Good Friday 2006
By Your Wounds, We Are Healed
As a quiet and somber mood settles over the monastery this Good Friday, I ask myself what I would be willing to die for. I realize, these days, that there are different ways of looking at the cross of Jesus. My own belief is that Jesus died because of the way he lived and because of what he taught.
So, again, I ask myself what is the special cause I would be willing to die for. In truth, I ask myself the same question every time we celebrate the Feast of a Martyr in the liturgy. It would appear that whatever we are willing to die for we are living for at this very moment. What worthy cause means the most to me, consumes me at times? Hopefully, upon reflection, I am able to sense that this cause was put within my heart by Another, and not just a cause I myself invented. Hopefully, it is related to the intense yearnings of the Holy One upon the cross, today.
There are benefits in this. For ages, it has been the belief among the wise that espousing a noble cause gathers together all the fragmented parts of one’s life and gives one a sense of direction and meaning.
On this Good Friday, one cannot help but become aware of one’s own wounds and struggle in trying to be faithful to the beliefs in one’s heart. Strangely though, as I gaze upon the cross, the aspect of blessing appears before my eyes. With a feeling of deep gratitude, I find myself believing that we are called to see our personal crosses as a blessing.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D.
