Show Notes
The Gospel Reading and Fr. Rob's homily from Good Friday - 2024.
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. Judas, his betrayer, also knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, whom are you looking for?
They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene.
Jesus said to them, I am.
Judas, his betrayer was also with them. When Jesus said to them, I am. They turned away and fell to the ground.
So Jesus again asked them, whom are you looking for? They said, Jesus the Nazarene.
Jesus answered, I told you that I am. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.
This was to fulfill what he had said. I have not lost any of those you gave me.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priests slave and cut off his right ear.
The slaves name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, put your sword back into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the father gave me?
[00:02:14] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your king.
[00:02:38] Speaker D: So the band of soldiers, the tribune and the jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father in law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.
[00:03:04] Speaker E: Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
The maid, who was the gatekeeper, said to Peter, you are not one of this man's disciples, are you? And Peter said, I am not.
Now the slaves and guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made because it was cold and they were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there, keeping warm.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret, I have said nothing. Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.
When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, is this the way you answer the high priest?
Jesus answered him, if I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me? Then Annas sent him, bound to Caiphas, the high priest.
[00:04:42] Speaker E: Now Simon Peter were standing there keeping warm, and they said to him, you are not one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not one of the slaves of the high priest. A relative of one whose ear Peter had cut off said, didn't I see you in the garden with him again? Peter denied it, and immediately the cock crowed.
[00:05:14] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:05:38] Speaker D: Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning, and they themselves did not enter the praetorium in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said, what charge do you bring against this man?
They answered and said to him, if he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you at this. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.
The Jews answered him, we do not have the right to execute anyone.
In order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, that he said, indicating the kind of death he would die.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus answered, do you say this on your own, or have others told you about me?
Pilate answered, I am not a jew. Am I your own nation? And the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here. So Pilate said to him, then, you are a king.
Jesus answered, you say I am a king.
For this I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
Pilate said to him, what is truth?
[00:07:39] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your king.
[00:08:02] Speaker D: When he had said this, Pilate again went out to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to.
[00:08:19] Speaker F: You the king of the Jews?
[00:08:21] Speaker D: They cried out again, not this one, but Barabbas.
Now, Barabbas was a revolutionary.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and clothed him in a purple cloak. And they came to him and said, hail, king of the Jews. And they struck him repeatedly.
[00:08:46] Speaker D: Once more, Pilate went out and said to them, look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.
So jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And Pilate said to them, behold the man.
When the chief priests and the guards saw jesus, they cried out, crucify him. Crucify him.
Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.
The Jews answered, we have a law, and according to that law, he ought to die, because he made himself the son of God.
Now, when Pilate heard this statement, he.
[00:09:35] Speaker F: Became even more afraid.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Pilate went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from? Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have the power to release you, and I have the power to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above. For this reason, the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.
[00:10:09] Speaker D: Consequently, Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews cried out, if you release him, you are not a friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judges bench in the place called stone pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbetha.
It was preparation day for the Passover.
[00:10:39] Speaker F: And it was about noon.
[00:10:41] Speaker D: And Pilate said to the Jews, behold your king.
They cried out, take him away. Take him away. Crucify him.
But Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar.
Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
[00:11:12] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into.
[00:11:35] Speaker E: So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the place of the Skull in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written in and put on the cross. It read, Jesus, the nazarene king of the Jews.
Now, many of the Jews read the inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but that he said, I am the king of the Jews. And Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written.
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top to the bottom. So they said to one another, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who it will be, in order that the passage of the scripture might be fulfilled. That says, they divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did, standing by the cross of Jesus, where his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clophus and Mary of Magdala. And when jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour on, the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, I thirst.
There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in the wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
[00:14:19] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Now, since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath, that day of that week was a solemn one. The Jews asked Pilate for their legs to be broken and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other one who had been crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one soldier thrust his lance into the side of Jesus, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is speaking the truth so that you also may come to believe for this happened, so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled. Not a bone of it will be broken. And again, another passage says, they will look upon him whom they have pierced.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus, and Pilate permitted it. So Joseph came and took the body of Jesus. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about 100 pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with his, with the spices, according to the jewish burial custom.
[00:16:26] Speaker D: Now, in the place where Jesus had been crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there. Because of the jewish preparation day, for the tomb was close by.
The gospel of the Lord.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: Praise be.
[00:16:48] Speaker E: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:16:50] Speaker F: The one thing that tends to jump out at me in the passion, besides, of course, all the things that the Lord went through for me and for you, is that little people matter.
[00:17:09] Speaker D: And I'm not talking about people small.
[00:17:12] Speaker F: In stature, although you matter too.
[00:17:15] Speaker D: But I'm talking about people that can.
[00:17:17] Speaker F: Seemingly go through life anonymously.
No one pays that much attention to them. No one knows sometimes the good things they do, yet they continue to live and do good things and try to be the best person they can be.
[00:17:40] Speaker D: And ones that jump out at me.
[00:17:42] Speaker F: In the passion today are Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Joseph of Arimathea.
We don't have much detail about them. They spent most of their lives as anonymous little people.
But in doing something out of love, Mary being willing to sit at the cross because she wouldn't have want Jesus to die alone, and she wouldn't have wanted his mother to suffer without someone there to support her.
And Joseph, whose love for Jesus was strong enough that he didn't want his body to hang on the cross.
So he took a risk and spoke out and helped to give him an honorable burial.
Both of these little people are there for all of history to see from now on.
For 2000 years, as the church has gathered, their names have been proclaimed.
And I am sure that as they did these gestures of love, they didn't think anybody would even know.
They didn't do them because they wanted to be recognized.
They did them because they were the right thing to do.
Well, our lives work pretty much the same way.
When we do acts out of love, they can be anonymous.
People might never know we did them, but that doesn't make them any less significant.
That doesn't mean that they aren't wanted and they aren't needed.
So with that understanding, there is not one person here that can't make a difference in our world.
Sometimes those differences people don't recognize. But there's still differences nonetheless.
Any time we act out of love, at least one person knows, and that's Christ.
