Good Friday 2016
Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of
days. Isaiah 53:12 (Revised New
American Bible translation)
(This new translation is quite
different from what is in the older versions, such as the Revised Standard
Bible: he shall see the fruit of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. I
decided to check another translation, so I went to the French version of the
Jerusalem Bible. Here the translation is mine: After the ordeals of his soul, he will see the light and will be
fulfilled. Reading that version, I could understand why the translators of
the New American Bible had departed so much from the RSV.)
Why go to such trouble checking
translations, especially since I can’t read Hebrew, the original language of
the psalms? Because it was the first translation above that inspired me to
write this reflection on this very Holy Day.
There aren’t too many hints on
Good Friday of the continued life of the Lord. We are, as it were, encouraged
to dwell on the Lord’s suffering and death more than on the Resurrection to
come. And yet, unless we keep the Resurrection in mind as we ponder the Passion
of the Lord, we are the most pitiable of people, because there is no hope of
any of this making sense.
And that is where so many of
have been, or are, especially throughout the world during these difficult days
when Europe is filled to the brim with suicide bombers and Americans are being
slaughtered every day recently by some deranged and damaged person yielding a
shot-gun, and when hatred and violence is the platform of one of the major
presidential candidates and there are many people who are feeding on that anger
and voting for him. And we have to wonder, is
there any hope of this making sense?
Meanwhile in households
everywhere there are people who are going through a great trial of their own,
who can look at the Crucifix and unite their pain to the pain of the Lord, who
took it all upon himself. Perhaps you have had such a trial yourself, or are
enduring one now.
And so, we get to hear in the
first reading of today’s Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion about the
sufferings of the Lord and how he has taken so much upon himself for our sake.(
If you can’t make it to church today, see if you can find the time to read Isaiah 52-13 up to 53:12.) And then at
long last, we find the verse quoted above: Because
of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days.
Might I suggest that this verse
may be applied to our own lives as well? That in the course of life we endure
many trials and ordeals and afflictions, and it is because of them, eventually,
that we begin to see what we couldn’t see before, and even in the midst of our
darkness we do indeed see a hint of the light to come? And how many times have
we passed through a difficult period in our lives only to discover that it has
strengthened us and enabled us to look with new eyes upon the world around us.
And if that hasn’t happened yet,
it will someday, I assure you. It will.
And so there, in the midst of
Good Friday, there is a great hope of light and salvation and an end to
suffering. Through the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ who loves us so much
that he endured everything that evil had to throw at him. Thanks be to God!
May the Lord bless and keep you!
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