ALL MY FRAME BURNS WITH FEVER

PRAYER MOMENT             

Good Friday, 18 April 2014

ALL MY FRAME BURNS WITH FEVER

Pause. Be present at the death of Jesus

Reading: “All my frame burns with fever; all my body is sick. Spent and utterly crushed, I cry aloud in anguish of heart.” (Psalm 21 (22), Is 52:13-53:12, Heb 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42)

Reflection. I give the readings above for Good Friday and also a verse from Psalm 22, the psalm that starts with the cry from the cross, given by Matthew and Mark, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The psalm speaks intimately of the interior suffering of a person utterly crushed by sorrow and pain. There is a danger of “formalising” Good Friday, as an event “out there” – something that happened a long time ago, a price paid for our sins but something remote from us. To see it that way is to empty it of its power for us today. We live Good Friday. It is the most exact experience of our personal and global situation today. It reflects precisely what is happening now. We must not run away and put it out of our mind. To embrace it is the only way to live authentically.

  

Prayer. Lord, you have given everything you could for us, even pouring out your life. Is it possible that you will forget us now as we struggle with our world today? Ours is a world that mocks and insults you too and passes by. But there are many who try their best to live by the truth. Bless us and come to our help on this day when we turn to you in sorrow and hope. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ