Good Friday

It’s been a long haul through Lent to get to Good Friday. Arriving at Good Friday is bittersweet. We know this commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death, but we also know the end of the story and it’s a good one.

When Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was taken by Temple guards to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court where the priests and elders sat in judgment of whether or not Jewish law had been violated. They found Jesus guilty of blasphemy but their death verdict had to be carried out by the Romans. Jesus was taken to the Roman courts, first before Pontius Pilate and then before Herod Antipas. Neither was willing to make a decision regarding Jesus. Ultimately Pilate, who knew Jesus was innocent of the charges against Him, but was afraid of the religious schemers of the Sanhedrin and the political implications of not following Roman Empire laws, gave in to the crowd’s riotous calls to crucify Jesus.

All four gospel accounts mention the same location for the crucifixion:

Mark : 15:22 “And they brought him to the place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”

Matthew: 27: 33 “And when they came to a place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”

Luke: 23:33 “And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.”

John: 19:17 “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol’gotha.”

What follows is the agonizing path Jesus took from the court to the Calvary. He was beaten and whipped, mocked and spit at. A thorny crown was placed on His head and He had to carry His own cross. On the way He was too weak to carry His cross and Simon helped Him. He met His mother and other women of Jerusalem. Where are most of His disciples? Why are they not there with Jesus? The women are the believers and stand by Him throughout this final days. When He is nailed to the cross He was offered a mixture of vinegar, gall and myrrh to alleviate suffering, but He refused to drink it. He was placed between two criminals. There was an inscription above His head which read “The King of the Jews.” For six hours Jesus endured His fate and cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” Didn’t Jesus know He would die for us? Why would He say this? During His last three hours darkness fell over the land and when Jesus finally gave up His spirit, an earthquake occurred. Then Jesus was removed from the cross, wrapped in a shroud, placed in a tomb, and the entrance was sealed with a large rock.

Stations of the Cross

The process of Jesus’ being sentenced to death until the resurrection is known as the Stations of the Cross.

Station 1: Jesus is condemned to die
Station 2: Jesus takes up his cross
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time
Station 4: Jesus meets his mother
Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross
Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station 7: Jesus falls the second time
Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Station 9: Jesus falls the third time
Station 10: Jesus is stripped of His garments before the crowd
Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Station 12: Jesus dies on the Cross
Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb
Station 15: Jesus is raised from the dead

Stations of the Cross - by St. Francis of Assisi

Most merciful Lord, with a contrite heart and penitent spirit
I bow down before Thy divine Majesty.
I adore Thee as my supreme Lord and Master.
I believe in Thee.
I hope in Thee.
I love Thee above all things.
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
my only and supreme God.
I firmly resolve to amend my life;
and although I am unworthy to obtain mercy,
yet looking upon Thy holy Cross
I am filled with peace and consolation.
I will, therefore, meditate on Thy sufferings,
and visit the Stations
in company with Thy sorrowful Mother
and my holy Guardian Angel,
to promote Thy honor and save my soul.
I desire to gain all indulgences granted to this holy exercise
for myself and for the soul in Purgatory.
O Loving Jesus,
inflame my cold heart with Thy love,
that I may perform this devotion as perfectly as possible,
and that I may live and die in union with Thee. Amen

Joan Shisler

A Strange Richness

David Shapiro writes in his forward to Anne Porters’ book of poetry, An Altogether Different Language

it is her oscillation between the literal, symbolic, allegorical and even anagogic worlds that gives her sparse poetry it’s strange richness.

Porter's poems lead me to consider anew the most ordinary of things as objects of delight and avenues of faith. The title poem calls all of us to listen in a new way to voices in and around our world.

An Altogether Different Language

There was a church in Umbria, Little Portion
Already old eight hundred years ago.
It was abandoned and in disrepair
But it was called St. Mary of the Angels
For it was known to be the haunt of angels,
Often at night the country people
Could hear them singing there.

What was it like, to listen to the angels,
To hear those mountain-fresh, those simple voices
Poured out on the bare stones of Little Portion
In hymns of joy?
No one has told us,
Perhaps it needs another language
That we have still to learn,
An altogether different language. 

In this same volume her poem For My Son Johnny talks about the life and death of her retarded son and of her failure to fully understand or respond to his life.

Her poem Native Americans places the life Jesus in our common context:

Blue eggshells 

Empty in the grass,
On the rough-coated hills
Translucent,
The little pasture-rose.

Eagle’s shadow
Sweeping the high pasture,
Wordless gospel.

Older than the sun
And younger than the dew,
Poor as the larks
He came into the world

And walked from town to town
Without a stick or sandals
Carrying his new fire.

And today I saw him out on the street
In front of the post office
Tired out, young,
About the age he was
The day they killed him,

Native pastor
Of a small parish
Up on the reservation

He stood there listening
To an old Indian woman,
One of his people

One of his disinherited
And cheated people.

Eagle’s shadow
Crossing the high pasture
Silent gospel. 

In these final days of Lent her poems have again called me to see a strange richness in all of life.

Fr. Showers

Haiku for Lent

Here is a haiku about Lent:
 
Do some spring cleaning.
Empty your mind of clutter.
Fill it with God’s love.

Do you want to try your hand at composing a haiku? Here’s the formula:
First line - 5 syllables
Second line - 7 syllables
Third line - 5 syllables

What’s on your mind during this season of Lent?  Use the comments link below to share your haiku with others in the parish.

Joan Shisler