In one family, it is a Good Friday. A job has been lost, a career derailed. A serious illness has been diagnosed. A once-loving relationship has unraveled. But the other members of the family put aside their own lives and come together at the foot of their loved one’s cross. Their love moves whatever mountain necessary, changes the course of whatever river is in their way. Together, Mom and Dad and Sister and Brother, Step Parent, Single Parent, and Grandparent bear one another’s crosses to bring hope, healing, forgiveness — and resurrection — to every aspect of their life together as a family. The love of our families can transform tragic and desperate Good Fridays into Easter hope.
In this classroom, it is a Good Friday. The numbers and diagrams in the algebra text are a maze to the student. She is lost and frustrated and discouraged and wants to quit. A tired, overworked teacher just wants to go home after a long week; but, seeing her student’s frustration, she takes off her coat, puts down her pile of books and papers, and patiently walks through the problems with the befuddled student. After a lot of hard work and patience, the “lights come on.” A teacher’s selfless caring and generous gift of time transform this student’s Good Friday into Easter light.
At corporate, it is Good Friday. A single mother has lost all of her vacation and leave time to care for her seriously ill child. She is about to lose her job – and the important medical benefits critical to her family’s survival. Her co-workers devise a plan to pool some of their vacation time and cover her responsibilities so that she can keep her job and benefits while caring for her son. A Good Friday of desperation is transformed into an Easter of possibility.
If we are honest, all of us sometimes find ourselves stuck in a Good Friday world – our problems batter us, overwhelm us, strain our ability to cope and make it all work. Our Alleluias are tempered by reality; we approach this Easter Day with “Christ is risen, BUT…” But in raising his son from the dead, God affirms the Good news of his Christ: that good can conquer evil, that love can transform hatred, that light can shatter the darkness. We need to remember and remember it well, the story of Jesus whether told in the Bible or on a movie screen does not end in the cold hopelessness of the cross but reaches ultimate fulfillment in the Resurrection. Easter calls us to embrace the Risen One’s compassion and openness of heart and spirit, enabling us to transform the Good Fridays of our lives into Easter mornings.
This Easter morning I close with a challenge for all of us!
Some years ago, I was in Rome on Palm Sunday with the youth from our Diocese for World Youth Day. We all had the opportunity to hear Mother Theresa of Calcutta speak.
I remember well what she said:
“Death has not put a stop to the mission of Jesus. His mission is to be carried on through us. Living witnesses of his presence.” The challenge, to be Easter People — not just today, but everyday. People whose lives not just their mouths (in church) radiate (not perfectly but as best we can) the hope — the joy – the presence of Jesus risen and alive – right here — right now.
Let us stand and re commit ourselves to Being Easter People everyday!
Easter People 4-17-2022
April 13th, 2022Palm Sunday Reflection 4-10-2022
April 9th, 2022What does it mean, this good, kind loving young man,-barely in his thirties- dying for no crime at all. What does it mean and what is it for?
What it means is that God loves us so much that God will withhold from us absolutely nothing – not even God’s own dear Son. What it means is that no matter what, God will always be there for us, with All God’s love and power, comfort and grace.
There are no limits to God’s commitment to us, none at all. Through this terrible moment in Jesus’ life. God’s saying, “You can count on me. I’ll never desert you, and there’s nothing I won’t give you, not even my Son.”
This Passion Sunday is, in one way, a very sad day. Walking with Jesus on this day can break your heart. But it’s also the brightest of days, because it tells how very much we are loved, and because it reminds us who view it from the vantage point of the resurrection that, despite all appearances, failure, death, rejection, ALL WILL BE WELL!
Throwing Stones 4-3-2022
March 4th, 2022A woman has been caught in adultery. I can see her being dragged through the public streets, hair a mess, some garments hastily gathered around her. When the Pharisees see this woman, it is very clear what they see. They see sin. They see someone who must be condemned. They see imperfection and ugliness. They see a disgusted woman who really must be dragged out of town and them pelted with rocks and stones until her bones are broken or she dies. It is astonishing what they see.
Jesus looks at the same woman. What does He see? He knows very well she is a sinner, and he doesn’t make light of that, but he sees a troubled woman, a sick woman. He sees a human being with shaky self-esteem, with an empty and miserable life, and He is moved to administer the compassion of a God.
Which leads me to the question: When we look at life in general, or at the church, or at people in general…What do we see? Do we see only the negative, or something to criticize, or condemn? If we do, that says as much about me as it does about the world!
“All they could see inside of me was my sin,” thought the woman.
“Those Pharisees with their lecherous grins. Righteous fools in holy disguise. They dragged me down the public street and threw me at some Rabbi’s feet. I was afraid to look up at his face. So ashamed and undone at my public disgrace.”
‘Jesus, Jesus, what shall we do?’ the hypocrite crowd moaned.
“O God, I thought, I’m going to be stoned!”
‘Stone her, of course!’ he replied. ‘That will be fine but let the sinless one here be first in line.’
(Pause)
They had no idea what to say or how to act. So, they slinked away with their haughtiness cracked!
“I lay there, very near to despair. It was obvious He was the sinless one there and in God’s name would through the stone to draw my blood and crush my bone.”
(Pause)
‘Are you still here?’ He said, in a good-humored voice.
‘Go home, but from now on, make a wiser choice.’
Please remember this:
There is more to anyone than meets the eye. God sees deeper than you or them… so try. Try seeing yourself as God sees you and your sins will never freeze you. Try seeing others as God sees them and you may never pick up a stone again.
