Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

Yesterday, we began the celebration of the great Paschal Triduum - the celebration of the most central mysteries of our Christian faith. The Passion, death and resurrection of Christ. We follow with Jesus from the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane. We journey the road to Calvary and wait at the sealed tomb. We greet the new morning of Resurrection and ponder the empty grave.

 
Today is a difficult day.  We witness the hurried and unjust trial of Jesus.  It's almost unbearable to hear Simon Peter deny Jesus.  We cry out, "Crucify him!  Crucify him!"   Jesus is mocked and beaten and forced to carry his cross.  Jesus dies.  He is placed in a tomb...cold...silent...dark.  This, too, is probably how we feel - a chill goes through us, we are left in silence, darkness fills our heart.  It is almost unbearable and doesn't seem that it can get any worse, but...

...then we remember Jesus saying, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  In the Gospel of Luke, it seems that Jesus directs this comment towards the soldiers that are hammering in the nails and jeering at him.  But, I wonder if it isn't directed towards us.  After all, Jesus died for our sins.  By his sacrifice we are healed.  Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.  But even in our ignorance, even if we don't grasp the full importance of what is happening, we hear the words "Forgive them."  In that hour of most need, in that hour of pain and anguish, of chill and darkness, Jesus thinks of us and says "I forgive you."

While the crucifixion is horrible in itself, I am often haunted by the image of Jesus being stripped of his clothing.  It is an act of extreme humiliation.  (Just think of having that weird dream when you show up on the first day of school in only your 'birthday suit.')  It is an act that puts Jesus at his most vulnerable, his whole life literally bared naked before all to see.  He really empties himself because all - his clothing, his dignity in the eyes of the world, and ultimately his very life - is taken away. 

But it is exactly that emptiness, that humiliation, that vulnerability to which Jesus invites us by his simple utterance "Forgive them."  St. Basil writes, "Jesus dies on the cross so that we could be saved by imitation of him, and recover our original status as children of God by adoption.  To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ's by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death."  Just as Jesus did while hanging on the cross, we too must say "I forgive you" to those who have hurt us, crucified us, stripped us, buried us.  If we want to follow Jesus, we need to follow him to the very end, emptying ourselves of pride and ego, and being willing to say "Father, forgive them."

Of course, this is never easy.  In fact, in my own life, I am having great difficulty saying "I forgive you" to someone.  Even in prayer, with only God and myself, it is extremely difficult to utter those three, short words.  But we are reminded that it is the path of discipleship, it is the path of Jesus, the path that we are called to walk.  Jesus never said it would be easy, but he did promise us that he would be with us all the way.  Yes, he is with us even on the cross.  He is looking down on us and giving us the greatest gift - that of freedom by forgiveness of our sins.

(This is a painting by Marianist Bro. Charles Wanda, SM.  I love the perspective - of Jesus looking down upon his Mother and the Beloved Disciple.  Can we see ourselves in the scene as Jesus saw us?)

Today we are confronted with a most difficult scene in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.  Maybe the most difficult part is to hear the words "I forgive you" knowing that we must also utter those words in our own lives.  Let us pray that we might follow the example of Jesus who has forgiven us.  That we too might cry out, "Father, forgive them," letting the beautiful and forgiving words of Jesus become our own.

Blessed Triduum, my friends.