18-4-2011
Dear Friend, Why Good Friday? What is good about Jesus suffering and dying on the Cross? In human terms suffering makes no sense and there is no satisfactory explanation for suffering. It will always remain a mystery. But Good Friday is good for us because it reminds us of the love of Jesus seen in his dying on the cross for all mankind. The cross without Jesus makes no sense, only faith can give meaning to suffering. May Good Friday help us to find life through His death! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Good Friday - 'Lifted up on the Cross for the salvation of all!' 22-Apr-2011 Isaiah 52: 13—53-12; Hebrews 4: 14-16, 5: 7-9; John 18: 1—19: 42; In today's first reading Isaiah paints a startling portrait of the suffering servant of Yahweh. This suffering servant has a dignity about himself and his spirit is intact and unbroken in the midst of all that he suffers. "There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him. He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces." In the face of all that he suffered there was no bitterness, no anger, no resentment, no complaint. "Though he was harshly treated he submitted and opened not his mouth. Isaiah, describing the suffering servant, gives us a model of how a Christian is called to respond to suffering. Jesus embraced the cross and transformed it into an expression of love for all human beings. The cross, the object of death can become the means of life for ourselves and for others, if it is embraced with faith and love, as coming from God's hands. Refining Gold Near Cripple Greek Colorado, gold and tellurium occur mixed as tellurite ore. The refining methods of the early mining camps could not separate the two elements, so the ore was thrown into a scrap heap. One day a miner mistook a lump of ore for coal and tossed it into his stove. Later, while removing ashes from the stove, he found the bottom littered with beads of pure gold. The heat had burned away the tellurium, leaving the gold in a purified state. The discarded ore was reworked and yielded a fortune. People are like tellurite ore. We have gold inside us, but it often takes some trial in the fiery furnace of life to transform us. Brian Cavannaugh in 'More Sower's Seeds' Today's Gospel is a gospel of paradox: it presents a mortal conflict between good and evil, a battle between the Prince of Peace and the prince of this world. Good Friday is a day of paradox because an instrument of death becomes the source of life. It is the story of the suffering servant who is at the same time a royal figure- a story of both servanthood and glory. If we emphasize one at the expense of the other, we misinterpret the story. It is also a day of mystery because the sinless one became as sin; a day revealing mankind at its worst and God at His best. Jesus on the cross transforms the curse of the cross into an instrument of blessing and eternal life. In the Gospel there are several facets of the passion we could reflect upon: The agony in the garden and the fearless confrontation of Jesus with those who came to arrest him. "Whom are you looking for? If you are looking for me let these others go." The triple denial of Peter in the presence of a maid servant "You are not one of the man's disciples, are you? He said "I am not." We could ponder on the trial and his confrontation with Pilate. "Are you the king of the Jews?" and the lingering unanswered question: "What is truth?" We could meditate on the way of the Cross and his final moments on the cross itself leading to his painful cry, echoed by all who suffer: "My God my God why have you forsaken me?" We could reflect on the first words of Jesus on the cross pleading for forgiveness for his people: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesus becomes the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. He breaks the chain of violent response to injustice by offering forgiveness instead of vengeance. By accepting his passion and enduring his cross he earns redemption for all mankind. Forgiveness and reconciliation are offered to all he who seek them. As we meditate on the passion we have to take a stand for or against Jesus. "If you wish to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me." Living the Word A young boy watched every day as the sculptor chiselled away at the block of marble until at last the magnificent statue of a horse emerged. While adults complimented the sculptor on the splendid proportions of the work and the perfection of the detail, the young boy was left with a huge unanswered question. How did the sculptor know that the horse was inside the block of marble? It is easy to smile at the foolishness of the question but the fact is that the sculptor recognized a certain potential in the block of marble and trusted his own patient skill to realize that potential. He chiselled away until his dream horse was realized, taking care never to chisel in such a way that the final product would be damaged. -This can be an image of how God deals with us. He sees our potential for greatness and works at us in a thousand ways to fulfill his dream for us. Sometimes he allows chiseling through pain, suffering or failure but never beyond what we can take. The same Father had a particular dream for his Son. He was to be redeemer of all the world. The price was his passion and death. Sometimes, it looked as if the pain was too much at Gethsemane or on Calvary. But not so. The Father realized the Son's potential and supported him through the Spirit. No matter how grim the suffering or the future seem, the father has a great dream for us which he will realize just as he did for his Son. Today's message is not to be afraid, "I have overcome the world and so can you." Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' Those Who Put Christ to Death At the end of World War II an international Military tribunal was set up at Nuremberg to try the leading members of the Nazi regime, who were charged with crimes against humanity. These were the men who had made the whole of Europe shiver with fright. Yet they weren't devils incarnate. They were just human beings making evil choices. One observer, on being asked what the accused looked like, replied, 'They looked so ordinary, like men who had sat up all night in a third class railway carriage.' -The people who put Christ to death were not a uniquely evil bunch of people, acting from the vilest possible motives. They were ordinary people. They belonged to the same human family as we do. In each we glimpse something of ourselves, of our failings, and the need of grace. This may be a troubling kinship but we cannot reject it. Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies' The Power of the Cross Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a great writer and orator. He had written more than fifty books. His most famous book is "Life of Christ". In the preface of this book, he gives the reason why he had written that book. He wrote, "Some books are written to answer one's own questions; others books are written to question answers already given. But this book is written to find consolation in the Cross of Christ. For about ten years, I endured great trials, I plunged into the life of Christ and I found strength, meaning and consolation in the Cross of Christ." -There is a mysterious power in the Cross of Christ. That power is shared with those who unite their suffering, their pain with that of the sufferings of Jesus. Theologian Walter Bruggeman said, "If there is any truth at all in the biblical account of the Crucifixion and Death and Resurrection of Christ, it is this: that in the darkest of times, there is something afoot in the darkness that the prince of darkness himself knows nothing about." John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' You are Set Free at a Price During the early days of the nineteenth century a wealthy plantation owner was attracted by the heartbreaking sobs of a slave girl who was about to step up to the auction block to be sold. Obviously she was not very happy to be sold as a slave. Moved by a momentary impulse of compassion, he bought her at a very high price and then disappeared into the crowd. When the auction was over the clerk came to the sobbing girl and handed her bill of sale. To her astonishment, the unknown plantation owner had written "Free" over the paper that should have delivered her to him as his possession. She stood speechless, as one by one the other slaves were claimed by their owners and dragged away. Suddenly, she threw herself at the feet of the clerk and exclaimed, "Where is the man who bought me? I must find him! He has set me free!" The gesture of compassion showed by the plantation owner made the girl willing to become a lifelong slave to him. Love can bind more fiercely than compulsion and coercion. G. Francis Xavier in 'The World's Best Inspiring Stories' The Long Silence I had a dream that it was the end of time. Billions and billions of people were assembled on a great plain before the throne of God, waiting to be judged. Some were fearful but others were angry. A woman said, 'How can God judge us? What does He know about suffering? We endured terror, beatings, torture, death.' Then she pulled up her sleeve to show a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp on her arm. Then a black man lowered his collar to show an ugly rope burn around his neck. 'What about this?' he asked. "Lynched for no crime but being black. We have suffocated in slave ships, been wrenched from loved ones, toiled till only death gave us release.' Next a girl with the word 'illegitimate' stamped on her forehead said, 'To endure my stigma was beyond, beyond.' and her voice trailed off to be taken up by others. All had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he had permitted during their lives on earth. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping, no fear, no hunger, no hatred. What did God know about human suffering? They decided that God should be sentenced to live on earth- as a man. But because he was God, they would set certain safeguards to be sure he could not use his divine powers to help himself. Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted so that none will know who is really his father. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think he is out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his dearest friends. Let him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, convicted by a cowardly judge. At last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone, completely abandoned by every living thing. Let him be tortured and mocked. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt, he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it. As each portion of the sentence was announced, loud murmurs of approval went up from the great throng of people assembled. When they had finished pronouncing sentence, a long silence ensued. No one uttered a word. No one moved. For suddenly all knew. God had already served his sentence. Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies' May His suffering and our own not make us bitter but better people! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site www.netforlife.net Thank you.
