Good Friday - Homily 2

 Homily 2 - 2021

John’s Gospel built up a picture of the dying Christ as a king. It showed Jesus effectively in control of things — when he was arrested in the garden; as he stood straight before Pilate and discussed his power and kingship with him; as he carried his own cross unassisted to Calvary; as he handed over his mother and the beloved disciple to the care of each other; as in his death, he handed over his spirit. He appeared as a Christ whom we could well admire.

And a problem presents itself here. Our reaction can even be one of admiration; and as such it can quickly be forgotten. It interests us briefly —but it does not challenge us. The Jesus we so easily admire was in fact the Jesus who underwent deep, deep suffering. It is hard for us to hold both facts together. We tend to opt for one or the other. We would prefer to imitate the one we admire; and that is fair enough. But we are instinctively much less attracted to the Jesus who failed, who was deeply dehumanised and degraded, who himself wrestled in the garden with profound depression and perhaps even the feeling of despair.

Pope Francis, in a homily he delivered in Rome last weekend, suggested that what we really need is not so much admiration as amazement. Perhaps, more amazement might help us accept our own failures, our own experiences of humiliation, our own disappointment and even depression — to face them and deal with them, rather than deny them. The fascinating thing about Jesus is that, in the midst of his suffering, he continued to love.

Jesus is not an idea, he is so much more than an ideal — he is a person. We can love persons and we can let persons love us. We cannot love an idea or an ideal. Our lives need a fair dose of amazement if we are not to succumb to boredom, to mediocrity. It is so easy to get used to the image of Jesus crucified. We might even wear it on gold chain around our necks as a piece of jewellery. The question that matters is does it challenge us, confront us even?

I find myself honestly challenged to spend time with the memory of Jesus crucified. I can feel so detached.