First, the Cross
Posted on: April 2, 2015
- In: Faith | Holy Days | Seasons of the Church Year
- Comments Off on First, the Cross
As the afternoon sun turned to clouds today, I thought about the old saw that April showers bring May flowers. For the beauty of spring to materialize, we need those cloudy, rainy days.
The same is true of our faith: to reach the joy of Easter, we must first go through Good Friday. Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, there would be no resurrection to proclaim. And only once Jesus returned to the Father did the Holy Spirit come to the apostles, preparing them to go out and begin building the Church by proclaiming the good news to the Jews and the Gentiles.
Yes, the Good Friday service can be sombre, with the reading of the Passion story and veneration of the cross making Jesus’ sacrifice more real, and with our leaving the church in silence. But we can look forward to the joy of the light spreading in the church at the Easter Vigil. We can gladly sing the Gloria again at whichever Easter service we attend.
As we gather with family to celebrate Easter, I pray that we would look beyond the chocolate, candy and cards and remember that, before the disciples rejoiced at his rising, Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
~ Isaiah 53:5*
(*Scripture quote taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)
A Catholic Convert in Ottawa 