Good Friday March 29, 2024

Good Friday

March 29, 2024

Two of the names for Jesus are Light of the world and Lamb of God. We see both names are present in the Passion according to John. 

In his telling of the passion John has a back and forth of Pilate as he seeks to find the truth.   The Praetorium is the place where Pilate places charges upon Jesus. He goes in alone while the church leaders wait outside. For John’s telling of the trial, he goes in and out of the Praetorium. For John the Praetorium is the place of Darkness, and the stone steps are the place of light. Ray Brown in his commentary has this to say.

“” The Jews’ are outside the praetorium refusing ot enter; Jesus is inside the praetorium; these are the separated forces of darkness and light. 

 Pilate must shuttle back and forth, for he is the person-in -between who does not wish to make a decision and so vainly tries to reconcile the opposing forces. 

For John, however, one must decide for light or darkness and thus judge oneself as one face the light come into the world.

By not deciding for the truth, Pilate is deciding for falsehood and darkness.”

 

Light is an image that will be very present in the Easter Vigil and season.  As we gather in the darkness at the Easter Vigil the darkness will be  torn by the light of the Easter fire and the Paschal candle ( A name meaning sheep) the Paschal candle will be lite from the fire and many small lights will be lite as the light of the world is passed from person to person. We will sit in darkness and listen the words of scripture telling us about the actions of our God before the time of Christ.

  Later a light will be taken from the Paschal Candle and given to the newly baptized Christians.

On Easter Morning we greet the light of a new day, a day that reminds us of the light of the resurrection. A light we will all experience as we also experience resurrection.

Easter is possible because Christ died and rose for us. 

John tells his story of the passion. He notes that Jesus is condemned to death, at the same time the lambs are being slaughtered for the Passover meal.  The lamb of God dies to take away our sins to free us in the same way the Passover lamb freed the Jewish people.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Pilate asks the question, “What is truth”. For Pilate the truth is that Jesus is the son of God and Pilate is unable to grasp this truth.   Here is Brown again;

‘” Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice’ is a test of Pilate; the judge is being judged.

Pilate’s response, ‘What is truth?’ is not to be understood as a profound philosophical question.
It does echo the imperiousness of the Roman who challenged; but ironically it is a self-condemnation.

His failure to recognize truth and hear Jesus’ voice shows that he does not belong to God.

 This the last time in John that Jesus shall speak of truth, and his voice has not been heard.”

After these scenes in the gospel, we go with Jesus to witness his life-giving death.  Unlike Pilate, we know the end of the story and we know the truth of Good Friday. A day that recalls a Roman execution has been named good not because suffering and death are good, but because as a result of Jesus’ passion and death we meet the resurrected Christ on Easter Sunday.

In a few moments we will venerate the cross, a torture device, that has became a sign of hope for all who know the truth of the cross and resurrection.

I applaud you for being here. Many will join us to celebrate the resurrection on Easter, but few are willing to stand and witness the passion and death of Christ.

May this day truly be good for all who join us this night to venerate the cross and honor the passion and death of our Lord.

Palm Sunday, Year C

By Deacon Paul Cerosaletti • April 13, 2025
I have long thought that the Church gives us the two Gospel passages we hear today — the account of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the account of his Passion and death — for very practical reasons: this is the last Sunday before Easter when we will celebrate Christ’s Resurrection and not everyone is able to attend and celebrate the Triduum liturgies during Holy Week. Therefore, the Church places these two critical Gospel passages together so that we hear and experience them in a regular Sunday Mass setting — literally, to ‘fit them in’ before Easter. But there is another equally, if not more, important reason we are to experience these Gospel passages together. And I honestly don’t know if the Church intends this reason or not, but I believe the Holy Spirit intends it. These two Gospel passages remind us as much as any passage that Jesus Christ, while fully Divine, is also fully human. He is like us in all manner except one, in committing sin. He therefore shares with us the experience of the full range of our humanity. In these two Gospel passages we experience Christ moving from triumph to tragedy, from soaring to suffering: the triumphant, soaring entry into Jerusalem and the suffering and tragedy of His Passion and crucifixion. Christ’s human experience is also our human experience, for do not we all experience triumph and tragedy, soaring and suffering? Therefore, we do not have a God and Savior who cannot sympathize with our human experience, but rather one who shares it with us! And we have a God and Savior who not only soared and suffered for us, but soars and suffers with us. Not just two thousand years ago, but right here, right now, in every minute of our lives. For what did Jesus promise? “I am with you always , until the end of time.” (Mt 28:20) When we soar and triumph, Jesus is with us, by our side. And when we suffer and experience tragedy, especially, Jesus is with us, by our side. We are encouraged to give thanks to God in our triumphs and soaring. And we are invited to unite our suffering with Christ’s suffering and offer it up for whatever or whomever is in need. Christ’s suffering was not pointless, and united to His, neither is ours. We offer it up, trust, and hope. Sisters and brothers, that hope comes from our knowledge of the rest of the Gospel story that we will experience with Christ: that His triumph and tragedy, His soaring and suffering does not end in death, but in the glory of Easter Resurrection.

5th Sunday of Lent C - April 6, 2025

By Fr. Chris Welch • April 5, 2025
5 th Sunday of Lent C April 6, 2025 Often someone will approach me and ask if I can do x y or z on such and such a date. I am not always good and knowing my schedule in the future, so I will say, “send me the dates and I will get back to you.” Sometimes they will send me the dates, sometime not. If I say yes, I may find I have a conflict. This is a stalling tactic giving me time to discern how to respond. This is what Jesus does as he writes on the ground. He knows the Scribes and Pharisees are using the woman to trap him, so he bends down to scribble in the dust to have time to answer them. When he does answer them, his statement is not about the woman’s actions, but about the motives of the accusers. He knows they hope to trap him. If he suggests the woman be released, he has broken the Mosaic law, if he suggests she be stoned he will be in trouble with the Romans. So, he focuses on the motive and state of the accusers. In our first reading we are reminded that God is doing something new. Jesus does something new. He doesn’t focus on what the law says, but he focuses on what is in the heart of the accusers. Mosaic law says that those caught in Adultery, both the man and the woman should be killed. Here we only have the woman. We are told she was caught in the act, but where is the man? For the season of Lent, we have been piling stones in our desert. These stones are the Character defects we wish to reform in this season. They are not for killing others but given to God to use to build us into a new creation. Jesus allows the woman to become a new creation. He refuses to condemn her, He encourages her to sin no more and to go free from the accusations of the temple officials. Have you been like the woman accused by others? How did you experience the forgiveness of your God? When have you been like a Scribe or Pharisee pointing the accusatory finger at another? Cast aside the stones you have wanted to hurl at the other and look inside your heart and see how God’s forgiveness has made you a new creation.

Third Sunday of Lent C - March 23, 2025

By Fr. Christopher Welch • March 24, 2025
After Moses has his conversation with God in the Burning Bush, Moses asks God for what name he should use in referring to God. God gives the vague answer, “I am who I am.” Asking for someone’s name is a common occurrence. When we refer to someone with their name, we honor them. We all like to be referred to by name. This is one way we honor a person. Not all of us are good at remembering names, but when we do remember and use the name of the other person, we honor them. One of the names for God is taken from our psalm, “The Lord is kind and merciful”. God is also patient. The parable from the gospel about the fig tree is a parable about God’s patience. God, being the gardener, is willing to wait a year for fruit. God works the same for all of us. God is patient with us. Not everyone comes to faith in the same way or the same time frame. Some take less time, others more. When we see a new face in church we don’t ask “What took you so long?” or “Where have you been?” We simply say, “Welcome! It is good to have you here.” We ask and learn the name of the new person and we speak to him or her each week using their name and making them feel welcome. Maybe you have been a fig tree or known someone who is or was a fig tree. This is a good reason to give thanks to the patient nature of God. Remember the kingdom is in the future and now.