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

R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.

For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends;
they who see me abroad flee from me.
I am forgotten like the unremembered dead;
I am like a dish that is broken.

But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God.
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors."

Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
all you who hope in the LORD.





Today's scripture readings are familiar.  And there is a lot of reading.  Isaiah is speaking of Jesus when he says "he gives his life as an offering for sin".  The psalm response is, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."  In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is our high priest who has been tested in every way.  That through his death, he became the source of eternal salvation.  And in John we hear the story of Christ's arrest, trial and crucifixion.

Good Friday.  I've always thought that was a misnomer.  What is good about the day they crucified the Son of God?  Why was this part of God's plan?  God's plan seems painful and perplexing.  Even Jesus asked if there could be another way.  But what if God had changed His plan?  What if there was no crucifixion?  No atoning sacrifice.  No forgiveness.  Would we have a relationship with God?  If yes, I'm betting it would be more about fear than love.  Would we know Jesus?  Would we want to follow him or see him as a model?  What would love mean to me?  Would I even be able to feel love?  Love is messy and love is inefficient.  Kind of like God's plan.  But, boy, without it life would be pretty meaningless.  I guess Good Friday is critical in shaping who we are, how we live our lives, how we relate to God and how we relate to each other. . . 

Some people reject or do not understand Christ's sacrifice.  Some do not understand our faith.  Even I don't understand it fully.  That said, I recognize a gift from God and I am thankful for it.  I am thankful for the gift of faith.  God's love.  Messy and inefficient.  Confusing and mysterious.  Yet it works for me.

My prayer today is for those of us unsure in our faith.  Unsure about God's plan.  That we would recognize the extent of God's love for us, exhibited in Christ's sacrifice.  That we would simply trust and accept this gift.  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

- by Daniel Patrick O'Reilly

Selected Quotes from St. John of the Cross on the Journey of the Soul to God by Contemplation

- from Ascent of Mt. Carmel

Bk. 2. Ch. 5. #3. God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it be that of the greatest sinner in the world, and this union is natural. The supernatural union exists when God's will and the soul's will are in conformity. Therefore the soul rests transformed in God through love. 

#8. The illumination of the soul and its union with God corresponds to its purity.

- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj