GOOD FRIDAY- "EVERYTHING'S NOT OK"

Everything’s not “OK.”  The title should say it all.  Sadly, more must be said.  We like to go through life thinking “Everything’s OK; I’m OK, you’re OK.  We’re all OK.”  This is pleasantly wishful thinking, but sadly far from the truth.

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It’s OK if I live with my boyfriend/girlfriend before marriage (after all, it’s about saving money isn’t it!); It’s OK if I have sex before marriage, especially if I use a condom to prevent getting pregnant (after all, “safe sex” is better than unprotected sex, and really, who needs marriage these days!); It’s OK if I were to get pregnant to have an abortion (after all, it’s my body, my child!); It’s OK if I engage in riotous living and get intentionally drunk and having a good time (after all, you only live once!).

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It’s OK if I abuse my body or the bodies of others (after all, I do what I want to do!); it’s OK if I forget how I’ve been raised (after all, those were my parents’ rules, not mine!); It’s OK if I gave or received oral sex (after all, it’s not really sex, is it!); It’s OK if I’ve violated most of if not all of the ten commandments (after all, times change, that stuff is permissible now!).

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“Everything’s OK”?  Hmm, we wish we could say so!  Today is Good Friday.  As Catholics and more generally as Christians, this is the day we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ.  If everything were “OK,” would Jesus really have needed to die for us?  If everything were “OK,” would Jesus really have needed to come to earth to begin with?  If everything were “OK,” would Jesus have needed to endure the scourging, the mockery, the spitting, the abuse, the hits, the scars, the cries, the tears, the agony He did?  “This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came to save sinners…” (1 Tim. 1:15a)  Please do not think I’m meaning to preach at you here or being condemning; very much the opposite, so let’s not be mistaken.  But today is a very special day.  Today we realize the love of God for us; the love that is willing and able to lay down His own life for us so that we might live; the love that is willing to forgive sins and receive sinners as sons and daughters; the love that is willing to make things new, and achieve a new beginning for those who are loved.

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Not everything’s “OK.”  Jesus Christ came and died for us to save us from our sin.  He came to help us to know that not everything’s OK, but that sins can be forgiven, life restored, happiness fulfilled, and death overcome.  Jesus came to die for us, and He did so out of love.  He died for a reason, to save us from our sins.  We need to come to a reckoning of the sin in our lives.  Unfortunately, we must admit that we have committed horrible crimes, that we have not lived up to our baptismal promises to reject sin and Satan, and embrace God and the truth He offers us; we must admit that we have fallen short of the ideal, have missed the target, have gone astray from the path of life set before us, have sought after everything but God to fulfill our lives.  We must reckon with this fact.  And then we must reckon with the fact that Jesus came to set us straight, to correct the wrong that had been done, to seek and to save the lost, to become our righteousness and our hope of glory.

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I have entitled this blog/note what I did for a reason: we think everything’s OK, but it’s not.  Good Friday is the stark reminder of that.  We often need to be reminded that life can only become “OK” when we have Jesus Christ, who died for us, to save us, at the center of our lives.  It’s a cop-out to say “that’s not for me.”  It’s a cop-out to say “that’s true for you, but not for me.”  It’s a cop-out to say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not a religious person.”  It’s a cop-out to say, “I don’t need any saving.”  It’s a cop-out to say, “My life’s fine the way it is.”  It’s a cop-out to turn a blind eye to the One who loved us enough to die for us.  It’s a cop-out to believe that we can’t be forgiven for our past wrongs.  It’s a cop-out to not step up to the plate and admit that we need help in order to live happy, full, and complete lives.  Jesus came to fulfill us; He came to set us free from slavery to sin; He came to help us live happy, full, and complete lives; Jesus came to save us.  How will we respond?  Will we respond with apathy, with a blind eye to the One who suffered for us?  Or will we look upon Him whom we have pierced, and proclaim, “Jesus, I trust in You!”? 

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In John’s Gospel today (the Passion Narrative), we read how Jesus’ side was pierced, and out flowed blood and water.  Legend has it that the Roman Centurion who was underneath Christ’s side when the blood and water poured forth received corrected vision from his poor eyesight; he was made able to see clearly and completely; no longer was he bound to see only indistinctly, as in a mirror, or incompletely, as through a tunnel; No, he was made able to see completely; his eyesight was restored, he was converted to Christianity, and became a believer in Jesus.  He’s now recognized as a saint- Saint Longinus.  This is analogous to what Jesus wants to do for us.  When we spiritually allow the blood and water that flowed forth from His sacred side to flow over us, He can heal us from our poor vision; He can restore our sight, He can convert us, and make us whole. 

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Today is Good Friday.  Today we commemorate our Lord’s death for our sake.  Today we realize the love of God that was made by Jesus in the sacrifice of the Cross.  In the Cross is held all of our hopes and sorrows; all of our dreams and worries; all of our joys and agonies; all of our life, death, and hope of future life.  In the Cross is the story of our lives.  In the Cross is the story of our sorrow; in the Cross is the story of our hope, our hope for something better on the other side; in the Cross is the story of our life, a life that knows pain and suffering, yet also a life that seeks after fulfillment and the joy of a new day. 

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Today, seek after the One who has sought after you; be willing to die for the One who was willing to die for you; trust in the mercy of the One who attained mercy for you; seek the will of the One who gave up His own will for love of you; love one another like the One who loved you, loved you to the end.  Today is Good Friday.  May it truly be “good” and may it be for you a day of conversion, a day of repentance, a day of trust, a day of the beginning of new life in Christ.  God bless you on this Good Friday, and as you have died with Christ, may you also rise with Him on Easter Sunday!

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Pax et Caritas,

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Noah J.