My friends, we had 11 from our community yesterday come to pray and remember the life, the love, and the death of our brother Jesus. Now, we all await his resurrection from the dead, a clear sign of the afterlife that is planned for each of us. Do we really understand what this means? No, but we walk in faith believing in the goodness of our good God. If you are able, come and be with us on Sunday, April 20, 2025 at 10 A.M. to celebrate, for we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is truly our song! May each of you be blessed in special ways during this holiest of weeks! Peace and much love and gratitude, Pastor Kathy

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Friends, as always, you can see, our liturgical space is very stark today—no candles, no altar coverings, no liturgical drapes.  We are bereft as this day marks the physical death of our brother, Jesus. All of us here, in addition, have those on our hearts from the parish who have died, Mary Paszkiewicz, along with Shannon Hanzel, Bob Sherman, Cathy and Eric Bartleson, Warren Galbus, Giles Schmid, and Michael Maher. When a loved one dies, we all feel, bereft, sad, and lost.  This happened this week for our family with the death of a brother-in-law, Patrick Gannon.  In order then, that we might consider what it would be like not to have Jesus, along with others in our lives, the Church’s request to sit with this sadness for a time seems most appropriate.

   It is important for us to remember that Jesus’ death was part of his life, just as our deaths one day will be part of ours. And for Jesus—death and resurrection go hand-in-hand.  We know this from our own lives—there are “dyings and risings”—there are losses to grieve, pains to bear, relationships that will end. But the good news is that in all of this “dying,” certainly things we would not choose, just as Jesus in his humanity didn’t relish the agony in the garden, the trial—all the abuse and the horrible death, his and our loving God would be with him in his human experience—all of it and for us as well!

   In addition to the actual, permanent losses, our human lives include other “dyings and risings”— and some are, heaven-on-earth experiences. We all have them.   And they often flow out of the losses—the dying.  The loss of a good friend, only to discover another friend, one we wouldn’t have come to know, except for the loss of the former friend, the loss of a job only to find a new, better one; the loss of a home only to find new opportunities in a new place; the realization after a loss that somehow, we made it through that awful time and that we hadn’t been alone—our God was with us in friends and family that were near and helped us out. We may have become aware on the other side of the pain that it was only God’s grace that got us through.

    And then, at the end of our lives is the experience of heaven—we don’t know what that will be like, we can only imagine as we recall the words of Scripture, “None of us knows what God has planned for those who have loved God in this life!”

   Good Friday and remembering our brother Jesus’ death also reminds us of those who have completed their earthly journeys from among our families and friends, others not from this community, but of our hearts.  May they rest in peace now as we all look forward one day to that eternal life that Jesus has prepared for us through his life, death, and resurrection.  We pray too for all the suffering around our world, from power, greed, and ignorance, even within our Church from those in power who want to frame our God as Someone who demands our repentance, and forgetting our God is one of over-the-top mercy and love.  It seems that Jesus continues “to die” within our country and world, every day, because we often react in small ways that exclude and separate rather than following our brother Jesus,  who always included and brought people together—found a way.  Our prayer today can be that all who are suffering in any way come to know peace and many blessings soon.

   Looking to the Scriptures today, John’s gospel is always used on Good Friday because it gives us a different focus than the other accounts from Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  We remember from Palm Sunday and Luke’s passion account that his focus was placed not so much on the detail of the suffering, but more on its meaning for each of us as depicted in Paul’s reading to the Philippians— “his state was divine, yet he did not cling to it, but became as each one of us. There was a wonderful picture of Pope Francis this past week in a poncho and in a wheel chair, that some criticized, but others thought very appropriate in that he “looked like one of us!”

   In John’s account today, we simply heard Jesus say, in regard to his own personal needs, “I am thirsty.” His concern isn’t for himself but for his apostles—that they would be set free. When he does die, he simply, “gives up his spirit.” We very much get the impression that John is trying to give; of Jesus being in control of all that is happening to him. He had the power to avail himself to what this Friday in history, that we have come to call, “good” brought him, and he accepted his fate with no complaint.  As Isaiah said in the first reading, he did not cry out, even though he was badly abused.

   Even with all the suffering Jesus endured, we see only the silence with which he carried himself, so the silence built into today’s service is again, very appropriate.  Isaiah gives the truth to this notion as well— “you were like a lamb led to slaughter and didn’t open your mouth.”  Personally, and on another level, I thought of our animal friend, Mack who is so patient at groomings, health checks and daily teeth brushings. 

   John’s account does not include the purely human moments of the Last Supper or the agony in the garden.   John shows us Jesus as one who suffers, yes, but one who is truly the “high priest” spoken of today in the letter to the Hebrews—one who stands with us and loves us in all our weaknesses, continually calling us to be more.  We often pray that our pain might be taken away and that doesn’t often happen, but we can be sure that Jesus is truly walking with us in whatever comes because he said as much before leaving his physical existence behind. 

   The evangelist goes on to tell us that because Jesus freely chooses death, he can just as freely choose life—the new life of the resurrection. This is our hope in Jesus— to one day, do the same. In this springtime of the year, the idea of the resurrection is one we can get our hearts around—out of the cold and damp ground comes so much life.

   Finally, I wanted you to know that I purposely shortened Isaiah’s reading, leaving out all the references of Jesus, “dying for our sins” as these concentrate on a God who apparently “needs” reparation for the sins of humankind.  I believe many within our Church, theologians included, have moved beyond a God who would ask such a price from a son.  This type of God, needing repentance was not the God that Jesus preached about when he spoke of the Prodigal returning to his father’s waiting arms, or the Good Shepherd who left the 99 in search of the lost one. 

   Jesus knew that his actions, his speech—declaring justice for all, speaking against the practices of his Jewish faith and the state of Rome would cause him to pay the highest price for his so-called treason—death on a cross, and freely chose that. We need not look for someone to blame —God, the Jews, the Romans.  Jesus chose life to the fullest, living from his heart, and he paid the price for not going along with the status quo, for not remaining silent as so many seem to be doing in our world today.

   As we live through Holy Week with our brother, Jesus, recounting the steps and recalling his life of love for us—even unto death, let us remember friends, if nothing else, that we are loved. Our God wants only good for us in life and offered his life for us to prove that. Can we really do any less than love this God of ours in return?   And we love God my friends when we love each other, our world, and all created life.  May God bless you all during this the holiest of weeks as we live, love, die, and remember! Amen? Amen!