GOOD FRIDAY SHARING

Dear Jesus,

I just want to thank you for being courageous. courageous enough to stand for our sins and pay the price of it. Thank you that despite not fully understanding the plans of Your Father, You did it anyway, accepting death on the cross. Thank you for the humility, humility to accept the bashings and mockery of the people, the people you so loved, me included. I would like to believe that You were so frightened then, but I think what made You endure suffering until the end was the peace that came from the Father, that inner peace that told you that everything will be alright, just like a mother telling her son that I am there for you.

Lord, thank you for clearing my misconception about You, especially the concept of God’s will. I am sorry for resembling You as a puppet master, that everything is some sort of a script already written way, way back. Thank you Jesus, for showing us on how to think and respond to God – to still do good anyway, and be confident of the peace God will give to us. Thank you so much my Lord! Lastly, kindly grant me the wisdom to know Your will into my life, and the strength and humility to do it. Amen.

In today’s session, I tried to feel all the emotions of several characters: the apostles who watched Jesus on the cross, the centurion, John the Baptist, even Jesus.

It was a painful, uncomfortable feeling to be a disciple who can’t do anything but watch Jesus die. In my own life, I’ve learned to set aside my own feelings as I watch my formerly independent relative turn into a shell of her old self. It’s hard to feel helpless and unable to change the inevitable. There’s so much anger and resentment – why am I stuck being the caregiver, why isn’t anyone among my relatives around now that my ward is frail, sick and unable to care fir them anymore, why can’t I do more, etc., etc.

The word that screamed itself into my head was BETRAYAL as I read about John the Baptist and watched the videos as Jesus carried the cross and soon died on it. What made me cry was seeing only one person in a sea of people with compassion for Jesus. Ironically, it was the centurion who had a pained look on his face as Jesus was being scourged. Why did everyone betray Jesus that way?

I am no stranger to betrayal, and I know what it’s like to be betrayed by friends, co-workers, my own family. It’s nothing new but I still find it hard to swallow. I read the messages on the comments section and I agree. It’s having expectations that partly lead to disappointment and disenchantment.

Thinking about John the Baptist, I realize that this is an example of how God operates. Unpredictable. I admit I place God in my box of expectations. I also admit I have expectations about myself and other people. But nothing is linear or predictable.

I said the other day I was disenchanted with a lot of people and things. I realize that hasn’t changed, but I still believe in God’s goodness. Even if I am pained at work, even if I feel sad about the state of my heart, I know God will never change. I remember that one time when I heard mass after work, and He said to me that He will wait for me, no matter how long it takes. That is how faithful He is.

I will never be able to match that level of fidelity. But I want to return at least part of that love by trusting that my own journey will be good, that I will not inflict on other people what I’ve experienced. No corporate bullying, no mind games to make other people doubt their own value.

I have to stay focused on the prayer I made that led me to my present line of work, one that was focused on serving God and others. Maybe then everything would be easier to bear.

I have to learn how to pray more and better for those who have hurt me, impossible to do on my own. But I know I’ll be able to do that with God.

As for the man who has awakened my heart, I leave it up to God whether or not this will progress. In a way, I am thankful my heart still knows how to feel. I thought life had made me asexual.

Dear Lord, thank you for loving me, a worthless sinner. Please teach me to love the way you love, through the pain, and may they begin to love you as a result. I just want to be obedient, Lord. Please do not let me stray from your sight. Let’s finish this journey together.

I remember a priest said, “God’s silence always brings us to His grace.” He is the God of the eleventh hour. Whenever we feel abandoned or his presence is not felt, there’s one thing left in us.. FAITH. Whatever happens, we just have to believe.

Or, if we don’t usually see Him during times of suffering, always remember that he is taking it along with us.

Thank you Lord for your saving love… for taking upon yourself the pains caused by my unfaithfulness…

Peace is not the absence of pain, Prayers is the answer to our peace… Disenchantment and disillusioned we all are, but truly God finds us.

My disillusionment once again is something that is embarrassing because lately I have been focused on what I see in others or what I expect my loved one to contribute. I should feel blessed and privileged with everything the Lord has allowed me to have or provided me. I should continue to serve Him whenever and wherever I can. What happened to John and Jesus is something I have been thinking of. Why did it need to happen? They both loved and persevered. In the end, this is also what we must do. God bless.

Dear Lord. Thank You so much for loving us…for loving us so much that Jesus gave up His life to save us from our sins. With each stripe that Jesus got, we are healed…. but Lord, i don’t want to add any more to the stripes that Jesus is bearing. Pls give me the strength to do Your will. To follow You more closely. I may be willing to follow you but my body is very weak. However i know and believe that with Your grace NOTHING is impossible. I pray for that grace Lord. I trust You.

I am now more enlightened to always follow the Will of God.

Thank you Lord God for sending us your Son to die on the cross for our sins. Please continue to send your holy angels and Hoy Spirit to look after us everyday of our life. We lift up to you our hearts and our mind. Grant us to have a heart and mind of love only to you.

Lord, in disillusioning me, you have affirmed and shown me the path. Thank you. I need You more than ever to take up my yoke as Jesus did His.

Today’s retreat made me remember a trip to the Manila Cathedral last year. There, I saw a series of stained glass images which narrated the story of St. John the Baptist. I remember staring at the image of his beheading and asking him, “Was it worth it?” The answer that came to me was, “The answer is in your heart.”

Oftentimes, we go through pain and wonder if it was all worth it. But deep inside we know that, yes, despite the difficulties and suffering, there are some decisions we make that are worth it, especially if they arise out of love. Understanding this lessened the bitterness in my heart and made me bear my difficulties with joy, because I knew the ultimate value they contained.

I also read once that as we walk through life with our problems and pain, Jesus does not always “rescue” us. But He always walks with us and wants to accompany us in our journey every step of the way.

I’ve been vacillating over a decision I have to make for over 2 weeks now. After contemplating on the prayer points, His will for me is clear – to accompany some individuals despite the pain it can bring me – just what Christ did for me and continues to do for me. This was the grace I was given today. I continue to ask for His love and His many graces because I cannot do this on my own. Thank you for Your intimate love and thank you Fr Johnny for being God’s instrument. This humble servant is at peace.

NOW I CA GO IN PEACE. T HANK YOU LORD

Since God respects both natural laws and human freedom,
He allows both to shape the events in the world. My first reaction to this is, “Then what’s the use of praying for His intervention when there’s an impending disaster?” My second reaction is, “What the heck…there’s really no harm in praying. Praying is hoping. God may surprise me yet!”

To this day, one of the hardest questions my then 6 years old daughter asked me was “If God is good, why does He let bad things happen?” I almost did not respond fearing that what I say might not help in building her budding faith. But I realized that a no-comment would just be as detrimental. So I gave it my best shot, telling her that God has given us everything that we needed including our heart and brains and the freedom to choose. The bad things that happen to people are not from God but brought about by people who do not think about what they are doing and are choosing that which will make their lives unhappy in the long run. God can’t just take away the bad things people do because that will not help us at all. It would just make us think that we did well, even if we really did not, and that we will repeat the mistakes all over again. God wants us to have a good life by letting us choose to have that life, and work on it. If by going through tough times is the way we realize that there is a better way and that we deserve a better life, then the bad things can be a source of good things too.

Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for dying for us to save us from our sins. We may not forget that You and John the Baptist who are good people suffer a cruel death…And reflect and contemplate on them when we are suffering as well for doing good…Or we need help from God and seems no help is coming to us…For God knows everything even if we think there are things are somewhat confusing/disturbing but in the end God’s goodness will prevail…

Some of my personal reflections:

John the Baptist represented what a lot of us feel in certain parts of our life. A sense of doubt, uncertainty, and disillusionment. Madalas maraming tanong naiiwan kesa sagot. But despite it, he continued his mission. Not blindly, but with acknowledging his innermost feelings.

I was struck by the torn curtain. In a way, it impacted me as a form of oneness and transparency. In that God is with us through the dirt, and the search to do good. By being on the cross and crying to the heavens, he identified with the struggle of humanity by experiencing such. Minsan, di malinaw saan patungo buhay natin o bakit nangyayari ang mga bagay bagay o kaya nasaan ang hustisya. Bakit kung sino pa ang nasa kapangyarihan, sila pa ang nangnanakaw? Bakit nagkakasakit ang tao na inaalagaan ang katawan? But in the process, I believe God is with us as we go through the disturbances in our hearts. He joins us in the process.

I had a blessed opportunity to have the 2nd day of the online retreat in the chapel of the Benedictine Sisters. They have kept in a glass case the charred remains of the image of Christ crucified without the wooden cross. A caption states that the charred remains was what was left when their former chapel had been burned some years back. I was not at ease while looking at the image. The entire image was burnt. The face was beyond recognition. The arms were missing but the shape of the burnt image resembled that of the crucified Christ. But a part of me, despite the uneasy feeling, wanted me to stay and invited me to have my prayers near the image. The image reminded me that Christ stayed on despite the pain and suffering that he had to endure. He could have abandoned the Father ‘s plan altogether to avoid the pain, but he chose to remain come “hell or high water”. The sisters must have kept the charred remains as a remembrance of their struggle after the fire and their desire to rebuild their place of prayer after clearing the debris and ashes. The fire might have destroyed their chapel but their faith in Christ was “fire-proof”…a faith that has weathered the most tough times. Such was Christ’s faith to His Father…such was the faith of the sisters in Christ. The charred remains become a holy image of their faith. I pray that through the Paschal Mystery of Christ which we commemorate this Holy Week allow our Faith in God to grow and be transformed where no fire can consume.

‘Lord let your servant go in peace’ is my prayer for my deceased dad. He suffered with his sickness for the last 5yrs like Jesus he needed to carry his cross. And we his family witnessed it. We are like Jesus’s disciple who can only watch and pray while he endure his pain. I pray for my dad and all my family members who recently departed this word also battling their sickness carrying their cross. May the give them peace.

Thank You Lord for reminding me to never give-up on your mission for me. For reminding me that what truly pleases you is our for those who have experienced more disillusionments than we have. Especially those that have all their lives have been left behind. Those that have because of their poverty have lost their freedom to choose to follow your way because of their desperation to just follow those who promise to rescue them from their plight and in the end even take advantage of them and leave them even more desperate and disillusioned. Please give me the grace to be always mindful of my own failures and indifference to the least and the lost. Please give me the courage and faith to remain faithful to your call to love others as you have loved us.

Sometimes, my worry is strange. When I was small, we were financially hard up. But because my parents were good in budgeting and we received support through scholarships and from relatives, all of us successfully graduated from university. But now, that I have some savings and investments, I find myself worrying that I do not have enough for old age because I have to support a sister and her daughter who is in a financial crisis and I contribute the most for my aging parents. Why am i worried when before we did not have a surplus but we received all the help we needed to be where we are now? It is strange, when faith is shaken or trust is lost due to mere worry or fear of things that are not there yet or events that we predict may happen. While fear serves a good purpose to help us prepare for old age or sickness, we must not let it overcome us to the point of making ourselves be ruled by our fears. It is good to challenge my sister to re-build her career so she will be financially independent again. Help me Lord and help my sister to realize that she cannot be dependent on me forever because she has the capacity to earn income. I am not concerned about my contributions to my parents because they have very little pension. I am more concerned when my sisters are in need of help. Each one of us where given a chance to make choices in life. But I also did not expect myself to be the most financially capable of all of us. I can only say thank you to the universe, to god almighty, to the persons who have paved the way for me to be where I am. May i ever be grateful and generous without counting the cost……

Let me ♥️ Your more each day , keep the ♥️ Of Christ alive and not let him die in vain .

Thank you Lord God for accepting your passion to save us all. Your love to us is greater than any man can give. Help us to be like you Lord God that we may be able to love not only to our family and friends but even for those who forsake and hurt us. Let us be like You that would also be willing to take all the difficulties and trials and would still be thankful. Help us to have patience, endurance, perseverance and to be more compassionate to others. Thank you so much Lord Jesus. You are the only God we worship and our only savior.

He did not spare His Son because His love for us is greater than His love for Himself. Truly, Emmanuel is God with us until the end of time.

To live life to the fullest according to God’s will is the very essence of our existence. The prayer : ” Lord, let your servant go in peace. For Your Word has been fulfilled.” is such a powerful prayer and struck me the most in today’s retreat.

Thank you Fr. J and your team for this wonderful experience online . God bless you more. Looking forward for tomorrow.

It is very tempting to think every time that God is silent and does not act to relieve or stop the negative events or situations in our lives. But when I contemplate The Passion and Death of Jesus , and see God’s non- intervention for his beloved Son, then I see and believe that pain and sorrow in my life does not and cannot be because God does not love me. From pain and suffering , please God ,my Father , give me your Peace.

The significance of the torn curtain is one of the greatest truths I learned today. Emmanuel “God is with us” has been there since the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb…but its fulfillment happened on Good Friday when Jesus gave his human life for us. Now really God is with us…