Good Friday (post from Richard Rohr)
Today, I share a devotional from Richard Rohr that was
written for Good Friday 2020 (at the beginning of the pandemic) that speaks
deeply to me still. My prayer is that it
speaks to you as well
Fr. Richard Rohr, Director of the Center for Action and
Contemplation
It is true that you are going to die, and yet “I am
certain of this, neither death nor life, nothing that exists, nothing still to
come, not any power, not any height nor depth, nor any created thing can ever
come between us and the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39).
On Good Friday, we lament Jesus’
death while living in hope that death does not have the last word on our
destiny. We are born with a longing, desire, and deep hope that this thing
called life could somehow last forever. It is a premonition from something
eternal that is already within us. Some would call it the soul. Christians
would call it the indwelling presence of God. It is God within us that makes us
desire and seek God.
Yes, we are going to die, but we
have already been given a kind of inner guarantee and promise right now that
death is not final—and it takes the form of love. Deep in the heart and psyche,
love, both human and divine, connotes something eternal and gratuitous, and it
does so in a deeply mysterious and compelling way. We are seeing this now in
simple acts of love in this time of crisis, such as people volunteering to make
masks and deliver food, or people cheering hospital workers arriving for their
shift. Isn’t it amazing how a small act
of love or gratitude can imprint a deeper knowing on our soul?
The crucifixion of Jesus is the
preeminent example of God’s love reaching out to us. It is at the same moment
the worst and best thing in human history. The Franciscans, led by John Duns
Scotus (1266-1308), even claimed that instead of a “necessary sacrifice,” the
cross was a freely chosen revelation of Total Love on God’s part.
In so doing, they reversed the
engines of almost all world religion up to that point, which assumed that we
had to spill blood to get to a distant and demanding God. On the cross, the
Franciscans believed, God was “spilling blood” to reach out to us! This is a
sea change in consciousness. The cross, instead of being a transaction, was
seen as a dramatic demonstration of God’s outpouring love, meant to utterly
shock the heart and turn it back toward trust and love of the Creator.
I believe that the cross is an
image for our own time, and every time: we are invited to gaze upon the image
of the crucified Jesus to soften our hearts toward all suffering. Amidst the
devastating spread of COVID-19, the cross beckons us to what we would call
“grief work,” holding the mystery of pain, looking right at it, and learning
from it. With softened hearts, God leads us to an uncanny and newfound
compassion and understanding.
Questions:
What word or phrase resonates with or challenges me? What
sensations do I notice in my body? What is mine to do?
Prayer for Our Community:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and
through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all
beings. Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens
and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our
world. [Please add your own intentions.] . . . Knowing you are hearing us
better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of
God, amen.
Song: Were You There?
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