A Brief Homily for Good Friday

It is often said that to live in Christ is to live a cross-centered life. What does that mean? Some believers emphasize that “spirituality” primarily consists of “following God’s path” or “seeking God’s will” for our life. Though there is truth to those ideas, they run the danger of putting us in the driver’s seat, instead of God. If our call to spirituality is simply to “figure out what God wants me to do” then we may reduce Christianity to an intellectual pursuit clothed in spiritual-sounding phrases. If I figure it out, I am doing well and doing God’s will. If not, I am “off the path.” Which means my spirituality is dependant on my intelligence and research, not upon God being present in my life in every moment.

Our call is to respond to opportunities God gives us now. That is what it means to have “the presence of God in my life”: not ascertaining the future path he has for me. Seeking God in work, school, play. The path I take is far less important than having a Christ-like attitude in my words, thoughts, and actions at this very moment.

It doesn’t matter whether the moment is mundane or eventful.
It can be making a bed, or it can be celebrating a marriage.
Think, act, and speak as Christ.

It doesn’t matter whether the moment is joyous or painful.
It can be celebrating the birth of a child, it can be suffering with cancer.
Think, act, and speak as Christ.

It doesn’t matter whether the moment is encouraging or humiliating.
It can be receiving award or recognition, it can be accused of being a sinner.
Think, act, and speak as Christ.

The cross is the symbol of every call God offers us in every moment of every day: it is suffering, but it is also great joy. It is sacrifice, but it is also an act with incredible meaning. It contains great pain, but also great love. Judgment, but also mercy. The cross is not something we can always understand, but it is also something we know God calls us to.

They are all one, and all moments for celebration and praise. In the Western world we have a tendency to believe that our goal is to find comfort, peace, and happiness. This probably derives from the American Declaration of Independence. It may be a misunderstanding of what the American ForeFathers intended. (The Declaration, by the way, was largely based on the Scottish Declaration of Independence made at Arbroath in the 14th century. It did not spring full-grown from the mind of Thomas Jefferson.)

Spirituality consists of living every moment as a “cross-centered” moment. Every moment. Not just the “important ones.” This is a great task for humans. Not to strive for happiness and peace, not to “succeed”—these would be simpler goals to work on. The task is to let go of “figuring it all out,” and simply live Christ in each of the moments given to us.