By His Wounds, We are Healed

Sermon by Fr. Joseph Mungai

Good Friday, April 14, 2017

St. John the Apostle Awasi Catholic Church, Kisumu Archdiocese, Kenya

This is a very wounded world we live in.  No one is exempted.  This is what original sin is all about; because of our wounded nature, we keep on hurting each other, consciously or unconsciously, even though we desire to love and care for each other.

Indeed, when we reflect on the gospel text (Jn. 18:1-19:42)  we can identify with the different characters in the Passion play.  In fact, this explains why on Palm Sunday and on Good Friday, the congregation is asked to speak for those characters who denied Jesus and the crowd who called for His execution.  In so doing the Church reminds us that all of us have different roles to play in the suffering, not just of Christ but of the world. 

Let us not be naïve and think that we are suffering because others have done us injustice.  We have our part to play in every problem, misunderstanding, quarrel or conflict.

So today, if you feel that you are alone in your suffering, assuredly you are not.  The world suffers too.  Most of all, Jesus suffers in His humanity and His love. If you feel betrayed in a relationship -- with your spouse, your children, your close friend -- remember Jesus endured that as well.  

He was abandoned by His apostles; even Peter, James and John could not keep vigil with Him in His final moments.  But what is most heart-breaking is that one of the Twelve

betrayed Jesus and sold Him out for money!  If you were Jesus, you would have been heartbroken too.  No wounds pierce our hearts deeper than those inflicted by people we love.

Equally painful for Jesus was to know that His chief apostle, Peter, lacked the courage to acknowledge their friendship even to a maid and some servants.   That is how we feel too.  In times of trouble, our bosses do not stand up for us. In

times of failure, even our parents and loved ones condemn us.  In times of need, our friends play us out and abandon us.  Few stand up to defend us publicly, although in private they say they support us.  This is the truth.  Many lack courage to risk their lives to stand up for others even though they are right.  We all want to be accepted and to be popular.  We see

which direction the wind is blowing and accordingly, we choose what is in our best interest; not for what is right.   This was the case for Pilate as well.  He saw the devious intentions of the priests, but instead of taking a firm stand on Jesus’ innocence, he allowed the popular wish of the people to determine the fate of Jesus for fear of losing his office and position.

Then there are others who are enslaved by past hurts and resentments.  We find it difficult to forgive those who have hurt us, much less to forget the psychological pain.  Some of us carry our wounds for years.  We cannot forgive our siblings or even our parents for failing us.   Indeed, much of our pains today is due to the inability to let go of those hurts that wound us deeply.  We bear so much resentment.  But

what we see at the cross is the silence of those who had been wounded.  Jesus was silent and only uttered words of excuses and forgiveness for His enemies.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, grieved silently with Him but uttered no words of anger or hatred.  With Jesus, she would have said in her heart as well, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”

Finally, some of us cannot accept our illnesses, our immobility or are still grieving over the death of a loved one.  We are angry with God that we are not able to look after ourselves.   We cannot accept that He took away our loved ones, especially if they had suffered a sudden death, such as in an accident, or even from a short illness.  Departures are always painful, as they create a vacuum in our lives, knowing that we cannot see or touch or hear them anymore.  Someone has to be blamed and we cannot understand why God is so cruel to take away someone whom we love and depend on so badly, leaving us alone.

What must we do?  How can we heal our pains?  The prophet Isaiah says, “through his wounds we are healed.”   How do the wounds of Jesus heal us?  He shared our sufferings. Not only that, but He carried our sufferings on our behalf.   

He was without sin and He suffered unjustly and innocently for our sake.  “They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he had done no wrong and there had been no perjury in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)

Unlike us, He was not suffering for His sins.  As Isaiah says, “And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low. Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins.  On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through him his wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and the Lord burdened him with the sins of all of us.”  (Isaiah 53:4-6) Jesus suffered to waken us to our sins and to God’s love and mercy.

Jesus showed us how to suffer positively.  Again, Isaiah said, “Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter house, like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers never opening its mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)  It is not enough to suffer in life like a stoic but to suffer in a 

redemptive manner, using our sufferings to transform ourselves and to inspire others.   It is how we suffer that will inspire others and give hope to them.  When we visit patients in hospitals, we see some who are full of bitterness. We leave the hospital feeling sad.  But if we meet patients who are suffering  with love and faith in God, we leave feeling hopeful and encouraged.  

Jesus is our leader in suffering and in salvation.  He perfected His love for God and for us through the sufferings He went through.  His love of God was not sheer sentimentality, but a giving of Himself and His life.  

Before His enemies, Jesus was faithful to His identity.  Twice He said to those who arrested Him, “I am He!”  He was hinting at His divinity.  Before Pilate who thought he had power over Him, He said, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above; that is why the one who handed me over to you has the greatest guilt.”  

In no uncertain terms, He made clear His mission and identity.  “Yes, I am a King, I was born for this, I came into the world for this; to bear witness to my truth, and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.”  This is in direct contrast to many of us who succumb to our enemies.  Instead of being true to our faith, we give in to the pressures of society. We adopt secular values, consumerism, and anti-life opinions. 

We are called to contemplate the Crucified Christ.  In the first reading (Is. 52:13-53:12) the suffering servant will be “lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.” 

This foreshadows Jesus' death on the cross. Indeed, the sufferings of the Crucified God on the cross is something beyond human imagination; that God would die in Christ on the cross.  Truly, “His soul’s anguish over, he shall see the light and be content. By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.”  When we know that God suffered, we can accept the mystery of suffering since God was not spared from suffering either. 

The image of the Crucified Christ gives us hope and courage.  Regardless of our weaknesses, we know that Christ will understand for He has been through all trials, sufferings and temptations.  “Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme High Priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin.”   So none of us should ever feel unworthy or hopeless.

We can “be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.” 

“During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.”  With Jesus, in times of trials and even death, we too must say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”  Let us not be afraid to accept His divine will and find peace for our souls.  

Through suffering, we will also learn obedience.  Mary and John and a few women stood by Jesus at the cross. He was not alone.  And just as He sent Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus to give Him a proper burial, so too, God will send the most unlikely people to help us endure the storms of life.

HAVE A GOOD FRIDAY.