Treasured Gift {Good Friday}

 

"If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it."

~From the Catecheses by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop (AD 344-407)

Holy Thursday {Do WHAT in memory of You, Jesus?}

Now we leave Lent and enter the Sacred Triduum liturgy which begins with Holy Thursday's Mass of the Lord's Last Supper and concludes with the celebration of Jesus' Resurrection.  On Holy Thursday, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Mass and the priesthood.  Although it's not a holy day of obligation, we wouldn't miss this Mass for the world.  Let me try to put this into perspective:

 TRIDUUM

{Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection} = the culmination of the entire liturgical year

Followed by 8 days of celebrating the Resurrection {Octave of Easter}

Followed by 50 days of Easter Season leading us to Pentecost!

You might ask: Why not just skip ahead to the joy of the Resurrection at Easter?  Buy some candy, fill some cute little baskets and get ready to party!  But let's get real: what sense does the Resurrection make without the Crucifixion?  And what sense does the Crucifixion make without the Last Supper?

Dr. Scott Hahn is a shining star, but Jesus' True Presence, veiled in the Holy Tabernacle, is exponentially brighter!

I recently had the pleasure of attending a few lectures on the Eucharist given by Dr. Scott Hahn, a former Catholic-basher, and successful protestant pastor, whose quest for Biblical truth led him to the place he LEAST expected to find it.  Dr. Hahn himself says that a Catholic was the "last thing on earth I ever planned to be."   And: "I would have been in the hospital with broken ribs from my laughter..." at the idea of becoming Catholic.

I was inspired to hear Dr. Hahn:

The Eucharist is the key that unlocks the Gospel."

The devout Jews witnessing Jesus' crucifixion would not have called it a sacrifice, they would have called it an execution. 

In order to make sense of the events of Friday, one must to go back to Thursday...


Jesus' Jewish apostles were very familiar with the Passover ritual.  Clearly, Jesus stepped outside the box when he broke with the established and well known tradition and instituted the New Covenant (New Testament).

Jesus gave clear instructions: "DO this in memory of me..."

Jesus did not say 'write this in memory of me.'
Jesus did not say 'read this in memory of me.'

The New Testament was a sacrament LONG before it became known as a document~ according to the document! 

The New Testament (collected books of the Bible) never refers to itself as such, rather when the apostles and followers of Jesus referred to the "New Testament," they were speaking of the Eucharist!

Food for thought on this Holy Thursday!

More Scott Hahn on YouTube

Good Friday

Reflections

 for this solemn day on which we recall

our Savior's Passion and death on the cross

for our salvation:

Via Crucis: The Way of the Cross

Station XII: Jesus Dies on the Cross

The culmination of evil and the eternal victory of Goodness coincide!  He died for us, that we might live!  Every true good, every true love, every true life springs forth from this most blasphemous and most sacred moment.  He has reconciled everything!  Cloud and darkness are his raiment, his throne justice and right (cf. PS 97:2). There is no contradiction in God.  He is Peace.

Station XIII: Jesus Is Taken from the Cross

 This dead body is our handiwork. This is what we are capable of doing... We are those for whom Jesus died.  He died so that when we repent and seek forgiveness, the well of his mercy will always be open and full... How many friendships have ended because one who has betrayed will not forgive himself and so will not allow the other to forgive him?  This is the story of Judas.  Let us rather follow Peter.  He is absent from the way of the cross, but he leads the Church in the way of repentance.  Peter's life and preaching feed us by witnessing to Christ's infinite mercy.

Station XIV: Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

In the Genesis of salvation history, God foreshadows the promises of Christ by bringing forth life from a barren womb.  Sarah gives birth to Isaac who bears the wood up the mountain.  In the fullness of time the virgin womb of Mary gives birth to Jesus Christ who bears the wood up to Calvary.  When it is finished, Christ is placed in a virgin tomb.  Three days later, at the pinnacle of salvation history, this barren tomb will bear witness to the promise of promises.

Majesty of God, behold the effects of unspeakable charity!  Look at your dear child's mangled body.  Examine those innocent hands from which flows sacred blood, and, once appeased, forgive the crimes which my hands have committed!  Look at this defenseless side, pierced by a cruel sword; rejuvenate me in the flow of the holy fountain, which, I believe, has gushed forth from him...
Merciful Father, why do you not look at the head of this most beloved young son, at the drooping neck, at this unusual death, and abandonment? O Gentle One, who produced us, consider the humanity of this beloved creature, and have pity on the weakness of all created flesh!  His bare chest is white; his torn side is red; his dessicated insides burn! The royal face is livid! The arms are completely stiff; his sturdy legs are left hanging; and from his pierced feet flows a wave of sacred blood! Oh! look at your Son's body, all torn, and them remember, O glorious Father, of what nature I am.  - Father John of Fecamp (+1078)

Good Friday Stations of the Cross reflections from Magnificat written by Fr.Richard Veras