In Death There Is Life

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 – 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝’𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟐:𝟏𝟑 – 𝟓𝟑:𝟏𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟏: 𝟐, 𝟔, 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑, 𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟔, 𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟓 “𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭.”

𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟒:𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟔; 𝟓:𝟕-𝟗

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟖 - 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅.” (𝑱𝒏 19:30)

Whenever I hear the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday) I always feel a deep sense of joy not at the remembrance of the final act of humility of Jesus (Washing of the Feet) before his betrayal and arrest that was about to take place but of my being blessed with the realization that I belong to the Catholic Church that is steeped in tradition.

As the events of the final hours in the life of Jesus was being relived before my eyes, I felt a profound sense of gratitude for the immense wealth of tradition that has been made available for us the lay faithful that helps strengthen my Catholic faith.

This year’s observance of what is to me the most important Catholic tradition was particularly special because of God’s presence as I went through the 40-day Lenten preparation for the Holy Week although I couldn’t complete the entire 40-days.

As Jesus goes through with his mocked trial before Pilate, it would help us feel the humiliating and sacrificial character of this event in the life of Jesus by looking back and recall how we have lived our lives, and we will find that there is in each of us a personification of the disciples of Jesus.

Personally, I was like Judas who betrayed Jesus when I wallowed in sin in the past. I sold Jesus each time I accepted bribes when I was still in the media to make right what from the beginning was already wrong. I was like his disciples who deserted him following his arrest when I turned my back on those who ask me for help. I deserted Jesus when I turned a blind eye to the corruption of the social and political system I was exposed to and not doing my part to stop it even when I could.

Like Peter, I too denied him when I turned down invitations for us to attend the spiritual seminars that would have turned me into a better person and, when I failed to defend my Catholic faith from those who make a mockery of our Catholic tradition and practices.

And today as we are reminded of the suffering that Jesus had to endure, we must appreciate the fact that we can find no greater proof of God's love for us than the willing sacrifice of his Son on the cross. As Jesus breathed his last and said: “𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅!” (𝒗.30) this was an expression of victory rather than defeat for when Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit, he knew that the battle was over and had been won.

Even on the cross Jesus knew the joy of victory. The purpose for which our God the Father sent him into the world to do has now been accomplished. Christ offered himself without blemish to God and he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself “…𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.” (𝑯𝒆𝒃 9:26)

In the words of 𝐒𝐭. 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, he said that those who stood at the cross of Jesus: "𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥: 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭."

It would also help increase our faith if we can see in the cross the triumph of Jesus over his enemies – sin, Satan, and death. "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕" (𝑮𝒂𝒍 6:14). 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬, a 6th century father of the Church, also said: "𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦: 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬: 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.” (𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘩, 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 45.1)

𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐭 𝐑𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐳, also wrote in the early 12th century: "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎."

Indeed, these testimonies will help us acknowledge that the Cross of Christ is the safeguard of our faith, the assurance of our hope, and the throne of love. It is also the sign of God's mercy and the proof of forgiveness. By his cross Jesus Christ has pardoned us and set us free from the tyranny of sin.

Jesus paid a glorious price for us when he atoned for our sins and we are now assured that the Cross is the way to peace, joy, and righteousness in the kingdom of God and the way to victory over sin and corruption, fear and defeat, despair and death.

This is why we should not, for all intents and purposes, run away from the cross for it is the link that will connect us to heaven. It is the bridge that will allow us to cross over from the world marked in sin and to our glorious redemption.

On this Good Friday, let us remember that it is paradoxical that we can be drawn to do things that do not really matter in life, but we turn our backs on things that are of supreme importance such as the salvation of our souls. We can from hereon make a Good Friday resolution to nail our sinful nature on the Cross of Christ on Calvary so that we may also be with him when he is resurrected and when he enters His heavenly Kingdom.

Let the Lenten Season and the Holy Week be a journey of faith with the glory of Easter as the goal, which is Christ’s victory over death, but this victory can only be ours if we will all believe and put all our trust in Him. This again is paradoxical because it is in dying that we can experience life. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 18, 2025)