Karfreitag C 2022

Christ’s death for our life (Jn 18:1-19:42)
Not out of duty, but out of love for God, let us pause at the foot of the cross.

King Milinda should have summoned a priest and asked, “Are you saying that a man who has committed various sins for a hundred years and asks God for forgiveness before he dies will be saved? And the one who commits only one sin and does not repent will end up in hell? Is that fair? Are a hundred crimes less than one?” The old priest replied: “If I take a small stone in my hands and place it on the lake’s surface, will it sink or stay afloat?” “It will sink!” “And if I take a hundred large stones and put them on a boat and it goes out on the lake, will it sink or stay afloat?” “It won’t sink, and it will float.” “Then are a hundred stones and a boat lighter than one pebble?” The king did not know what to answer. The priest explained, “The same is true of men and Christ. Even a man who has committed many sins, when he is converted, cannot go to hell. On the contrary, a person who commits only one sin but does not ask God for forgiveness and mercy will be damned.” (B. Ferrero, More Stories for the Soul’s Delight, p. 68)

Today we stand at the foot of the cross; what a variety of thoughts flashes through our minds! For example: was it possible for Christ to have escaped death on the cross? Surely yes. With God, nothing is impossible. Why, then, did Christ die? Was there no other way, more reasonable, more convenient, or more accessible, to achieve the same goal of reconciling God to man? But Christ did not take the most affordable, the most suitable, or the most straightforward way, but the most beautiful way, the way of love. Does God perhaps have a liking for suffering? If he did, our lives would look very different. But God is not afraid of hell because suffering brings joy and benefit. What is the forgiveness of sins? Certainly not in the crucifixion and death of Christ. The greatness of His pain does not determine the forgiveness of our sins. God alone decides the terms, manner, and measure of forgiveness. If God had wanted to, He could have forgiven without the crucifixion of Christ.
Good Friday is a memento for us as believers when we remember the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion. God wants to tell us today, not just to say to us, but to show us clearly in himself, that our lives, though they may often seem meaningless, have a deep meaning and are worth living even when we find ourselves at rock bottom.

And we are reminded of this memento in many of the familiar words of today’s Gospel, especially the words, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30).

Today, more than at any other time of the year, we think of the cross’s mystery. Many of us find the answer to the questions of our salvation in the sight of the Crucified One. It was not God the Father who crucified Christ, but we humans who have not received the good news of the Gospel. God’s love for us humans is put to its most severe test on the cross. To love a sinner is to risk rejection, betrayal, and violent removal. God has stood this test, and the man, Jesus of Nazareth, will stand it too. The cross reveals both the true nature of sin and the victory of God’s faithfulness and love. God is not pleased with pain, but love is more vital than sin and the pain this evil causes the loving person. Christ did not redeem us by His pain but by the passion with which He willingly endured the deepest humiliation and the most terrible pain. But on the other hand, without this pain and shame, we would never have experienced the breathtaking depth of God’s love in its fullness. Today, we know that sin would not have been defeated without Christ’s death on the cross. It is not only forgiveness but also the inner reformation of the sin-disturbed person. The Lord Jesus is a God-made-man; he is not only the representative of God before men, for He is also the representative of men before God. He is not only God who gives Himself to man; he is also a man who gives Himself perfectly and unconditionally to God. This human self-giving is accomplished in a supreme and unsurpassable way at the hour of death on the cross. All our self-giving to God is but a share in the perfect self-giving of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth to God.

Beneath the cross today, we realize that it is not by our strength that we have access to God, but thanks to the crucified Christ who brings us to the Father. We remind ourselves that our salvation also depends on us, and we are obliged to cooperate with the Crucified One. Today, more than on other days of the year, we realize that Christ has given new meaning to human suffering, hardship, sorrow, sickness, humiliation, and death. Therefore, we look at these values not as a punishment but as a path that leads us to the Father as we leave the abyss of guilt and alienation. The way is open; it is up to us whether we freely and willingly embark on this path and persevere.

The liturgy we celebrate today will allow us to experience more deeply the love of the Crucified One for us and thus to pay due homage today to the crucified Christ who was crucified for us, who for the love of us endured the sweating of blood, the humiliating captivity, the interrogations, the scourging, the flogging, the crown of thorns, the journey with the cross to Golgotha, and finally the death on the cross. We want to give thanks, forgive and ask. Our adoration of the cross is a moment of grace in our lives. The cross is the sign of our salvation. It is right and desirable of us to bow our knees before the cross and even more so to give Christ the place in our hearts that is rightfully his. We ask for the gift of love to love our God and Lord more. Thomas Merton says that “only the man who has faced despair is truly convinced that he needs mercy.” The cross leads us to God. Indeed, only at the foot of the cross can we find God. The cross is an excellent souvenir for man because it is under the cross that man finds the answer to the questions of life that can only be found under the cross. Under the cross, man can first experience words: “…thy will be done”. Under the cross, man first learns to take up his cross and go on with life. Let us remember these and other events in our salvation history, the needs of our lives when we hear the words: “Behold the wood of the cross on which the Savior of the world died!” And let our response be genuine and convincing: “Come, let us worship!”
It is up to us to give Christ what we are obliged to provide. For it is our salvation that is at stake. We decide for ourselves our salvation, our eternal life in the kingdom of God, and our freedom.

On the day of his wedding, the prince and his entourage walked through the city. The people greeted them joyfully as they were surprised to see the gallows outside the city walls. The executioner was about to perform his task when the princess burst into tears. The prince asked the judge if he could give the condemned a pardon. The judge said that only if the cursed redeemed himself with the price of a thousand ducats. It was a considerable sum of money. Where to take so much? The prince opened his purse and emptied it. There were only eight hundred ducats in it. The princess had given all she had, and there were still one hundred and fifty missing. The judge stood his ground that a pardon was only possible for an equal thousand. The people, at the princess’s appeal, made a collection. They already had nine hundred and ninety-nine ducats. Only one ducat was missing. No one had the last one. “Will this man be executed just because one ducat is missing?” The princess asked. “That is the law,” said the judge and ordered the executioner to carry out the execution. Then the princess exclaimed: “Search the pockets of the condemned man. Perhaps he will have the ducat.” The executioner did so. And indeed, in the pocket of the condemned man, he found the missing ducat. It was the one that was missing to save his life.
Today on Good Friday, we realize that Christ did everything for our salvation. The Church helps us by her means. Others pray and plead for us. And are we to stand by? We need to do everything ourselves for our salvation. Let us work; let us sanctify ourselves to obtain the necessary ducats for our salvation.
God’s love is great. Jesus redeemed us without us, but He cannot save us without us. We are obligated to do what we have to do for our salvation. God forgives our sins, but we must ask for God’s mercy. God’s love can forgive us of many sins when we renounce every sin. And that is why today we remember this reality before Christ was crucified.