Every day of the year is a good day to think about Good Friday, for Good Friday is the drama of the love by which our every day is sustained. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
. . . there is nothing more central to Christianity than what happened on Good Friday. It is, if you will, crucial. In fact, the word "crucial" comes from the Latin word crux, meaning "cross." - ibid
I forgot that I "took a year off" from Fr. Neuhaus' excellent reflections on the Seven Last Words of Christ last Lent. I'm glad to be back into them again. Of course, every time I encounter something I think I want to reflect on further in these musings, I'm going to have to make sure that I haven't covered that ground already. For instance, I've previously reflected on the first quote above but perhaps not on the second, and the two are quite connected in my thoughts now.
If Good Friday is central to Christianity, then it is central to how I am to approach my own life every single day. Too often I view whatever my current circumstances may happen to be as something to lament, complain about, "get through" or "survive," rather than as an avenue for God's grace to abound that I should embrace. When I consider my life through the focusing lens of Good Friday, I obtain a radically different and far more healthy view of my reality, even when it includes things that I would not choose for myself and even when there is no sign that those circumstances may ever pass. Perhaps applying this lens more consistently will allow love and joy to be greater hallmarks of my life.
I think this fits well with the theme that the parish is emphasizing during this holy season, and certainly with the specific virtue that my bride has chosen for me to pray for this. More on that later.
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