Good Friday

 The Second Reading states: "In the days of the flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplication, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." (Heb 5: 7) But hang on a minute! How can we say his prayer was heard when we know that he was crucified!? Surely, his prayer was not answered.  St Paul also speaks of his prayer of deliverance which was not answered in the affirmative: "Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it (the thorn in his side) leave me, but he said to me: '' My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12: 8-9) If this was the case for Paul, it is even more so for our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was vindicated in the resurrection who: "... having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Heb 5: 9) This is a lesson for us on this tragic day of suffering and death that God can perfect us through our sufferings when we submit to him. His power is able to perfect us and his glory can shine through the darkness. So often at funerals of those who have died after long periods of illness, dementia or cancer I see how this teaching is true. The love of the care givers and the faith of the deceased reveal the beauty of true self-giving love and the power of the resurrection which follows the darkest of days. This Good Friday let us join ourselves with Christ as Paul exhorts: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead... Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3: 13-14)