Good Friday Reflections

 "The mystery of the spiritual life is that Jesus desires to meet us in the seclusion of our own heart, to make his love known to us there, to free us from our own fears, and to make our own deepest self-known to us. In the privacy of our heart, therefore, we can learn not only to know Jesus, but through Jesus to know ourselves as well." -The Only Necessary Thing

"God is saying, 'I want to be weak so you can love me. What better way to help you respond to my love than becoming weak so you can care for me?' God becomes a stumbling God who falls at the cross, who dies for us, and who is totally in need of love. God does this so that we can get close.

The God who loves us is a God who becomes vulnerable dependent in the manger and dependent on the cross, a God who basically is saying, 'Are you there for me?' In a very mysterious way, God is dependent on us. God is saying, 'I want to be vulnerable; I need your love. I have a desire for your affirmation of my love."

"My child, pay attention to what I am telling you, listen carefully to my words; do not let them out of your sight, keep them deep in your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all humanity. More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life. Turn your back on the mouth that misleads, keep your distance from lips that deceive. Let your eyes be fixed ahead, your gaze be straight before you. Let the path you tread be level and all your ways be firm. Turn neither to right nor to left, keep your foot clear of evil." -Proverbs 4:19-27

"How lovingly Jesus embraces the wood which is to bring him to death! In the dark loneliness of the Passion, Our Lady offers her Son a comforting balm of tenderness, of union, of faithfulness; a 'yes' to the divine will. 

Hand in hand with Mary, you and I also want to console Jesus, by accepting always and in everything the will of his Father, of our Father. In the whole context of the Passion, this help does not add up to very much. But, for Jesus, a smile, a word, a gesture or a little bit of love is enough for him to pour out his grace bountifully on the soul of his friend. 

At times the cross appears without our looking for it: It is Christ who is seeking us out. But this suffering is our purification; the sweat and the blood which disfigure and tarnish his features, serve to cleanse us. To our falling again and again into evil, Jesus responds with his determination to redeem us, with an abundance of forgiveness. And so that no one may despair, again he wearily raises himself, embracing the cross."