WAY OF THE CROSS 2009
Phoenix Park Dublin
Elements for reflections of
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland
Good Friday, 9th April 20089
FIRST STATION
Jesus comes to one of the most solemn moments of his earthly mission. He comes to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples; the last time that he would do so before he establishes the New Covenant in his blood.
Jesus follows the Way of the Cross freely because he realises that this is the path along which his Father wishes to call him. He remains faithful to the mission and the calling that his Father sets out for him, even if this is going to lead him to an ignominious death. In this way, he shows his love for God and for us. The Way of the Cross is the Way of total self-giving in love: his life would be like the bread which is broken and the wine which is poured out for the life of the world.
This was one of the most solemn moments in Jesus’ mission. But it was marked by contrasts. Jesus great gesture of love and fidelity is flanked by the infidelity of his followers.
Judas realises that Jesus knows he is the one who is to betray him. Judas shares the supper with betrayal in his heart. The other disciples promise loyalty, but soon they too will have fled. Peter promises to be faithful, but his human weakness does not allow that promise to live on for long. Jesus fidelity is accompanied by signs of human sinfulness, fear and weakness.
Jesus, then and now, is the faithful one. Jesus is the sign of God’s fidelity to us; his fidelity remains even in the face of our denial, our betrayal and our indifference and contrasts with the fragility, the timidity and fear and ambiguity of his close disciples, and indeed also of us.
Jesus knows human weakness. He knows our weakness better than we do. He knows our fragility and the ambiguities that are in our hearts. He knows what we try to hide. We tend to hide our sinfulness, to enter into denial about our weakness, to seek comfort in false hopes, to place our trust in our own strengths. But Jesus’ remains faithful in his love for us.
As we accompany Jesus on this Way of the Cross, let each of us look into our hearts let us recognise our weakness, our weariness and our sinfulness, knowing that Jesus wishes to save us, to show us that also for us, if we die to ourselves, if we reject in our lives all the superficialities and false hopes of our times, then we shall save our life and open a path towards true hope to our world.
Lord remove all arrogance and power-seeking from your Church. Touch the hearts of anyone in our world who is trapped in the arrogance of power. Bring your healing strength to those who are weak or who feel helpless and humiliated and afraid. Guide the heart of each of us on the path of the Cross, the path of self-giving love.
SECOND STATION
What has happened? How is that this Jesus, whose story we know from the Gospel was a story of goodness and caring and of power over evil, ends by Jesus falling into the hands of the powerful and corrupt of this earth?
How is it that this prophet who was greeted triumphally on Palm Sunday is now abandoned, betrayed and derided?
How is it that that this life of goodness ends in such a dramatic and humiliating way in condemnation to the death of a criminal.
What has happened to the power that Jesus had – the power to free people from sickness and evil and indeed even from death? What has happened to his prophetic power with which he announced that the kingdom of God was about to break through in a definitive way into human history? How is it that Jesus who had spoken and taught with authority, different to all the other prophets and teachers, is reduced to silence? What has happened that his faithful followers and believers have vanished and Jesus remains alone, abandoned by all?
Where are those whom he cured and inspired and those who followed him as disciples? Indeed we must ask: where is God. Where is the God who Jesus addressed with the intimacy of a son, calling him Abba, Father?
Jesus dies the death of an impostor, abandoned apparently by God and by the people.
This is the mystery of the Cross, of the Way of the Cross which Jesus was called to travel and which is the path that we are called to commemorate on this Good Friday.
We commemorate the Way of the Cross not in the manner in which we read a history book or watch a documentary. No, you and I, are called to follow the same path as Jesus did, to take part in the same path, to be challenged in the depth of our being and activity by the same Way of the Cross with all its mystery.
Jesus never denied the darkness which this trial was to bring to him. On more than one occasion he admitted that he would have preferred that he not be asked to go this way, but he always abandoned himself into the hand of his Father and accepted do his will, in the midst of that darkness, distress and anxiety which Jesus experiences
How is it that this prophet who was greeted triumphally on Palm Sunday is now abandoned, betrayed and derided?
How is it that that this life of goodness ends in such a dramatic and humiliating way in condemnation to the death of a criminal.
What has happened to the power that Jesus had – the power to free people from sickness and evil and indeed even from death? What has happened to his prophetic power with which he announced that the kingdom of God was about to break through in a definitive way into human history? How is it that Jesus who had spoken and taught with authority, different to all the other prophets and teachers, is reduced to silence? What has happened that his faithful followers and believers have vanished and Jesus remains alone, abandoned by all?
Where are those whom he cured and inspired and those who followed him as disciples? Indeed we must ask: where is God. Where is the God who Jesus addressed with the intimacy of a son, calling him Abba, Father?
Jesus dies the death of an impostor, abandoned apparently by God and by the people.
This is the mystery of the Cross, of the Way of the Cross which Jesus was called to travel and which is the path that we are called to commemorate on this Good Friday.
We commemorate the Way of the Cross not in the manner in which we read a history book or watch a documentary. No, you and I, are called to follow the same path as Jesus did, to take part in the same path, to be challenged in the depth of our being and activity by the same Way of the Cross with all its mystery.
Jesus never denied the darkness which this trial was to bring to him. On more than one occasion he admitted that he would have preferred that he not be asked to go this way, but he always abandoned himself into the hand of his Father and accepted do his will, in the midst of that darkness, distress and anxiety which Jesus experiences
Lord help us to realise that our strength comes from you, that if we trust only in ourselves then we will remain trapped in our limitedness. Help us to renounce self-centeredness so that we can come to find our true selves. Help us to be generous in giving ourselves; to use our talents so that those around us and near us can have life. Be close to those in today’s world find that they have lost jobs, homes, livelihood or security. Renew our hearts with your love; renew our culture and our society with a spirit of solidarity and responsibility and care for others.
THIRD STATION
Jesus is the revelation of the God of strength. Yet now he finds himself humiliated, judged by weak and corrupt humans. They bring false witnesses and weak people ready to compromise themselves and the truth. Jesus who is truly the Son of God; yet he is condemned as a blasphemer and a criminal.
Those accuse him of blasphemy claim to know God’s law and design, yet they spit at Jesus in the face, hit him with their fists, mock and insult him. Today still we encounter injustice and lies and corruption when men and women fall trapped into self centeredness and a blind desire for wealth, where talent and creativity are used to foster individual prosperity and the sense of responsibility for the common good – economic, political, spiritual – looses its anchor.
Jesus is the revelation of the God of strength. But he changes the meaning of strength. He does not cling to the outward signs of his being God but rather empties himself in love. In this way he brings life, whereas individual power-seeking so often ends up in emptiness and leaves those who are weakest at the behest of the powerful, either directly or through the effect of selfish and corrupt behaviours on the fabric of society.
Christ’s Church, the community of believers, must purify itself to become a true witness to Christ’s care, mercy and love. Justice can be attained only by people whop are just. Peace will only be attained by people who practice peace through respecting and loving others. A caring society will only be attained by people who have a true sensitivity towards others.
Strength depends not so much on power and possession but on courage, on principled courage. There can be no passing the other way in the face of suffering or the humiliation of others. The Church must be the Church of the Good Samaritan, who approaches, embraces, carries, cares, heals and restores all who are wounded by false idols: the idols of drugs and of violence and revenge, the idols of wealth and superficiality?
The Cross is a powerful symbol that all can be saved and that all can come to new life through your giving of yourself. Fill us with your generosity. Let us not try to place our limits on your love. Create a world where the superabundance of your generosity becomes the norm of our societies. We have no right to think that we can measure out the immeasurable love of Jesus according to our self-centred standards and measures.
Lord, all human beings – even sinners – are your sons and daughters, loved by you. You did not leave us with a list of those we should love or those who should be excluded from our love, much less excluded from your generous love. Help us to mirror your love in our world, to have a special, preferential love for those who are excluded by poverty or marginalization, by the hatred or intolerance of others, or indeed even through their own fault and weakness.
Be merciful, Lord, towards all who have in any way abused the authority and trust placed in them by you. Restore and heal all who have been abused or betrayed. Restore relationships of integrity and respect and truthfulness. Crucified Lord, help us to witness to your strength through recognising our weakness and placing our trust in you.
FOURTH STATION
Jesus is placed on trial. In the name of justice he stands before a travesty of justice. He is handed from one authority to the other. He is brought before the governor; he is traded off in a legal compromise with a brigand. He watches as the guardians of legality all meet to plot his unjust death.
Jesus is placed on trial. In the name of justice he stands before a travesty of justice. He is handed from one authority to the other. He is brought before the governor; he is traded off in a legal compromise with a brigand. He watches as the guardians of legality all meet to plot his unjust death.
Lord, rather than witness to the truth, we too all so often take refuge in compromise, in excuses of the day, in what is the official line, or in the way in which things are done. We find a way to convince ourselves that we have done our bit and that there is really no purpose in going the extra mile. Following Jesus means going against the stream.
Those who trade in untruth, tempt Jesus to become like themselves. They mock him in the hope that he might use the power and authority he has, as part of their mockery of justice to safe himself from their plans. But Jesus despite being mocked and spat upon and provoked and violently punished never ever abuses the authority he has, not even to save and protect himself.
Lord grant us the gift on integrity, of witnessing to our convictions, or knowing that there is no such thing as a minor breach of trust, or an excusable breach of trust. Jesus shows his strength through his integrity, the one thing that his false accusers and their corrupt process can never rob him of. In his integrity he will not even compromise by revealing to them his true identity, which they simply wish to mock.
Jesus never compromises even in the face of enormous suffering. We pray for all those who suffer today: those who suffer anguish or physical pain or sickness, those who are suffering illness or bereavement, those who suffer the cold of the elements or who lack the warmth of human support, those who have been traumatised by the disregard of others or those whose economic security has been undermined, those who have been abused, those whose trust has been betrayed, those who suffer for their convictions of their faith. We remember today especially the victims of the terrible earthquake in the region of L’Aquila in Italy.
Suffering is hard to accept, so hard that at times we would prefer to sanitize suffering off the radar screens of our lives and our society. A society which banishes suffering to its margins quenches at the same time its sense of compassion, the sense of being one with the person who suffers. Pope Benedict reminds us that “when we are with others in their solitude, then their situation ceases to be solitude”. In a utilitarian vision of life, there are those who consider it easier and more merciful to quench life, than to be merciful through being alongside others in their moments of solitude and trial.
Lord, give us the gifts of being merciful and compassionate with all. Help especially our younger generations to open their ears and their hearts to your Word so that they will find hope and meaning in their lives and their endeavours. Enrich their natural generosity and idealism with your compassion and tenderness. Give them the courage to place their talents at the service of others and of the human family, overcoming all temptation to compromise their integrity or to give in to corruption.
FIFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the Cross. Our way of the Cross brings us to that most profound moment in history of humankind and the history of salvation in which Jesus, the Son of God, dies on the Cross. Jesus, the author of life, seems defeated and overcome.
The bystanders call on him to show his power, to save himself. Jesus cries: “My God my god why have you deserted me”. Even God seems absent. The God of life seems to be handed over definitively into the hands of human agents of death.
They shared out his clothing feeling that that they have the power to remove from him even his few possessions. They challenge the king of the Jews to act in the way of their own rulers use their power and authority just for themselves and their cronies. Even the criminals being condemned beside him fail to see what the condemnation of a just man means, and that that just man is truly the king of Israel.
And Jesus responds in the most dramatic way. He cries out: “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” He experiences in the depths of his humanity what abandonment and rejection mean. But by accepting that through love he enters into his kingdom, he is raised up and draws to him all people. He opens the gates of the kingdom for those who remain faithful and are not compromised or dehumanised by the attraction of power and self.
Jesus yields up his spirit praying with the Words of Scripture and he interprets the scriptures in their depth. At this moment, Matthew breaks the traditional reserve which he had placed on revealing the true identity of Jesus. On many occasions in his Gospel he reminds us of how Jesus asked those who had seen a glimpse of his glory not to speak about it until after he had died. Now that Jesus has accomplished his sacrificial death out of love for us, his identity is fully revealed. Matthew places into the mouth of the Centurion, there to manage and verify Jesus’ execution, the cry: “In truth this man was son of God”.
The Cross is our salvation and our only hope. It is the sign of hope and of salvation for all. After all the expressions of hatred, the empty spectacle of human depravity and dishonesty at his trial, it is the love of Jesus that triumphs. Against all human predictions, outside all purely human criteria, Jesus’ free and total self-giving brings renewed life and love.
Lord, renew us and renew your Church in the spirit of the Cross. Help us humbly to recognize our weaknesses and confront them with the mercy of God which frees us from what entraps us and restores us to be truly ourselves. Help us to overcome all that leads us into the slavery of sin. Accompany us weak human beings who are called to be your disciples today. Strengthen us to bring your message to the people and the culture of our times. You know our weaknesses. Lead us into an encounter with you through which, through passing along the way of your Cross, we too may rise to new health of mind and body, to new freedom, to new life, to your life of love.
