Good Friday with Mary

I spent Good Friday with Mary.  My friend Fr. Bill Petzing invited me to join him at the Good Friday service at St. Maurice Roman Catholic Church in Dania, FL.  Each year they reenact parts of the Passion of Christ with parishioners dressed in the clothing of the time, including Roman soldiers and officials.

This was the first time I had seen a live performance.  I had watched the various movies throughout the years, including Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ", but there was something about being there that stirred much deeper emotions in me and a much deeper feeling for Mary's suffering.

As the crowd yelled "CRUCIFY HIM!  CRUCIFY HIM!"  I thought about Mary hearing those words and perhaps wondering how the people who had welcomed Jesus with words of praise and jubilation were now condemning Him to death on a cross.

As Mary knelt before the cross and gazed at the bloodied body and face of Jesus, how that sword must not only have pierced, but surely ripped apart her very being.  Did she question God then?  Did she wonder why this was all really necessary?

The most emotional moments for me were watching Mary hold, kiss and then anoint her dead son's body.

When I returned home after the service, I watched two movies: Jesus and then Mary, Mother of Jesus.  Again the scenes were repeated and again my eyes filled with tears as I watched Mary's reactions to the crowds, to the sounds of her Son's screams of pain as the nails were driven into His hands and feet.  Again I saw Mary holding her Son's dead body.

We all know that Jesus rose from the dead.  Surely Mary must have been prepared for what would happen and have been assured and reassured that Jesus would rise from the dead.  But just as surely, she lived every moment of His Passion and Death and just as surely that sword tore through her heart.

"Holy Mary, Mother of Creation, bless us that we may experience God
as Love in praise of all creatures, in love of all of creation. Amen."
Father Michael Adams - www.livingrosaries.org
Peace and Blessing!
Sister Pat, FMT