Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was the most dreadful moment in world history. As the Gospels recount, “darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.”
Even the sun had to hide.
Humanly speaking, Jesus was a victim robbed of his friends, his dignity, and his life.
While Mary was robbed of her son.
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But Jesus and Mary were not only victims on Good Friday; they were also victors.
Jesus was a victor because he never reneged on his identity; even in the face of unimaginable torture, he would not back down from his claim, “I AM.”
He was also victorious because he died with love in his heart.
Not even spittle, thirty-nine lashings, thorns, or mocking cries from a Godless crowd could beat the love out of him. Rather, Jesus spent some of his final, precious breaths interceding for his guileless murderers.
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
Then drawing another fill of air, he turned to John, the only Apostle who did not abandon him, and said, “Behold your mother.”
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That is, behold the other victor of Calvary.
Mary did not give up in the face of torture, either. As seven swords of sorrow pierced her immaculate heart, she stood by the cross, clinging – not to understanding – but to faith.
“How can this be?” She must’ve wondered. The same question she asked the Archangel Gabriel more than 30 years prior. How could God allow this?
Still, she stood her ground.
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The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that, even in the face of the most unimaginable loss, there is always victory to be found.
We are victorious when we do not allow life – or the circumstances we may find ourselves in – to rob us of our faith in God, the love he has poured into our hearts, or the dignity he bestows upon us as his beloved children.
May Jesus and Mary intercede for us, that we, too, would compete well, run this race of life to the finish, and keep the faith.
Then the victory is ours.
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Image credits: (1) Pieta, William Adolphe Bouguereau (2) Cristo Crucificado, Goya (3) The Resurrection, Piero della Francesca
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In August 2021, two-hundred children began gathering with their families at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Haiti. All of the little ones were dressed in white, preparing to celebrate their baptism.
Thirty minutes before the ceremony was set to begin, the ground beneath them started shaking. Suddenly the roof collapsed, crushing twenty-three people, including a two-year-old child in her mother’s arms.
Somehow the mother survived.
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When I first heard the story, I let out a loud, guttural cry, asking, “Why God? Why would you let this happen? Is life not already difficult enough for them?”
I shared my troubled heart with a fellow priest that day, who said to me simply:
“At 3 pm on a Friday afternoon, an innocent man was nailed to a cross. We believe that man was also the Son of God. Three days later, he was raised from the dead.”
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The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead does not explain why evil exists in this world – nor does it make it okay for a church roof to collapse.
But it does tell us something about who God is.
Mysteriously, God permits evil to operate in this world, whether man-made or erupting from the natural world itself.
But only for a time.
Perhaps to give us a chance to fight against it, to choose which side we are on, while also longing for a better world to come.
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Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus likens death to a “thief in the night.” It’s in the very nature of a thief to come without warning, stealing what is not its own.
Are we not reminded of this thinking of those poor children prematurely stolen from their families?
But on this Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, we can stand in defiance of death, saying that there is at least one precious thing which death cannot take from us – not without our permission.
Our faith.
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While we may have many unanswered questions about good and evil, life and death, or why a church roof collapsed, today is an opportunity for us to reaffirm our core beliefs.
That life is not only a gift, but also a mystery.
That this world was created by a God who is good.
That this same God lived among his creation, that he suffered and died like us, and that he was victoriously raised from the dead.
That this same God has made a way for us all to live again, even if that comes through an unceremonious, sudden, and terribly tragic earthquake.
For nothing – not even death – can separate us from the love and life of Christ… not without our permission.
Christ Crucified, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Christ Crucified, Francisco Goya (2) National Geographic (3) Believersbibleschool..com
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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On Friday morning, my alarm went off just before 5 am. I had to get up, throw on a baseball cap, and make a quick brew of coffee. Friends were picking me up a few minutes later to go to the 9/11 memorial service in lower Manhattan.
One of them lost her brother that day.
As people often say in reference to 9/11, “Never forget.”
How can we?
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When tragedies like 9/11 happen, or other senseless acts of violence like the random stabbing of a mother in Times Square who just returned to work from maternity leave, or the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a young man speaking on a college campus, we often turn to God.
Some blame him for allowing these things to happen. Others begin to long more ardently for heaven, a place of permanent peace without guns, knives, or planes used as missiles.
But many also turn to God, recognizing just how difficult – yet important – forgiveness is.
As Peter asks Jesus in today’s Gospel, “Lord, if my neighbor sins against me, how often must I forgive? … As many as seven times?”
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I imagine the other disciples were biting their tongues, holding their breath, and anxiously shuffling their feet, waiting, hoping that Jesus would bless Peter for thinking so generously, but then gently correct him.
Saying something like, “No, Pete. Once is enough. Twice is generous. But no more than three times.”
After all, that’s hard enough.
But the Lord takes what Peter thought was a heartily generous idea and reduces it to the size of a pea. “Not seven, but seventy-seven times.”
That’s a lot of sinning and a lot of forgiving before a relationship goes kaput.
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But what, exactly, is forgiveness?
A lot of things pass for it, like letting someone off the hook, dismissing an offense by saying something nice, or hiding our true feelings to preserve the peace.
But often beneath the surface, we’re just dismissing the other person, slowly imposing distance between us until there’s nothing left.
What the Lord is asking us to do instead is to throw away the calculator. To stop adding and subtracting how many times we were right or wrong, because forgiveness is not an equation; it’s a permanent disposition of the heart.
It’s the way God always looks upon us. Thankfully, the Lord does not tally up our sins or require that we pay him back in full.
Rather, he casts our debt aside – much like the king did to his servant in today’s Gospel parable – so that we might have a relationship with him. But God also instructs us to extend that same courtesy to others.
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Such an idea haunted me while standing in lower Manhattan, surrounded by people like my own friend who lost her brother. Others lost a parent, a spouse, or worse, a child.
We stood and prayed. We laid flowers. We recited their names. We remembered.
It’s what we do when tragedies like 9/11 happen.
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But to speak of forgiveness is risky business. Jesus had to know how impossible it feels for the human heart to overcome such deeply seeded hurts.
Or, frankly how hard it’d be to do anything on his moral checklist: “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who persecute you. Pray for those who mistreat you.”
Some might call such ideals ridiculous.
Many of us know what it feels like to have a heart seething with anger, hardened by the desire for revenge, or the stubbornness of refusing to forgive someone.
But bearing such negativity does nothing to improve our own health, our outlook on life, or our overall sense of peace; rather, it only makes it worse, like pouring salt into an open wound.
At the very least, we can conclude that doing the opposite of what Christ teaches us – hating our enemies instead of loving, praying for, or forgiving them – never leaves us fulfilled.
Just ask anyone who bears hatred in their heart how happy they really are.
It’s a humbling truth to accept, but Jesus is right. Following the path of love is the only way to find authentic peace and a lasting share of human happiness.
The last person to speak publicly at the 9/11 Memorial service also reminded us of that.
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Humble us, O LORD.
Do for us what we cannot do ourselves. Allow your peace to reign in our hearts, too often broken by tragedy.
Help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us, not seven but seventy-seven times.
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Image credits: (1) WEAU (2) Family Foundations Institute (3) Revive Our Hearts
