Meditation
on Good Friday
(Jn 18:1-40, 19-42)
“Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus, ‘Where
do you come from?’ But Jesus made no answer”
The Good Friday liturgy is unique and
beautiful. The priest, vested in red, solemnly processes to the altar in
silence, no song, no acclamation! The altar is laid bare, striped of
decorations and light. The priest lowers himself and gently lay down in front
of the altar. The whole church is wrapped in silence! Within this cloud of
silence, the Church narrates the Passion of Jesus and offers her prayers.
We are drawn to this cloud of silence, which surrounded
Jesus throughout His passion. Imagine the serenity in the garden as Jesus
communed with the Father in prayer before the noise of Judas and the soldiers interrupted...Jesus
was calm and spoke with confidence, and with authority! Looking at the length of
the trials, and at different ends of the city with different rulers, we wonder
why only few words of Jesus was recorded all through. The answer is simple: He
was silent most of the time.
His silence was because, according to Fulton
Sheen, Jesus accepted in freedom what was done to Him with malice. In other
words, He freely gave Himself up into their treachery. So He remained free,
while His executioners were restless and noisy. Thus the venom of their malice
had no influence over Him; His mood and disposition remained intact...His love
remained unshaken! But the Chief priest, Pilate and the Jews continued to judge
each other and lose temper. Fear and tension continued to arise among them,
while Jesus remained silent. Pilate
was practically forcing words out of Jesus. His capacity as Governor was being
questioned. This is one case history cannot forget.
Jesus offered no resistance. The full weight of
the betrayal, denial, insults, beating and crucifixion landed on Him, and He
did not return any. His silence was provocative as they struggled the more to
satisfy their bitterness. In silence Jesus turned His attention to the Father—He looked up to Him who was able to save Him
from death (Heb 5:7). His was not a snobbish silence; it was not a
self-centred silence to prove His superiority. He entered into the cloud of silence, passive to His executioners, that He might actively offer up to the Father, in freedom, all the suffering He
received for our salvation. Having offered all, “He said, ‘It is finished’; and
bowing His head he gave up His spirit. Only the Sound of His Silence
remained...
And that remains the echo of meditation and
contemplation; the highest form of prayer is born. With this cloud of silence
is the energy to imitate Jesus, especially at our moment of Cross. How can we
carry our cross as Jesus did if we know no silence, and our hearts are noisy?
When we have to confront family tussles, abuses, cheating, gossip, betrayals,
setbacks, etc we too must enter the cloud
of silence by actively connecting with the cross of Jesus, and locating our
situation in Jesus’ passion. This is also how our disposition and love will remain
intact, and inaccessible to our executioners!
As the altar is stripped bare, silence is the
ornament that adorns this sacred space. Within this serenity we renew our love
for the Cross, on which lay the Saviour
of the world. After the Communion, the priest says the prayer and blessing
over the people. Suddenly, without any formal dismissal, he processes out of
the altar in silence, no hymns or acclamation...Like at Calvary, They all went sorrowfully away. But our
silence will be broken by the crack sound of the opened tomb; the joy of the
Resurrection.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Friday April 10th,2020.
Good Friday.
