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I have essentially done this practice for the past 364 days, and today, on the 365th day, I did it again: as I was walking into the Church, I genuflected, because it was a reflex, because I did it every other day of the year. Why should today be any different?
But today is different. Today is a very special, solemn day. It is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross. God became man and died. He died. We genuflect when we pass the tabernacle because Jesus is physically present, because he is alive before our very eyes.
But not today.
Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus Christ, and to do that, the priests on Holy Thursday take the Eucharist out of the Church tabernacle and leave the door open. You can see for yourself: Jesus is not in that tabernacle. Even the perpetually lit candle has found a reason for its perpetuity to cease, and that reason is the extinguishing of the Light of the World. And so, I was mistaken in genuflecting. I should not have genuflected because there was no Divine Person physically present for me to genuflect to.
After I got seated, I could not help but ask myself: “Why did Jesus leave us? Like clockwork, he is here every day, but not now.” Of course, we know that Jesus has not left us permanently because he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But today, we reflect on why God even died at all. And the answer is quite simple.
We killed him.
God became man, and instead of worshipping him, we killed him. “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree” (Acts 5:30).
Good Friday tells us what happens when we are left to our own devices: we are ruthless, angry, alone, afraid, intimidated, selfish, miserable. All of these characteristics are wounds of sin. The fruits of sin are completely rotten, and it shows in the death of Christ. We who are wounded by sin kill the God-man who exhibits the opposite of all of these sinful attributes: instead of ruthlessness, he is merciful beyond comprehension; instead of anger, he is a peaceful, spotless lamb; instead of loneliness, he is a relationship of Divine Persons in the Holy Trinity; instead of fear or intimidation, he is compassionate even and especially to those who would not experience compassion otherwise; instead of selfishness, he is pure Love, even to the point of death on a Cross for our sake; instead of misery, he is completely blessed in himself.
The question “Why did Jesus leave us?” is accusatory as if he were the one at fault; it points a finger at Jesus. But all that means is that there are three fingers pointing back at us, the sinners. Jesus not being in the tabernacle shows our need for a Savior because when we long for Jesus in the Eucharist by not seeing him, we cannot help but think that we may be the reason for his absence. And when we kiss the Cross at the Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday, we cannot help but express deep sorrow and remorse at the fact that we put him there.
Sin is nothing but an attempt to extinguish the Divine Fire roaring in our hearts. Without that Divine Fire, we are nothing because we are sinners, and sin is absolute emptiness, “an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude” as St. Faustina says.
This feeling of emptiness, of intense desolation was experienced by Jesus on the Cross, though he was without sin. Jesus Christ took on the sins of humanity in his Passion and Death, and that is why one of his last words on this earth were: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46). He carried a void in his soul, not because he deserved it—we are the ones who deserve it—but because he wanted to pour out his love into the emptiness of our hearts.
Jesus is not present in the tabernacle today because the Church in her wisdom wants us to remember what Christ did for us on the Cross. Jesus, God himself, experienced complete emptiness. Therefore, it is right and just that the Dwelling Place of God, the tabernacle, be empty to show us who we are without God. Today, may we participate in the Passion of Jesus Christ by recognizing how much we long for our Lord to be present in that tabernacle again and how devastating sin is to our life through its attempts to extinguish the Divine Light deep within us. May our participation in the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ help us to share in his glorious resurrection to come, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This is beautiful Jack, thank you. I hope this triduum has been intimate for you.