Moments after Jesus has died,

I stand on the hill of Calvary.

I am alone. My eyes are fixed on Jesus,

On his lifeless body on the Cross.

I listen to the thoughts and the feelings that arise within me as I look. I see Jesus stripped of everything.

 

Stripped of his dignity.

Stripped of his reputation.

Stripped of success.

Stripped of credibility.

He could not come down from the Cross,

he could not save himself - the people see him as a fraud.

Stripped of support.

Even the few friends who stayed by him

are powerless to help him.

 

Stripped even of God -

the God he called his Father,

the one supposed to save him in his hour of need.

 

Finally, I see Jesus stripped of life itself -

The life he cherished as a gift,

The life he held dearly onto until the very end.

 

As I gaze at Jesus,

I am looking at the sign of supreme and total liberation.

It is in being nailed to the Cross

that Jesus is fully alive and free.

 

As I gaze at Jesus, I remember that it was

the freedom of foolish love that led him to the Cross.

In gazing at his freedom,

I think about my own slavery, my own lack of liberty.

 

For I am a slave to public opinion,

more concerned with the attitude of society towards me

than with integrity and honour.

I am a slave to my compulsion for human success.

I run away from challenges and risks

- especially the risk of forgiveness and love -

because I am afraid to make mistakes,

because I am afraid of being hurt.

 

I am enslaved by my false beliefs about God.

I think of the times I use him

to make my life secure and undisturbed and painless.

I think of the times I see him as a God to be feared,

An uncaring God demanding sacrifice and obedience.

 

Finally, I think of how desperately I cling to life,

paralyzed by fears of every kind,

fear of losing friends or reputation,

fear of economic insecurity,

fear of failure and fear of success,

fear of life and even God.

 

And so I gaze in admiration at Jesus crucified,

who won his final liberation in his passion,

when he let go of all that held him back,

and abandoned himself into the arms of God:
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

 

Standing here on Calvary,

I too kneel and touch my forehead to the ground.

I ask for myself, for my loved ones, for my Church,

the freedom and the victory

that radiate from Jesus on the Cross.

I remember that Jesus died and rose again

So that I might enjoy that freedom, share this victory.

 

I stand and follow Jesus, carrying my own cross,

Uniting my cross to his. 

Jesus walks the journey with me:

The journey from thirst to life-giving water,

The journey from blindness to new vision,

The journey from womb to tomb, from death to life.

I hear these words of Pope Francis, who speaks to us in Jesus’ name as his Vicar, as the successor of Peter, as the Pastor of the universal Church:

“The same Peter who had confessed Jesus Christ said to him: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let’s not talk about the cross. I will follow you in other directions, but not to the cross. When we journey without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we confess a Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly.  We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but we are not disciples of the Lord.

I would like for us all, in these days of grace, to have the courage to walk in the Lord’s presence, with the cross of the Lord; to build the Church upon the blood of the Lord, which was poured out on the cross; and to confess the only glory there is: Christ crucified.  Only in this way will the Church will go forward.  May the Holy Spirit bestow upon us the grace of journeying with Christ, of building with Christ, and of confessing Jesus Christ crucified.”

"Jesus did not cling to his divinity, but humbled himself, accepting death, even death on the Cross.

Therefore, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend,

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

To the glory of God the Father. Amen." (Phil. 2:6-11)