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- Good Friday
Good Friday
is the mirror held up by Jesus so that we can see ourselves in all our stark reality, and then it turns us to that cross and to his eyes and we hear these words, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” That’s us! And so we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We see in that cross a love so amazing so divine that it loves us even when we turn away from it, or spurn it, or crucify it. There is no faith in Jesus without understanding
that on the cross we see into the heart of God and find it filled with mercy for the sinner whoever he or she may be.
- Robert G. Trache |
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IS 52:13—53:12; PS 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25; HEB 4:14-16;
5:7-9;
JN 18:1—19:42
USCCB Lectionary
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John 18:1-19:42 (Jesus arrested, condemned, crucified)
Crucifixion was not the kind of death a community would choose for its hero. Roman crucifixion was reserved for the most heinous criminals in society and was intended to discourage other
criminals from testing the Pax Romana. Since the Jews were not permitted to carry out the death sentence, they needed to convince the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, that Jesus deserved to die. Though Pilate seems reluctant to comply, he finally gives in, and Jesus is “lifted up.”
- After
reading through John’s passion narrative, spend some time reflecting on the cost of loving as Jesus loved.
- Bonhoeffer, a Protestant pastor killed by the Nazis, wrote that when Jesus Christ calls a person, he bids him or her to come and die. How do you feel about this?
- Pray for the grace to be willing to lay down your life today for the sake of love.
3rd edition pocketbook, trade book, Kindle, eBook.
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God and I: Exploring the Connections between God, Self and Ego, by Philip St. Romain, 2016 (2nd ed.) ____________ Chapter 7: The Journey to Belonging: The Ego-God Relationship
The God Who Loves Egos
Just in case we didn’t comprehend the testimony of the Jewish history, God made sure we got the message by taking on human form in the Person
of Jesus. Now we could see and hear and encounter the loving action of God in a manner that we could understand. He came, He loved us, and we killed Him for it. Even at His death, however, He identified with the most rejected of society, promising paradise to a thief crucified with him. Then to demonstrate that it was indeed He, the Lord God Himself, Who had come to us, He rose from the dead and shared with us the blessing of His Spirit.
How could that be? Why would God do such a
thing? Surely we did not deserve this!
And that is true: we do not deserve to have received this blessing from God. The best explanation given by the scriptures is that God has come to us because God loves us . . . is always waiting for us in love! God also sees and knows how lost we have become through generations of false self woundings, with cultures that now mirror and reinforce this dysfunctionality. God’s intervention is a grace of compassion and
forgiveness.
Hardback, paperback, eBook and free preview versions.
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