Good Friday

 

It is finished, Jesus has died on the Cross. Benedict XVI reflects:

This evening, in faith, we have accompanied Jesus as he takes the final steps of his earthly journey, the most painful steps, the steps that lead to Calvary. We have heard the cries of the crowd, the words of condemnation, the insults of the soldiers, the lamentation of the Virgin Mary and of the women. Now we are immersed in the silence of this night, in the silence of the cross, the silence of death. It is a silence pregnant with the burden of pain borne by a man rejected, oppressed, downtrodden, the burden of sin which mars his face, the burden of evil. Tonight we have re-lived, deep within our hearts, the drama of Jesus, weighed down by pain, by evil, by human sin.

What remains now before our eyes? It is a crucified man, a cross raised on Golgotha, a cross which seems a sign of the final defeat of the One who brought light to those immersed in darkness, the One who spoke of the power of forgiveness and of mercy, the One who asked us to believe in God’s infinite love for each human person. Despised and rejected by men, there stands before us “a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity, one from whom others hide their faces” (Is 53:3).

But let us look more closely at that man crucified between earth and heaven. Let us contemplate him more intently, and we will realize that the cross is not the banner of the victory of death, sin and evil, but rather the luminous sign of love, of God’s immense love, of something that we could never have asked, imagined or expected: God bent down over us, he lowered himself, even to the darkest corner of our lives, in order to stretch out his hand and draw us to himself, to bring us all the way to himself. The cross speaks to us of the supreme love of God and invites, today, to renew our faith in the power of that love, and to believe that in every situation of our lives, our history and our world, God is able to vanquish death, sin and evil, and to give us new, risen life. In the Son of God’s death on the cross, we find the seed of new hope for life, like the seed which dies within the earth.

This night full of silence, full of hope, echoes God’s call to us as found in the words of Saint Augustine: “Have faith! You will come to me and you will taste the good things of my table, even as I did not disdain to taste the evil things of your table... I have promised you my own life. As a pledge of this, I have given you my death, as if to say: Look! I am inviting you to share in my life. It is a life where no one dies, a life which is truly blessed, which offers an incorruptible food, the food which refreshes and never fails. The goal to which I invite you … is friendship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, it is the eternal supper, it is communion with me … It is a share in my own life (cf. Sermo 231, 5).

Let us gaze on the crucified Jesus, and let us ask in prayer: Enlighten our hearts, Lord, that we may follow you along the way of the cross. Put to death in us the “old man” bound by selfishness, evil and sin. Make us “new men”, men and women of holiness, transformed and enlivened by your love.

 

Ave Crux Spes Unica,

LSP

Good Friday

 

A reflection:

"CHRIST broke his mysterious body and gave it to his disciples at the Supper without explaining at that time what the breaking and giving would mean.  There was no need, the facts would presently make it clear.  What, then, was done to this body?  It was stripped, scourged, and nailed to a cross: stripped of all dignity and all possession, scourged with the stroke of penal justice, and nailed up like a dead thing while it was still alive.  The body you receive in this sacrament accomplished its purpose by nailing to a tree.  You are to become this body, you are to be nailed: nailed to Christ’s sacrificial will.  The nails that hold you are God’s commandments, your rules of life, prayers, confessions, communions regularly observed.  Let us honour the nails for Christ’s sake, and pray that by the virtue of his passion they may hold fast." (Austin Farrer, Crown of the Year)

A prayer:

Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

God bless you all,

LSP

Requiem

 

Just back at the Compound from celebrating a Requiem Mass and this seems appropriate, Faure's Cantique de Jean Racine:

DS was and is a sweet soul with a natural reverence and piety, I do not say that lightly. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Requiescat in Pace,

LSP

Austin

 

When people think Austin they mostly think "hippy" and keep on walking, totally understandable. But not so fast, punters. St. Francis Anglican Church on Oak Creek is definitely an exception to the rule, and I know this because I visited the church this morning for Mass and the institution of their new Rector.

What a friendly, warm hearted congregation and I was taken aback by the quality of the music, led by an excellent little schola cantorum (choir), really very good and, sadly, all too rare. Then, after an edifying 1928 BCP Mass, we retired to the church hall for a delicious lunch of several sorts of sandwiches and a good time was had by all, not least the church's many children.

Well done St. Francis, and congratulations on finding a faithful new priest and pastor. I feel the future is bright for this faithful parish and will pray to that end. Speaking of bright, it might be a good idea to compliment the church's beautiful Crucifix and Tabernacle with six tall Office Lights. Use existing candelabra for Benediction, sort of thing. Just a thought.

Then, uplifted by the experience, I drove back down murderous I35 to the buccolic rural haven of the Compound only to discover my dog eating a German Bible. "Take that, Luther," he seemed to say, chowing down contentedly on the "Paper Pope." He was suitably reprimanded.

Wicked Bible devouring dogs aside, if you're looking for a friendly, traditional, family oriented Anglo-Catholic church in Austin check out St. Francis. What good and faithful people.

God bless,

LSP

And When I am Lifted up

 

"And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself," says Christ (Jn. 12:32). I found this helpful, by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange OP:

The power upon which rests the spiritual life of all souls striving to be freed from evil and raised up to God is the redemptive action of Christ, his ever active and efficacious love directed to the Father and to us. He himself told us: As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. The branches can live only if they are united to the vine and receive the sap from it. Come to me, all of you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest—that is, burdened under the weight of your faults and sufferings. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.

Life itself teaches us that the strength of a soul in the midst of trial and temptations comes from its practical and experiential consciousness of the infinite value of Redemption, of the omnipotent efficacy of Christ’s death on the cross...

According to the definition of the Church, the redemptive act of Christ has an infinite value and efficacy. It makes satisfaction for any guilt whatsoever, repairs fully any offense against God, even though its gravity is infinite. It satisfies for all the sins of men, and still more. It compensates for all the rebellions against God, all the apostasies, all the acts of despair and presumption, all the feelings of hatred, and all kinds of crime. It merits all graces for even the most degraded souls, provided they are not stubbornly fixed in evil. It is impossible to think of a limit to the efficacy of the redemptive act.

 

The redemptive act of Christ has an infinite value and efficacy. Amen to that.

Happy St. Pat's,

LSP

Good Friday

The Altars are stripped and we behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the Saviour of the world. So we pray:

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

God bless,

LSP