Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
I think the saddest, scariest part of this COVID-19 pandemic is people dying without being able to have their loved ones by their side; to have loved ones die without being able to be with them. We are social beings by nature, some of us more social than others, but we need human contact and touch to thrive. Most of the healings in the Gospels and Acts, at least that I can think of, involve touch. Even in our tradition’s Creation Story, God says it is not good for (hu)man to be alone. So, I do think that this virus is most cruel in how it is, in many cases, preventing people from being physically present to their spouse, parent, child, sibling, close friend as they pass from this life. This is what came to mind as I reflected on the readings for this Good Friday.
As I reflect on Jesus’ passion and death, I am aware of how he was dying on a cross, out of the reach of his mother’s touch, his disciples’ and friends’ touch. From what we understand about the torturous death of crucifixion, Jesus likely struggled to breathe, finally dying from exhaustion and asphyxiation. Jesus knows the suffering of those in critical condition and dying from this coronavirus in a very real way.
As today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way….” (4:15) I do not mean to imply that this virus is a “test,” but to remember that our God became human and took on the bodily suffering and death that we suffer. We (and our loved ones) are not alone, even when we feel most alone.
Today’s responsorial psalm (31), a hymn of lament, is one that it is believed Jesus was quoting when he prayed, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Was he also feeling “forgotten like the unremembered dead...like a dish that is broken”? (vs 13)
Perhaps his mother and disciples later prayed verse 10 of this psalm, “Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress; with grief my eyes are wasted, my soul and body spent.”
And yet, as Christians we have hope. Today is Good Friday, but it doesn’t end here. Even for those who have died and who will die as a result of this virus, we remember the resurrection. Even though we cannot physically gather as a Church this Saturday night and Sunday, we still have Easter; we are an Easter people. As the final verse of today’s psalm response ends, let our prayer for each other be, “Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the Lord.” (vs 25)
~Eileen Miller