From the Pastor&

     This year Good Friday falls on April 13--a very lucky day for all of us.  Jesus of Nazareth died for us.  On the second day of our high Holy Days, Holy Thursday--Good Friday--Holy Saturday, we stop to remember the passion and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It's all about love, the love of God, the love of the Son, and the love of the spirit.
     What does it mean when someone loves you?  One little kid summed up love this way:  "when my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.  So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too.  That's love."  That is love.  And that is the type of love we celebrate on Good Friday.  It is the love of one who washed his disciples feet, and of one willing to give his life on our behalf.  Let's stop all our crazy rushing around and meditate on God's love nailed to a cross on April 13.
     Several years ago the French painter, André Girard, was attending the opening of a chapel he had decorated.  A woman approached him and said, "Mr. Girard, I do not like your crucifixion.  It is so unpleasant."  "Madame,"  Girard replied, "it was an unpleasant occasion."
     As Christians, we are sometimes uncomfortable with unpleasantness.  We prefer to dwell on other things Jesus said and did.  But, unpleasantness is a fact of life.  After Vatican II, there was a movement to remove Jesus' body altogether from the cross.  Or, at least, to replace the twisted, dead corpse with the triumphant risen Christ.  Yes, Jesus rose from the dead.  Yes, he died once and will never die again.  Yes, our faith is an Easter faith in the risen Lord.  But the fact remains that Jesus was raised only after he had experienced the crucifixion.  We, too, will be raised to new life with Christ Jesus only after we have experienced the pains and deaths of life.  Jesuit Father, Walter Burghardt, reminds us of the importance of the crucified Lord when he says:  "a spirituality not intimately nailed to Calvary is a Christian mirage."
     If you think the body should be removed from the cross, tell that to people who have buried a child or a spouse!  Tell that to someone whose body is racked with cancer!  Tell that to someone who is close to death!  Tell that to someone living in emotional pain!
     Our strength comes from a crucified Jesus.  Good Friday is not about suffering, blood and death, but it is all about love.  When you come forward to kiss the cross--strange, but true, the Church states that we venerate a cross on Good Friday, not a crucifix-- it's about your love for the Savior, and your faith in a Savior who will help you go through your pain, not around your pain.  Our Savior is our model for suffering.  We have to stop and come together on Good Friday to venerate the cross of Christ, and/or, attend the Burial Service in the evening.  It is a lesson about love:  not only about Christ's love for us, but about learning to love in everything we do or endure.
     Would you trade places with the crucified Lord?  All of us, by our baptism into his death and resurrection, share the cross--and new life.
     Fr. Bill

He stood in line patiently with the others and waited his turn. "Here," the volunteer said as she handed him a new pair of snow-white socks.
"Thank you" he whispered and held the socks tightly as if she had given him a valuable treasure. 
I watched as he walked through the crowd of other homeless people. Some were already sitting down to pull on their new clean socks.  But not him. Not there.  I followed him outside and watched as he crossed the street dodging the traffic.  People rushed past not even seeing him, too busy with their own lives to notice. He sat on a vacant bench and slowly   removed his worn shoes.  (For a moment I thought of the washing of feet on Holy Thursday at our church.)  I had    intruded on his privacy long enough.  My curiosity satisfied, I turned to go.  He looked up just then and our eyes met.  He smiled.  It was only then out of the corner of my eye that I saw his bare feet and the place where the nails had held them to the cross.

Next Sunday, Palm Sunday, will be our last chance to bring socks for the homeless.  Let's see Christ in them.  The containers will be removed after the last mass.  Thank you for helping carry the cross.

WEAR RED NEXT SUNDAY, FOR
PALM SUNDAY!