Psalm 51 - Have mercy on me, O God, in your kindness.  In your compassion blot out my offense.  O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.

Jesus of Nazareth, true God and true Man was the sacrificial Lamb that washed believers of their offenses to the Father.  God’s mercy and kindness was the gift of His only Son as the perfect sacrifice.  If we believe in that sacrifice; if we desire a pure and contrite heart; if we repent of our sins, then we will be cleansed. 

Good Friday marks the defeat of death.  Death that before this day, was separation from God for transgressions.  Death that before the sacrifice of Calvary was without hope. 

Until that day on Golgotha, man waited.  It took the Agony in the Garden, scourging beyond imagination, a crown of thorns, nails and a lance to free us from the stain of sin.  It was the wood of the cross that set us free.  It was the blood of a spotless Lamb that paid for all sin for all mankind.

As I watched the Passion on Wednesday evening, I recalled my life and the sins I committed that drove those nails, that caused that sweat of blood, that added to the weight of the cross.  Last weekend, I witnessed to that sin life during my ACTS retreat Values talk and I reaffirmed my commitment to Ephesians 4:23-24 (Your inmost being must be renewed, and you must put on the new man).  My Lord and Savior sacrificed himself because I had sinned.  I know He would have done the same if I was the only one to sin.  I know that He did it out of His love for me.  I know that He would have done the same for any of you.

We are given wonderful lessons in Ephesians (4:32-5:2) and James (4:7-11) as to how we are to live our lives.  God the Father willed Jesus to live a life of example.  Jesus showed us with great clarity the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  His mother and the saints demonstrated for us that it is possible to put on the mind of Christ and live the Truth. 

Salvation is dependent on our acceptance of Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Acceptance means that we will change our ways.  Acceptance means that we will make Christ the center of our lives.  Acceptance means that we will be constant in prayer. 

As Christians, we embrace John 3:16.  We are taught that our faith; our belief in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection will ensure us a place in heaven.  If we are true believers, we will embrace what Paul wrote to the Ephesians.  "Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them,  Do nothing that will sadden the Holy Spirit with whom you were sealed against the day of redemption. We will "get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind."  We will "in place of these, be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven us in Christ."  This is true faith.  This is what is expected of those who believe.  This is what is meant by accepting Christ as our Savior.

1 Peter 2:21-24 - For to this we have been called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His footsteps.  "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."  When He was insulted, He returned no insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten; instead, He handed himself over to the one who judges justly.  He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed.

After you finish these thoughts for Good Friday 2009, I ask you to read the blog I posted for 2008.  Though this is a day for sadness, this also is a day for rejoicing.  We can rejoice because we know that after three days in the tomb, our Lord rose from the dead and opened up the gates of heaven.  We can rejoice because He sent the love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father, the Holy Spirit, to guide us.  We have the grace of the sacraments and the gift of the Church.  We have the example of the saints.  We have the agape love of the Father.

May the Lord bless us & protect us from all evil and may He bring us to everlasting life.

Peace,
Michael