Good Friday is an ironic name for such a solemn day. By all accounts, there was nothing good about this day for Jesus. Tonight I sat in a darkened church as a chorus of readers recounted the stations of the cross. Each grueling and heavy step in Jesus' death march was lit by a candle bearer who processed to the alter and stood silently near the cross, the paradoxical symbol of both hopeless and hope. Modern day reflections and slides connected this ancient and familiar story of injustice, suffering and death to today's versions of the same crimes.
The stations themselves have simple descriptions of the action, "Jesus meets his mother," "Jesus falls a first time," "Jesus falls a second time," "Jesus falls a third time." In human form, God feels and falls.
There is a temptation to view this story as just a play. Jesus acting his part. Throughout the year we recite the creed, "...he suffered, died and was buried," and barely hear the stark brutality of those words. We hurry on to the good part, "...and on the third day he rose again." Even better, he not only rose to join the human ranks, he ascended into heaven in glory. No marks, no scars.
On Good Friday, one of the holiest days of the liturgical year, we are forced to look at the suffering, the dying and the burying. On this day alone, there is no Eucharist anywhere in the world, no redemption. We must sit and ponder ourselves and our sins and wait for the light.
Let there be light.
The stations themselves have simple descriptions of the action, "Jesus meets his mother," "Jesus falls a first time," "Jesus falls a second time," "Jesus falls a third time." In human form, God feels and falls.
There is a temptation to view this story as just a play. Jesus acting his part. Throughout the year we recite the creed, "...he suffered, died and was buried," and barely hear the stark brutality of those words. We hurry on to the good part, "...and on the third day he rose again." Even better, he not only rose to join the human ranks, he ascended into heaven in glory. No marks, no scars.
On Good Friday, one of the holiest days of the liturgical year, we are forced to look at the suffering, the dying and the burying. On this day alone, there is no Eucharist anywhere in the world, no redemption. We must sit and ponder ourselves and our sins and wait for the light.
Let there be light.
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