Friday, April 18, 2014- Good Friday

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041814.cfm

“Help me, Brian.  Help me.” 

Nelisiwe’s words continue to pierce my heart.  A beautiful, bright-eyed young woman in her early 20’s, Nelisiwe was ravaged by AIDS.  As I held her hand at the hospice in South Africa, she repeated those words to me over and over again.  She writhed in pain upon the bed, upon her cross.  What could I possibly do to help?  Unable to take away her pain or heal her from this incurable disease, I sat by her bedside.  In the early hours of the following morning, she passed away.  It was Good Friday.  Those were her last words to me.

Nelisiwe’s death and her words mirror Christ’s Passion in my life.  Every year when Good Friday comes, I think back to that final day with her.  I remember her pain and suffering, her plea for help, and my own inadequacy.

As we enter into the Triduum today, let us spend time with Jesus on the cross.  Pray with the Gospel story of Christ’s Passion and enter into the scene.  Hold Jesus’ hand.  Walk with him to the cross.  Stand by his side.  And listen closely.

What does Jesus have to say to you from the cross?  I hear his words, echoing in my mind.

“Help me, Brian.  Help me.”

Brian Strassburger, S.J.
Missouri Province Jesuit Scholastic 

in Studies at Fordham University