Word to the Wise
Friday, April 22, 2011 - Good Friday of the Lord's Passion - ABC
[Isa 52:13-53:12; Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42]Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all..... [Isaiah]
Good Friday is about suffering, especially the particular suffering of Jesus in his Passion, but it has a universal meaning as well. The cross, as Jesus warned more than once in his ministry, is about all of us. If we would follow him, we must pick up our cross. This may be the reason that the Good Friday service has a section called THE VENERATION OF THE CROSS. A plain cross, not a crucifix, is supposed to be used for this devotion. It is because of this universal aspect of Good Friday, that I love this service more than any other in the liturgical year - and it is not a celebration of the Eucharist! When I have the opportunity to preside at the service, I prefer to have a LARGE wooden cross standing in the center of the sanctuary or assembly. That cross serves as the invitation from Jesus to join him in his life, death and resurrection - an invitation that was formalized in our baptism.
There is a lot of theology that can be brought into meditation on the day and its meaning. The theories of "sacrifice" and "atonement" and other interpretations are challenging and rich. Some will watch the movie THE PASSION as a way of stimulating their reflection. For myself, the suffering of family and friends and the many people whose stories I hear in counseling or the confessional are more than enough. Yes, there is the terrifying aspect of what is going on in a larger "global" context. The list is endless where violence is concerned: war, famine, abuse, hunger, discrimination......all that can be included in Milton's famous line: Of man's inhumanity to man..... The prayers at the Good Friday service bring these concerns to the consciousness of the assembly. But suffering is most real to me when it is manifest in those whose lives intersect with mine in the gift of friendship and kinship, or my Dominican brothers and sisters. My prayer for them is that there will be a "willing" Simon the Cyrenean to help them bear the burden.
The scriptures for the service are rich in imagery. The Passion According to St. John is as dramatic as the rest of that gospel. For those who cannot attend the afternoon or even the evening service, perhaps a private "Stations of the Cross" may be possible - or even the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary! St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that ultimately it is love that drives the suffering of Christ. For all those who suffer, love may be the only thing that makes sense on this day and on every day of suffering. AMEN
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