Thirteenth Station: Jesus taken down

Reprinted with Permission by Christian Peacemaker Teams

Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the Cross
by Jean Fallon

We stand beside Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as she holds her dead son in her arms, washes His face with her tears and mourns His short life. With this vision still before our eyes, in Palestine, we stand beside two other mothers, one Israeli and one Palestinian…

Who had not heard of the assassination of eight students in the Jerusalem Yeshiva by a young man, crazed with the killings of women and children in the Gaza. This latest assassination in the Israeli/Palestinian cycle of violence had a great impact on our CPT Team in Hebron. It had an even greater impact when our CPT Delegation received word that one of the eight was the sixteen-year-old son of Rivka, a kindly Settler woman who has regularly invited the Delegations to her Settlement home. In her sorrow, she invited the Delegation to come sit Shiva with her instead of their regular visit… deeply touched we all promised to come. We had just received this news when a Palestinian woman appeared at our door to tell us that, because of the murders in Jerusalem, her home had been invaded by the Israeli Occupation Forces, torn apart by the soldiers and her four sons taken away by them. She had no idea to where they had been taken, or, whether or not they were still alive… We could only stand with her in her sorrow and pain… We were, at least, able to call those who could help her in her search. Another Palestinian friend took her to this group, but before leaving we all stood and prayed with her that these lost sons would be restored to her soon. Mary is close indeed to the mothers of all the women who mourn because of the endless cycle of violence brought to this land by those with the real power to execute or spare all their sons.