Good Friday 2008
Anne Shepard, OSB

“Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide his spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.” Isaiah 53:11-12

Every year at this time, we approach Good Friday with new experiences of suffering and death. Perhaps it is our own bodily frailty due to sickness or natural aging that is a source of suffering. We have buried twelve of our own sisters since Holy Week last year. Many of us have had to attend funerals of loved ones in our immediate or extended families, due to sudden or prolonged deaths, some for young members, some for siblings who have lived full lives. We deal with the reality of aging parents or family members and the unique, painful witness of their decreased energy and in many cases a change of residence. We read and hear about national disasters due to storms, random killings, corporate layoffs, foreclosures, and the like. The weight of the Cross of Christ is very real.

International atrocities have occurred. In a recent issue of America magazine, Jesuit priest Orobator described the post election crisis in Kenya: “Local and international observers quote a popular saying to characterize the current post election crisis in Kenya: When two elephants fight, the grass suffers.” He later suggests that during a panel discussion on the crisis, a member said that “Kenya was only the latest in a wave of conflicts. This wave has tossed and overturned Zimbabwe, Congo, southern Sudan, Darfur, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and northern Uganda.” As with all suffering, the ripple effect is tremendous. Multiple strands of grass are affected. Wangari Maathai received a very violent death threat . Our Tanzanian sisters, Presentasia and Susana, feel the tension in the countries that border their homeland. We all do. The weight of the Cross is real.

During the Triduum we have the luxury of silent time to reflect on suffering, on healing, on forgiveness. We came into this week having as one of the sources of our lectio the Lenten gospel stories wherein Jesus asked us to cling to Him in faith. In his book on Atonement in Christian Thought, Stephen Finlan asserts that:
“Jesus had his own method of forgiveness. ‘When Jesus saw their faith, he said sins are forgiven you.’ The message is a healing one: ‘your faith has made you well. The Father himself loves you.’ There is not transaction here.
“But it does not mean the individual’s faith is all-powerful, independent of Christ or of grace. Faith is faith in Jesus:
‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him :’Yes Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes and said ‘According to your faith let it be done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

This is, we heard, God’s amazing grace.
Jesus was tempted and prevailed in obedience. He went to the mountain and heard with the others, “This is my beloved, listen to Him.”
Jesus assured the Samaritan woman that she would never thirst again.
Remarkably, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

We have the model of one who suffered a horrendous death, forgave completely and stayed obedient to the will of His father and that cost Him His life; it cost Him everything.

As followers of Christ we are asked to do the same. We are asked to be obedient unto death. We are asked to take time to listen to the will of God, petition God and to respond with unselfish and unhesitating love just as Christ did. In the spirit of this day we are asked to give hope to a suffering world, a suffering nation, a suffering community, a suffering self. To follow Christ is to believe that his suffering was not in vain. To follow Christ is to believe that once we are aware of an unjust situation, we must act, despite the cost to us. Benedictine Terrance Kardong once said that “to know is to be responsible; to be responsible and do nothing is inhuman. For evil to flourish it is enough that good people do nothing.” To be responsible and to be obedient to the voice of God is to stand at the foot of the cross, to be forgiven, to act justly when and where we can do so and to know that one day we will rise.

© 2008 Benedictine Sisters
Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, Kansas