GOOD Friday!

In the days preceeding today we have focused on many things that we can apply to our walks as Christians. We can reflect on three different attitudes and actions...the attitudes of Peter, John, & Judas in Jesus' last days. John's love for Jesus was shown immensely in his actions. In John 13 we see that John's love for Jesus caused him to to stay close to Jesus, so close that he could lean on the chest of Christ, not wanting to miss anything that Jesus had to offer. John's understanding may have been lacking, but his love caused him to stay close to Jesus...all the way to the foot of the cross. Peter on the other hand loves and professes his dedication to our Lord with a better understanding than the others, but fear leads to a different action...even though the desire was genuine no doubt, he hides. Judas just leaves into the night with betrayal on his mind, allowing Satan's seed to grow, even though he had not reached the point of no return, he chose not to turn from his sin and ask for forgiveness. Judas could have said to Jesus that he didn't want to go, that he wanted to stay close to his master and teacher, but he did not. He chose betrayal, despite walking with Jesus, despite the love shown to him by Christ, & despite the miracles and teachings he had witnessed...the same things that the others had witnessed. Due to sin rooted in selfishness, the despair that Judas felt lead to suicide rather than the forgiveness that he had been taught he could attain. Instead of asking what he could do for his brothers, Judas asks what he can get for handing Christ over...what could HE attain and how could HE benefit.

Jesus shows us by his act of love and service, a model by which to live...love. Jesus showed his closest friends that serving one another is love. He asked, "Do you realize what I have done for you?" When we think today about the gift that was given to us, we think about love. John 15:13 reminds us that there is no greater love than to die for someone and that's what Good Friday is all about...God's love for us in the utmost form. God has given us the sacrament of his body and blood, no ordinary meal and surely not merely a symbol...God gives us a physical presence to remain with us forever, along with the breath of his spiritual presence. God also gave to us apostles and authority in their ordination. This handing down of authority allowed a Church to form and is what allows us to even know of Jesus Christ. Without handing down the traditions that they learned from Jesus himself, we would not know of this love and the act of reconciliation would have been lost. Jesus' Eucharistic meal and the forgiveness of our sin speaks to us a common mystery: Love. In these, we are unified into Christ's love because of our acts of obedience.

So today, let us focus on imitating Christ's charity to our brothers and sisters and his perfect obedience to our Father. Think about what his cross actually means to us as Christians, the ability to attain forgiveness and redemption. I pray that God will give all of us the love of John, that we may be by Christ's side always even if death is a possible result. I pray that in our times of fear, just as Peter feared, that we may not give in and that we embrace Jesus and his teachings to their fullest. I pray that we may shed any similarities of Judas, that we may think of others before ourselves and that we may recognize our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. That we may take what we've learned from Christ and not only remember, but apply them to our lives, that we may say to Jesus, "Lord, I want to stay with you always."

I hope you all have a great Easter and that you all remain in what we are celebrating on Sunday, amidst the eggs and bunnies.