The WORD in Other Words by Fr Magdaleno Fabiosa SVD (Philippines)
Good Friday
Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Friar Minor died in the concentration camp of Auschwitz when he volunteered to take a young family man‘s place in the torture chamber At his beatification in Rome was the man whom Fr. Kolbe replaced. His life has acquired tremendous value because of the price which was paid for it. He must live up to that value.
This story may help us understand what St. Paul means by these words: we always carry with us the death of Christ so that the life of Jesus may be seen in us. This Good Friday, we visit the Father and remind him of the death Christ underwent for us. The Father, seeing in us the life of his Son Jesus, accepts us as his sons and daughters. In a mysterious way we have become a continuation of Jesus‘ life. The conclusion is obvious: from now on, we can no longer live our life the way we like. We must live it worthy of the price Christ has paid for us.
Paul Tillich, a famous Protestant Theologian, said that every time we see the cross, let us remember that God is making this statement: Because of the suffering, death of my Son on the cross, I have forgiven all your sins, I have swept them away like smoke; I no longer remember your wrong doings; now you are my friends; in fact, you have become my sons and daughters.
Today, we are celebrating the lavishness of God‘s love which no one can ever fathom. We are not worthy of God‘s love, but God loves us anyway, and it seems He does it with reckless abandon. He is hopelessly in love with us. This is what Good Friday means.
