Crucifixion
Light One Candle
John 19:
5 So
Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to
them, "Here is the man!" 6
When the chief priests and the
police saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to
them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him." 7
The Jews answered him, "We
have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be
the Son of God." 8 Now
when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9
He entered his headquarters
again and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no
answer. 10 Pilate
therefore said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I
have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" 11
Jesus answered him, "You
would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above;
therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12
From then on Pilate tried to
release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no
friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the
emperor." 13 When
Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at
a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14
Now it was the day of
Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews,
"Here is your King!" 15
They cried out, "Away with
him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify
your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the
emperor." 16 Then
he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; 17
and carrying the cross by
himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is
called Golgotha.
The
Sense of Touch
Early Personal memories...
I remember... the touch of the brass
metal Boat of Incense in my little hands... the weight of Bishop Moorhead’s hands
on my head... the texture of the Host on my tongue... the physical reality of what I
have come to know as the "carnality of grace".
Touch that saw me reach out and touch
that reached out to me. Touch that engaged. And touch that was caring. Touch that
assured of grace. Touch unabashed and unashamed. Touch that was at once intimate and
shared.
And most recently...
I recall the moment of fear and
loneliness when another clutched my hand in prayer. And with the sense of presence
that comes from knowing God in Christ in another, the fear ebbing away and peace, the
Shalom of God, becoming palpable!
And Jesus...
the touch of brow to thorns... the
touch of his palms bearing the timber and his shoulder to the splinters of the
Cross-beam borne alone: these instruments of grace disclosed a resolve that led him
inexorably to the Place of the Skull. The touch of his sandled feet on the well-worn
path taken by so many others before him... and countless others who would follow...
heavy, determined, resolutely but with every step revealing the glory of the only
begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth!
Pause for reflection...
What is my earliest remembrance of Holy Touch and what did God disclose of the Divine
Nature?
How has this formed me?
What is my most recent encounter with the Nature of God by Divine Touch?
How have I been challenged through the opportunity of Divine Touch today?
Does my life place my in Pilate’s Seat?
With Jesus’ tormentors?
With society’s victims?
What do I understand by sacrifice?
Being friendly to
everybody, he very often has no friends for himself. Always consulting and giving
advice, he often has nobody to go to with his own pains and problems. Not finding a
real intimate home in his house or rectory, he often rambles through the parish to
find people who give him some sense of belonging and some sense of a home. The
priest who is pleading for friends needs his parishioners more than they need him.
Looking for acceptance, he tends to cling to his counselles, and depend on his
faithful. If he has not found a personal form of intimacy where he can be happy,
his parishioners become his needs. He spends long hours with them, more to fulfill
his own desires than theirs ... The paradox is that he who has been taught to love
everyone in reality finds himself without any friends; that he who trained himself
in mental prayer often is not able to be alone with himself. Having opened himself
to every outsider, there is no room left for the insider. The walls of the intimate
enclosure of his privacy crumble, and there is no place left to be with himself.
The priest who has given away so much of himself creates an inexhaustible need to
be constantly with others in order to feel that he is a whole person.
Henri Nouwen cited
in Spirituality and Pastoral
Care
Pause for reflection...
How do I respond to Nouwen’s image of priesthood?
As a person ordained?
As a person feeling called to Holy Orders?
As a communicant in the pew?
What do I understand by Truth?
Justice?
Mercy?
Discipleship?
Obedience?
How has Jesus’ life and ministry informed my understanding?
How do I reflect my faith in the life I live?
How can I make this an offering to God?
Every
Star Shall Sing a Carol (reprise)
Better yet, make arrangements to have sufficient
copies
of the hymn and sing it together.
The music is found in The Hymn
Book 1971.
Lenten Study