Good Friday Talk #2 - Partners in the Passion

GOOD FRIDAY TALK # 2 - PARTNERS IN THE PASSION. Phil. 3:10. When God saw how humanity’s snowballing collective sin had made the world he created an unbearable burden, he had compassion and mercy upon us by sending his only Son, Jesus, not to take this burden away but to totally face it head on and grab it by the throat, so to speak, Jesus’ mission was not to wipe out all human sorrow and take away all our pain, but to live it with us, to enter into it so as to totally transform it and thus he made the unbearable burden bearable; he transformed the bad news of suffering into the good news of salvation.  And he invites each one of us to do the same and become partners in the Passion with him. How do we become a partner in the Passion? We become active & participating partners by saying “Yes” to the chalices of suffering that come our way in life.  We Catholics have a special name for this type of partnership in the Passion. We call it “redemptive suffering”. What this means is that no matter what burdens we have to endure in mind, body or spirit; no matter what life throws at us or our relationships, these sufferings do not have the last word, the upper hand. Becoming a partner in the Passion means we can meet our struggles and difficulties head-on with our Yes to God and become, with Jesus Crucified, co-redeemers of humanity