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Good Friday On Good Friday we will be celebrating a Children’s Liturgy before noon. This takes the pressure off the crowds at the 3:00 pm service. It also helps the children to take part in the Good Friday celebrations which are meaningful to them. The Gospel of the Passion according to John is not read, but acted out by the Children. As a result, a homily is not preached. However, I intend to tell them one of the two following stories - which one? Would you help me out: Homily One. In our first reading from Isaiah, God calls the suffering Servant his friend. This Friend is Jesus Christ who died for us on the Cross. As a servant, Jesus was obedient and as St. Paul says, "obedient unto death." As a friend, Jesus loved God and all of us very much, so much that he was willing to do anything for us. In January 1971, I was up in Wales in Britain, making my annual retreat. The place was quiet and extremely beautiful. Here is where the famous poet, Gerard Manley-Hopkins wrote his famous poems. One morning, I was walking in the fields. It was cold, the ground was covered lightly with snow, (not thick as in Canada). The skies were clear, but the sun shone weakly. But there was something even more beautiful, there were ewes, mother sheep all over the hillside. And suddenly one gave birth to a lamb. I started to panic. What if the Lamb died in the cold. The lamb was covered with blood soon after birth. I wanted to take it and wash it. I looked for a farmer, but could see none. And then nature took its course, the mother sheep licked and cleaned the little lamb. As in the poem: Mary had a little lamb... soon the fleece of the lamb was white as snow. And then more miracles took place, sheep were giving birth to lambs - it seemed all at the same time. I stood and watched and watched and watched. Then something terrible seemed to happen. There was a mother sheep who was bleating without stop as I came near, I realised that the lamb was dead. It was still born. I felt so helpless. Then I saw the farmer coming over the hill. A little further there was another tragedy. This time there was a lamb crying pitifully. The mother seem to be still in a lot of blood. This time the mother had died. Ah, I thought, now the farmer would take the orphan lamb and put it near the sheep that had lost her own lamb and all would be OK. But that is not what the farmer did. He went back to the farm and got a bowl. He then took the dead lamb, slit it and drained the blood into the bowl. He then took the orphan lamb and began to soak it in the blood. Only when it was red and covered with the gore, did he take the lamb and put it next to the bleating mother sheep. At first she was cautious, then she began to lick and clean the orphan lamb - and then she accepted it as her own. I could not help thinking, that this seemed to be the meaning of Good Friday. We were born as Children of God. Then God claimed us as God’s own at baptism, we were washed in the blessed water, we were anointed (christened) with the chrism. We were claimed as God’s own. However, we sinned and we died ! But God like the farmer did not abandon us.
"You are all around me on every side, you protect me with your power."
Homily Two The Priest came into the Church. He carried in his hand an old rusty Cage. There was mud on his shoes, and bits of straw stuck to his coat. People looked at him curiously. You may be wondering why I am a bit late. I was taking a short cut through the fields, and I saw these two boys with a couple of very tired and frightened robins in them. Probably the first robins of spring. They were poking the robins with some sticks through the bars of the cage. I asked them what they were doing. "Oh, we are having some fun with these birds, and then when they are tired, we will let them out for the cat to finish." they replied. It was terrible, so I offered to buy the birds from them. I knew I could get them for a couple of dollars. But they realised that I was an easy mark, so they said, we will give them to you for a price. It is ten dollars. I gave the money, and took the birds out in the field and set them free. I realised as I came for the Good Friday service, that the Robins and the Cage are very much a pattern of our lives. Satan has all people in the cage. He keeps on poking fun at us, and making us miserable. We are teased with sickness, and insecurity, we are inflicted with broken marriages, infidelity, unemployment, physical and mental abuse. Then when we are tired and give in, he drags us down to hell where he himself lives. And then Jesus comes along and says, what do you want for those people in the cage. Satan realises that Christ will give anything, because of his love for people. Satan says, "I have all the money in the world, remember when you were in the desert and I took you up a high mountain, and promised you everything if you would fall down and worship me." But you did not, because your hour had not yet come. Well, Jesus ! This IS the hour. This is my hour. Satan prodded Jesus in the chest - $10 will not buy them. It is your very life. And Jesus paid the price. He took the cage and set us free. The choice is ours on this Good Friday. We can live free and as God’s children. There is another choice... we can fly back into the cage. For many people that is the only security they knew. As we read in Psalm 124 ( and also in Psalm 91) We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
"Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave." Philippians 2:6 |
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