Daily Gospel Reflection for April 14, 2017 - Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

Today's Gospel: John 18:1—19:42 - Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

Good Friday of 2016 will forever be branded upon my heart. It was just a few weeks after my husband and I had lost a baby to miscarriage that I walked into our church for Morning Prayer. Empty, quiet, and stark, with the tabernacle doors wide open to reveal the emptiness within, the church reflected my own emptiness. I was hollow and vulnerable as I mourned my loss, but it was an emptiness that left me open - open like our church’s tabernacle as it waited for its King to return. Open and hopeful as it waited for Love.

I, too, recognized the depth of that Love - the Love that cries out with the words “I thirst” at the end of today’s Passion narrative. Oh, how I thirsted for my lost baby on that sorrowful day! And how much more must Jesus have thirsted for all of His lost children as He hung from that bloody crucifix. And as I united my thirst with Jesus’, I found peace in the closeness. Mixed with the tears of sadness that filled my eyes were tears of joy that my Savior was so close by, sharing my burdens and crying with me.

[Tweet "Just as Jesus shares in our joys, He also shares in our pain. By Charisse Tierney"]

Ponder:

What trial in your life can you unite to Christ on the Cross today?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, please help me to enter more deeply into Your Passion today and to remember that, just as You share in my joys, You also share in my pain.