112. Good Friday (I)

Meditations no. 158 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The prayer of Jesus in the garden.

The divine Master, who has preached joy with his life and his word, is now overwhelmed by sadness in the Garden of Olives. Deep sorrow fills his soul. He sees that his Passion and Death are very near: the lashes of the whip that will tear his body, the blows, the insults, the mockery, the nails and the lance. But above all he is crushed by the abandonment of his friends, the scandal, and the betrayal.

Now, in the darkness of the night, the Apostles are asleep. Jesus, alone and sad, suffers and soaks the earth with his blood.

Kneeling on the hard ground, he perseveres in prayer… He weeps for you… and for me. The weight of the sins of men overwhelms him.

Pater, si vis, transfer calicem istum a me: Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me… Yet not my will but yours be done.

We can hardly comprehend a pain such as that of Jesus. In reverent silence, we hear him tell his disciples:

My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. We should thank our Lord so much for voluntarily accepting this sacrifice in order to free us from death! And we should also thank him for the example he sets us by his determination to redeem us, even at the cost of the greatest affliction. Jesus enters into agony to the point where he begins to sweat blood; but his confidence in his Father does not falter, and he prays again and again. When his body can no longer endure it, an angel from heaven comforts him. Jesus is in agony. He continues prolixius, praying more intensely… He comes over to us and finds us asleep: Rise, he says again, and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

In our life there may be moments of harder struggle, moments perhaps of darkness and profound suffering, with temptations to discouragement. How should we react if our soul were ever to pass through this state? Our Lord shows us the way: Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. St Ambrose comments: If you want the strength of God to support you and help you, you should always be watchful; for many snares surround us and the sleep of the body is heavy. Throw off that slumber, then, so that you can call at Christ’s door, and so that he may come to our aid with his strength. We need to pray very hard, and ask persistently, feeling - and knowing - that we are truly children of God, even at times like that.

Jesus prays in the garden. Pater mi, Abba Pater. 8 God is my Father, even though he may send me suffering. He loves me tenderly, even while wounding me. Jesus suffers, to fulfil the Will of the Father… And I, who also wish to fulfil the most holy Will of God, following in the footsteps of the Master, can I complain if I too meet suffering as my travelling companion?

It will be a sure sign of my sonship, because God is treating me as he treated his own Divine Son. Then, just as He did, I will be able to groan and weep alone in my Gethsemane; but, as I lie prostrate on the ground, acknowledging my nothingness, there will rise up to the Lord a cry from the depths of my soul: Pater mi, Abba, Pater, … fiat!

Jesus, scourged and crowned with thorns, invites us to cast aside our fear of expiation.

In answer to Pilate’s question the crowd shouted: “Crucify him” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”

And Pilate, wanting to please the crowd, releases Barabbas to them and orders Jesus to be scourged.

Bound to the pillar. Covered with wounds.

The blows of the lash sound upon his torn flesh, upon his undefiled flesh, which suffers for your sinful flesh. More blows. More fury. Still more… It is the last extreme of human cruelty.

Finally, exhausted, they untie Jesus. And the body of Christ yields to pain and falls limp, broken and half dead.

The sins of all mankind unleash their fury upon the innocent body of Jesus Christ. All the impenitence of callous hearts, all the cowardice, all the lack of atonement and love, coldly surround our Lord as he suffers alone. And he suffers it to save us from our sins, opening up the way for us. You and I cannot speak, our Father tells us. Words are not needed. Look at him, look at him… slowly.

After this… can you ever fear penance?

But his suffering is not yet over. After scourging him, they lead my Lord to the courtyard of the palace, and there call together the whole troop. The brutal soldiers strip his most pure body. They drape a dirty purple rag about Jesus. A reed, as a sceptre, in his right hand.

The crown of thorns, driven in by blows, makes him a mock king… Ave Rex Iudaeorum: Hail, King of the Jews. And with their blows they wound his head. And they strike him… and spit on him.

Isaiah’s prophetic voice describes him to us at this point, disfigured by suffering: He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.

The body of Jesus covered in wounds is truly a portrait of sorrows…

In contrast, I now remember so much comfort-seeking, so many whims, so much apathy, and meanness… And that false compassion with which I treat my body.

Lord, by your Passion and Cross, give me the strength to practise mortification of my senses and to uproot everything that can separate me from you.

Christ on the way to Calvary invites us to take up the Holy Cross in our life and daily work.

As if it were a festival, they have prepared an escort, a long procession. The judges want to savour their victory with a slow and pitiless torture.

Jesus is not to meet a quick death… He is given time in which to prolong the identification of his pain and love with the most lovable Will of the Father.

The path to Calvary is a short one, but how long it becomes for Jesus, with the heavy Cross on his back! To right and left, our Lord sees the multitude moving around like sheep without a shepherd. He could call them one by one by their names, by our names. There they are, those who were fed at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, those who were cured of their ailments, those he taught by the lakeside, on the mountain and in the porticoes of the Temple.

A sharp pain pierces the soul of Jesus; our Lord falls to the ground exhausted.

A soul in love with God cannot be left unmoved by this sight, and will want to help Christ to carry the Cross as Simon of Cyrene did. But how can I really love the Holy Cross of Jesus?… Long for it!… Ask our Lord for the strength to implant it in every heart throughout the length and breadth of this world. And then… make atonement with joy; and try also to love him with the beating of all those hearts that as yet do not love him. At first, Simon of Cyrene carried the Cross of Jesus simply because he was forced to. Then he experienced a change of heart, through his contact with the sacred wood. Sometimes the same happens in our life: our Lord comes when we least expect him, and asks us to accompany him to Golgotha. Perhaps at first we find this unforeseen encounter off-putting. But we must immediately make the effort to pronounce a “fiat!” in our heart and with our lips, with renewed dedication.

But don’t drag the Cross… , our Father tells us. Carry it squarely on your shoulder, because your

Cross, if you carry it like that, will not be just any Cross… It will be the Holy Cross. Don’t carry your Cross with resignation: resignation is not a generous word. Love the Cross. When you really love it, your Cross will be… a Cross without a Cross.

And surely you will find Mary on the way, just as Jesus did.

This is our resolution from today’s prayer: to stay beside our Lady in order to follow Jesus closely. We want to follow in his footsteps with a desire to co-redeem. Because Jesus wants to be raised on high, there: in the noise of the factories and workshops, in the silence of libraries, in the loud clamour of the streets, in the stillness of the fields, in the intimacy of the family, in crowded gatherings, in stadiums… Wherever there is a Christian striving to lead an honourable life, he should, with his love, set up the Cross of Christ, who attracts all things to Himself.