Holy Saturday, April 8, 2023

Holy Saturday

Mt 28:1-10 Jesus as the final intervention of God in human history (so far):

Gospel:

1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.

3 His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.

4The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.

5Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.

6 He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”

8 Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.

9 And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.

10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Reflections:

From “First Impressions” 2023, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Easter makes quite a difference, doesn’t it? When Jesus was condemned and executed terror and trembling seized the disciples. Without Jesus what would they do? Where was their future? What would happen to them as his followers? They had experienced a life-shattering earthquake; the ground on which they stood was no longer secure.  They buried Jesus in a grave; but along with his body they had buried their dreams and hopes for the future.
Matthew says the angel who descended to the now-empty grave had an appearance like lightning and “his clothing was white as snow.” The angel’s message to the women, “Do not be afraid I know you are seeking Jesus the crucified.  He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.”
There is the hope for us, “He is risen from the dead.” Now Jesus lives forever with God in the fullness of life which he shares with us. Even when Jesus suffered and died he did not fall out of God’s hands. Neither do we when our plans and expectations die and we need to start anew. With the resurrected One the deepest longings of our heart will be 
satisfied. “Do not be afraid,” is not a pat on the back and “There, there everything is going to be okay.” It is an encouragement for our life here, backed by the risen Jesus. He gives us the confidence that our 
lives are not without purpose and will not fail at the end. Believing that gives us the courage to leave what is dead behind and live in a new life now. At the Easter vigil we renew our baptismal promises. With Jesus’ resurrected life in us we can work for life here and now: foster life in the downtrodden; preserve life in the defeated; protect life in 
the unborn and vulnerable; promote life for the under-employed and under-educated and whatever else we feel called to do in our new life. Today, God has taken the side of life and, as friends of God, so will we.
Resurrected life begins now, at this time and in this place we find ourselves. We see signs of Jesus’ resurrected life wherever people bravely take up the cross of Jesus in self-sacrificing service. It is present and active when people, who have not spoken to each other for years, reconcile with one another and try again to be with and support 
each other. Resurrected life shows itself whenever people put aside their selfish interests and reach out to help and console those in need. Resurrected life comes forth when Christians speak up for decency, just treatment, human dignity and against current prejudices. Today resurrected life stirs us to proclaim at this Eucharist, “When we eat 
this Bread and drink this Cup we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.” Every Eucharist celebrates

Easter and is a source of hope, encouragement and strength for us. The Eucharist is when the angel’s 
words, “Do not be afraid!” take flesh in us. And, “He is risen,” sends us out to live a resurrected life.
Tonight in our vigil readings we began with the story of creation, which shows God at work in building a universe, step-by-step. “Let there be…” And, “Let us make....” Finally, the human creature is made in God’s 
image, male and female. All was made by God and all was good. Then human sin and failure entered the world, culminating in the flood and the first covenant made between God and the surviving humans. This pact was 
a personal promise, a commitment on God’s part, to a continuing creation.The readings showed our ancestors in faith, summed up in Abraham, who was the first to hear the promise and the first to accept it in faith. 
The story continued describing the Israelites deliverance from slavery and travels through the desert led by God’s hand-picked deliverer Moses. As we heard tonight, the story of our ancestors is much like our own 
with times of glory and times of struggle; of deep faith and insolent 
infidelity; worship of other gods and returning to God.We have not always been faithful to the covenant with God, but God has been faithful with us. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us; he has died on the cross for us and been raised from the dead. Now he leads us by his word, charged with new life and feeds us with his body 
and blood. Jesus Christ is our permanent covenant by which we are called to new and eternal life.

Hearing the stories tonight of our ancestors in faith should stir us to reflect on our own story of faith. When have we been lost and wandering in the desert of our own making? What brings us to this place at this 
moment of our lives. Have we, like them, traveled by straight and crooked ways; through dark and hidden passages and also been illumined by the light? Who have been our supportive companions and friends along the journey? Who have been witnesses to the light when we were searching?
Galilee was a particular place “back then.” But for us Galilee can be any place we find ourselves today that bind us to a way of thinking; or to choices we have made. For us Galilee can be a place of disappointment, physical, emotional, or spiritual pain. The angel promises us that the risen Christ goes ahead of us to our Galilee. There our fears and anxieties can end and we can find new life with new beginnings. Just as the angel promised the women -- in Galilee.
All this to say that the angel has spoken the truth, not only to the women, but to us. “Do not be afraid… He has been raised from the dead and He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. Behold I have told you.”

Have I discovered new life after a deep loss or disappointment?
Who helped me find it?
How can I bring the Risen Christ to another person suffering loss, or death?

It is said that eternal live does not begin at death. It exists now and we are experiencing eternal life now.

Do I believe this?

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Memory:

From Sacred Space, a Service of the Irish Jesuits:

We might be surprised that the Gospels, which describe the Passion in such minute detail, do not describe the Resurrection at all. Today’s reading speaks of the empty tomb, and describes when the Risen Jesus met his friends. Jesus tells the apostles to return to Galilee, it is there they will meet him, when they are back in their ordinary life. I too can only encounter Jesus and the power of his Resurrection in my ordinary life. The invitation of Jesus is to go to Galilee and there 'they will see me'. It's the same invitation he gives to us. 'Galilee' can be the neighborhood, the family, the prayer space, the poor, and the many moments we find ourselves aware of Jesus' presence. Prayer is one of them; prayer will heighten our awareness of times we met the Lord. Go back in your own memory to when God was close, and be grateful. Allow God in prayer tell you to 'go and see'.

Literary reflection:

This from Father Michael Kennedy, S.J., has something to say to us about the resurrection:

Musings

from

Michael©

****

Stuck In Our Own Tombs

(Easter, 2008)

****

Another Lent has

Come and gone and another

Holy Week has come and gone

And another Triduum has also

Come and gone and now finally

It is Easter and the whiners

Are out in force to again

Try to belittle Easter egg

Hunts and also even try

To minimize the Easter

Bunny claiming that

Somehow the bunny

And the hunts are

Not holy enough

****

And yet

The delight of

Children hunting for

Beautiful or ugly Easter eggs

Runs the risk of making Easter

A celebration of joy instead of

A wake honoring an apparently

Still dead Jesus since rather

Than having us do the dying

And rising this Holy Week

We probably acted as if

We were watching Jesus

Undergoing the passion

Again so we kept him

Company in prayer

****

But if we believe

Jesus was just doing it over and

Over again we ignore that He did

Not stay in the grave and rather

Than accept His and our new life

We just stay stuck in

Our own tombs

****

MJK

©Michael J. Kennedy 2007

Music Meditations:

Roll Away the Stone

Hendel’s Messiah

Holy God, we praise thy name

Good Friday, April 7, 2023

Good Friday

John 18:1-19:42. It is NOT finished

Gospel:

Chapter 18

1.After he had said all this, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there was a garden into which he went with his disciples. 2.Judas the traitor knew the place also, since Jesus had often met his disciples there, 3.so Judas brought the cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4.Knowing everything that was to happen to him, Jesus came forward and said, 'Who are you looking for?' 5.They answered, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said, 'I am he.' Now Judas the traitor was standing among them. 6.When Jesus said to them, 'I am he,' they moved back and fell on the ground. 7.He asked them a second time, 'Who are you looking for?' They said, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' 8.Jesus replied, 'I have told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go.' 9.This was to fulfil the words he had spoken, 'Not one of those you gave me have I lost.' 10.Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11.Jesus said to Peter, 'Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?' 12.The cohort and its tribune and the Jewish guards seized Jesus and bound him.

13.They took him first to Annas, because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14.It was Caiaphas who had counselled the Jews, 'It is better for one man to die for the people.' 15.Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest's palace, 16.but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the door-keeper and brought Peter in. 17.The girl on duty at the door said to Peter, 'Aren't you another of that man's disciples?' He answered, 'I am not.' 18.Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others. 19.The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20.Jesus answered, 'I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together; I have said nothing in secret. 21.Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught; they know what I said.' 22.At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, 'Is that the way you answer the high priest?' 23.Jesus replied, 'If there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike me?' 24.Then Annas sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25.As Simon Peter stood there warming himself, someone said to him, 'Aren't you another of his disciples?' He denied it saying, 'I am not.' 26.One of the high priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, 'Didn't I see you in the garden with him?' 27.Again Peter denied it; and at once a cock crowed.

28.They then led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat the Passover. 29.So Pilate came outside to them and said, 'What charge do you bring against this man?' They replied, 30.'If he were not a criminal, we should not have handed him over to you.' 31.Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.' The Jews answered, 'We are not allowed to put anyone to death.' 32.This was to fulfil the words Jesus had spoken indicating the way he was going to die. 33.So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him and asked him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' 34.Jesus replied, 'Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?' 35.Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?' 36.Jesus replied, 'Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.' 37.Pilate said, 'So, then you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.' 38.'Truth?' said Pilate. 'What is that?' And so saying he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no case against him. 39.But according to a custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like me, then, to release for you the king of the Jews?' 40.At this they shouted, 'Not this man,' they said, 'but Barabbas.' Barabbas was a bandit." 
Chapter 19

"1.Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged; 2.and after this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head and dressed him in a purple robe. 3.They kept coming up to him and saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' and slapping him in the face. 4.Pilate came outside again and said to them, 'Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case against him.' 5.Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, 'Here is the man.' 6.When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.' 7.The Jews replied, 'We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to be put to death, because he has claimed to be Son of God.' 8.When Pilate heard them say this his fears increased. 9.Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus, 'Where do you come from?' But Jesus made no answer. 10.Pilate then said to him, 'Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?' 11.Jesus replied, 'You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above; that is why the man who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.' 12.From that moment Pilate was anxious to set him free, but the Jews shouted, 'If you set him free you are no friend of Caesar's; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.' 13.Hearing these words, Pilate had Jesus brought out, and seated him on the chair of judgement at a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14.It was the Day of Preparation, about the sixth hour. 'Here is your king,' said Pilate to the Jews. 15.But they shouted, 'Away with him, away with him, crucify him.' Pilate said, 'Shall I crucify your king?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king except Caesar.' 16.So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

They then took charge of Jesus, 17.and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18.where they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle. 19.Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews'. 20.This notice was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. 21.So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews", but that the man said, "I am King of the Jews". ' 22.Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written.'

23.When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem; 24.so they said to one another, 'Instead of tearing it, let's throw dice to decide who is to have it.' In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes. That is what the soldiers did. 25.Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26.Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' 27.Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. 28.After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty. 29.A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. 30.After Jesus had taken the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. 31.It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies' remaining on the cross during the Sabbath -- since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity -- the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32.Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. 33.When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs 34.one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.

35.This is the evidence of one who saw it -- true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true -- and he gives it so that you may believe as well. 36.Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of his will be broken; 37.and again, in another place scripture says: They will look to the one whom they have pierced.

38.After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus -- though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews -- asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away. 39.Nicodemus came as well -- the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time -- and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40.They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial custom. 41.At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. 42.Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." 

Reflection for Good Friday from a 2008 homily:
The last words of Jesus, according to the writer of the last canonical Gospel, were the cryptic: "It is finished".

What is finished?

I think it depends on your perspective.

Let us, in our mind's eye, gather around the cross and observe the reactions of those intimately connected to the fateful events of that day.

For the High priests, this is the end, or so they think, to all those incendiary speeches, dangerous gatherings of people who are beginning to question the authority of the temple, and who are beginning to see the high priests as collaborators in a system which kept the peace with Rome, but did so on the backs of the poor and marginalized. It is an end to a public relations nightmare in which Rome once again looks at this corner of the world as a hotbed of discontent and sedition. The traitor is dead.

It is finished; FINALLY!

Soldiers on a hill, obeying orders from above. Nasty job to pull. But somebody has to. Wretched day. Hot. Humid. Cloudy. Storm brewing. Anybody for a quick game? Thirsty! Listen to that one. He's thirsty! If you are the king of the Jews, get out of this one — if you can. A bad job; but it's over now. Another day, another shekel. (1.)

It is finished:

Two thieves, each with a different reaction on their last day on earth: One is desperate for life, disappointed when Jesus can't pull off the final miracle. "I knew you were a fake!" The other, sensing something larger than life is happening here: "This man has done nothing wrong." But for each of them, there is no coming down from that cross alive.

It is finished.

The crowd dwindles. The shouting subsides. Wagging their heads they snort and chuckle. Destroy the temple! Who did he think he was? Rebuild it in three days! He fancied himself at playing Solomon. Good riddance, I say. That was a good one.

But it's finished now.

Somewhere in the shadows lurks a free man. Released from prison his first day out of jail. Barabbas delivered from bondage! His term of sentence?

It is finished.

Off in the distance on the palace balcony stand Pilate and his wife. A nightmare come true, but after all — I didn’t really know him. It wasn’t as though he were somebody important. What's done is done. " What I have written I have written," And that's that.

It is finished (2.)

The disciples--men and women, many of whom have been expecting a radical change in the religious philosophies and the social structures at the hand of Jesus surely realize that it is finished, and not in a good way, on that fateful afternoon when Jesus dies. "I left my family, my good life as a fisherman to follow him. I thought we had every chance of success. I was going to be his right hand person in his new kingdom. He is the only one who understood everything I ever did. What now? I guess it's back to the job of trying to make a living fishing. That 's it. We failed.

It is finished." (3)

What is finished?

When I was a child, I heard over and over again in one version or another: Jesus' job, to die for our sins, is finished. Jesus had to die in order for humanity to be restored to God's favor. Jesus' death settled the debt we owed by sinning, and opened up the gates of heaven for us once more. When Jesus' death is understood in light of salvation spirituality, his was a necessary sacrifice for all mankind. The reasoning, according to St Anselm in 1097, goes something like this: the human race has sinned, from Adam on down, and all crime must have punishment. Therefore, God must require a punishment, a price, before God can forgive our sins or crimes. God's anger will only be appeased by human sacrifice. This human sacrifice must be unblemished and perfect, so no one other than Jesus, the God-Man will be adequate. Jesus died for my sins. The payment has been made, the debt has been satisfied. (4.) Jesus came to save us. And that job is finished.

Sorry folks, I just don't buy it. For many of us, both in and out of the Christian communion, this notion of substitutionary atonement is more of a stumbling block than a help. For many of us, this reasoning flies in the face of our understanding of God as Abba, a loving daddy. What parent would demand the death of a son or daughter as payment for disobedience? Not a normal one.

Oh yes, Jesus came to save us, but not in the way we expected

Jesus became human to show us how to save ourselves from ourselves. He came to give us a vision of how life could be if it were ordered according to the principles of God instead of principles of humans. Jesus came to show us how to love. How to heal, and how to forgive. And this is what he did from one dusty corner of Israel to other. This is what he preached when he spoke of the laborers in the vineyard, or the Prodigal Son. This is what he did when he refused to counter violence with violence in his last hours on this earth. The legacy Jesus left is there for all of us to recall, recounted every time we pick up a gospel reading. . Too often we look on Jesus' death as a one-time solution to all that ails the earth. Too often we pray to God for an end to war, or poverty or injustice, expecting God to make it happen without any change or effort on our part. God has chosen since the beginning of time, to work in and through humans, and if the kingdom of heaven is to be attained, it must be through our own efforts, using the words and works of Jesus as a lodestar.

And when he died on that dark and dreadful day, his part in the drama we call the History of the Earth was over. It was finished. God or no God, by becoming fully human, one in solidarity with all of humanity, it was ordained that he would die--and the manner of his dying showed those who suffer: "I will suffer with you." He had done all he could to leave behind a legacy of love and mission. Unfortunately, the world Jesus left behind is a broken, messy world, riddled with sin and selfishness, and the project of healing is an interactive one between God and us. It is our job to do our part to finish what Jesus started.

And it that sense, it is not finished.

Look around folks.

We got trouble, right here in River City.

Right here on our small planet, we are busy killing one another and have been doing so since the days of Cain and Abel. When we speak of war casualties, --which in this war, numbers 4300 and counting- we rarely count the losses to our "enemy". When we speak of deterrents, we don't always stop to consider that our little planet has enough weapons of mass destruction stockpiled to annihilate every person on this earth. On our small planet, we are punching holes in the ozone layer, polluting the oceans with oil spills and ruining rivers and streams with industrial waste. Some animals, driven out of their habitat by encroaching civilization and industrialization, starve or are killed for profit. Currently, there are over 1000 species of birds and mammals that are facing extinction. And let us not forget that the collateral damage of war is the scorching of Mother earth itself.

IT IS NOT FINISHED!

Right here in this land of the free, last time I looked, bigotry and prejudice were alive and well. Stories of discrimination and hate crimes against Blacks, Asians, gays, women, Jews, Muslims; against "those people" who are not like us--these stories are in the newspaper and on the daily news every day. Every day!

Right here in this prosperous country, the younger you are, the more vulnerable you are. Among industrialized countries, America is the first in military technology, in military exports, in defense expenditures, in millionaires and billionaires, in health technology, but 17th in efforts to lift children out of poverty, 18th in infant mortality, last in protecting our children against gun violence. As our country has grown richer, our children have grown poorer. (5.)

Every 40 seconds a child is born into poverty. Every minute a child is born without health insurance. Every three minutes a child is arrested for drug abuse. Every six minutes a child is arrested for a violent crime. Every eighteen minutes a baby dies. Every two hours a firearm kills a child or youth.

Every day in America 8189 children are reported abused or neglected. (6.)

Every day.

IS SO NOT FINISHED!

Right here in our own small town, today and tomorrow people are surging or sending surrogates into the grocery stores to provision for the Easter feast as if it were the last banquet. As we exit the stores we don't even see the people sitting outside on an upended box with crudely lettered cardboard signs saying: "Homeless. Out of Work. Please help." As darkness closes in, small groups of desperate people arrange their meager bundles for another night in the open. The homeless shelters are full, the lines at St. Anthony's get longer and longer. Right here in our small town, many of the elderly have to make a choice between food and medication, between food and heat. Right here.

IT IS NOT FINISHED!

And we pray to God to fix it.

"Please God, give us peace. Stop people from fighting with us. Please God, stop people from polluting the earth. Please God, end discrimination and poverty and safeguard the most vulnerable. "

I ask you, is this the best we can do to love one another as Jesus has loved us? I think we can do better.

Jesus is no longer with us, and in the words of St Theresa of Avila: " God has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on the world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the earth. "

Instead, Let us pray to God to fix us:

Jesus, Man of Peace,

Give us the wisdom to look beyond military power and brute force to see that the collateral damage of war is often the life of an innocent child, or somebody's mother or hundreds and thousands of homeless and dislocated souls living in refugee camps.

Lord of Consolation,

I want to see with loving eyes all those lonely and hopeless

ones who have no one to talk to, who are locked in their own misery, who are too old to matter to anyone any more. Give me eyes of compassion to look at the faces behind the faces that I meet every day. Help me to see as fellow travelers those tucked into homes lighted for the evening, and in the homeless who arrange their bundles at the end of the day. Give me ears to hear the voices of the needy and the non-voices of silent desperation. Help me to have the courage and the energy to spend something of myself on their behalf Give me a heart that cares and words to heal.

Jesus, brother and friend, you left us an awesome and difficult task--It is not finished.

I am not finished.

I have barely begun.

1. adapted from God Has A Story Too by James A. Sanders, Elizabeth Hay Bechtel Professor of Intertestamental and Biblical Studies at the School of Theology, Claremont, California, and Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate School. He is also the author of Torah and Canon.. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Paul Mobley. God Has A Story Too was published in 1979 by Fortress Press, Philadelphia

2. Ibid

3. Ibid

4. Crossan, John Dominic and Borg, Marcus: The Last Week, p139

5. Walter Burghardt: To Be Just is to Love, 190

6. Ibid

Meditation: Exaltation of the Cross

Sept. 14, 2008

Catherine Wolff

My early school days were spent at St. Agnes Grammar School up in San Francisco. I’m old enough that seeing a movie was a major treat in those days, and the nuns who ran St. Agnes must have invested all their savings in the one movie we had in our library – a Spanish film that came out in the mid-1950’s called The Miracle of Marcellino.

My memory of the exact plot is a bit sketchy –Marcellino was a poor little orphan who had been taken in by the monks in a very austere monastery, and there was an episode having to do with a scorpion bite, and a miracle involving bread and wine. But I do have vivid, enduring memories of the conversations that Marcellino would have with Jesus. He was a lonely little boy who visited the chapel regularly to pray out loud in front of a crucifix that seemed to be at least 15 feet tall. After awhile Jesus, from way up on the cross, started talking back in a deep, rich, sorrowful voice. It was a great comfort to Marcellino but it was absolutely terrifying to me as a 6 or 7-year-old. I was worried that any number of crucifixes that hung all over Catholic 1950’s San Francisco would start speaking to me, but really what was most disturbing was that Jesus was somehow still hanging on the cross, now, today.

Now this was in the days just before Vatican II, when there was still considerable emphasis on the cross as ransom for sin, and on our personal and collective culpability in Jesus’ suffering and death. The story of the cross was told in terms of the sacrifice necessary for the redemption of our sins, one that we find in the Synoptic Gospels. This was a story that implied that God was deeply offended, that he required appeasement, recompense, and that since no mere human could make up for the estrangement that we humans had chosen, God had to send His own son to make amends, and to require of Him the ultimate sacrifice of death.

But there is another way to understand the cross. If we consider God’s love to be the real basis for hope, instead of the terrible ransom of Jesus’ life, we can tell another version of the story. It starts with creation itself, where God begins to reveal Himself, freely and forgivingly, as we see in today’s first reading about his care for his hungry and confused people wandering in the desert. And in this story creation is not an event that is contained in the past but is actually ongoing in history, ongoing in our hearts.

The next phase in this unfolding revelation of God’s love is the Incarnation. This is not a desperate salvage job, where God has to intervene in human history to help set it right. We already see him intervening continuously throughout the Old Testament, through the covenant which He kept so lovingly and faithfully and His People kept so badly.

The Incarnation is God breaking directly, physically, into history in human form in the person of Jesus. In fact, the great Franciscan Duns Scotus made a powerful argument that the Incarnation is God’s primary redemptive act. He said that the Incarnation was first and foremost in God’s mind from the beginning. It could not have been dependent on, or occasioned by, any action of humans, especially sin.

The language of John’s Gospel, which we hear today, does not stress Jesus’ death as ransom, sacrifice, atonement, as the Synoptic Gospels do. In John and Ephesians, in Duns Scotus and Karl Rahner, the crucifixion is part of Jesus’ glorification, not only a sacrifice but a manifestation of the lengths to which God is willing to go to bring us closer to him.

All of Jesus’ work was redemptive, all of it ennobled our human nature he took on for us -- his healing, his teaching, and as we heard from Paul today, his obedience unto death, even death on a cross. Jesus was a prophet in a long tradition that believed in the power of suffering to atone for wrongdoing, and because he was so faithful to God’s will, he come to understand that he was to die, and that his death was a sacrifice for others.

Jesus resolutely accepted his fate, and his faithfulness persisted throughout his terrible suffering and into his death. But so did the Father’s outpouring of love. We know that because Jesus was raised from the dead, and we are given new life in the Kingdom that came about as a result.

And yet that Kingdom is often so difficult to realize. We still suffer. You do, I do. I think of my long walk with my brother down the road to his death from brain cancer. I think of my friend Mary who has carried her schizophrenic brother for twenty years now. I wonder where so many Katrina victims are – they never came home again. And when I see pictures of children in Darfur it seems as though much of humankind is still nailed to a cross.

How can we find hope in our suffering, in the suffering of Jesus on the cross? How can we come to comprehend the reality that the cross contains not only the suffering but also the incarnation and the exaltation of Jesus? That it contains not only failure and scandal and pain but also victory and the promise of eternal life? Jesus already triumphed, and yet you and I here today are not yet capable of living fully in the Kingdom he established.

We are more like the Hebrews wandering around in the desert, complaining about wretched food and ravaged by serpents. In the rather mysterious passage we heard earlier, Moses had to appeal to God who told him to make an image of the serpent, mount it on a pole, and to have everybody who had been bitten look at it, and as a result, actually live. God had his people confront that which terrified them, and in doing so they were healed.

In fact, Jesus recalls that very event in the gospel we heard today -- He tells us that as Moses raised up the serpent for his people, the Son of Man is also lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. The Son of Man lifted up on the cross is a dreadful sight to see. It requires us to confront not only Jesus’ suffering but our own demons, and our own suffering borne in His body.

This is a powerful lesson of the cross – that we cannot turn away from suffering. We must assume our crosses as faithfully as Jesus did; we must suffer in order to be healed. In being healed we will be able to accept Jesus’ reassurance that the cross is the occasion for the great manifestation of God’s love for us, not a condemnation of the world but a promise that the world is saved.

Reflection Questions:

What, in my life, is still unfinished business?

What can I do to bring certain anxieties, sorrows and guilts to a peaceful and holy conclusion?

What can I learn about handling unfairness from this gospel?

What can I learn about dignity?

Meditation:

Spend some time with the Gospel of John, maybe comparing it to the same events recorded in Matthew’s Gospel from Palm/Passion Sunday on April 5..

You may want to intersperse some music between the sections (see below).

Then take a look at two homilies from 2008 from community members, delivered at two different services.

Finally, just spend some time with Jesus…..

Music Meditations:

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord—(CTCatholicCorner,4PM Media, Mahalia Jecson, Pegasis and others)

What wondrous love is this—(Fernando Ortega, Sabine Murza,)

Pie Jesu by Faure—Kathleen Battle

Going Home, by Dvorak, sung by Bryn Terfel

Holy Thursday, April 6, 2023

Service to others is the hallmark of a disciple of Jesus

John 13: 1–15

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.

The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Reflections and Meditations

Reflection Questions:

• Normally, in Jesus’ time, a slave would be ordered to wash the feet of guests. What does it tell me that Jesus choose to perform this humiliating act?
• Jesus’ claim to power confused the disciples, because he used his power to perform an act of service.
  How do I view power?
  Is it always a bad thing?
  What have I done for others with whatever powers I possess?
• How does it feel to be the recipient of another’s efforts, kindness, largesse ?
  Does it seem demeaning?
  What mindset can I adopt in order to summon up genuine, gracious acceptance
• Peter was reluctant to submit to having Jesus see how dirty his feet were. It was demeaning.
  What dirty little secrets have I withheld from others?
  What dirty little secrets do I think I have hidden from Jesus?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are one of the twelve settling in for a Passover meal with Jesus. Does this night seem special to you? Where is it being held? Who prepares and serves the meal? What are you eating/drinking? Are there any women present? What of the old stories of the first Passover stand out for you? How do you and your companions view Jesus this evening? Does he seem any different? What do you make of the exchange with Judas, and then with Peter? Do either of them make you uncomfortable? Is there anything in the conversation that puzzles you? What is the message that you take away from the evenings activities, or are you puzzled by the curious events? Do modern readers, who know the outcome of that fateful evening, view the events differently? What message in contained in this story for modern readers? What message is there in that story for me?

Music Meditations

• Servant Song—Sevantofthelion
• Whatsoever You Do—Robert Kolchis
• The Call—John Bell

Easter Triduum, April 6-8, 2023

1. We must be careful these days not to caricature the Jewish faith. The Gospels portray its piety and leaders in a very unsympathetic light. Don't become an unconscious anti-Semite. Such bashing of the Jews can reveal an insecure faith, seeking assurance in caricaturing the faith of others. Jewish people suffered their worst pogroms during Holy Week at the hands of Christians. So, we need to be careful of subtle forms of anti-Semitism.

2. We must be careful to respect the integrity of each Gospel. Don't harmonize or fill in to make a composite picture. Stay within the text and treat it distinctively, learn how each writer saw and witnessed the Christ event.

For example, notice that no one gospel has all seven phrases of the "Last Words":

"Seven Last Words of Jesus" in the four gospel accounts of The Passion

Mark: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Matthew: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Luke: Father forgive them; they don't know what they are doing.

Today you shall be with me in Paradise.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

John: Woman, here is your son. Here is your mother.

I thirst.

It is finished.

3. Remember that the principal actor is God. There are some key figures in the stories for meditation (Peter, Pilate, etc.), but in the Gospels this week Jesus absorbs our attention. Put aside all else, even the "moral lessons." We see nothing but Jesus, and him crucified. What is God doing and saying to us this week?

4. The Triduum is a unity: this contradicts the conventional wisdom that sees each day as a separate unit. Note that in each day of the Triduum there is explicit reference to the whole paschal liturgy. Each particular day commemorates the whole of the mystery, while at the same time emphasizing one aspect of the events. So we experience Good Friday in its defeat and pain in the light of the hope of the resurrection; we experience Easter in its glory, reminded of the seeming hopelessness of Good Friday. The renewed emphasis isn't on "holy week" but on the consciousness of the passion and resurrection as intimately bound to our own lives as church.

5. I want to be careful how I think about suffering and death during these days. I wonder how we can think of them as positive? In the Scriptures of the Jewish people, suffering and death are to be avoided and, where possible, alleviated. The hope we have as Christians is that God will do away with both at the end. It seems to be always the poor who suffer the most, who always are the victims. So, during these days we might resolve to become more fully involved with God's plan to alleviate suffering by alleviating the suffering of the poor through deeper involvement in social programs. Good Friday, for example, should not be a day that keeps a silence of inattention to the suffering of others. If we keep a silence this day, it may be to ponder the suffering of those around us and to resolve to do something about it. If we fast, or partially fast this day, it might be to do so in solidarity with those who have too little to eat, using whatever we did not spend a give it away to someone in need, or to an organization that helps feed the poor.

Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023

Reflections and Meditations for Holy Week / the gift of Christ’s last days

Opening Prayer

Help me to fix my gaze on you throughout this Holy Week. Help me to walk closely with you and accompany you in your last days on this earth. This has been a long and arduous journey for you, Lord. Did you think things would end up this way? Did life go the way you planned? Help me to face my challenges with courage and help me to remain faithful to your word and believe in your promises. Give me strength for this life’s journey, and give me compassion for those on their own difficult journeys. Be with me, Lord, when I am afraid or weary.

Companions for the Journey

This is a homily delivered by Deacon John Kerrigan on Good Friday 2018:

What would be a crucifixion for me? To feel that I’m absolutely alone, that nobody cared for or wanted me, that it really didn’t matter to anyone whether I lived or died.

About five years ago, I received an email from a former work acquaintance. Her name was Alice and she lived on the east coast. Alice’s note had a frantic tone to it: her son, Chris, enrolled in college in the Bay Area, was failing out of school. Furthermore, he had refused to meet with his academic advisor and stopped attending his therapy sessions. Alice asked if I would meet with Chris; I readily agreed. I sent her son a brief text introducing myself. His reply was hardly encouraging. “What do you want from me?” he wrote. After a few more emails back and forth, he agreed to meet.

In my first face-to-face encounter with Chris, I sensed that he was exceptionally paranoid and obscenely angry. Think for a moment about J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in “Catcher in the Rye” and, then, multiply that character’s cynicism by ten and you’ll start to get a picture of Chris. As we spoke, I quickly learned about his former friends, former girlfriend, and former stellar grades. I also learned about his current struggle with the prescription drug Adderall. Over time, I realized that Chris was experiencing the crucifixion of feeling entirely alone. In his mind, no one cared about him; he also had convinced himself that he could care less about anyone else.

During the course of subsequent meetings, I simply listened to Chris and allowed him to vent. Ultimately, he decided to withdraw from school and move back east, primarily for economic reasons.

I saw Chris for the last time a few days before his departure and helped him move some boxes from his apartment to a place where they could be shipped back east. As I was about to leave, I handed Chris a hat from the Stanford golf course (just like this one), and told him that it might come in handy as he coped with the summer heat back home. As we said our goodbyes, Chris casually handed the hat back to me. I was confused and said, “Chris, this is a gift; it’s yours to keep.” He seemed genuinely surprised and said, “I thought you were joking. You mean I can keep it?” Whereupon, he put it on, and with a grin, said “thank you”. It was the first time that I had heard him speak those two words.

Now, why do I share the story with you? For two reasons, actually. First, because it reminds you and me that Calvary is not just a place nor is it a moment in time. Calvary comes to life whenever and wherever the body of Christ is scourged, stripped, broken, pierced. There is the Calvary of war and bigotry, the Calvary of persecution and poverty. There is the Calvary that dwells in every human heart, whenever we turn toward sin and away from Christ. There is the Calvary of young Chris being bound by the chains of despair and self-loathing. The miracle of Good Friday, though, is the realization that by God’s grace, Calvary isn’t the end of the story.

Second, I share the story about Chris so that we can spend a moment reflecting on the meaning of a “gift.” Gifts are something that are given freely. They can, however, be received or ignored by the person for whom they are intended. Chris’s outer shell was pretty hard; he had a difficulty receiving and accepting a gift, though he did eventually embrace my gesture of friendship.

It takes a certain humility to accept a gift and, more so, to accept that it is given freely by someone who thinks enough of us to give us that gift. This Good Friday we need to ask ourselves, “Are we willing to accept the gift of God’s unconditional love in our lives? Are you and I willing to stop making excuses for who we are and accept the fact that the person that God’s loves is the person that God made, you and me, just the way that we are?”

For a moment, let’s also ask ourselves, “Why do we call this Friday “Good?” Perhaps, because God used it to remind you and me that our humanity was something precious. After all, Jesus took on our flesh, he was born in the same way that you and I were born. I have no doubt that God could have worked out our salvation in many different ways. Instead, God decided to save us by taking on our flesh and pitching a tent among us. God became one of us because God wanted to experience what we experience and in the same way that we experience it. Recall for a moment, Paul’s letter to the Hebrews: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.”

If you and I want to know the meaning of the word God, we need only look at the life, death and destiny of Jesus of Nazareth. Likewise, if you or I want to know what it means to be a human being, we need look no farther than Jesus of Nazareth. The fullness of humanity revealing the fullness of divinity is found in the gift of Jesus of Nazareth.

Which brings us back to God’s “gift” this somber day. In all of his ministry, through to the Last Supper and passion and death on a cross, Jesus is saying to us, ‘If you want to hold on to your life, if you try to preserve it, if you grasp it and will not let it go, you will lose it. But, if you give your life away, if you hand it over, if you are willing to die, you will discover that you cannot run out of life.’ Hold onto life, you lose it; give it away and life becomes everlasting.

Good Friday reminds you and me that we will lose what we hold onto and can never run out of what we freely give away.

Let’s apply this principle to our education and work lives as well. You and I may believe that our schooling and careers are gifts given to us to be grasped, prizes that we have achieved and strive to hold on to so as to advance in our professions or to make more money and provide for our family. And, actually, these are fine outcomes. However, if we think that these outcomes are all that our education and work lives are about, then perhaps we are unworthy of both. For the real reason for our education and life of work is to give us a greater ability to serve others.

We never truly grasp the full fruits of our education and work until we give them away to others. The measure of our success is the degree to which people who never came to Stanford or set foot in Silicon Valley experience lives that are richer, fuller, more genuinely human because you did go to Stanford or you do work in Silicon Valley.

On Good Friday, Jesus gave everything, until there was nothing left to give – “Father, I hand myself over to you. It is finished.” To be able to give away everything is what all of us are in training to do, from the moment of our baptism. And in doing so, becoming a little more human. And in becoming a little more human, we become genuinely holy.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with Chris and his mother. Though the road’s been bumpy, he’s navigating life much better. But, to one degree or another, isn’t life a bumpy road for you and me also. Alice did tell me, though, that the hat that I gave him as a token of our brief friendship is now threadbare from wear; that fact pleased me greatly.

Thanks to the gift of the Incarnation, you, I and God have one thing in common—we’re all human. Therefore, if we wish to be like God, let’s set our minds and hearts on being more human. And the way to be more human is to help others to be more human. To give yourself away.

To discover that fact is to discover everything that is important in the Christian tradition. That is the gift that has been given to us this day. Give it away!

Reflection and Discussion

This iteration of Sunday’s Gospel is divided so that if groups are meeting to meditate on the readings, several readers can participate and take turns. In addition, there are four pieces of music as interludes between every other section; these pauses can also be for quiet meditation of discussion. This is also usable for private reflection during Holy Week.

Matthew 26:14–27:66

(Reader 1)

Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from then onwards he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He said, ‘Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.” ‘ The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover. When evening came he was at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating he said, ‘In truth I tell you, one of you is about to betray me.’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not me, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me will betray me. The Son of man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him, asked in his turn, ‘Not me, Rabbi, surely?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is you who say it.’ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. ‘Take it and eat,’ he said, ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them saying, ‘Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall never again drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’

(Reader 2)

After the psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away from me tonight, for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after my resurrection I shall go ahead of you to Galilee.’ At this, Peter said to him, ‘Even if all fall away from you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus answered him, ‘In truth I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the disciples said the same. Then Jesus came with them to a plot of land called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And he began to feel sadness and anguish. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and stay awake with me.’ And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said, ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak.’ Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said, ‘if this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!’ And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy. Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words. Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and have your rest. Look, the hour has come when the Son of man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! Look, my betrayer is not far away.’ And suddenly while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them saying, ‘The one I kiss, he is the man. Arrest him.’ So he went up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi,’ and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘My friend, do what you are here for.’ Then they came forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. And suddenly, one of the followers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his ear. Jesus then said, ‘Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, who would promptly send more than twelve legions of angels to my defence? But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say this is the way it must be?’ It was at this time that Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Am I a bandit, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid a hand on me.’ Now all this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture.

Music Interlude

“Your Will” (composed by Tony Eiras; sung by Michael Amaral) [amazingradio.com]
Scroll down to find "Your Will"; the song can be played in its entirety for free.

(Reader 3)

Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away. The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter followed him at a distance right to the high priest’s palace, and he went in and sat down with the attendants to see what the end would be. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might have him executed. But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses came forward. Eventually two came forward and made a statement, ‘This man said, “I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it up.” ‘ The high priest then rose and said to him, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’ But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is you who say it. But, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy. What is your opinion?’ They answered, ‘He deserves to die.’ Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ! Who hit you then?’ Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him saying, ‘You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it in front of them all. ‘I do not know what you are talking about,’ he said. When he went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.’ And again, with an oath, he denied it, ‘I do not know the man.’ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘You are certainly one of them too! Why, your accent gives you away.’ Then he started cursing and swearing, ‘I do not know the man.’ And at once the cock crowed, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.

(Reader 4)

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people met in council to bring about the death of Jesus. They had him bound and led him away to hand him over to Pilate, the governor. When he found that Jesus had been condemned, then Judas, his betrayer, was filled with remorse and took the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and elders saying, ‘I have sinned. I have betrayed innocent blood.’ They replied, ‘What is that to us? That is your concern.’ And flinging down the silver pieces in the sanctuary he made off, and went and hanged himself. The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, ‘It is against the Law to put this into the treasury; it is blood-money.’ So they discussed the matter and with it bought the potter’s field as a graveyard for foreigners, and this is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. The word spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was then fulfilled: And they took the thirty silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by the children of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.

Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is you who say it.’ But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer at all. Pilate then said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many charges they have made against you?’ But to the governor’s amazement, he offered not a word in answer to any of the charges. At festival time it was the governor’s practice to release a prisoner for the people, anyone they chose. Now there was then a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas. So when the crowd gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Which do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’ For Pilate knew it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. Now as he was seated in the chair of judgment, his wife sent him a message, ‘Have nothing to do with that upright man; I have been extremely upset today by a dream that I had about him.’ The chief priests and the elders, however, had persuaded the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus. So when the governor spoke and asked them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ they said, ‘Barabbas.’ Pilate said to them, ‘But in that case, what am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ He asked, ‘But what harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’ Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your concern.’ And the people, every one of them, shouted back, ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children!’ Then he released Barabbas for them.

Music Interlude

Pie Jesu by Fauré, sung by Kathleen Battle [YouTube]

(Reader 1)

After having Jesus scourged he handed him over to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet cloak round him, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucifixion. On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, called Simon, and enlisted him to carry his cross. When they had reached a place called Golgotha, that is, the place of the skull, they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink. When they had finished crucifying him they shared out his clothing by casting lots, and then sat down and stayed there keeping guard over him. Above his head was placed the charge against him; it read: ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’

(Reader 2)

Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, ‘So you would destroy the Temple and in three days rebuild it! Then save yourself if you are God’s son and come down from the cross!’ The chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way, with the words, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He has put his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, “I am God’s son.” ‘ Even the bandits who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.

Music Interlude

Jesus Remember Me from Taizé [YouTube]

(Reader 3)

From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of those who stood there heard this, they said, ‘The man is calling on Elijah,’ and one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he filled with vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink. But the rest of them said, ‘Wait! And see if Elijah will come to save him.’ But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit. And suddenly, the veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy people rose from the dead, and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs, entered the holy city and appeared to a number of people. The centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and all that was taking place, and they were terrified and said, ‘In truth this man was son of God.’ And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

(Reader 4)

When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre. Next day, that is, when Preparation Day was over, the chief priests and the Pharisees went in a body to Pilate and said to him, ‘Your Excellency, we recall that this impostor said, while he was still alive, “After three days I shall rise again.” Therefore give the order to have the sepulchre kept secure until the third day, for fear his disciples come and steal him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead.” This last piece of fraud would be worse than what went before.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You may have your guard; go and make all as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the sepulchre secure, putting seals on the stone and mounting a guard.

Music Interlude

Going Home by Antonín Dvořák, sung by Bryn Terfel [YouTube]
Or “My God, My God, Why” -transeraph. Psalm 22 from the Psalm Project from the album Psalms uplugged) Poweful and poignant

Reflection Questions

• What draws me to Jesus?
• What is the cause of Jesus “sorrow” in the garden? What are my “Gethsemanies”?
  Have I ever found it hard to accept God’s will in my life?
• Why does treachery from a friend feel worse than hatred from strangers?
• Remorse can kill or purify. The ability to believe we can be forgiven is central to our Christian belief. This is the basis for the difference between Peter and Judas. Do I really believe that I am truly and completely forgiven by God?
• Everybody has a cross to carry in this life, whether it is illness, loneliness, anxiety, personal relationships or professional ones. Can you name one of your “crosses”? How can you be more like Jesus as you carry your cross(es)?
• Describe a time in your life when you felt a lack of God’s presence in your personal need. How did you handle it?
• Can I forgive others truly and freely?
• Describe the way Jesus handled his interrogation and torture. What qualities of his that he displayed in these instances do you particularly admire?
• Have you ever been anxious or worried about something and found that your usual support system was somehow lacking? How did you feel?
• What images or incidents in this narrative particularly touch you? How do they relate to your own life and your own understanding of Jesus?
• Adapted from Rev. William Bausch in Once upon a Gospel:
  The fact is, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east on a donkey, and Pilate enters from the west on a warhorse, was the day you and I were confronted with a choice: We could choose to enter with Pilate, who represented force, greed and exploitation, or we could choose to enter with Jesus, who represented the kingdom of God which condemns those who exploit others, who use the power of their office or their money to serve their own selfish and sometime dishonest ends, who treat the poor and marginalized as expendable. The results of that confrontation are clear. The question for each of us: which entrance shall I take, whose procession do I follow?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Memory:

adapted from Surrender—A Guide for Prayer, by Jacqueline Syrup Bergin and Sister Marie Schwann:

The Way of the Cross
As Jesus appears before Pilate, I remember a time when I experienced being misunderstood, condemned:
As Jesus receives his cross, I recall a time when I received a cross in my life:
As Jesus falls the first time, I remember when I experienced my first failure, my own limits
As Mary encourages Jesus, I remember someone who encouraged me to follow God's call; I remember how he or she looked at me:
As Simon helps Jesus carry his cross, I consider who has been there to lift a burden from shoulders, from my heart:
As Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, I remember the Veronicas in my life—those who stood by me, comforted me, even at the risk of their own rejection:
As Jesus falls a second time, I recall the times when I have experienced the helplessness of failing, knowing I would fail, again and again:
As the women reach out to comfort Jesus, I remember the faces of those whom I have reached out to comfort, even in my own pain:
As Jesus falls a third time, I recall a time when I felt as if I was totally defeated and could not go on:
As Jesus is stripped of his clothing, I remember the experience of feeling so emotionally naked, so publicly demeaned, so vulnerable before others:
As Jesus is nailed to the cross, I consider the things that bound me, kept me “fastened” to my own sorrow, failures or disappointments:
As I imagine Jesus dying on the cross, I try to recall a time when I loved so unconditionally, so completely, that I gave my all:
As I imagine Mary holding the dead body of her son, I pause and remember those who have held me up in life, nurtured me, and grieved with me:
As Jesus’ body is laid in the tomb, I consider what in my life keeps me entombed, where I most experience death:

Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Read the whole of Psalms 22 and 31 while imagining that Jesus is the speaker. What links do you find between those texts and the passion narratives in the Gospels? What impact does this have?
—Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.

Poetic Reflections—A Selection of 5 Poems

Read Mary Oliver’s poem “Gethsemane”. What is the perspective here?

“Gethsemane”

The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on his feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn’t move.
Maybe the lake far away, where once he walked
as on a blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be part of the story.

Read W.S. Di Piero’s poem “Gethsemane” (from The Restorers). How does it feel to be the betrayer? Have I ever disappointed or betrayed anyone? How did I feel?

“Gethsemane”

He had nerve enough to follow,
dogging his heels, for what? To learn
a new vocabulary, a prayer,
down there in yellow iris that smelled
like carcass? He came back smiling.
The dog had its day, rolling in meat.
This meat was news: The Word of God
wants what we want, to be unchosen.

He must have made up his mind then
What if he said, I don't see Him here,
we’ll check later? Instead he gagged
on words, like a mouthful of water
brought from the garden, that blood squirms
from the blossom loads and cracked boughs,
and in the stagnant lake of the heart
the sprouting trunk splits, groans,
spilling wine, the spongy dirt
inhaling any blood that falls,
and I'm falling into the tree
and dogs at lakeside bark at clouds.

Like that. As if his own speech could
infuriate time while he waited
for an act to come upon him
(as joy sometimes happens). The soldiers
(were they his joy?) got impatient.
So finally his bloodless lips
screamed More life! More salt!
before he gave away his kiss.

Read a poetic reflection on Peter’s betrayal by Rev. Ed Ingebretzen, S.J.:

“In The Book”

In the book
is told
the story of Peter—
he who denied
Jesus—
Peter whose extravagant love
bloomed like Sunday breakfast.

Also is told how he cried,
a glory credited to him
as to none other.
Peter cried to know his denial; how
perplexed he was by love, how undone
like a shoelace.
torn by love of him
called Jesus
who loved incomprehensibly,
till it seemed
even the rocks around him sang blessings.

But Jesus told Peter
what his heart had long known:
you are weak and shall be harvested
like a field of wheat
ripe in October.
Around you the weeds and flowers cluster
eager to gather in your strength.
Said Jesus further:
Peter, be cut, sifted
measured out.
Let love be your source and their ground,
In you let them find root.

Read a novel take on one of the main actors in Palm Sunday’s events written by Mary Oliver:

“The Poet Thinks of the Donkey”

On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight.

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

Read this meditation on death by St. Catherine of Siena. Could it apply to Jesus?:

“Live Without Thought of Dying”

We work so hard to fly
and no matter what heights we reach
our wings get folded near a candle,
at the end,

for nothing can enter God but Himself.
Our souls are some glorious substance of the divine
that no sentry wants to stop.

Live without thought of dying,
for dying is not a truth.

We have swayed on the sky's limb together,
many years there the same leaves grow.

But then they get that look in their eyes
and bid farewell to what they distained or cherished.

This life He gave the shell, the daily struggles we know,
sit quiet for a minute, dear, feel the wind,
let Light touch you.

Live without thought of dying,
for dying is not a
truth

Musical Reflection for Good Friday

Play “O Magnum Mysterium” by Ola Gjeilo [olagjeilo.com], and imagine the Angels singing to Jesus on the cross. What would your song be?

OR

Play “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber [YouTube], reflecting on how Jesus and his friends must have felt about their great mission and its apparent failure on that last day…

Closing Prayer

This week’s invitation to walk with you Lord, on your last, final journey to the Father, is both comfort and challenge to me. Can I have the strength and steadfastness with which you approached your fate? Can I keep my eyes on the Prize? Can I forgive those who have betrayed and hurt me along the way? Help me trust in myself and in your ultimate goodness as I live my life in your image.