GOOD FRIDAY Where have all the good men gone?

Two weeks ago, we had our parish mission. On the second day, Harold the husband of Sheila Wilson said to me, “Father, this mission is packed with women. I feel as if I am at a Catholic Women’s League convention, WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD MEN GONE?” Two thousand years ago, as Jesus hung on the Cross, he must have had the same thought.

• I walked and talked with 12 Men for three years.
• I had 72 other disciples - where have they all disappeare d?

• AT the Cross, we are told there stood Mary the mother of Jesus, her sister Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.

Where have all the Good Men gone. They ran away. One betrayed the Master with a Kiss, one denied ever knowing him, not once but three times. The rest just ran away. So what was Good about them? And what is Good about Good Friday?

Actually, the Good Men were just like you and me. Basically good, not malicious, just fearful of the consequences. But the Lord loved them and would continue to love them. And that is what is Good about GOOD FRIDAY.

•  In spite of the Blood and Fear,
• In spite of the Scourging with whips
• In spite of the Crowning with Thorns
• In spite of the Carrying of Cross and Crucifixion.... there was good.

1. In the Garden, despite his own sorrow and distress, JESUS is very patient with Peter, James and John who cannot stay awake.

2. In that same Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows compassion for Judas. Jesus calls him friend even as Judas is betraying Jesus with a kiss and handing him over to the authorities. Mt 26:50

3. As he is being handcuffed and led away, Jesus heals the ear of the person who has been cut by the disciples sword. Luke 22:51

4. After enduring a whole night in court which is a farce. He has a kind look for Peter who betrays him, for his mother who is in pain. He was comforted by Simon of Cyrene who helps him carry his cross. He even has time for the women who weep for him. The Soldiers must have thought that they were loosing control of this prisoner who was calling all the shots. Actually, they never ever had control over him.

5. Finally in the agony of dying, he pardons his persecutors, promises Paradise to the Good Thief, and gives us Mary as our Mother.

 Good Friday was Blessed in more ways than we can think, if we only stop and pray. But I would like to invite you to walk with me in the Traditional Way of the Cross. We will do only a few stations of the Cross as they are enacted by our Children. Jesus died for them - INNOCENT AS THEY ARE - as he died for us sinners. The Cross was not a payment for our sins, but as St. Paul tells us, “Jesus was obedient unto death, even Death on the Cross.” The Cross was our Key to Life.

PART TWO

GOOD FRIDAY word count: 964

The year was 1980. The date was Sunday 23 March. The Archbishop was preaching from the Cathedral. He knew what he was saying was dangerous and it could even cost him his life. A little earlier, he had dismissed the driver of his car, if they were to kill him, he did not want the innocent driver to die.

He had told the New Media, “You can tell the people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully they will realize that they are wasting their time. A Bishop will die, but the Church of God, which is the people, will never perish.” His name was Archbishop Oscar Romero.

 On the 23rd March, he spoke from his Cathedral. The Soldiers in the Military Barracks across from the Cathedral could hear every word from the Loudspeakers of the Cathedral. Although speaking to the people in the Cathedral, the Archbishop addressed his words to the Soldiers, “Brothers you come from OUR people. You are killing your brothers. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God, stop the repression.”

Next day as he was celebrating Mass a single bullet of an assassin killed the Archbishop. When I visited the chapel, which is so quiet and peaceful, the Sisters gave me this stole lest I forget, and asked me to continue to pray for peace and justice... and in the quiet of my heart, I said, but not without Forgiveness. As our late Holy Father, John Paul 2 reminded us: No Peace, without Justice, and there can be no Justice without forgiveness.

One wonders why people would put their life in danger. In that same year, 1980 in a less dramatic manner, but in a bloody way, three religious sisters and a lay woman : Maura Clark, Dorothy Kazel, Ita Ford and Jeanne Donovan were also shot to death.

Jesus had said in his own life time, “When I am raised up - meaning, when I am raised up on the Cross, I will draw all persons to myself.” Through the centuries, men and women have continued to be drawn to Jesus and to his teaching. They have been inspired by his life, inflamed with his Spirit, and ordinary people have show extraordinary courage

• in speaking the truth
• in defending the oppressed
• in being a voice for those who are afraid, confused, uneducated
• in dreaming the impossible dream
• in standing up to the unbeatable foe.

THEY NAILED HIS TEACHINGS TO THE CROSS.

We often think of the bloody and bruised body of Jesus and we spend a lot to time contemplating the scourging and crowning of thorns. If this is all we do then we can get an emotional high which dies down almost as soon as it started. It like the people who expect perfection as long as they come to Church on Good Friday and Christmas.

Jesus was nailed to the Cross, but his teaching and his challenge to the people was as much nailed to the Cross as he was. And what was teaching?

•  In the first place, we have a people who had a mystical and terrifying fear of God. God was the God who told Moses to take off his shoes before the Burning Bush. He was the God, whose name was so holy that it was a sin even to pronounce it. Now here was Jesus calling God his Father. “The Father and I are one . Before Abraham was born, I am” John 8:58. How dare Jesus do a thing like that.
• His familiarity with God

• A second challenge was a challenge of their traditions and social customs. It was traditional to think of “sickness and deformities” as a punishment from God. These people were treated as outcasts. Prophets and Holy Men did not associate with such people. Jesus was definitely a man of God: he prayed all night; he taught with authority; he cast out demons; he had healing powers from God. So it was a shock to see him mix with outcasts and sinners. Luke 7:36.

• The Universality of the Kingdom

•  In the third place, there were certain things that were sacred to the Jews. Among these were the Law and their Temple. Now Jesus was telling them that soon there would be time when neither the temple in Jerusalem or elsewhere was going to be important. All you had to do was pray in Spirit and in Truth. John 4:22. Now that was going too far for the Jews and so Jesus had to die.

• The Undue Sacredness of the Temple

3. If Jesus came today, if Jesus came to Canada today, I wonder whether he would be crucified. I think not. We would invite him to our homes and then make fun of Him and His teaching. We would not crucify the Body - but the very heart of the Kingdom of God. We do that all the time

• when we have no time for our elderly, our seniors, those in nursing homes
• when we scorn our Teenagers just because they wear earings, die their hair all the colours of rainbow and listen to Rap Music.
• when we have no tolerance for people of a different race, orientation, english accent, or eating habits.
• when we take away from our lay people the ministry that is proper to them, and try and control them with rules and regulations.
• when our parish office hours are 9:00 to 5:00 Monday to Friday - the precise time when people are working ! Thus making it impossible for our people to get spiritual support and counsel.

4. Fr. Larry Gillick is a Blind Priest who is well known for giving retreats to Lay people and Religious Groups. Recently, he gave a Parish Mission. After one of the talks, an eight year old came up to him and said very gently, Father do you know you are blind?

That’s right said Fr. Larry.

And because you are blind, you cannot see yourself in the Mirror?

That’s right said Fr. Larry.

So you do not know how you look

That’s right said Fr. Larry.

But I can see you clearly.

That’s right said Fr. Larry.

And I want to tell you, you look Beautiful.

When Jesus climbed the Cross. He did it so that he could draw all persons to himself. And having drawn all persons to himself, Jesus tells us That he can see us better than we can see ourselves. And he tells us that despite our sins.”WE ARE BEAUTIFUL” And that is what is Good about Good Friday.