I remember
as a child how Good Friday seemed to be such a sad and yet engaging day. When I was very little, my younger brother
and I didn't go to church, but spent the three hours - from noon to three – with
Dad while Mom and the older brothers did.
But we were told to spend the time quietly praying. No playing, no radio or TV. When I was a bit older, we would go to the
Tre Ore (Three Hours) liturgy at church.
From noon to three, priests in the parish would talk about the Seven
Last Words of Jesus from all four Passion stories in the gospels. There was familiar Good Friday music: "Were you there, when they crucified my
Lord?" and "My People, (what have I done to you?") [Micah 6:3-5]
I remember
so vividly that, for that time on that day, it seemed that everything in our
world stopped (even many business and public schools were closed), and we threw
ourselves into experiencing the death of Jesus for us.
I saw Mel
Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ once, when it first came out. I had heard that it might strengthen my faith
to see it. Afterwards, I realized I didn’t
need to ‘see’ the brutality Jesus suffered for me in order to strengthen my
faith, but I do believe I did need to understand the brutality so that I (and
the rest of humanity) will not perpetuate that brutality on each other. In multiple places in the world today there
are people who are enduring the very same abuse and brutality that Jesus
endured. It’s the brutality that humans
have inflicted on each other throughout our history. It’s a brutality that’s not confined by
national boundaries. It’s not limited by
culture, religion, gender, or age. It’s the
total absence of love.
Jesus’
passion though was full of love, full of compassion. Compassion in its simplest definition means
to ‘suffer with’. Jesus suffered with all humanity, past,
present and future in His passion. It’s not the endurance of the suffering that
has saved us, rather it’s the love and forgiveness Jesus showed throughout His
life, seen explicitly in His last hours of life, that is the source of our
salvation. He was accepting of Judas’
betrayal. He was understanding of
Peter’s denials. He bowed to Pilate’s
rule. He shared His Mother’s
sorrow. He was thankful for Simon’s
help. He rewarded Veronica’s courage and
self-sacrifice. He consoled the women of
Jerusalem. He surrendered all His human
dignity. He reconciled the good
thief. He forgave His tormentors.
Jesus’ life
is about love and forgiveness. Jesus’
death is about love and forgiveness.
Jesus’ resurrection is about the love and forgiveness that God showers
on us daily throughout our lives; the love and forgiveness that God has
provided in abundance to humankind throughout history. God is accepting of our betrayals. God is understanding of our denials. God gives us free will. God shares in our sorrows. God thanks us for our service. God rewards us for our courage and
self-sacrifice. God consoles us. God reconciles us. God forgives us. We are to show this same love and forgiveness
to all others in imitation of Christ.
“For this
I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” [John 18:37); the truth of who we are
and who God is. Our true identity is
that we are the sons and daughters of an all loving, all merciful God who
wishes that we would live together in peace and harmony as brothers and
sisters. Jesus gave His life for
us. We are called to give our lives for
each other.
Jesus,
help us to understand the greatness of Your love. You transformed Your suffering into
love. Transform our selfishness into
self-sacrifice. “Replace [our] hate with love, mistrust with understanding, and
indifference with solidarity. Open our
spirits and hearts even wider to the concrete needs of love for all our
brothers and sisters.” (Pope Paul VI)
Help us to recognize Your presence within us and within everyone we
meet. May our homes, offices,
relationships, meetings be the altars where we can offer ourselves in love. Jesus, I trust in You.
No comments:
Post a Comment