Word to the Wise
Friday, April 14, 2017 - 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]FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017 GOOD FRIDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD [Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 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 uon him the guilt of us all. [Isaiah] When the motion picture, THE PASSION, directed by Mel Gibson, came out I went to see it with two good friends. The scenes from the the sufferings of Jesus were vivid and gory and visceral in their effect. Studies of the crucifixion indicate that Gibson's portrayal was probably understated. The original event was even more gruesome! When I came out of the theater, I came with only one thing in my mind: "He did that for me." Those who were present when Jesus was crucified most likely did not think as i did. They were grief-stricken and terrified. The disciples went into hiding. It was Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin (the ruling Jewish council), who went to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body! In the Gospel According to Luke, the disciples on the road to Emmaus expressed the sentiments of them all: disappointment and fear, and confusion about the empty tomb reports. It took nothing less than the Holy Spirit to bring the disciples to an understanding of Jesus' death and resurrection. The first scripture from Isaiah about the "Suffering Servant" gave them words to understand. Today, however, we deal not only with Jesus' death and the shock of it all, but with our own suffering. Jesus preached that each of us would be required to pick up our own cross and follow after him. The appalling suffering that we witness every day in our world has to have a meaning or we all go to despair. Our own suffering and that of our loved ones makes this more immediate, but we know of the terrible suffering in Syria and iraq and the famine and civil wars in Africa. We know of the immigrants who have lost everything, including family, and then suffer rejection from those who could give them hope and asylum! All of this is nailed to the cross in the person of Jesus. It is our suffering that he endures. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that the only real explanation for this is love. On this Good Friday, as we make the Stations of the Cross and/or attend the Good Friday service, the cross stands before us as invitation and challenge. Can we be only mute spectators, scandalized that someone would do this for US? We are invited at the evening service to kiss the unveiled cross. The great Dominican artist, Fra Angelico, painted the crucifixion with St. Dominic alone at the foot of the cross with his arms around it. Can we do as St. Dominic did? The promise of Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday give us hope, but we will first have to come to terms with the cross. AMEN
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