During this season of Lent, you were invited to read at least one of the four Passion Narratives, as the accounts of the Evangelists’ presentations of the hours that Jesus spent hanging on the cross and his death. Perhaps you may have noticed or sensed that these accounts seem to repeat or refer to words that you have heard from the Old Testament.
What happened in this realization is what happened for the whole Church: the written and spoken word of God that came from the prophets especially are on Good Friday afternoon linked to the event that took the life of Jesus. What had been considered words from God through the prophets which in some cases were not as clear as we would have liked them to be now in one three hour period become reality. The meaning of all that the prophets wrote or said are unlocked with those final words, especially, “it is finished.”
We have progressed so far from the days of Jesus’ death. Imagine if you were a part of that early Church that began its formation and building up after the death of Jesus. At first most of the followers of Jesus just could not understand what had happened ... all the promises seem to have become subject to questioning. Remember what happened on Easter Sunday afternoon with two of the disciples who were getting out of town on the way to Emmaeus. Their hearts were in great darkness. They were frightened that they might be hunted down. Their hopes were dashed. But and extraordinary event took place during that journey: Jesus walked with them and explained “all the Scriptures” -- all the Old Testament writings. They realized that what they had considered as preposterous in what Moses and the Prophets had predicted now had happened. Suddenly their eyes were opened. What was seemingly so absurd, now had a meaning almost beyond belief. They realized during their journey that it is in going from one point to another is the only way for an individual to come to understand the power of evil.
If you have the time during the day tomorrow, I would offer a suggestion you might incorporate into the final day of your Lenten Journey. Try to place yourself in a pre-Crucifixion mindset. Read slowly and carefully the words of the 22nd Psalm. That psalm is the cry of Israel as it was written ... but now, on a Good Friday evening, it portrays for us the incredible gift that Jesus gives to the Father for you and for me. It is his anguish. It is his crying out. And then it is his promise of a new meal, the Eucharist he has given to us with his very life.
Likewise you might consider reading the 53 chapter of the Book of Isaiah. In the words of this prophet’s heart you will walk step by step along the pathway that Jesus followed. Here the prophet speak and writes words that are so much like an Evangelist, a proclaimer of the Good News.
Let us recall when you receive the Eucharist it is indeed the fulfillment of God’s promise to the people through the Prophets to bring us to a new life.
