Mar 25th , ’16 GOOD FRIDAY:
Fr.Francis Chirackal CMI
Is 52:13-53:12; Heb 4:14-16, 5:7-9; Jn
18:1-19:42
For Readings
A few years ago a story in the news caught my
attention. A young boy was killed in a
freak shooting incident in Italy. His
grieving family donated his organs to needy Italian children who may not have
otherwise received transplants. This story offers concrete example of people
who make others find life even at the midst of their own deep sorrows. On the
other side many receive new life through the generosity of others in the midst
of their sufferings. Since a few days,
all of us are praying for Fr.Tom SDB, who was abducted by terrorists and so far
no body knows of his whereabouts. What made him to remain and serve there,
risking his own life? Because, he loved Jesus. He loved his brothers and sisters
in Jesus. So he opted to help hundreds of people, who otherwise had no
opportunity for their spiritual care. For Fr.Tom, his fellow beings’ spiritual
care was greater than his own life. His life is for Jesus’ mission. Today we
commemorate the great historical event of self-giving love of God, who made His
own Son to suffer and offer His life on Cross as ransom, so that the human race
will receive eternal life. In John’s
Gospel, it is new life that Jesus brings and particularly in his account of the
passion. It is new life that we are all called to bring to the people around
us.
In today’s First Reading we see the
description about the Servant of God who suffers everything in silence for
human race and became exalted by God. St. Paul in the second Reading, speaks of
Jesus as the high priest and source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
In the Passion Narrative from St. John we find the detailed description of
events that took place from Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane to the tomb. He showed
us how we can offer our lives so that others may live more fully.
Last day a person told me that he is suffering
from fear of death. It always bothers him and even a thought of death scares
him. He was not even able to see the body of his cousin who died, thinking it
may bring into his mind the thoughts of his own death. But this man has no any
illness or known health problem. We see hundreds of people who speak of death
with much hope and welcoming attitude. Faith in God and Eternal Life make our
lives always peaceful and full of hope. Jesus’ suffering and death gives
meaning to our sufferings and death. It gives us courage and strength.
Suffering with Christ becomes not destructive but redemptive and life giving.
Death opens us up to the power of the
resurrection. As St.Paul says, only through our death to the earthly body, we
will be able to resurrect to the heavenly glory. With Jesus we must die many
times to ourselves if we are to receive his Spirit. We can take control of our
lives only by turning our sufferings over to the will of the Father. The cross
is a symbol of the new life we are to live in Jesus. His death became the
source of life.
Jesus through His
self-accepted death out of His love for human race made our lives eternal,
while death is only a passage to that new life. Jesus showed us to find meaning
to our sufferings and death through His own passion and death. Some times ago a
hospital chaplain wrote about a patient who demanded that the crucifix be taken
down from the wall of his hospital room.
The angry man complained that he did not want to be reminded of a man
suffering and dying in pain. The cross that so upset the hospital patient is
the same cross we venerate, kiss, and embrace calling it the “tree all
beauteous” today. By His death Jesus taught us how to be patient in suffering,
to sustain hope in the face of defeat and death. He taught us that goodness can
overcome evil and sin, and that death does not have the last word. He has done
everything possible to make eternal life available to us. But we have to do the
job of incorporating Jesus’ saving work into our own lives.
The
crucifixion is a sign of Jesus’ love. It
points to how much Jesus loves us. The
Passion Story reveals how deeply Jesus shared our experiences. We can look at
Jesus in our any kind of sorrows like, estrangement from family and friends,
unjust, unfair treatment, humiliation, violence, physical assault, false
accusation and mental torture, lose of loved ones, insecurity, betrayal and
cheating by the nearest ones etc. etc. Jesus entered glory by voluntarily
accepting these sufferings for our salvation. Jesus asks us to voluntarily let
the love of God burn so strongly in us that no evil, pain, suffering or death
itself could harm us. May this Holy Week observance and Good Friday
commemoration help us to live our Christian faith more deeply and effectively.
This is the
‘Jubilee Year of Mercy’. This is a special year to grow in our personal
relationship with God and in His life. This is a year to experience God's mercy
in our own lives and to share God’s mercy through us by becoming the
instruments of God’s mercy in our living situations. These days we hear of much
sad news caused by evil-doers. Innocent people are suffering. It is a call to
pray for God’s mercy. God is showering upon the mankind His grace abundantly in
different ways and levels. At the same time, evil powers are working with more
strength without ceasing to destroy the human race with many kinds of
attractive distractions and temptations.
Therefore this world and our surroundings require more prayers with
penance. A few weeks ago pastor of my native parish told me that, he has asked
all the parishioners to attend the Sunday holy Mass holding a Cross in their
hands as a part of penance for the sins today’s world including us are
committing. By becoming the agents of God’s mercy in our living situations, let
us receive a share in His life.
During this Holy Week, as we re-live Salvific
history, let us make every effort to intensify our personal relationship with
Jesus and our relationship with our fellow beings. Let us make Christian love,
Charity, faith and mercy a visible one in our personal, family and societal
lives. May God bless us.
Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34a,37-43; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9
For Readings
One day a man was drifting in a canoe on a
lake, reading a book. There were a bunch
of water beetles at play. Suddenly one
of the beetles began to crawl up the sides of the canoe. When it got halfway up, it attached the
talons of its legs to the wooden side of the canoe and died. He watched for a minute; then he returned to
his book. A few hours later, he looked
down at the dead beetle again. What he
saw amazed him. The beetle had dried up,
and its back was starting to crack open.
As he watched, something began to emerge from the opening: first a moist
head, then wings. It was a beautiful
dragonfly. He sat there and looked at in
awe. The dragonfly began to move its
wings. It hovered gracefully over the
water where the other beetles were at play.
They didn’t realize that it was the same beetle they had played with a
few hours earlier. The unattractive dead-like beetle was transformed into a
beautiful, fast flying dragonfly. On Good Friday we saw an unattractive figure
of Suffering Servant, whom many considered as a defeated and dead man. But on
following Sunday he resurrected to life with new form, vigor, strength and
beauty. Today we are celebrating His resurrection, which became the source of
our hope and resurrection.
In the First Reading we see Peter stresses the
truth of the resurrection by citing witnesses, including himself, who had not
only seen the risen Jesus but had spoken to him and actually eaten with him. In
spite of His previous references to His resurrection, they had completely
forgotten it and were convinced that the tomb near Calvary was the end of all
their hopes. But the very opposite was the case. Jesus’ tomb became the sign of
new life and new hope. In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us that we are
created for unending happiness in heaven and it is only when we get there that
our desire and our quest for greater happiness will end. We must never let the
“things of earth’, the pleasures, the power, the possessions which we can or
could have in this life, block or impede us on our upward journey. In the
gospel we see Christ was no mere man of kindly acts and words of wisdom, but
was the promised Messiah, Son of God who was raised and glorified by the
Father.
In our everyday life Easter enables us to
experience the power of Jesus to change gloomy, despairing endings in our daily
lives into a glorious new beginning. For disciples when sun went down on Good
Friday, they, too, were buried in the tomb with Jesus. It was all over. But as
the sun rose on Easter Sunday morning, Jesus was more radiant and more fully
alive than they had ever seen Him before. And at that moment the power of
Easter began to work in their lives. They were transformed from a band of
despairing men into a brigade of daring missionaries. Their fear disappeared.
They became united again.
Today Easter invites us to open our hearts to
the risen Jesus and let Him do for us what he did for His disciples and the
people to whom they preached. It is the good news that the risen Jesus is in
our midst ready to work miracles for us. It is the good news that nothing can
defeat us anymore- not discouragement, not pain, not misfortune, not even
death.
Christ also empowers us to raise others from
the “little deaths” that entomb them. God shows us repeatedly that we can put
our complete trust in him. The Calvaries
we climb in our everyday lives is nothing as we see our glorious Easter shines
on the horizon. Whatever our circumstances, we know that He is caring for us at
every moment. Christ’s resurrection gives us the assurance that we can triumph
over all evil forces. Easter tells us that we can emerge from broken shells and
painful struggles into a beautiful, joyful life if we let Jesus enter our
lives. It invites us to be Easter people, who rejoice in the Spirit. It invites
us to be witnessing people like the holy women at Jesus tomb and Apostles.
To witness is to tell publicly what we believe
and experience not only by words, but through our real life examples. This year
of Mercy specially invites us to experience God’s mercy and to become real
witnesses to God’s mercy. Christ
empowers us to raise others from the “little deaths” that entomb them in their
everyday lives. After seeing Jesus Mary Magdalene ran to the disciples telling
Jesus is risen. He is alive. The angels told the women that Jesus is alive. The
message of Easter is that Jesus is risen and alive and at work in our lives and
in the world. Easter brings great
gladness and joy. Let us enjoy that gladness in our lives and proclaim the
Risen Christ, the source of our joy. Let us become the agents of God’s mercy. Let
us keep Easter hope and joy in our heart and in our family throughout the year.
May the Risen Lord bless us all. Christ is living.
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