29 March 2024

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Friday, 29 March 2024 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Good Friday, the day marking Our Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross at Calvary. On this day we remember primarily everything that Our Lord Jesus Himself had done in bearing up all the burdens of our many sins and wickedness, all the evils and corruptions we have had in our lives, the punishments due to them, as He willingly sacrificed and offered Himself on our behalf, giving us the assurance of eternal life and salvation because He, the Paschal Lamb and the High Priest of all of us mankind, had given Himself up and offered Himself as the perfect and worthy for the atonement of all of our many and innumerable sins. It was indeed Good Friday because while we are sorrowful over the suffering and death of Our Lord, but it was indeed ‘Good’ because through this event, all of us have received the assurance of salvation and eternal life.

In order to appreciate and understand this better, we have to go back all the way to the very beginning of time, at the moment of Creation. The Lord created all of creation, all of the whole Universe, and each and every one of the living things in it, and ultimately all of us mankind because He has loved everything that He has created, and He wants to share this overflowing love with each and every one of us. That was why He had created us, and yet, our ancestors from the beginning chose to disobey Him, disregard His commandments and guides, trusting instead in the falsehoods and lies of Satan, who tempted them to sin. They chose to eat from the fruits of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God had told them not to eat from, and thereafter, they sinned against God and were cast out of the Gardens of Eden.

God has always intended for us to enjoy the fullness of His love and grace, and we were never intended to suffer in this world as what we and our ancestors have been experiencing. But it was by our own conscious choice to disobey the Lord, rejecting His generous offer of love, compassion and mercy, His guidance and help, which He has always provided to us along throughout our whole lives, we have therefore turned away from His love and grace, and having to endure the consequences and punishments because of those sins which we have committed. It was never His intention to punish us or see us destroyed, as if He had wished us to be destroyed, He could have just easily done it with the mere whim of His thought and will from the very beginning.

Instead, God has assured all of us that He would be sending us His Saviour, the One Who would bring about the deliverance of all mankind, the whole entire world from the power of sin, evil and death, all of which had dominated over us for a long period of time, as He would not let us all to suffer forever under their dominion and power. From the beginning, the Lord had already proclaimed the ultimate defeat of the evil one, and how He would avenge our forefathers, while gathering all of His faithful ones, all those who cling on to His truth and love, from being scattered all throughout this world, through none other than His own beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus, Who as our Good Shepherd and Guide, laid down His life for us because of His love for us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the passage taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, in which the Lord told His people through Isaiah of the prophecy of the coming of the Suffering Servant, the same One Whom God would send into the world to save His people. We heard of how Isaiah described that this Servant of God would face beatings, hardships, sufferings and pains for our sake and on our behalf, so that by His wounds and hurts, His injuries and pains, all of us would be healed and brought towards God’s salvation and grace. This was indeed the prophecy of everything that would happen to Jesus Christ at the moment of His Passion, when He suffered greatly, bearing His Cross and enduring the worst and most humiliating punishments known then, reserved only for the worst criminals.

For the crucifixion was the Romans’ ultimate form of punishment, reserved to the worst offenders and criminals, for those who were found to deserve death for their crimes. In particular, most crucifixions in fact did not involve the criminals being nailed to the Cross, but rather only being hung there on their respective crosses until they all died from thirst and exhaustion, or until they died when their legs were broken if they had not yet died. The Lord’s crucifixion was much worse because He was not just hung on the Cross, but pierced by the nails on His hands and feet, and He was also lashed and tortured, forced to wear the painful crown on thorns upon His head, bleeding and wounded from all over His entire body, stripped and humiliated before everyone to see His Suffering Self.

Thus in the Crucifixion of Our Lord at Calvary, everything that God had promised and prophesied through the prophet Isaiah came true, and as the author of the Epistle of the Hebrews mentioned in our second reading passage today, He, as Our one and true Eternal High Priest, Who has taken up our human nature and existence, obeyed His Father’s will so perfectly, so that He, as the New Adam, would come to the ‘Tree’ of the Cross, and obeying what God has planned for all of us, for our salvation, He would lead us all out of the darkness and reconciling us to our loving and ever merciful Father, Whom we can call Father because Jesus Himself, as the Son of God, through His Incarnation, has become one of us, sharing our human nature, and therefore, we share in His Sonship, becoming the adopted sons and daughters of God.

And through His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus as the New Adam, by His perfect obedience, showed us all the way out of our disobedience, as once caused by the disobedience of the first Adam, and his wife Eve. Together with Mary, His blessed Mother, who is the new Eve, the Lord showed us all the path that we all should follow in our journey towards God, in our pursuit of His salvation and grace. While our forefathers had chosen to disobey the Lord, eating the forbidden fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and wanting to become like God, the Lord Jesus Himself showed us the exact opposite. He showed us all not just perfect obedience, but how God willingly humbled and emptied Himself, that He became a humble being like us, in our broken and imperfect human existence, just like us, with the exception of being without any sin.

Thus, we can see clearly here the opposite ideals shown in the Book of Genesis, when mankind’s fall happened because of a Tree and their disobedience, listening to Satan’s lies and allowing themselves to be swayed by those lies, and being driven by their desires and the temptations in their hearts, on the other hand, mankind’s salvation and return to grace came about because of the other Tree, the Tree of the Cross, upon which the Saviour Himself, the Son and Word of God Incarnate, chose to willingly suffer and die for our sake, in emptying Himself from all glory, and in humbly submitting Himself to His heavenly Father’s will, rejecting earlier on the three temptations of the same Satan, who failed to tempt the Lord with worldly power and glory in the desert.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having understood better the greater idea and appreciation behind the means that the Lord had chosen in saving us, by reversing everything that had happened through our downfall into sin, and raising us up again through His obedience and His Cross, He showed us all the perfect path to redemption. Through His offering as our High Priest and sacrifice of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, broken and outpoured for us from His Cross, He has given us all the perfect offering in atonement for our sins, that no earthly means can give us. Our Paschal Lamb, Christ Himself, has suffered, died and was slain, sacrificed on the Altar of the Cross, and by His offering, truly worthy and acceptable, a most selfless and loving sacrifice made for us, He has saved us all.

Through His suffering and death, Christ has united each and every one of us to His death, which we share through our baptism, where we commit to die to our past sinful way of life, and we are reminded of this fact every time we renew our baptismal promises at Easter. And then, as we are about to celebrate with Easter in just over a day’s time, through His glorious Resurrection, Christ also united us all to His Resurrection, and we are brought into new existence and life, one that is no longer put under the power and dominion of sin and death, but one that is instead filled with God’s grace and love, and directed towards His Holy Presence, bound for eternal life.

That is why each and every one of us should make good use of the time and opportunities which God has given us, and the love He has shown us all from His Cross. As we gaze upon the Cross, looking upon our Crucified Messiah, let us all come to realise that every single wounds inflicted upon Him are our sins, caused by our disobedience against God and our folly in thinking that we know it better than to follow God and His path as we should have done. Let us all keep our focus upon the Cross, with sorrow and regret in our hearts for the many sins which we have committed in our respective lives, and from there, coming with the strong desire to seek God’s forgiveness and mercy, embracing His Son’s most loving sacrifice on the Cross. Let us all embark on this journey of faith, to enter into God’s Redemption and grace, and to be once again in His Loving Presence.

May the Lord Jesus Christ, our Crucified Messiah, be with us always in our journey of faith and life, so that we may also bear our crosses in life and follow Him faithfully. May He continue to help and guide us all, carrying His Cross together with us so that we may continue to persevere and do our best in enduring the many challenges and trials that we may encounter in our journey as Christians, in living our lives ever more faithfully in the path that God has shown and taught us. May God bless us all, at all times, and may He strengthen us all in faith, that we may draw ever closer to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 29 March 2024 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 18 : 1 – John 19 : 42

At that time, when Jesus had finished speaking, He went with His disciples to the other side of the Kidron Valley. There was a garden there, which Jesus entered with His disciples. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, since Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas took soldiers and some servants from the chief priests and Pharisees, and they went to the garden with lanterns, torches and weapons.

Jesus knew all that was going to happen to Him; He stepped forward and asked, “Who are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said, “I am He.” Judas, who betrayed Him, stood there with them. When Jesus said, “I am He,” they moved back and fell to the ground. He then asked a second time, “Who are you looking for?” and they answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus replied, “I told you that I am He. If you are looking for Me, let these others go.” So what Jesus had said came true : “I have not lost one of those you gave Me.”

Simon Peter had a sword; he drew it and struck Malchus, the High Priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given Me?”

The guards and the soldiers, with their commander, seized Jesus and bound Him; and they took Him first to Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the High Priest that year; and it was Caiaphas who had told the Jews, “It is better that one Man should die for the people.”

Simon Peter with another disciple followed Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the High Priest, they let him enter the courtyard of the High Priest along with Jesus, but Peter had to stay outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the High Priest, went out and spoke to the maidservant at the gate and brought Peter in.

Then this maidservant on duty at the door said to Peter, “So you also are one of His disciples?” But he answered, “I am not.” Now the servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire and were standing and warming themselves, because it was cold. Peter was also with them warming himself.

The High Priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in places where the Jews meet together, either at the assemblies in synagogues or in the Temple. I did not teach secretly. Why then do you question Me? Ask those who heard Me, they know what I said.”

At this reply one of the guards standing there gave Jesus a blow on the face, saying, “Is that the way to answer the High Priest?” Jesus said to him, “If I have spoken wrongly, point it out; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike Me?” Then Annas sent Him, bound, to Caiaphas, the High Priest.

Now Simon Peter stood there warming himself. They said to him, “Surely you also are one of His disciples.” He denied it, and answered, “I am not.” One of the High Priest’s servants, a kinsman of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you with Him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at once the cock crowed.

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the headquarters of the Roman governor. It was now morning. The Jews did not go inside, lest they be made unclean by entering the house of a pagan, and therefore not allowed to eat the Passover meal. So Pilate came out and asked, “What charge do you bring against this Man?”

They answered, “If He were not a criminal, we would not be handing Him over to you.” Pilate said, “Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your own law.” But they replied, “We ourselves are not allowed to put anyone to death.” It was clear from this what kind of death Jesus was to die, according to what Jesus Himself had foretold.

Pilate then entered the court again, called Jesus and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Does this word come from you, or did you hear it from others?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingship does not come from this world. If I were a King, like those of this world, My guards would have fought to save Me from being handed over to the Jews. But My Kingship is not of this world.” Pilate asked Him, “So You are a King?” And Jesus answered, “Just as you say, I am a King. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth hears My voice.” Pilate said, “What is truth?”

Pilate then went out to the Jews again and said, “I find no crime in this Man. Now, according to custom, I must release a prisoner to you at the Passover. With your agreement I will release to you the King of the Jews.” But they insisted and cried out, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.”

Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and scourged. The soldiers also twisted thorns into a crown and put it on His head. They threw a cloak of royal purple around His shoulders; and they began coming up to Him and saluting Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him on the face.

Pilate went outside yet another time and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Him out, and I want you to know that I find no crime in Him.” Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak and Pilate pointed to Him, saying, “Here is the Man!”

On seeing Him the chief priests and the guards cried out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate replied, “Take Him yourselves and have Him crucified, for I find no case against Him.” The Jews then said, “We have a Law, and according to the Law this Man must die because He made Himself Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this he was more afraid. And coming back into the court he asked Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “You will not speak to me? Do You not know that I have power to release You, just as I have power to crucify You?”

Jesus replied, “You would have no power over Me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed Me over to you is more guilty.” From that moment Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who makes Himself a King is defying Caesar.”

When Pilate heard this, he had Jesus brought outside to the place called the Stone Floor – in Hebrew Gabbatha – and sat down in the judgment seat. It was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” But they cried out, “Away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!” Pilate replied, “Shall I crucify your King?” And the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. They took charge of Him. Bearing His own cross, Jesus went out of the city to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha. There He was crucified, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice written and fastened to the cross, which read : Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews. Many Jewish people saw this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was very close to the city; and the title was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’; but, ‘This Man claimed to be King of the Jews.'” Pilate answered them, “What I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each of them. But as the tunic was woven in one piece from top to bottom, they said, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots to decide who will get it.” This fulfilled the words of Scripture : They divided My clothing among them; they cast lots for My garment. This was what the soldiers did.

Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala, when Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom He loved, He said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “There is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus knew all was now finished and, in order to fulfil what was written in Scripture, He said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop, they raised it to His lips. Jesus took the wine and said, “It is accomplished.” Then He bowed His head and gave up the Spirit.

As it was Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross during the Sabbath, for this Sabbath was a very solemn day. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the condemned men broken, so that the bodies might be taken away. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man, who had been crucified with Jesus.

When they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced His side with a lance, and immediately there came out Blood and water. The one who saw it, has testified to it, and his testimony is true; he knows he speaks the truth, so that you also might believe. All this happened to fulfil the words of Scripture : Not one of His bones shall be broken. Another text says : They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea approached Pilate, for he was a disciple of Jesus, though secretly, for fear of the Jews. And he asked Pilate to let him remove the Body of Jesus. Pilate agreed, so he came and took away the Body. Nicodemus, the man who at first had come to Jesus by night, also came and brought a jar of myrrh mixed with aloes, about a hundred pounds. They took the Body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, following the burial customs of the Jews.

There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been crucified, and, in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And therefore, because the sepulchre was nearby, and the Jewish day of preparation was coming to a close, they placed the Body of Jesus there.

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Friday, 29 March 2024 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Hebrews 4 : 14-16 and Hebrews 5 : 7-9

We have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, Who has entered heaven. Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning. Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy and, through His favour, help in due time.

Christ, in the days of His mortal life, offered His sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to Him Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His humble submission. Although He was Son, He learnt through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, He became the Source of eternal salvation for those who obey Him.

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Friday, 29 March 2024 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 30 : 2 and 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17 and 25

In You, o Lord, I take refuge, may I never be disgraced; deliver Me in Your justice. Into Your hands I commend My Spirit; You have redeemed Me, o Lord, faithful God.

I have become an object of reproach for My foes, a horror for My neighbours, a fear to My friends. Those who see Me in the streets flee from Me. I am like the dead, unremembered; I have become like a broken pot, thrown away, discarded.

But I put My trust in You, o Lord, I said : “You are My God;” My days are in Your hand. Deliver Me from the hand of My enemies, from those after My skin.

Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save Me in Your love. Be strong and take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.

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Friday, 29 March 2024 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Isaiah 52 : 13 – Isaiah 53 : 12

It is now when My Servant will succeed; He will be exalted and highly praised. Just as many have been horrified at His disfigured appearance : “Is this a Man? He does not look like One.” So will nations be astounded, kings will stand speechless, for they will see something never told, they will witness something never heard of.

Who could believe what we have heard, and to whom has YHVH revealed His feat? Like a root out of dry ground, like a sapling He grew up before us, with nothing attractive in His appearance, no beauty, no majesty. He was despised and rejected, a Man of sorrows familiar with grief, a Man from Whom people hide their face, spurned and considered of no account.

Yet ours were the sorrows He bore, ours were the suffering He endured, although we considered Him as One punished by God, stricken and brought low. Destroyed because of our sins, He was crushed for our wickedness. Through His punishment we are made whole; by His wounds we are healed. Like sheep we had all gone astray, each following His own way; but YHVH laid upon Him all our guilt.

He was harshly treated, but unresisting and silent, He humbly submitted. Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearer He did not open His mouth. He was taken away to detention and judgment – what an unthinkable fate! He was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for His people’s sins. They made His tomb with the wicked, they put Him in the graveyard of the oppressors, though He had done no violence nor spoken in deceit.

Yet it was the will of YHVH to crush Him with grief. When He makes Himself an offering for sin, He will have a long life and see His descendants. Through Him the will of YHVH is done. For the anguish He suffered, He will see the light and obtain perfect knowledge. My just Servant will justify the multitude; He will bear and take away their guilt.

Therefore I will give Him His portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong. For He surrendered Himself to death and was even counted among the wicked, bearing the sins of the multitude and interceding for sinners.