Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord
April 2nd 2021. (For you at Home). (EPISODE:291)
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
Psalm: Ps 30:2. 6. 12-13. 15-17. 25. "Father, I put my life in your hands"
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel Acclamation: Philippians 2:8-9
Passion: John 18:1 - 19:42
Homily
Solemn Intercessions
Spiritual Veneration of the Cross
Communion
Departure in Silence
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Shutterstock licensed image ID: 388582720. The old brown wooden cross, on white background. By Merydolla
Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers, and reflections for Good Friday Passion - by
clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/good-friday-3pm-passion-of-our-lord-2021
(EPISODE:291)+++++
THE LORD'S PASSION - Good Friday Message.
One would be forgiven for becoming really cynical about today's world and human nature….. It would be understandable if we became really down about those who go on a rampage of vandalism and fear… robbing and frightening vulnerable people in their homes, … or the endless stories in the news of people taking advantage of others for their own pragmatic gain…. not treating others as if they were their brother or sister…… with eyes looking on all these things… and all the wars and suffering and poverty an injustice…. the logic of the world would say….. the world is going to the dogs……
(And certainly, there is no doubt that there are very serious social, economic, ethical and human dignity issues facing our world and our society….. We are right to be very concerned….. Our Lord came to save the world because the world was (and is) in dire need of saving. We cannot fix it all by ourselves….. We need Our Lord to save us from ourselves. The challenge, though, is to realistically and pragmatically face these issues and so many real-world obstacles - but to do it, still, with unswerving and profound Christian hope… And with a commitment to respecting Our Lord's blessed gospel.. lived so perfectly in his body.. and in his life… and so profoundly revealed in his suffering and death to save us all.
Our Lord lived so perfectly… and to such immense fruitfulness for the entire world…….
In Christian hope – even in the face of the worst that can happen in the world, or in the course of our life's journey….. - Jesus' way of love is a welcome beacon of hope… and a path through the darkness….
Today, Our Lord shows us that the only real answer is one that utterly respects the profound humanity of all people and hoping and deciding to act in ways that speak of the kind of world Jesus lived and died to usher in…..
By the mere standards of the secular world….. today would be best described as "Bad Friday"… (From a purely secular viewpoint… what is good about it, many might ask?) and in this way of thinking…..Jesus' death would be seen as a disastrous failure of an otherwise "worthwhile dream"…… However, to the eyes of faith…and to generations who have followed Christ after that Friday of the crucifixion…. … for over two thousand years – and including us today…… This is "Good Friday"… a very good Friday… where Christ shows us that God never gives up on us… never turns away from the reality of human suffering - will not spare himself of anything… even suffering and death,… to keep solidarity with us….. This is a very good Friday… because ultimately God has the last word – and it is a word of hope, a word of dignity.. and of justice… A word of true and unreserved LOVE—
Only the eyes of Faith could describe this Friday as a "Good Friday"…… but it truly is…… because nothing can destroy God's faithfulness to his beloved people….. Nothing can defeat the power of God's love…… Even when we can't imagine that some actions could ever be forgiven… It is Jesus himself who pleads to the Father that we will embrace the forgiveness that is really offered to us…and to all…/ …. God keeps telling us that we are loved (no matter what may come). And we know that even when everything bad was thrown at Jesus; he continued to respond in love and faithfulness, not hate… with peacefulness, not violence….. with mercy.. not revenge
On the Cross, God crucified all that was not-life-giving,….. Robbing it of its final power….
(despite the cynical, but very real things that get thrown up at people as they walk through life in this day and age – Our God is with us… and suffers along with us… ).
Today is not so much about - "see how awful we humans have been to God"- but rather - "see how faithful, how loving, how merciful our Lord is to his beloved people……" We fall at our Lord's feet in amazement and thanksgiving. We praise Jesus for his goodness and faithfulness to us (which excel all we ever knew)." God has given us more than we could ever have hoped for or imagined.
Every year…. without fail….. meditating on this moving account of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus, inspires and renews us…… It fills us with a sense of awe…..it cuts us to the heart… and lays bare our deepest hopes and our greatest fears.
The Power of Christ's death on the cross is humbling ….. As we silently contemplate how much God loves us….. and how he gave up everything for our sake….. There can be no greater love than this.
Jesus betrayal and arrest the previous evening…… his unjust trial, (in which he is really found to be innocent even in the flawed civil Roman courts… but unjustly sentenced to a criminal's death – in place of a real criminal - how ironic… that is what Jesus has done for everyone who has ever sinned…… Anyway! because of the insistence of the hysterical crowd, they trade Our Lord in for a murderer's freedom...)……
The unspeakably cruel journey to Calvary and his unimaginable execution…truly one of the worst kind of deaths anyone could inflict upon another…and intentionally cruel – it is almost too much to bear thinking….…………
The Cross of Christ stands as a reminder that, although we are all members of various communities and groups… each one of us stands before the cross - where Christ reveals his unconditional love for us….. and He asks us to give a definitive and personal "Yes"… to the life he gives to us…. Our personal acts of veneration….(standing, bowing or genuflecting before the wood of the Cross (of Christ). -- This is our own individual way of saying… "Yes" to the values of Jesus.. who withstood the enormous pressures of huge numbers .. to be faithful to his vision…. God's vision.. for a world of forgiveness and justice… and above all….. LOVE.. // which does not stop to count the cost…. And which gives without hope of return….
and is asked to make our own personal YES to Jesus…..
We also, at this same time give our own personal NO to the peer pressure and unthinking trends..../ shifting values…temporary values ..that can assail us from every direction. Values that are not consistent with Christ's life… and which deny the dignity and justice that every person deserves.
The cross of Jesus is to be found reflected in all who mourn…. all who suffer rejection and injustice…. the cross is patterned in the hearts of all who endure illness or pain…. // the cross is also a powerful but silent "YES" to all who long to be forgiven for past mistakes but don't dare believe that they can be freed from their guilt and shame………// It is found in the experiences of people persecuted or experiencing fear or unrest throughout the world… whether it be in some faraway country wracked with dictatorship, or in the house next door to us….. or perhaps even in our own homes?
…. and in the cross is revealed the wisdom and power of God…… and it also reveals Christ who is the absolute embodiment of truth……… and (most of all)…. it reveals God's constant and utter LOVE.
A spiritual writer once said … and put it so beautifully for us who now keep vigil in meditation and prayer… until the Holy Saturday night of the Lord…
"One of the powerful things that Easter says to us today, is this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail truth to a cross, or wrap it in winding sheets; and shut it in a tomb, but it will rise again! " (Clarence W. Hall).
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References:
Fr Paul Kelly
Shutterstock licensed image ID: 388582720. Old Brown Wooden Cross, on white background. By Merydolla
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
May God bless and keep you.
KER 2021
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