{"id":5878,"date":"2023-04-06T22:10:41","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T20:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5878"},"modified":"2023-04-07T22:19:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T20:19:34","slug":"good-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5878","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jesus gives himself to us on the cross as a gift of love (Jn 18,1-19,42)<\/h2>\n

Cross – a sign and hope until the end of time<\/h2>\n

We are living an extraordinary day.\u00a0Today is the only day of the year that we do not celebrate Holy Mass.\u00a0The world, at least the Christian world, fell into silence.\u00a0The organ fell silent and so did the bells.\u00a0The cross dominates before us.\u00a0He became a symbol and a sign.\u00a0Christ’s death on the cross opened a new era for humanity.\u00a0Jesus didn’t write anything, and today entire libraries are written about him.\u00a0He did not paint his portrait, and his likeness is depicted by the world’s greatest painters.\u00a0He was not a musician, but his person inspired the most famous musicians in the world.\u00a0He did not found any state, but his ideas influenced the constitutions of many states.\u00a0The paradox of this man continues.\u00a0His biography is summarized in such a small book that it is suspicious, but his name is still known throughout the cultural world.\u00a0His name is associated with our counting of years, and even more so, with the view of eternity.\u00a0He lived and died in a small country, and today he is known all over the world.\u00a0They silenced him\u00a0when he died on the cross, but today his words are alive in the mouths and hearts of millions.\u00a0He died and lives.<\/h2>\n

He is the only one who declared about himself: “I am” (Jn 18:5,6), and what those who came to capture him recoiled at.\u00a0He alone knew why he came into the world and as a conqueror could say: “It is finished” (John 19:30).<\/h2>\n

The mystery of the cross, which the human mind is unable to fully understand.\u00a0And yet, looking at the cross and thinking about the cross becomes the starting point again and again for familiar and new views.\u00a0In the cross, the truth of sin can be seen, which cannot be taken as just some fungus on the soul.\u00a0Man’s sin brought God’s Son into the world to become like us humans in everything except sin.\u00a0He came to reconcile mankind to the Father.\u00a0Equal to the Father could only give hope to people in human flesh.\u00a0His death is a sign of forgiveness.\u00a0Jesus’ obedience to the Father gives us hope that we can regain what we have closed to ourselves through sin.\u00a0The Son’s obedience to the Father is a call to fulfill the will of God.\u00a0Christ’s death on the cross brings to the world a new form of love towards sinners.
\nUnder the cross, everyone stands as a crowd and individuals on that afternoon when Jesus died not for himself, but for all of humanity.\u00a0A deluded crowd that looks on, in which unchecked rage has taken its toll.\u00a0People’s curiosity – what will he do who raised the dead, who restored freedom to others, who spoke like no one before him, becomes a reminder, a warning of the calculation, cowardice, naivety or stupidity of a person who does not take the attitude towards his own life that his God asks of him .\u00a0Soldiers still have fun, because the cross is stupidity and a sign of unreasonableness for them.\u00a0The representatives of the High Council scoff.\u00a0Where is their humanity?\u00a0They resent each other.\u00a0The cross is one of the scandals for them.\u00a0They do not see the logic of the cross.\u00a0They do not realize that the loser is the winner and they who consider themselves winners are the losers.\u00a0They forgot the words of Christ: “He who has ears, let him hear” (Mt 11:15), and also: “He who can understand,\u00a0let him understand” (Mt 19:12).\u00a0And so Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled on them: “You will hear and not understand, you will look and not see” (Mt 13:14).\u00a0They did not understand the cross of Christ, they did not understand death, the greatness and need of his sacrifice, the meaning of all this.\u00a0The opposite of their behavior can be seen in the repentant rogue.\u00a0His request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42) becomes his gain, which they renounce.\u00a0God uses the cross – a sign of humiliation – for glory.\u00a0which they renounce.\u00a0God uses the cross – a sign of humiliation – for glory.\u00a0which they renounce.\u00a0God uses the cross – a sign of humiliation – for glory.<\/h2>\n

Today we know that the symbol of the cross is our hope.\u00a0The cross becomes a joyful sign.\u00a0We decorate ourselves with crosses, the cross finds an honorable place in our homes, offices, schools, hospitals.\u00a0We build crosses at crossroads, at places where something extraordinary happened.\u00a0We raise the cross to the heights of church towers, hills and mountains to give ourselves and others a reminder that in this sign our salvation was born and in the cross we have hope for eternal life.\u00a0Nothing happens in the Church without the cross.\u00a0With the sign of the cross, we are accepted into the community of brothers and sisters at baptism.\u00a0The sign of the cross in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a reminder that we are forgiven.\u00a0The bishop makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of those who receive the Holy Spirit.\u00a0We begin and end the sacrifice of the Holy Mass with the cross.\u00a0The sick find strength in looking at the cross.\u00a0The priest blesses the rings of the newlyweds and also blesses people, events, blesses things,\u00a0which are meant to help souls.\u00a0And when our life’s journey ends, the cross over the grave is a sign for the living that life does not end with death.
\nThe cross is a support.\u00a0Those who lose stability tend to throw out their hands to grab onto something.\u00a0A person who is aware of his insecurity is looking for something to hold on to.\u00a0Archimedes once exclaimed, \u201cGive me a fixed point in space and I will move the earth.\u201d And we realize that everything is in motion and uncertain.\u00a0We are looking for our fixed point, something to hold on to.\u00a0And such a point is the cross of Christ.\u00a0His expression and proof of lasting love.\u00a0He calls us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will strengthen you” (Mt 11:28).<\/h2>\n

Our place is under the cross and on our knees.\u00a0Surviving the event of Golgotha \u200b\u200bmeans for us a moment to be with the suffering Christ.\u00a0Take up your cross of life.\u00a0Only a fool seeks what he can never find: paradise on earth, life without difficulties, crosses.\u00a0The Christian winds with confidence to the cross of Christ.\u00a0When we call ourselves Christians, it is right that we can also accept the cross and crosses.\u00a0Christ is never more with us than when we are at the bottom of the abyss.\u00a0It is everywhere where people are humiliated, overlooked.\u00a0Let us remember that our daily small cross helps nations find a place to lay their heads.\u00a0We will survive that the Son of God hangs betrayed, sold, abandoned, ready to lose everything, nailed to the cross between heaven and earth.\u00a0It is there, on the cross, where his torment culminates, that his love is greatest and most powerful.\u00a0He prays for everyone, recommends life to the Father’s hands for everyone.\u00a0He sees his life’s journey from the height of the cross.\u00a0From the Bethlehem manger to this Calvary.\u00a0Every step is marked by a divinely perfect love for the Father and for humanity.\u00a0Darkness has come, but Jesus is light.\u00a0He dies, but he gives life.\u00a0And he cries triumphantly: “It is finished!” We too will die.\u00a0What testimony will the years of marriage, family, childhood give us?\u00a0Blessed is he who will be able to exclaim: It is perfect, it was perfect according to the will of God, in piety, diligence and self-sacrificing love.\u00a0Let us prepare for death so that we are not surprised.\u00a0Let’s not let our loved ones die without the sacrament of the sick, without Holy Communion, God’s food for the journey to eternity.\u00a0This is one of the main family responsibilities.\u00a0When we fulfilled it, we became our dearest benefactors.\u00a0From sudden and unexpected death, deliver us, Lord!\u00a0Darkness has come, but Jesus is light.\u00a0He dies, but he gives life.\u00a0And he cries triumphantly: “It is finished!” We too will die.\u00a0What testimony will the years of marriage, family, childhood give us?\u00a0Blessed is he who will be able to exclaim: It is perfect, it was perfect according to the will of God, in piety, diligence and self-sacrificing love.\u00a0Let us prepare for death so that we are not surprised.\u00a0Let’s not let our loved ones die without the sacrament of the sick, without Holy Communion, God’s food for the journey to eternity.\u00a0This is one of the main family responsibilities.\u00a0When we fulfilled it, we became our dearest benefactors.\u00a0From sudden and unexpected death, deliver us, Lord!\u00a0Darkness has come, but Jesus is light.\u00a0He dies, but he gives life.\u00a0And he cries triumphantly: “It is finished!” We too will die.\u00a0What testimony will the years of marriage, family, childhood give us?\u00a0Blessed is he who will be able to exclaim: It is perfect, it was perfect according to the will of God, in piety, diligence and self-sacrificing love.\u00a0Let us prepare for death so that we are not surprised.\u00a0Let’s not let our loved ones die without the sacrament of the sick, without Holy Communion, God’s food for the journey to eternity.\u00a0This is one of the main family responsibilities.\u00a0When we fulfilled it, we became our dearest benefactors.\u00a0From sudden and unexpected death, deliver us, Lord!\u00a0it was perfect according to the will of God, in piety, diligence and self-sacrificing love.\u00a0Let us prepare for death so that we are not surprised.\u00a0Let’s not let our loved ones die without the sacrament of the sick, without Holy Communion, God’s food for the journey to eternity.\u00a0This is one of the main family responsibilities.\u00a0When we fulfilled it, we became our dearest benefactors.\u00a0From sudden and unexpected death, deliver us, Lord!\u00a0it was perfect according to the will of God, in piety, diligence and self-sacrificing love.\u00a0Let us prepare for death so that we are not surprised.\u00a0Let’s not let our loved ones die without the sacrament of the sick, without Holy Communion, God’s food for the journey to eternity.\u00a0This is one of the main family responsibilities.\u00a0When we fulfilled it, we became our dearest benefactors.\u00a0From sudden and unexpected death, deliver us, Lord!<\/h2>\n

A sick man in his prime in a hospital bed says to a nurse: “Please inject me with something, I don’t want to live anymore.\u00a0I can’t do it anymore, I can’t control it!\u201d The nurse will return in a moment, holding a cross in her hands.\u00a0“Please take it in your hands.” The man looks surprised at the sister, at the cross and closes his eyes.\u00a0Tears are streaming down his face.\u00a0“Thank you, nurse!”
\nShe takes him in her hands.\u00a0They are shaking.\u00a0After a while he gets satisfied.\u00a0The pain didn’t stop.\u00a0The sight of the cross told him more than anything else.<\/h2>\n

How many of us have the cross given hope, certainty, strength to suffer, endure shame, misunderstanding, rejection, failure or personal downfall.\u00a0We understand that Christ on the cross is given to us as a gift.<\/h2>\n

Let’s look at the cross.\u00a0Let’s accept him.\u00a0Let’s learn what Jesus wants to tell us.\u00a0Even those who do not know or cannot speak can understand his speech.\u00a0The sight of it will calm even those who have forgotten about it.\u00a0The cross of Christ is a sign of salvation for all.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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