Tenebrae for Good Friday begins with a reflective reading of Psalm 22, which is quoted 13 times in the gospel stories of the Passion of Jesus. The psalm reveals someone in the midst of hard suffering, yet with no bitterness, no complaints of injustice, no lashing out against an enemy. It reveals Jesus in his Passion to us.

“We meet a simple abandonment into the hands of God, and in this surrender there is peace. The psalmist asks so little of God; only that God hear his cry of abandonment. (v.2) Once God induces a mystic presence so that the psalmist can whisper ‘You heard me’ (v 21) the psalm modulates into a song of Thanksgiving.

“The psalm leads us into the suffering heart of Jesus,” who does not simply reflect on his own sufferings; he identified himself with the agony and faith of generations of persecuted, afflicted peoples.”
(Fr. Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, Psalm 1, Wilmington, Del, USA 141-151)

In his passion, then, Jesus is aware of more than his own suffering. Our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews sees Christ as high priest of the good things that have come to be. “ (Hebrews 9, 11-28)

What are “the good things that have come to be? ” Even on Calvary we see them. Blood and water flow from his side as the soldier pierces him with a lance. Blood and water are universal signs of life. Humans need both to live.

In our final reading for Tenebrae, Saint John Chrysostom sees in them Christ fashioning his church as Eve was fashioned from Adam’s side as he slept a deep sleep. Blood and water are signs of Christ’s gift of life to us and his life-giving sacraments.

The saint says further: “As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.”

More than whips and thorns and nails, good things come about on Calvary. Jesus give us life here, life that conquers darkness and death.

Jesus spoke the language of his time and place, and so he used the Jewish scriptures to speak of his suffering. In Mark’s gospel his only words on the cross are from Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” It’s a cry of lament. The psalm is a window into Jesus’ mind and his feelings as he suffered and died.

In the psalm we hear the voice of someone suffering so much as to feel abandoned by God. Life and hope seem gone, the blessings of God taken away. Still, they hold on. The psalm ends with a cry of faith: “God did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.”

The psalm describes the real, acute pain Jesus endured:

“Like water my life drains away;
all my bones are disjointed.
My heart has become like wax,
it melts away within me.
As dry as a potsherd is my throat;
my tongue cleaves to my palate;
you lay me in the dust of death.”

There’s no relief in his suffering, no comfort from the abuse of his enemies:

“ I am a worm, not a man, scorned by men,
despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me:
“He relied on the LORD—let him deliver him;
if he loves him, let him rescue him.”

The love he knew all his life, from childhood and his mother’s womb, the respect he had from his years of his ministry, the warmth of God’s presence seem gone. Where is God, the psalm complains “ who drew me forth from my mother’s womb and made me safe from my mother’s breast?”

“They have pierced my hands and my feet
I can count all my bones.
They stare at me and gloat;
they divide my garments among them;
for my clothing they cast lots.”

The gospel writers later used this psalm to frame the story of the Passion of Jesus.

Paul the Apostle says in his Letter to the Philippians, that Jesus ” who was in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, and coming in human likeness and found human in appearance, he humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross.”

Jesus became human, even taking on the humanity of a slave, dying on a cross. Far from being immune to the human experience of death, Jesus took on the darkest form of human experience: he became a slave on a cross.

Psalm 22 gives no answer for the suffering it describes. It says only that God does not abandon his creatures when suffering occurs, even suffering of the worst kind.

God did not abandon Jesus on the Cross, Paul tells the Philippians. He “ greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

In other words, God raised Jesus from the dead and glorified him. Again, there is no answer for suffering, but we have a promise in Jesus of resurrection, the resurrection even of a slave on the cross. In Jesus’ death we’re assured that God is present to those who seem most abandoned. God’s love enters the most desperate circumstances and most unpromising situations.

“God so loved the world that he sent his only Son,” John’s gospel says.
Nothing in creation or humanity is abandoned by God, the creator. God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it and give it life.

We look at Jesus on the Cross to draw hope for ourselves and our world from him. This is a blessed mystery. We bend our knee before it and confess with our tongue, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

During the Chrism Mass, typically celebrated on Holy Thursday before the Triduum, the bishop blesses holy oils used in the sacraments of the church.

1. Oil of Catechumens: The oil used to anoint those preparing for baptism, signifying cleansing and strengthening. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit who frees us from sin and fortifies us for our journey of faith.
2. Oil of the Sick: The oil used in the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, bringing healing, comfort, and strength to those who are ill.  It signifies God’s grace and presence, offering physical and spiritual healing, as well as forgiveness of sins .
3. Holy Chrism: The oil, a mixture of olive oil and perfume, consecrated by the bishop for use in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.  It signifies consecration and the seal of the Holy Spirit, marking individuals as belonging to Christ and empowering them to share in his mission.  The word “Christ” (Messiah) means “the anointed one,” highlighting the connection between Jesus and the anointing with oil ³.

Holy oils are tangible signs of God’s grace and presence in the lives of believers, accompanying them through significant moments of their faith journey, from initiation into the Church to healing and preparation for eternal life ⁶.

We are entering the most sacred period of our church’s year, the Easter Triduum, a time all are invited  to participate in the mysteries of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.  The  three-day observance begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and reaches its high point on Easter Sunday, concluding with evening prayer..

The Triduum includes:

Holy Thursday, when the church commemorates the Last Supper, during which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the sacrament of his Body and Blood. On Holy Thursday morning, before the Triduum, the Chrism Mass also takes place, when sacramental oils are blessed for use in the churches sacramental life.

On Good Friday,  the church listens  to the account of the Lord’s Passion and venerates the wood of the Cross.

Holy Saturday begins with silence and prayer in anticipation of the Easter Vigil is a  celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the Easter Vigil the saving power of the Paschal Mystery is communicated through baptism.

In summary, the Triduum is a three-day period encompassing Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, culminating in the celebration of Easter Sunday. It is a time to remember the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central events of the Christian faith.

Matthew’s gospel today describes the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, one of his disciples. Who approaches the chief priests offering to betray Jesus and is given thirty pieces of silver. Then he joins the other disciples at the supper.

Jesus announces “One of you will betray me.”   “Surely it is not I?” Judas says. “You have said so,” Jesus answers. 

We wonder what Judas’ motives were and how God ultimately judged him.

Our first reading from the Book of Isaiah focuses on the Servant of God, Jesus, who does not turn away from his work of forgiveness, in spite of those who beat him. Though “an outcast to his brothers and a stranger to his mother’s sons” he does not draw back from the work of mercy.

“Lord, in your great love answer me,” he says in the psalm response “for the poor and his own in bonds.” Is his prayer for Judas?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Where did Jesus and his followers stay when they came to Jerusalem for Passover? Where was the meal with Martha, Mary and Lazarus? John’s gospel points to Bethany near the Mount of Olives. Bethany is now part of East Jerusalem, a contentious area of the city today. At the time of Jesus it was where pilgrims from Galilee stayed when they come up for the feasts.

The meal in Bethany recalled today in our gospel says that Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary, were friends of Jesus. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Bethany was a safe place for Jesus and his followers to stay.

My community, the Passionists, have the Church of St. Martha and a retreat house in the ancient village of Bethany. Olive trees still grace the land, as they did in Jesus’ time. Ancient caves are found here. They probably provided shelter for pilgrims to the feasts. Could Jesus have stayed in a cave like this? Bethany evokes memories of the time Jesus was here. 

The traditional tomb of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead,  is a short distance from St. Martha’s, although an Israeli security wall blocks access to it now.

From Bethany Jesus and the others would walk a couple of miles to the temple. He taught there and made claims that unsettled the city’s leaders, then he returned to the safety of Bethany, among friends. Judas knew the place. On Holy Thursday he gave Jesus up as he prayed in Gethsemane, the Garden of Olives, just over the hill from Bethany.

Luke’s narrative of the Passion mentions a crowd of people followed Jesus on the way to his death “including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children…’” 

Women from Galilee followed him to Jerusalem and they were there when he died and was buried.. Mary, his mother was one of them. I’m sure Martha and Mary from Bethany would have been there too. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other women from Galilee must have stayed in Bethany. They must have returned there after his death and burial.

Would Lazarus give them some comfort and hope?