Friday, March 29, 2002
Good Friday
1st Reading: Is 52:13-53:12
2nd Reading: Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel:
Jn 18:1-19:42
Christ became obedient for us even death,
dying on the cross,
Therefore God raised him on high
and gave him the name
above all names.
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Commentary
"It is finished." In Jesus, we human beings
have loved God as fully as God loves us!
"Let there be light!" for the circuit is made whole, all connections
are open, and we are home!
Did you ever see a tree trunk cut clean, straight across? At the point
of the cut, rings can be seen in the trunk, one for each year of the tree's
life. We see those rings at one point only, but we know that they extend
the whole way up and down the tree. So it is with the tree of the cross:
what we see in this moment of death and resurrection is what God is eternally:
profound humility, entire self-emptying, generating life by expending
life. God's plan is to draw all creation into Christ in this eternal moment:
"When I am lifted up from the earth I shall draw all things to myself."