Today we contemplate the essential mystery of our faith- that God himself would die for us, so that we may be reconciled with him. Today we hold a bodily fast from food, and we limit the amount of activity in solemn observance of the Cross.
To walk alongside Christ is a challenging endeavor. We see even the disciples who walked with Jesus for years were nowhere to be seen when he carried his Cross. Jesus says “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it,” (Luke 9:23-24). Each bit of suffering we endure is a participation of the Cross that Christ carried for our sake.
On Good Friday, we take a step away from our usual activities in remembrance of Christ’s passion, but between the hours of 12 pm and 3 pm, the hours when Christ was on the Cross, we can take the opportunity to be like Mary and John, present with Jesus. During this time, you can pray a Scriptural Rosary, a Divine Mercy Chaplet, pray the Stations of the Cross, reflect on the Passion Narrative, meditate on Jesus’ Seven Last Words, and watch the service from the livestream at 3 pm. Above all though, we can take the time to be silent and present with the Lord.
Where was Peter? The disciple who in all zeal cut the ear off the Roman solider and had promised to die for Christ was no longer with him. His life shaken and caught off guard in the early hours of the morning, and three times before the cock crowed, he had denied Jesus.
Peter earlier in Jesus’ public ministry acclaimed complete faithfulness to his teacher. During the Bread of Life discourse when all of Jesus’ followers began to reject him, “Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ [and] Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6:67-69). Yet when Jesus was vulnerable before the crowds, Peter was no longer standing behind his Lord. Where was Peter?
Often times, our own lives get shaken and we are put in difficult situations, where we too must affirm or deny Christ. We might fall short more than three times, but Christ never stops loving us, just as he never stopped loving Peter. It was Peter, who asked Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” and now it was time for Peter to personally receive the answer that Christ gave him, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times”. (Mt 18:21-22). No matter how often we have denied Christ, we are called to return to him, with our full hearts.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to the Apostles on the shore. Peter, who was fishing at the time, quite a distance away from Jesus, jumped into the sea, fully clothed and swam to him. He returned to the Lord with his full heart. He recognized that he could not live without his Lord, as there was nowhere else that he could go. Peter was our first pope and would taste death and suffering in his martyrdom for his faith. Christ models for us, that the victory will never be of this world, but rather it will be awaiting us in eternal life. Our remedy for sin is endurance in the faith. May we continue to run towards, not away, from the Cross- the true symbol of salvation.