As we move towards the cross with Jesus this Good Friday, we can't help but think of all those suffering around the world. The virus is teaching us that no one is immune to sorrow, that we will all experience loss, isolation, fear, grief. It's all part of life, just as the opposite experience is true. We learn this through the experience of these three days. We know that, like Jesus, we will rise again.
What if we thought of ourselves not as "citizens of this world trying to make our way to Heaven" but instead as "citizens of Heaven trying to make our way through this world"?
This radical Christian insight is life-changing. This puts us right on the path, the Via Dolorosa, with Jesus. "We are not to live so as to earn God's love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation. All those are given to us as gifts: gifts bought by Jesus on the cross and handed over to us. We are to live as God's reÂdeemed, as heirs of heaven, and as citizens of another land: the Kingdom of God. The worst sin is not failÂure or being outvoted or losing, as the world tells us. We live as those who are on a journey home: a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive. That means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure. There is nothing we can lose on earth that can rob us of the treasures God has given us and will give us." [The Very Rev. Joel Pugh]
As we look at pictures of past Good Friday gatherings at Holy Cross, let's share our sorrow and in doing so, make each other's burdens lighter.
This final photo was taken several years ago when Fr. Rodolfo was still with us. The Hispanic Community was hosting a Taizé Stations of the Cross. It was powerful and moving in the darkened church to "lay our burdens on the cross." We can do that figuratively or literally in our homes with any cross, even one made of last year's palm branch.