Good Friday- The Women Stayed
April 3, 2026
Presider: Juanita
Responder: Melissa
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1
Opening Reflection / Welcome
Melissa: Today we gather in the shadow of the cross.
We remember the suffering and death of Jesus, the one who proclaimed God's reign of justice, compassion, and peace.
When fear scattered many of the disciples, the women remained.
Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
Salome, Mary of Cloepas, and others whose names we do not know.
They did not run from suffering.
They stayed.
They witnessed.
They loved to the end.
Today we stand with them.
We remain at the cross of Christ present in our world—
in the suffering, the brokenhearted, the abandoned, and in all who long for justice and healing.
Song: Stay With Me (Taizé)
https://youtu.be/FCr2tn4yYKY?si=X1H-HVKh5sr6fh3J
God of faithful love,
On this solemn day we remember Jesus,
who walked the path of suffering out of love for the world.
When darkness fell and hope seemed lost, the women remained near the cross, bearing witness to courage, compassion, and unwavering love.
Give us their strength.
Help us remain present to the suffering of our world and faithful to the work of justice and peace.
May we walk the way of the cross
trusting that love is stronger than death. Amen
Lucia: Passages from Edwina Gately on the Women of Holy week
Lucia: Mary of Cloepas: "My name is Mary. No, not the one you're thinking of, not the mother of Jesus. And no, not that one, either.
Not Mary Magdalene. There's so many of us, Mary's and Miriam's around. It is easy to get confused. I am Mary.
The one who's married to Cloepas. I was there at the crucifixion, holding up Jesus' mother Mary, as a sword pierced her soul. Brutal inch, by brutal inch.
Gina: Mary Magdala: From that moment on, I, Mary Magdala followed Jesus , Me, and a number of other women, like Susanna and Joanna, and a handful of other Mary’s. So, I was there when they killed him. We women clinging together in horror as the unthinkable happened before our eyes. We watched where they buried him, hastily, because the sun had begun to dip below the horizon, announcing the start of the Sabbath day.
We sat together that day, barely moving or speaking. The moment had rendered us senseless. Then, as the sun dipped again, marking the end of the Sabbath, I sprang to life.
We had to do something. We'd agreed between us that we would return to anoint his body for burial.
Barbara: Mary the Mother of Jesus. “The last of the lessons, the most brutal of all, I learned that on that dark, gloomy hillside outside Jerusalem, I had gotten used to letting him go. I was used to him traveling around Galilee, and even into the Decapolis. I was used to him teaching large crowds, and calling them his mother and brothers and sisters. I was even used to the thought of him going to Jerusalem, when the leaders were paying for his blood.
I thought I had gotten used to letting him go.
But I had one final lesson to learn. The hardest one of all. I had to stand and watch while he died.
It's coming handy, this lesson, over the past 40 days since he rose again. In our joy, we wanted to wrap him in love, to keep him with us safely within reach, and never let him go again. After he came to me, Mary, the one from Magdala, saw him at the tomb.
She came to me later. Tears in her eyes, telling me how he had called her by name, and how she had known in that moment that it was him. But she said, he'd told her not to cling on to him.
I don't understand. She sobbed, her head on my lap. I just want him to know how much I love him.
I stroked her hair, pondering all the lessons I'd learned over the years. And then tried to explain. That loving him means allowing him to be who he is.
That love so often seeks to possess and to limit. But his love, real love is freeing, not possessing. Permitting, not limiting, that loving him doesn't give us rights over him.
Loving him doesn't let us say who he is, or what he came to be. Then one by one, the others came. And one by one, I tried to teach them my hard learned lesson.
I'd had years to learn it. But they had to learn it in a few days. It's just as well I did, really."
https://youtu.be/xoJN0owUoWA?si=YZey8Reho2S2r6LT
A reading according to the Gospel of John 19: 25-27 Margaret
Near the cross of Jesus stood those who loved him and would not abandon him:
his mother,
his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Cloepas,
and Mary of Magdala.
While many had fled in fear, these women remained—witnesses to suffering, faithful in love, standing in solidarity with Jesus even in the shadow of death.
When Jesus saw his mother standing there, and beside her the disciple whom he loved, he said to his mother,
“Woman, behold your child.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple welcomed her into their home.
The Salvation of the Good News. R: Praise be Jesus the Christ.
The Women Who Stayed
Homily Reflection on the Gospel: Juanita
At the foot of the cross, when violence had done its worst and hope seemed lost, they stayed.
John’s Gospel tells us that Mary, Mary of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala stood near Jesus.
Not running. Not hiding.
But standing.
They could not stop the suffering.
They could not change what was happening.
But they offered something powerful: their presence.
Today, our world is filled with crosses.
We see them in places torn by war, in families broken by violence, in those who suffer illness, grief, and fear.
And like the disciples, we may feel the urge to turn away.
But the women at the cross show us another way:
Love stays.
At the cross, Jesus forms community:
“Here is your son… here is your mother.”
Even in suffering, love creates connection. Even in death, love refuses to disappear.
And across our world today, there are many who are doing what these women did:
- those who sit with the dying
- those who walk with the suffering
- those who work for peace and justice
They may not be able to fix everything.
But they stay.
Good Friday does not ask us to solve suffering. It asks us:
Will we stay?
Will we stand with those who suffer?
Will we remain present, even when it is hard?
Because where love remains, God remains.
And where people stand together at the cross, even in sorrow,
the seeds of resurrection are already beginning.
Short Dialog: What brings you to the cross?
Presider: The Universal Prayers of God’s People
First Prayer: Jay Cee
Loving God, who troubles the waters - increase your holiness within us - so that we may receive the needed storms with more grace. Make our baptism and the covenant ever more true, our trust in You ever deeper, and our love, for each other and for all, ever more felt, within and among us. We rejoice, we remember, all who for the first time, are keeping watch at the waters of baptism.
Gracious God, once again open the Basin-Cross, the Waters of Baptism. Make ready the Hearts of these newly baptized. Bring them down into a death of their small self with The Christos. Anoint them in a like resurrection. Seal them in the covenant, and gather us together at the table of grace. R: We rejoice, we Remember
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Second Prayer: Pattie
The Jewish People, our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers in faith: Baruch Atah, Adoshem, Blessed are You, O God. You make us one with those who first received Your promise. Be the healer of our age-old wounds. Continue through us, Jew and Christian, Your work of creating our world and finding everything good.
R] We rejoice, we remember.
Fourth Prayer: Pat
We Rejoice. We Remember - All Women and Men who are called to Spiritual Leadership:
First and foremost -
Each and every Mother and Father
and all who do the work of being a Parent.
Heads of all Congregations, Leaders of Religious Communities, Pastors, Vicars, Presbyters, Deacons,
Spiritual Directors and All who exercise Spiritual Leadership.
O Sophia, Holy Spirit -
Give Your wisdom to All who form and guide us.
Increase their discernment and courage.
Make them faithful to Your treasure -
and by their gifts, increase Our Holiness.
R: We rejoice, we remember.
Fifth Prayer: Dave
We Rejoice. We Remember - All
who are called to the work of Charity and Mercy:those who care for the sick and dying, those who teach, those who give counsel, those who give support to far off lands, those who support their community out of their means, and those who do the hidden work of
prayer and fasting.
God of Feast, God of Famine, be the strength of those who labor for you. Give them perseverance. Be their cross, their treasure and rich fulfillment.
R: We rejoice, we remember
Sixth Prayer: Kathy N.
We Rejoice. We Remember - All
who are called to work for Peace and Justice: those who offer sanctuary to the refugee, those who shelter the homeless,
those who labor for human rights,
those who inspire through poetry and the arts those who work to end hunger.
Word of Fire and Thunder, You inspire Prophets to speak boldly, even risking their lives.
Grant to Our Prophets the same conviction.
Sustain them with Your Courage and Equanimity.
And by Your Grace, and through their efforts, heal us from war, hunger, division, despair,
and every injustice.
R: We rejoice, we remember.
and every creature, particle and cell of Creation. O Breath of Our Oneness - breathing from before time, You know the wounds in sea and air and earth.
To those who labor in healing Your One Creation give them a patient, steady and un-failing heart.
May their love for All Creation inspire us to seek to bind, to loose, and to restore every creature, particle and cell - for each and all are the fullness of Your Living Breath.
R: We rejoice, we remember.
Eighth Prayer: Nick
Finally, We Remember all in need;
All who are grieving, all who are alone,
the seriously ill, the dying - the aged,
all who live on our streets.
All who are marginalized in our Church
All who are marginalized in our Culture
All who are marginalized in our World.
O Fierce Mystery and Holy Compassion,
You know the agony of those alone,
in pain and removed from our sight.
Give us Your eyes so that we may see.
Give us Your heart so that We may respond.
R: We rejoice. We remember.
Veneration of the cross
“Today, as we come forward to venerate the cross, we do not come alone.
We bring with us all those who are carrying crosses in our world—
those suffering from violence, war, illness, and loss.
As we touch the cross, we remember: we are called not to turn away,
but to stay—
Take this time to venerate your own cross.
BEHOLD THE WOOD | Dan Schutte
https://youtu.be/Fnk4q11tQvM?si=DJz7rXiQybS_if7B
Presider: Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Communion: Cathy W.
Loving God,
as we receive Jesus in this sacred bread,
we remember the women who stayed with Jesus at the cross and John, when others fled in fear.
Give us their courage and faithful love,
that we may remain present to the suffering of our world and stand with Christ in all who are wounded.
Presider: Take time to receive Communion and thank God for all the blessings that you have received.
Jesus Remember Me:
https://youtu.be/-A967WZKNMg?si=1Z8gDuOJpks1uxf
Strengthen us to stay in compassion, hope, and love.
Amen.
Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus: Margaret
O Holy One, who is within, around and
among us, We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom comes. Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen
(Miriam Therese Winter)
Presider: Blessing– Good Friday
May the God of steadfast love
bless you as you leave this sacred moment.
May the courage of the women who stayed at the cross
remain in your hearts.
May you carry Christ’s compassion
into a wounded world.
And may the quiet of this holy day
hold you in hope until the light of resurrection dawns. Amen.
Go in reverent silence after the last song
https://youtu.be/V1sbTlGljGo?si=XjHlDpWV_nx5xzCX
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