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Solidarity to the brink of death, painful death, and beyond. Never
think that God doesn't understand your pain. He was there. "He
suffered, died, and was buried." Just like every other man and
woman who has ever lived on the face of the Earth. This knowledge
of God's isn't something hard to comprehend, like omniscience, it is
blood red, it is water flowing from a spear wound, it is nails pounded
into human flesh. It just doesn't get more real than that. "For we do
not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weakness. . . " He bore our infirmities and our sufferings -- and by
His stripes we are healed.
Can we bear to behold such solidarity? Today we venerate and kiss the Cross, symbol of our
Savior's offering, but isn't true veneration of the Cross the willingness to live what it
symbolizes? Today, tomorrow and the day after that?
So we are not all Mother Teresa or St. Francis, does this mean that we must be alienated from
those among us who are in need? Where is our solidarity today with the Jesus who is among us?
Would we consider moving to an urban inner city? Would we volunteer our time in the urban
inner city? What about an impoverished rural community along the Rio Grande, or in the Navajo
Nation? Do we spend more on fun and frivolity than we share with those who are in need? Can
we kiss a Cross in our church, and then turn our backs on it when we are out in the world?
As we have journeyed through Lent and into Holy Week, the call to daily conversion of life has
been consistent and without ambiguity. We do not have to walk in misery and darkness. We
can break free of the chains of slavery to materialism and consumerism and lust and greed and all
the other sins of this era. We can rise with Christ to new life, a more holistic life, with balance
and healing and virtue, a generative life that brings forth harmony, reconciliation, and peace, a
joy that is rooted in service and holiness.
As the Good Thief, whom tradition names as Dismus, discovered that day nearly 2,000 years ago,
it is never too late to turn back to God. There is never so much water under the bridge, that the
bridge cannot be crossed. There is no burden so great that Jesus cannot help you carry it. There
is no one who is so far away that they cannot be brought near by the Blood of Jesus Christ, which
cleanses us from all sin and restores our relationship with God and each other.
"So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favor and to find help in time of need."
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