Skip to main content

The Cross, Our Only Hope

St. Agnes Catholic Church
Good Friday
Cycle C
Apr 15, 2022

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041522.cfm

What is the greatest crime a person can commit?  What is the evilest action that a human being can do? 

When I was in middle school, an English teacher taught my class a list of vocabulary words ending in the root, -cide. which means “to kill” or “to cut down.”  These words are a catalogue of awful things, many of them have a good case to be the answer to the question I posed about humanity’s word deed.  Listen to this litany of terror:

Homicide – the killing of another human being
Patricide – the killing of a parent
Aborticide – the killing of an unborn child
Infanticide – the killing of a child
Suicide – killing oneself
Regicide – killing a king

Most of our worst actions involve violence, especially taking the life of a human being.  To this catalogue of cruelty, we added two words in the bloody 20th century.     

Genocide – the killing of an entire people
Ecocide – the killing of life or destruction of the planet. [See also Omnicide]

Both are chilling and it is depressing to consider that we first conceived and committed them in living memory.  But there is a worse crime, a more monstrous action that is unquestionably the most heinous possibility.  It is the sin that we remember on this day. 

            Deicide – meaning the killing of a deity.  The murder of God. 

On this day, Good Friday, we remember how human beings murdered the creator the universe, the author of goodness, and the sustainer of all that is.  Frederick Nietzsche wrote a famous parable in which a mad man predicted the death of God.  He wrote: The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him -- you and I. All of us are his murderers.”

 We fulfilled Frederick’s Nietzsche’s direst prediction:  the death of God. A few minutes ago during the Passion narrative, we paused and kneeled at this most solemn moment.  We remembered what we did, at 3pm, almost two thousand years ago. 

And yet, we call today “Good Friday.” Good! What’s so good about it?  You know one of the first times my young son EJ came to mass at St. Agnes he was seated in front of this crucifix.  It disturbed him so much that Kate ahd to take him out of the sanctuary.  As adults, we sometimes forget the pure awfulness and horror of Good Friday.

But again, we call today “good,” and I’ll tell you why.  Good Friday reminds us that the most monstrous crime—deicide—is not more powerful than the love of God and the grace of God. Humanity’s worst actions cannot ever outweigh the greatest actions of God. 

God’s love is so overpowering that is surpasses even sin and death.  Today we celebrate God freeing us from our slavery on the cross.  Through Christ’s passion, death has been crucified and evil has been defeated and redeemed, and brought into the light.  Christ transformed the cross into the Tree of Life.     

This whole church proclaims that victory loudly.  You see it in our striking, large stations of the cross that surround you.  In the scenes from the life of St. Paul of the Cross behind the high altar.  In the crosses on almost every object.  And especially in this crucifix.    You may be aware that the Passionists are particularly devoted to the Passion and death of Jesus.  They wear over their heart a sign of Jesus’ Passion, written in three languages and they take a special vow to “keep the Passion of Christ always in our heart” and instill that same awareness in the hearts of others. 

A few years ago, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt from a school named after the Cross of Jesus … it may or may not have been a local high school.  On it was emblazoned the motto, Fear the Cross. 

Good Friday tells us exactly the opposite message. The cross is the source of our only hope.  Good Friday is the greatest fulfillment of the Good News.  So, let us keep the passion of Christ in our hearts as we behold the wood of the cross, on which is hung is our salvation.  O, come let us adore.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Render unto God

  29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct 17/18, 2020 Somehow, in the great providence of God, our readings for mass today are the famous “render unto Caesar” Gospel passage.  With 17/ 16 days to go in our presidential election, what on earth does God have to say to us about politics and civic engagement in the midst of this chaotic, stressful, and divisive election year?   Much ink has been spilled and many sermons given on Catholics’ faithful citizenship and participation in our democracy.  In my reading and prayer preparation for today, however, I began to feel that “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” is not the important part of Jesus’ response, even though those are the words we remember and quote.  The critical words here are from the second half, “render unto God what is God’s.”   How often do we give Caesar more than his due?  How often do we give Caesar what belongs to God?    [Reminder of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Son is Given to Us

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122520-mass-at-night.cfm In the first reading tonight, we hear a very familiar passage from the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… for a child is born to us, a son is given to us. Upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” Six years ago at midnight mass, I heard these words while sitting in the pews. My wife, Kate, and I went with my family to Holy Trinity parish. I remember it vividly because ten days before the two of us had found out that she was pregnant. Our Christmas Eve was in that electric time when no one else, only she and I knew the secret: a great joy had just entered into the world. Holy Trinity that night was jammed packed. So full that we sat in overflow seating in a separate section of the church with no view of the altar and with the audio piped into our room. That suited us fine because she needed to sit cl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jeremiad and the Sparrow

  Deacon Ned Berghausen St. Agnes June 24/25, 2023 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062523.cfm If the psalm prays, pray. If it laments, lament. If it rejoices, rejoice. If it hopes, hope. If it fears, fear. For everything which is written here is a reflection of us.  St. Augustine. There is one book of the Bible that we hear at almost every single mass, both on Sundays and at daily mass with the exception of only four days of the year [where we hear canticles].   It is the longest book of the Bible.   Do you know what it is?   It’s the Book of Psalms.   Today we heard Psalm 69 which we sung together, led by our cantor [name], in between our first and second reading.   It’s sometimes easy to miss or forget that these songs are Scripture, just as much as the other readings and the Gospel.   When we approach the Bible, we may think of it primarily in terms of narrative stories, law codes and rule books, parabl...
Post a Comment
Read more