HOMILY FOR GOOD FRIDAY 2012--THERE HE DIED FOR ME

GOOD FRIDAY 2012

  BY Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

 

 

 

I. There He Died For Me

A. There He died for me, upon the tree, upon the tree at Calvary. And I cannot look at Him. For I Helped put Him there. It was my sins He died for, my transgressions nailed Him to the Cross as surely as any Roman soldier did.

B. And so I look to his left, and see a criminal hanging there, still alive, still cursing and swearing as he cursed and swore at the Son of God. A criminal dying a criminal's death.

II. The Good Thief

A. And I look to the right of my Lord, and there I see another crucified. Criminal too I am told. But how different he is, the Good Thief. And as I come closer, I look at him, this Good Thief and I speak:

B. "Who are you, sir, who have lived a life in darkness and now see the light? How is it you can believe in this Christ today, you who have walked in the night for so long?

1. You did not see Christ on the mountain of the Transfiguration, nor the night He walked the sea.

2. You never saw corpses color with life again when coffin and grave felt the force of His cry; you never saw Lazarus rise from from his grave or the son of the widow of Naim come to life.

3. You did not hear His Parables which told the stories of God to hungry hearts, nor did you hear His tone of voice when He talked of His Father.

4. You weren't even in the Upper Room last night when others heard Him speak of service and love of friends, and bread becoming his Body and wine becoming his Blood.

5. You were not in the Garden of Gethsemani to hear Him cry out to the Father and sweat drops of blood; you did not see the angel lift Him in His sorrow, nor Judas come to kiss Him into custody. And yet in the dying hours of Good Friday, you became one of his best friends.

6. O Good Thief who dies by the side of God, O master of courtesy and manners, who enlightened for you your part in this savage violence on the hill of Calvary? How could you speak so calmly, so courtly, so courageously? I heard you say, "Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom." How could you trust, believe, and love so much?

7. O Good Thief, you who stole Paradise this day when you were to die for your own sins, you who gave the one thing that was truly yours, your love and loyalty to the Son of God, you who showed the last act of kindness Jesus was to experience in the last few moments of His life, pray for us, that we before the hour of our death have the gift to see Him and know Him, as you saw Him and knew Him.

II. B is a paraphrase of a poem by Saunders Lewis, "To the Good Thief." Published in Joseph Clancy's Twentieth Century Welsh Poems,(Gomer Press, 1982).

Comments

[dragonfly]

Tonight is the strongest night of faith, We are reminded of the purest example of love and forgiveness. To truly love, one must forgive, Can we love others that hurt or persecute us, or when others cause or leave emotional scares of pain? Will we love when others fall short of our life standings or of what we find morally beneath us? Will we reach out to each person that is placed in our path?, as Jesus would and lead with his love and compassion? We can, the Lord knows we can......Just remembering he is always with you if you ask him...... It's suddenly your judgment day .......would you expect any less than that same love and forgiveness from our Lord that he is asking us to share to our fellowman? Each and everyone one of us will need our Lord's forgiveness and seek his everlasting love, So make everyday Easter and give, as the Lord would to all you meet. And give even more to those we find hardest to reach. With prayer let the Lord be your guide, we can move mountains!!!!........Happy Easter Msgr. Barr. May God always walk with you!
And thank you for posting again........