Good Friday [C], April 6, 2007

Readings
Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1–19:42

Quotes
From the beginning the Church has lived and understood the Death and Resurrection of Christ as a call by God to conversion in the faith of Christ and in love of one another, perfected in mutual help even to the point of a voluntary sharing of material goods.
1971 Bishops’ Synod, Justice in the World

It is by uniting his own sufferings for the sake of truth and freedom to the sufferings of Christ on the Cross that a human person is able to accomplish the miracle of peace and is in a position to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil and the violence which, under the illusion of fighting evil, only makes it worse. . . A human person is alienated if he refuses to transcend himself and to live the experience of self giving and of the formation of an authentic human community oriented towards his final destiny, which is God.
John Paul II, Centesium Annus, 25, 41

There is in our history a barbarous excess of suffering, a violence and destructiveness so intense in quality and extensive in scope that it can only be named genuine evil. . . Radical suffering afflicts millions of people the world over in intense and oppressive ways. . . A God who is not in some way affected by such pain is not really worthy of human love and praise. . . Wisdom participates in the suffering of the world and overcomes, inconceivably, from within through the power of love. . . the mystery of God is here in solidarity with those who suffer. . . Against the background of the history of human injustice and suffering, the suffering God is the most productive and critical symbol for it cannot be uttered without human beings hearing the challenge to solidarity and hope.
Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, She Who Is

We must make haste. Too many people are suffering. While some make progress, others stand still or move backwards; and the gap between them is widening.
Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 29

All Catholics are called to a common commitment to protect human life and stand with those who are poor and vulnerable.
US Bishops, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility

Thoughts for Your Consideration
Our commemoration of Good Friday can sometimes be taken over by a “spirituality of sentimentality.” We might force ourselves to feel bad because of someone who died 2000 years ago. We might force ourselves to feel bad because we are told that we did something to make this Jesus of Nazareth suffer. Our art, our music and our prayer can box us into such sentimentality; however, this need not be the case.

We may avoid the extremes or limits of such a spirituality and move to a more healthy spirituality of Good Friday, by making sure that we ground our spirituality in the “real world.” The suffering of Jesus is connected with the suffering of the world and its people – people of all times and places – especially the poor and powerless.

This suffering continues today:

in any situation where people experience injustice
in the violence that continues in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Iraq
in the extreme poverty in places like Haiti or nations in Sub-Sahara Africa
in the more than 800 million people in the world who go to bed hungry
in the lives of those who affected by last year’s hurricanes and struggle to recover
in the experience of those who are denied human rights or are even unjustly imprisoned
in the lives of all those who experience racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination
in the “suffering” of planet earth as it feels the effect of the human abuse of the environment
in the lives of forced migrants (refugees, migrant workers, the undocumented
in the experience of indigenous peoples at home and abroad
in the experience of anyone who has lost family members in acts of war and violence
in the experience of the people of the Darfur region of the Sudan
in the millions who have died in the ongoing war and unrest in the Congo
in the suffering experienced by individual people and families in abusive relationships
in the experience of those who are sick and cannot afford medical care
in children who are denied an adequate education
in the frustration of those who cannot find work at a just wage.
The list could go on and on.

The events of Good Friday call us not into an unreal, sentimental sorrow, but into a deeper awareness of life today with its struggles and sorrows. Our Good Friday experience calls us into a deeper desire to work for an end to injustice and suffering. We are called to a deep solidarity with our God and a deep solidarity with each other. In solidarity, Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation.” Through such solidarity we will experience resurrection.

Three Reminders of Social Teaching from John’s Passion Story

1) Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard.”
Catholic Social Teaching is committed to peace, reconciliation and nonviolence.

It is absolutely necessary that international conflicts should not be settled by war, but that other methods better befitting human nature should be found. Let a strategy of non-violence be fostered also, and let conscientious objection be recognized and regulated by law in each nation.
1971 Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World

In all of his suffering, as in all of his life and ministry, Jesus refused to defend himself with force or with violence. He endured violence and cruelty so that God’s love might be fully manifest and the world might be reconciled to the One from whom it had become estranged. Even at his death, Jesus cried for forgiveness for those who were executioners: “Father, forgive them.”
US Bishops, The Challenge of Peace

2) Jesus answered the high priest: “I have spoken publicly to the world.”
Catholic Social Teaching encourages political and economic processes that are “transparent” so that all people can fully participate in their human and political rights.

Is this not the time for all to work together for a new constitutional organization of the human family, truly capable of ensuring peace and harmony between peoples, as well as their integral development? . . . It means continuing and deepening processes already in place to meet the almost universal demand for participatory ways of exercising political authority, even international political authority, and for transparency and accountability at every level of public life.
John Paul II, World Day of Peace, January 1, 2003

3) Jesus said to Pilate: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

Catholic Social Teaching invites the whole world and its institutions to speak the truth whether it is through a free and truthful press, open and honest government, or the courageous speaking up about situations of injustice.

The fundamental moral requirement of all communication is respect for and service of the truth. Freedom to seek and speak what is true is essential to human communication, not only in relation to facts and information but also, and especially, regarding the nature and destiny of the human person, regarding society and the common good, regarding our relationship with God.
John Paul II, World Communications Day, June 1, 2003

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group
Who is experiencing the Passion today? Make a list. Share your list with others in the group. After you share your lists, make them the focus of your prayer.

Prayers

Jesus was free.
Sure, they arrested him, but Jesus was free!
Sure, they yelled “Crucify Him!” but Jesus was free!
Sure, they put him to death, but Jesus was free!
Jesus was aware.
Aware of people, aware of sin, aware of injustice!
Aware of love, aware of compassion, aware of life!
Jesus was in touch with the truth.
The truth about life, relationship, courage, and liberation!
The truth about social sin, injustice, poverty, and violence!
The truth about nonviolence, faith, hope, and love!
Jesus was free and alive and in love!!!

Jesus, share with me your spirit of freedom.
Bless me with the freedom to be aware
Aware of your presence everywhere
Aware of your compassionate love for the entire world and its creatures
Aware of sin and injustice, of violence and oppression
Aware of propaganda, racism, and all untruth
Aware of the possibilities for a new heaven and a new earth
Aware of the possibilities for an active nonviolence and a loving witness for justice
Aware of the possibilities for relationship and joy.
Bless me with the freedom to act
To act without fear
To act out of a deep relationship in prayer
To act for what is right and good
To act for justice and peace
To act in solidarity with others
To act in solidarity with you
Jesus, bless me with the freedom to be alive as a child of God.

* * *

Teach me your Way, O Lord

Lord, Teach me your way of treating others – sinners, children, Pharisees, Pilates and Herods, and also John the Baptists.

Teach me your way of eating and drinking, and how to act when I’m tired from work and need rest.

Teach me compassion for the suffering, the poor, the blind, and the lame. You who shed tears, show me how to live my deepest emotions. Above all, I want to learn how you endured your Cross.

Teach me your way of looking at people: the way you glanced at Peter after his denial, the way you touched the heart of the rich young man and the hearts of your disciples.

I would like to meet you as you really are, since you change those who really know you. If only I could hear you speak as when you spoke in the synagogue of Capernaum or on the Mount of Beatitudes!

Give me grace to live my life, within and without, the way you lived your life, O Lord.

Pedro Arrupe, SJ