individuals and as a community to effect meaningful change, to name the signs of Resurrection – Shalom - that we can see, even in our broken world.

Right: We have followed a Jesus who suffers in the flesh of impoverished and excluded peoples. We have walked with Him to places of power where decisions are made daily that determine who will survive and who will not, who will flourish and who will not.

[Pause for a moment to reflect in silence on our own lifestyle. Do you think about where the products you buy or use are made, by whom, under what condition? Is your lifestyle sustainable? Do you live at the expense of others?]

Leader: Response:
To our own greed . . . open our eyes.
To our habits of consumption . . . open our eyes.
To social systems and structures that oppress the poor . . . open our eyes.
To the roots of terrorism and war … open our eyes.

Let us pray: (leader) Loving God, open our eyes as well to signs of hope in our world. Help us to believe that better world is possible, and to act on that belief – personally, communally and institutionally.

[Pause for a moment to reflect in silence on signs of hope. After a short while, take turns naming some signs of hope out loud.]

All: Loving God who provides for all people at all times, we are frightened by signs of crisis, encouraged by signs of hope, compelled by the urgency of both. Thus, we commit ourselves to the works of repentance -- to reparation, redress, revaluing.

We commit ourselves to an ongoing journey -- a living faith, a sign of freedom, a mark of discipleship.

The contours of a better world that is peaceful and just are yet to be defined, but the invitation is clear and the need is great.

In the spirit of community, mindful of truth ever exceeding knowledge, we covenant to live in a manner explicitly informed by the Gospel we proclaim. Amen.