As we have venerated the Cross, upon the Good Friday
Liturgy of the Word, our mourning for the death of Jesus has begun. This day of
grief for the loss of Jesus, Holy Saturday, can be juxtaposed to the Jews
practice Tisha B’Av in remembering
the destruction of Solomon’s Temple by Nebuchadnezzar ‘s Babylonian invaders in
586 BC and the loss of the Second Temple by Titus’ Roman army in 70AD.
What have you felt as you went over the Johannine
Gospel passion narrative from the time of Jesus’ arrest to his death on the
Cross and to his burial (John 18:1-19:42), reflecting his Via Doloros, as in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, as
well as his Via Crusis, as in the
Stations of the Cross? Perhaps, you have experienced Jesus’ increasing pain and
agony, as you recognize that he was taking our place. And, how have you felt in
venerating the Cross, before receiving the Communion without the Eucharistic
prayer? What was it like to receive the Communion without being called the
Eucharist, though being pre-consecrated, on Good Friday afternoon in memory of
his death?
There is something unexplainably but definitely
worthy reflecting and pondering upon in venerating the Cross and receiving the
Body of Christ for the Communion, after 3 o’clock in the afternoon of Good
Friday, in intensely commemorating the death of Jesus the Christ.
With our heavy heart of grief, we left the Cross
that we venerated and the sanctuary that looked bare, as the alter was ripped
and all sacred objects could not be seen. Such a barren sanctuary may invoke
the Temple robbed and destroyed by the Babylonians.
Perhaps, to some, the sanctuary without the alter
and all other sacred objects has recalled Jesus’ anger on our the defilement of
the Temple violently cleansing the Temple (cf. John 2:13-21; Matthew
21:12-16//Mark 11:15-18//Luke 19:45-47) in juxtaposition to God’s Passover
midnight strike on all firstborns in Egypt (Exodus 12:12, 29). To others, the darken sanctuary with no alter
and the Crucifix may recall that the dark time when the sacred objects were taken out of the Temple by
the Babylonian army (2 Kings 25:13-21; 1 Esdras 50-58). And, at that time, the
Ark of the Covenant was also lost. Now, we do not see Jesus in the sanctuary.
Neither in the Crucifix nor in the Tabernacle.
Just imagine what the Temple that once stood on
Mount Zion so magnificently, having the Ark of the Covenant securely placed in
its Holy of Holies, looked after the Babylonians defiled and destroyed and took
away its sacred object, including the Ark of the Covenant. And, juxtapose such
Temple of desolation to the darken sanctuary without the Crucifix and the alter
and other sacred objects being made invisible….the sanctuary without the
presence of Christ, especially after we consumed the Body of Christ for the
Good Friday Communion, to remember that the body of Jesus is being buried,
thus, made invisible.
But, this grief is not the state where God leaves
us.
We have mourned the death of Jesus, whom we followed
during Lent to his Cross, and have lamented our sins that resulted in his
death, instead of our own death, as he took our place to suffer and to die, so
that the Scripture is fulfilled (John 13:18;18:32, cf. Isaiah 52:13-53:12;
Psalm 41:10(9)).
While we mourn for Jesus’ death in our place and
humbly repent our sins that led to his death, let us remember that this is to
fulfill the aforementioned Scripture. Jesus did not die in vain. His death was
not to let the darkness of sin dominate to please Satan. He died in our place
so that the Scripture is fulfilled. And, the fulfillment of the Scripture
through his death is mainly found in Isaiah 53:11-12, as well as Psalm
41:11-14(10-13). Yes, these portions of the Scripture tell the Resurrection of
Jesus from the dead.
Jesus has repeatedly assured of his Resurrection on
the third day as fulfillment of the Scripture. Furthermore, let us recall Jesus
saying, “Now is the time of judgement on
this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am
lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself”(John 12:31-32), to
those who were hostile to him, before the Lord’s Supper. And, these prophetic
words of Jesus near his death may also call our attention to Zechariah’s
prophecy on how God will bring all lost and scattered sheep back, refined anew,
though the wicked shepherds would strike the real shepherd and scatter his
sheep (Zechariah 13:7-9). In fact, Jesus himself later reflected this prophesy
of Zechariah during the Lord’s Supper on the night before his death in
connection to his Resurrection:
This
night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: ’I will
strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed’; but after I
have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee”
(Matthew 26:31-32).
And, upon his Resurrection, the angel at the empty
tomb of Jesus has said to Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”(Mathew 28:1 cf.
27:56; John 19:25, the wife of Clopas and sister of the mother of Jesus, as
well as James and Joseph, brothers of Jesus):
He
is not here, for he has been raised just s he said. Come and see the place
where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from
the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him’. Behold, I told you
(Matthew 28:6-7).
And, upon being lifted-up in glory, Jesus wants us
to be drawn to him as one with him, in a way that he and the Father are one
(John 17:21 cf. John 10:30; 14:20) .
Yes, we mourn for the rest of Paschal Triduum. But,
at the same time, we know in faith that our mourning will turn into a fresh joy
with our reunion with Christ, the risen Christ, on the third day, as he has
foretold! And, the joyful reunion with the risen Christ begins with the women
who first went to the tomb (Matthew 28:8).
So, let us get up and head out to the tomb, where
Jesus is laid before the third day from his death will roll in. And, our
gathering around the tomb is where our Paschal Vigil Mass starts.
We are certainly mournful of Jesus’ death on the
Cross. And, we are contrite of our sins that led to his death for us to be
redeemed from the bonds of sins.
Because God is love and of full of mercy, He now calls us to rise out of
our mourning and sorrow to go where His Son’s promise on Resurrection occurs,
with our new hope that is already rising in our heavy heart of grief.
No comments:
Post a Comment