Homily – Good Friday - 4-9-04

 

Once there was a village far from the city and city ways. Few strangers came to visit, and nearly everyone here was related to someone else. The people were so poor that they had never seen a mirror; the only thing new each day was the morning’s quarrels.

 

One young man of the village had the misfortune of losing both of his parents soon after he was married.  This made him very sad, which did not please his new wife.  When he had reason to do business in the distant town, he chose to make the long walk by himself, to get his mind off his sorrows.  “Bring something back to show you are thinking of me,” she said with a little pout.

 

After he finished his business, the young man remembered his wife’s request.  He would bring home something pretty.  He was walking past a mirror shop, admiring the gleaming frames of what he thought were pictures, when to his amazement he saw a face he recognized.  “It is a picture of my father as a young man,” he said, staring at his reflection.  “Surely my wife will be please when I honor the memory of my father.” And he ran into the shop and spent all he had left for the little mirror.

 

The young man hurried home to show his wife, but she was not as happy with his choice as he.  “Let me see,” she cried, and took the mirror. “This is not a picture of your father,” she said, quite upset. “You bought a picture of a pretty young woman to make me jealous.  Yes, she is beautiful, but you can see that she is vain and selfish.”

 

The young man protested loudly as he tired to take back the mirror.  Their voices carried across the village, and soon all their relatives were gathered around them.

 

The young wife’s older sister took the mirror and said, “It’s clear to me that this is a portrait of a goddess, someone accustomed to making others do her will. This picture is meant to teach my sister to obey her proud and foolish husband.  I predicted something like this.”

Now the young man’s uncle stepped in.  “Indeed,” he said, “This face is very like your father’s, but firmer, more strong-willed.  It is a face that will bring order to a family for those who listen.”  And he looked warningly at the young wife.

 

At this, the young woman’s cousin bumped the uncle’s arm and quickly took the mirror, saying, “Hah, it is a trick! I see a sly face, pretending to be friendly but secretly full of evil.”

 

Everyone was shouting, now, until the wise woman of the village hobbled up.  The crowd stepped back respectfully as she approached and the mirror was handed to her.

 

The old woman looked long and thoughtfully at the mirror’s face.  She turned it one way, now another.  Then she spoke.  “This is indeed a marvel,” she said. “This picture changes from moment to moment.  See how it flashes?  Now it gives us a kind old face, one that can bring an end to quarrels.  Why not hang this light-catcher from the rafters of the house?  It can bring down the spirit of heaven and shine back good luck to all of us.” 

 

And so it was that the first mirror of the village hung from the rafters of the young couple’s house and brought peace and happiness to everyone, perhaps because that is what they expected.

 

We gather for this Good Friday, God’s Friday – different from all our other Friday’s. And we look upon the Cross.

 

What is so vital for us as we spend this day is that we know what we are looking at – we realize what we are seeing.

 

One commentator who wasn’t mesmerized by Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”, a minister, reflected that the problem is that the film might be missing the point that we are not Christians because of the Cross.  We are Christians; we are followers of The Christ, because of the Resurrection.

 

We need, it seems, to see beyond the Cross.

 

The Monk Thomas Merton talks about the Cross and Suffering:

 

“The Christian must not only accept suffering: the Christian must make it holy.  Nothing so easily becomes unholy as suffering.

Merely accepted, suffering does nothing for our souls except, perhaps, to harden them.  Endurance alone is no consecration.  True asceticism is not a mere cult of fortitude.  We can deny ourselves rigorously for the wrong reason and end up by pleasing ourselves mightily with our self-denial…..

 

Suffering, therefore, can only be consecrated to God by one who believes that Jesus is not dead.  And it is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning.”

 

Our Good Friday is good then not because of the Cross – but what is beyond the Cross.

Our Good Friday is good because the one upon it is the one who loved so purely.

Our Good Friday is good because His love was so strong as to overcome those who contain it.

 

We like the mirror people in the story can look upon this Cross or upon ourselves and see only limitations and narrowness and fear and longing.

Or we can see the possibilities.

We can see the possibility of love – the love that redeems and transforms. It was Jesus’ love that made the beggar rich, the cripple run, the leprous clean, the one who was alone a member of the community.

It was Jesus’ love that performed the miracle of allowing people to be what God created them to be.

It was Jesus’ love that took the Cross and told us that this is not where we stop – this is not the end – love goes further than the threats and fear that others would impose.

 

We hang the cross as those people in the story hung the mirror to reflect to us our possibilities – our hope – our dream. We would dream that we could love as much and therefore end the fear that cripples people, the hate that kills people, the barriers that exclude people.

 

We look beyond the suffering of this Cross today to see the joy of Easter and the brightness of our God’s love.