People often ask why we call this day Good Friday – how can it be good? As I looked at the story again this year, one of the things that struck me was that, for all the cruelty and hatred in it, there are also acts of love and kindness too, often from people who are either right on the fringes of Jesus’ world or even complete strangers to him. There are the stories of people like the person who owned the donkey and gave it to Jesus to ride into Jerusalem, or the penitent thief on the cross, who defends Jesus when the other thief crucified with them rails at him. There’s Simon of Cyrene, who is forced to help Jesus carry his cross, but is evidently changed by the experience and becomes a disciple. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea step out of the shadows after Jesus’ death and help with his burial, a gesture that must have seemed to them too little, too late, until the resurrection changed everything. And then there are the women who watched the crucifixion and the burial, when all Jesus’ male disciples have run away. They may not be able to do anything to prevent it, but it makes a difference to us when others see and take notice of our suffering, and I’m sure it did to Jesus too.
When you look at this terrible story, you find golden threads of kindness woven through it. They don’t negate the suffering and hatred, but they are every bit as important as them. They remind us that evil is not the whole of any story, that, if we have eyes to see, there is always hope and love.
The kindness of strangers is as precious now as it was then. It counts. It matters. The people of Divine Mercy parish faced an eviction notice that left folks in shock and grief. But the kindness of strangers has made a huge difference. Yesterday, I noticed volunteers greeting people at the door, at the reception desk scheduling requests for baptisms and quinceanera, in the religious store taking orders, serving carne verna, beans and rice, planning music for Holy Week, lay committee folks committed to keep their parish open, in the reception area renewing friendships. In every small gesture of love, even if it seems pointless, especially if it seems pointless, they proclaim the power of God, the God who doesn’t let hatred have the last word, ever.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and especially the people of Divine Mercy whose kindnesses are rooted in the greatest kindness of all, the love of God, for us. God who didn’t have to come and live and die with us in Christ, but he chose to do so, because we needed him, even if we didn’t know it. It is sometimes hard to see the good in Good Friday, just as it was hard for the people of Divine Mercy to see the good in the deception of the past, but that is what we are called to do, today and everyday, to see it and to be it, for friends and strangers, and even enemies, because that’s what God did for us.
