REFLECTION FOR GOOD FRIDAY with FR. JOHN MGBEAHURUIKE, SMMM
Theme: DYING FOR MY FATHER'S WILL
Good Friday - Year A
Is 52:13-53:12 = Ps 31 = Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 = Jn 18:1-19:42
Good Friday is the day we celebrate the crucifixion of Christ. This celebration of the Lord's passion and death takes place in the afternoon, probably by 3.pm, but for pastoral reasons a later time may be chosen. Today is a day of sorrow, when Christians grieve over human sin. Still on this day, we ponder and rejoice upon God's love for Mankind in her sinfulness, which was redeemed with the gift of Christ. The crucifixion of Christ brought victory over sin and death, and reunited God and man. This is why today is called Good Friday. It takes faith to understand not just this, but the whole of the Paschal Mystery. Dear friends in Christ, Jesus, our Saviour and Lord, died on the Cross for the WILL of His Father. He died for what the Father wants. The Father wants everyone to be saved and come to know the truth (1Tim 2:4). In other words, Jesus Christ died for the salvation of mankind. Therefore, He is our Mediator with God the Father and His death proves that God truly wants everyone to be saved (1Tim 2:5-6). What LESSONS can we draw from today's celebration? (1) The death of Jesus reveals God's immense and merciful love for mankind (Rom. 5:8; Jn 15:13). (2) Jesus' death was a necessity; it was to fulfill the WILL of God, to save mankind from sin, darkness, slavery and death. (3) It is not, and shouldn't be seen as a victory over Divinity by Humanity, as the persecutors of Jesus thought. God only used them to fulfill His designs through Jesus. It takes deep faith to understand this. (4) By freely accepting to die for the WILL of His Father to save us, Jesus shows us that doing His Father's WILL(our salvation) is His priority. He was very zealous to do it (Jn 4:34). (5) From Jesus' death on the Cross, we can see Total Surrender to the WILL of God (Mtt 26:39; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42; Jn 5:30). And this is the only way to TRUE PEACE OF MIND(Jn 14:27). (6) Through His death Jesus teaches us that no sacrifice is too much to make when it comes to doing God's WILL and saving life. (7) That doing God's WILL sometimes goes with persecution, suffering and even death, but faithfulness in it leads to Glory at last(Rom.8:18; Mtt 16:25; 2Tim 2:11-13). Finally, as we journey with Christ to Calvary, may we always remember that He suffered and died for a noble and redemptive cause. With this in mind, we ponder on this question, "WHAT CAN I DIE FOR"? or "WHAT AM I DYING FOR?" The best thing to die for is God, for Jesus, so as to live again. Let us copy from Jesus who died for the sake of His Father's WILL. It's only by doing like Jesus that we can receive and experience the Glory of God. Any deviation from the WILL of God will leave us in sorrows and regrets, as seen in the lives of: Adam and Eve(Gen.3); Cain(Gen.4); Lot's wife(Gen.19:26); King Saul(1Sam.15); Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), etc. Lord, open our mind s to know you, our hearts to love you, our ears to hear you, our eyes to see you and follow you, and our mouth to proclaim you till the end. Amen. God bless your family. Happy Good Friday!
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