Homily - Bishop Brian Heenan - Good Friday - 10 April 2009 |
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There were many questions raised about World Youth Day and one was “Why have the suffering and death of Jesus almost become the centerpiece of a joyous celebration of between three and four hundred thousand young people. What would the many millions of people of all ages, watching throughout Australia and the world, make of the Jesus of Christianity, tormented and killed as a criminal?” I believe the simple answer to that complex question is that the young people of the world, indeed all people of the world, were invited to realize again, that suffering is part of real life. It was surely to focus on the person of Jesus, on the call of Jesus “unless you take up your cross every day, you cannot be my disciple.” Jesus didn’t say – go looking for the cross, he implied it would always be there, but rather the emphasis was “to take it up!” to accept it, to let it transform our lives as it did his. The cross, the many forms of suffering, is in everyone’s life. It might be persecution of an innocent person as it was for Jesus, or illness, separation from loved ones, bereavement, personal weakness, loss of employment, life savings or security. It might be seeing others suffer and we cannot relieve their pain, the very position of Mary as she saw her son degraded. We will remember later the victims of the bushfires, the floods, earthquakes and senseless wars throughout the world. These are the crosses Jesus was speaking about, and they have gone on and Jesus invites us to embrace the cross, not look for it, but when it comes, to call on God for support, to say even with a breaking heart, “Thy will be done.” It does not mean we will not feel abandoned and call out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” The way of the cross in Sydney brought out another dimension. It was set in modern day life, with the characters generally in modern day dress. To begin with, the grandeur of St Mary’s Cathedral and the re-enactment of the Last Supper. This is a reminder to us all that as we gather for the Eucharist, the Last Supper meal, in our grand cathedrals like this one, St Joseph’s, we do so to meet our God and our fellow Christians. Our life is all about relationships and the buildings are meant to help us to meet God and to respectfully encounter one another. The Way of the Cross moved to the beautiful Domain, then to the Opera House, with the beautiful harbour always in the background, all the while under the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The final events, the Crucifixion of Jesus took place harbour side, at Barangaroo before not hundreds, but hundreds of thousands – present or watching live on TV. To me, the clear message was that Jesus‘ message of the cross is in our everyday situations, our suburbs, our cities, our country areas, where ever people are, then there is struggle, persecution, innocent victims, the marginalized, the rejected. One of the most powerful memories for me was the inclusion of the Indigenous group on Jesus’ journey to the cross. Simon, who was forced to help Jesus, became that young Aboriginal man who was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross for most of the way. Jesus was persecuted from the time of his birth to his death. Our Indigenous sisters and brothers and many ethnic and small groups are still being persecuted or disadvantaged, through neglect or denial of rights. If we look beyond Australia today, there are many of our brothers and sisters in Iraq, the Middle East, Africa and places of civil war or devastation, who should hold a place in our hearts for the suffering they bear. May I come back to the beginning, a reminder of the young people of our society – Why the Stations of the Cross in a week of joyful celebration? The theme offered to our youth was, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will be my witnesses”. It seems to be that if young people are to be witnesses for Jesus, they have to embrace the struggles in their own lives and the pain in our society. It does not mean the have to be dominated by the sad aspect of life in the modern world, but rather in acknowledging it, to address it and bring support where they can. They have to begin with themselves and working with, walking with Jesus, be there for others, empowered as Jesus says, by the Holy Spirit given to them. And if this is true for younger ones, it is true for every one of us, to accept the cross in our lives, whatever form it is taking, and to leave room in our hearts, for those whose crosses we can share. We often use the expression, “Jesus is the reason for the season” and he is the reason for our being here on this Good Friday. He is the reason for every season, and he will be the reason for our celebrations on Easter Sunday. May we meet Jesus on this day, as someone who wants to be close to us, someone who offers to be Lord, Saviour and friend? It is through our crosses, shared with Jesus, that we overcome our fears and live in hope. Can we let Jesus speak to us for a few minutes at this time? Can we be silent and allow him to share with us what Good Friday meant for him, what he wants it to mean for us?
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