Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
Is 52:13-53: 12; Heb 4:14-16, 5:7-9; Jn 18:1-19:42
April 10, 2020

In today’s passage from the prophet Isaiah, we encounter the Suffering Servant, an image that has been explored in the first reading of each day of Holy Week and continues in our liturgy today. We hear about the afflicted man who endured humiliation, torture, and suffering. We can easily see that the prophecy from Isaiah applies to Jesus when it speaks of a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and held in no esteem. This silent, obedient Servant was afflicted because he bore our infirmities , our sufferings, he was crushed for our sins, and by his stripes WE were healed. When we encounter the poor or the oppressed, do we recognize the Jesus who suffered for us?

John’s Passion narrative focuses us on Jesus as the humble and obedient Servant who, though abandoned by some and slandered by others, offered his life for the sins of each of us. Two persons stand out in this account – Peter and Pilate. Peter, the disciple who, when asked by Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?” confidently responded that Jesus was the Messiah; now three times he denies that he knows Jesus. Because of his own fear and discomfort, Peter refuses to recognize Jesus as his friend and savior.

Pilate, the governor, who had the authority to stop Jesus’ crucifixion, refused to accept the responsibility he had, and turned Jesus over to be crucified.

In our daily lives, how often do we not recognize Jesus nor pay attention to his gospel message? How often is our judgment clouded by fear, influenced by popular opinion, or obscured by our egos?

How often have we failed to hear his truth? Today, let us remember that, out of love for us and in humble obedience to the will of his Father, Jesus freely chose to suffer and die for the forgiveness of sins and to win our salvation.

Then with grateful hearts, we go forward to lead lives of service to others.

- Fr. Stephen Lattner, O.S.B.