For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed men for God …….
For you were rejected, and through that rejection
You ransomed men for God,
Lord have mercy.
For you were betrayed, and by that betrayal
You ransomed men for God,
Christ have Mercy.
For you were mocked, and by that mockery
You ransomed men for God,
Dear Lord have mercy.
For you were scourged, and by that brutality
You ransomed me for God,
Dear Lord have mercy.
For you were clothed in purple and insulted
And by those insults you ransomed men for God,
Christ have mercy.
For you were crowned, not with gold, but thorns.
And with that crown you ransomed men for God.
Dear Lord have mercy.
For you were stripped and spat upon,
And by your humiliation you redeemed me for God.
Christ have mercy.
You stood alone and heard the cry of 'Crucify',
And by that cry you have redeemed men for God,
Lord have mercy.
For you were abandoned and in your abandonment
You redeemed me for God.
Lord have mercy.
You embraced the wood of your cross,
Embracing the death that you would die
To ransom men for God.
Dear Lord have mercy.
In blood and dirt from the road and pain
You met your Mother.
In that shared pain you ransomed men for God.
Christ have mercy.
You had compassion on the thief who sought your peace,
Your compassion is the ransom of all men for God.
Christ have mercy.
I drank water to refresh my mouth.
They gave you vinegar to drink.
You drank the searing bitterness of sin
And by your thirst you ransomed men for God.
You died . . . as all men die . . . alone.
And by your loneliness you ransomed men for God.
Dear Lord have mercy.
How long those hours, so dark, until your 'hour' was done.
But through the darkness you redeemed us all.#
Christ obedient,
Christ victorious,
Christ wounded,
Christ our brother,
Offered to our Father.
Sheila Billingsley, March 2022
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