Good Friday

Crucify him, we say tonight.

Crucify him.

With every sin, every lie told to make myself look a little bit better, every argument where I refuse to be the first to forgive, every petty little remark that tears another down, every silence when I'm called on to speak truth, I crucify Christ.

Do you ever think of it? If I snap at my husband right now, I am adding to the weight of the cross on Christ's shoulders. But I'm going to do it anyway. I cannot imagine how a person could think that, could picture the suffering face of our redeemer and shrug indifferently as they pile more sins upon his breaking back... and yet I daily, hourly, slip into the little, habitual sins, telling myself they aren't so bad, or just humming to drown out the whispers of conscience that might make me uncomfortable with my actions.

Meditating on the Passion and death of Christ, recognizing that I, personally, directly, contribute daily to the unspeakable agony He suffered horrifies me. How can I willingly participate, lend my strength to the hands of the soldiers flogging my God, nailing the One who heals me to the cross? And how, how can I, Christ's executioner, be worth the price of my salvation?

Lord, let me today, at least, be so mindful of your great suffering that I would rather anything than contribute to it by my own thoughts, words, deeds, or omissions. Help me to see your face before me, to recognize what I do, to see sin for what it is. My Lord, my God, save me from adding anything to your Passion today.




I invite anyone looking for a tool for meditation today or tomorrow to check out the XIV project, a set of reflections on the Stations of the Cross by fourteen Catholic musicians. Not all have been uploaded as of my writing this, but the ones I have heard have been incredibly powerful.
Also, don't forget that the Divine Mercy novena begins today!