Listen to it all (begins at 15:15 minutes in).

Being in debt is an ancient Christian metaphor for the human condition. The early Christians believed that we are lured into moral debt by the false promises of the devil who exploits our appetite for security, pleasure and power. So we all end up enslaved in one way or another. Christ’s death on the cross exposes the devil’s immorality and our willing collusion with it. So the cross becomes the way our moral debt is cancelled and we are freed to be human.

It is an irony that the failure of a particular group of hard up Americans to pay their debts has made markets plummet all over the world. The banks don’t trust each other. There are wild rumours. There is also great suffering. Poor men and women who were persuaded to take on these deals have lost everything. And so have many others who had much more to lose. Those who can still afford to invest are having to face the truth that without fairness in the system we can have no confidence that profits will be secure. We have to sacrifice greed if we really want dividends, because only fairness leads to the restoration of trust.

It is reflection on this that leads Christians to claim that it requires Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to put things right between us and God.

Read it all.

The story of the salvation of the dying thief is a standing instance of the power of Christ to save, and of his abundant willingness to receive all that come to him, in whatever plight they may be. I cannot regard this act of grace as a solitary instance, any more than the salvation of Zacchaeus, the restoration of Peter, or the call of Saul, the persecutor. Every conversion is, in a sense, singular: no two are exactly alike, and yet any one conversion is a type of others. The case of the dying thief is much more similar to our conversion than it is dissimilar; in point of fact, his case may be regarded as typical, rather than as an extraordinary incident. So I shall use it at this time. May the Holy Spirit speak through it to the encouragement of those who are ready to despair!

Remember, beloved friends, that our Lord Jesus, at the time he saved this malefactor, was at his lowest. His glory had been ebbing out in Gethsemane, and before Caiaphas, and Herod, and Pilate; but it had now reached the utmost low-water mark.

Stripped of his garments, and nailed to the cross, our Lord was mocked by a ribald crowd, and was dying in agony: then was he “numbered with the transgressors,” and made as the offscouring of all things. Yet, while in that condition, he achieved this marvellous deed of grace. Behold the wonder wrought by the Saviour when emptied of all his glory, and hanged up a spectacle of shame upon the brink of death! How certain is it it that he can do great wonders of mercy now, seeing that he has returned unto his glory, and sitteth upon the throne of light! “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” If a dying Saviour saved the thief, my argument is, that he can do even more now that he liveth and reigneth. All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth; can anything at this present time surpass the power of his grace?

It is not only the weakness of our Lord which makes the salvation of the penitent thief memorable; it is the fact that the dying malefactor saw it before his very eyes. Can you put yourself into his place, and suppose yourself to be looking upon one who hangs in agony upon a cross? Could you readily believe him to be the Lord of glory, who would soon come to his kingdom? That was no mean faith which, at such a moment, could believe in Jesus as Lord and King. If the apostle Paul were here, and wanted to add a New Testament chapter to the eleventh of Hebrews, he might certainly commence his instances of remarkable faith with this thief, who believed in a crucified, derided, and dying Christ, and cried to him as to one whose kingdom would surely come. The thief’s faith was the more remarkable because he was himself in great pain, and bound to die. It is not easy to exercise confidence when you are tortured with deadly anguish. Our own rest of mind has at times been greatly hindered by pain of body. When we are the subjects of acute suffering it is not easy to exhibit that faith which we fancy we possess at other times. This man, suffering as he did, and seeing the Saviour in so sad a state, nevertheless believed unto life eternal. Herein was such faith as is seldom seen.

Recollect, also, that he was surrounded by scoffers. It is easy to swim with the current, and hard to go against the stream. This man heard the priests, in their pride, ridicule the Lord, and the great multitude of the common people, with one consent, joined in the scorning; his comrade caught the spirit of the hour, and mocked also, and perhaps he did the same for a while; but through the grace of God he was changed, and believed in the Lord Jesus in the teeth of all the scorn. His faith was not affected by his surroundings; but he, dying thief as he was, made sure his confidence. Like a jutting rock, standing out in the midst of a torrent, he declared the innocence of the Christ whom others blasphemed. His faith is worthy of our imitation in its fruits. He had no member that was free except his tongue, and he used that member wisely to rebuke his brother malefactor, and defend his Lord. His faith brought forth a brave testimony and a bold confession. I am not going to praise the thief, or his faith, but to extol the glory of that grace divine which gave the thief such faith, and then freely saved him by its means. I am anxious to show how glorious is the Saviour””that Saviour to the uttermost, who, at such a time, could save such a man, and give him so great a faith, and so perfectly and speedily prepare him for eternal bliss. Behold the power of that divine Spirit who could produce such faith on soil so unlikely, and in a climate so unpropitious.

”“From a sermon of C.H. Spurgeon preached on April 7, 1889

Worthy of careful prayer and meditation.

St. Bernard was so terror-stricken by Christ’s sufferings that he said: I imagined I was secure and I knew nothing of the eternal judgment passed upon me in heaven, until I saw the eternal Son of God took mercy upon me, stepped forward and offered himself on my behalf in the same judgment. Ah, it does not become me still to play and remain secure when such earnestness is behind those sufferings. Hence he commanded the women: “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Lk 23, 28; and gives in the 31st verse the reason: “For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” As if to say: Learn from my martyrdom what you have merited and how you should be rewarded. For here it is true that a little dog was slain in order to terrorize a big one. Likewise the prophet also said: “All generations shall lament and bewail themselves more than him”; it is not said they shall lament him, but themselves rather than him. Likewise were also the apostles terror-stricken in Acts 2, 37, as mentioned before, so that they said to the apostles: “0, brethren, what shall we do?” So the church also sings: I will diligently meditate thereon, and thus my soul in me will exhaust itself.

”“Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Without Good Friday, there can be no Easter.

That’s what the Rev. Mack C. McClam will tell parishioners tonight when he delivers a Good Friday sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church-College Place in North Columbia.

McClam, pastor of Francis Burns United Methodist Church on Farrow Road, will remind the two congregations, which are coming together for a shared service, that their faith comes with a price.

“If I had to give you a word for Good Friday, it was when the debt was paid.”

Read it all.

How did Jesus love His disciples and why did He love them? Ah! It was not their natural qualities that could have attracted Him, since there was between Him and them an infinite distance. He was knowledge, Eternal Wisdom, while they were poor ignorant fishermen filled with earthly thoughts. And still Jesus called them his friends, His brothers. He desires to see them reign with Him in the kingdom of His Father, and to open that kingdom to them He wills to die on the cross, for He said: ”˜Greater love than this no man has than that he lay down his life for his friends.’

”“St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)

The Anglican sermon at St Andrew’s Cathedral was given by its dean, Phillip Jensen. Some of his words were reminiscent of the Easter message from his brother, Dr Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.

Mr Jensen touched on the apology given by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, speaking of how “the nation took time out to say sorry to the stolen generation and to our indigenous fellow citizens”.

“Future generations will look back at us and shake their heads and wonder what did we think we were doing in our day,” Mr Jensen said.

Read it all.

Regular churchgoers, families with young children and curious tourists sat in solemn reflection at Easter services throughout Melbourne on Good Friday.

About 400 people attended a service at Melbourne’s St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, where the sounds of a church choir drifted through the stately stone building.

“I think more people now come to church on Good Friday than did when I was younger,” said the Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Reverend David Richardson said.

Read it all.

O My chief good,
How shall I measure out thy bloud?
How shall I count what thee befell,
And each grief tell?

Shall I thy woes
Number according to thy foes?
Or, since one starre show’d thy first breath,
Shall all thy death?

Or shall each leaf,
Which falls in Autumn, score a grief?
Or can not leaves, but fruit, be signe
Of the true vine?

Then let each houre
Of my whole life one grief devoure;
That thy distresse through all may runne,
And be my sunne.

Or rather let
My severall sinnes their sorrows get;
That as each beast his cure doth know,
Each sinne may so.

Since bloud is fittest, Lord, to write
Thy sorrows in, and bloudie fight;
My heart hath store, write there, where in
One box doth lie both ink and sinne:

That when sinne spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes,
All come to lodge there, sinne may say,
No room for me, and flie away.

Sinne being gone, oh fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace;
Lest sinne take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.

–George Herbert (1593-1633)

In the incarnation the Son of God made Himself one with man – with Adam. Entering the world of the dead, Jesus bears the stigmata, the signs of his passion: his wounds, his suffering, have become power: they are love that conquers death. He meets Adam and all the men and women waiting in the night of death. But we may ask: what is the meaning of all this imagery? What was truly new in what happened on account of Christ? The human soul was created immortal ”“ what exactly did Christ bring that was new? The soul is indeed immortal, because man in a unique way remains in God’s memory and love, even after his fall. But his own powers are insufficient to lift him up to God.

—From 2007

Let man’s soul be a sphere, and then, in this,
Th’ intelligence that moves, devotion is ;
And as the other spheres, by being grown
Subject to foreign motion, lose their own,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a year their natural form obey ;
Pleasure or business, so, our souls admit
For their first mover, and are whirl’d by it.
Hence is’t, that I am carried towards the west,
This day, when my soul’s form bends to the East.
There I should see a Sun by rising set,
And by that setting endless day beget.
But that Christ on His cross did rise and fall,
Sin had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for me.
Who sees Gods face, that is self-life, must die ;
What a death were it then to see God die ?
It made His own lieutenant, Nature, shrink,
It made His footstool crack, and the sun wink.
Could I behold those hands, which span the poles
And tune all spheres at once, pierced with those holes ?
Could I behold that endless height, which is
Zenith to us and our antipodes,
Humbled below us ? or that blood, which is
The seat of all our soul’s, if not of His,
Made dirt of dust, or that flesh which was worn
By God for His apparel, ragg’d and torn ?
If on these things I durst not look, durst I
On His distressed Mother cast mine eye,
Who was God’s partner here, and furnish’d thus
Half of that sacrifice which ransom’d us ?
Though these things as I ride be from mine eye,
They’re present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them ; and Thou look’st towards me,
O Saviour, as Thou hang’st upon the tree.
I turn my back to thee but to receive
Corrections till Thy mercies bid Thee leave.
O think me worth Thine anger, punish me,
Burn off my rust, and my deformity ;
Restore Thine image, so much, by Thy grace,
That Thou mayst know me, and I’ll turn my face.

”“John Donne (1572-1631)

Through Mary he received his humanity, and in receiving his humanity received humanity itself. Which is to say, through Mary he received us. In response to the angel’s strange announcement, Mary said yes. But only God knew that it would end up here at Golgotha, that it had to end up here. For here, in darkness and in death, were to be found the prodigal children who had said no, the prodigal children whom Jesus came to take home to the Father.

Read it all.

Lord Jesus Christ, who for the redemption of mankind didst ascend the cross, that thou mightest enlighten the world that lay in darkness: gather us this day with all they faithful to that same holy cross; that, gazing in penitence upon thy great sacrifice for us, we may be loosed from all our sins, and entering into the mystery of thy passion, be crucified to the vain pomp and power of this passing world; and finding our glory in the cross alone, we may attain at last thy everlasting glory, where thou, the lamb that once was slain, reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

–1 Peter 1:18, 19

Between the brown hands of the server lad
The silver cross was offered to be kissed.
The men came up, lugubrious, but not sad,
And knelt, reluctantly, half-prejudiced
(And kissing, kissed the emblem of a creed.)
Then mourning women knelt; meek mouths they had
(And kissed the body of the Christ indeed.)
Young children came, with eager lips an glad.
(These kissed a silver doll, immensely bright.)
Then I, too, knelt before that acolyte.
Above the crucifix I bent my head:
The Christ was thin, and cold, and very dead:
And yet, I bowed, yea, kissed – my lips did cling
(I kissed the warm live hand that held the thing.)

–Wilfrid Owen (1893-1918)

O Lord Jesus Christ, who in the garden didst teach us, by word and example, to pray, that we might overcome the perils of temptation: Graciously grant that we, always continuing in prayer, may gain abundantly the fruit thereof, and be partakers of thy victory; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Easter Triduum, which the Church now prepares to celebrate, invites us to share in the mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. These days are the heart of the liturgical year. On Holy Thursday the Church recalls the Last Supper. At the Chrism Mass, the Bishop and his priests renew their priestly promises and the sacramental oils are blessed. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Jesus’ institution of the sacrament of his Body and Blood and his commandment that we should love one another. On Good Friday, we ponder the mystery of sin as we listen to the account of the Lord’s passion and venerate the wood of his Cross. Holy Saturday, a day of silence and prayer, prepares for the joy of the Easter Vigil, when the light of Christ dispels all darkness, and the saving power of his Paschal Mystery is communicated in the sacrament of Baptism. May our sharing in these solemn celebrations deepen our conversion to Christ, particularly through the sacrament of Reconciliation, and our communion, in the hope of the resurrection, with all our suffering brothers and sisters throughout the world.

—From his General Audience statement in english

Hi Fr. Kendall –

Best wishes for a fruitful Triduum.

I really value your blog and the truth it exposes, and, like another recent e-mailer, I value many, but not all, of the comments. When I see only a few improper comments, I ignore them. When I see too many, I ignore the thread and the other valuable comments that may be in the thread.

I manage a topical list…and I am somewhat familiar with people hijacking threads and not staying on topic, and community emotions running high, and otherwise reasonable people acting out.

Technically, I don’t know what is available to you to help manage things, but here are few suggestions:

1. Forbid anonymous posters

I think one big factor in run-away comments is a lack of perceived accountability on the part of certain commenters. Forbidding anonymity would go a long way toward making people feel more accountable, but I don’t think it would solve the problem completely.
At a minimum, the person should not be anonymous to you. Ideally, I think a poster should not be anonymous to anyone.

2. Take action immediately when someone acts out

This can be difficult when you don’t have someone monitoring the blog at all times. Maybe you need more help. Ideally there is a graduated system of responses: a) moderate the user, b) moderate all comments,
c) ban the user, d) ban all comments (the situation currently in force, at least for Lent). If someone does something bad, they should be moderated immediately. A discussion can follow, but in this case, the community needs some immediate protection.

When you nip things quickly, many otherwise reasonable people who would act out don’t — they simply don’t reach their boiling point.

Some people won’t like this, but I think it will benefit the whole community, and the laissez faire system currently in force does not seem to be working.

Studies aside, the final unit of analysis is the relationship. Ms. [Maggi] Deroian says the best wisdom gleaned from her “quest to solve the question of ‘forever’ ” in marriage came from a cab driver she rode with once who had been married 45 years. When she asked how he and his wife did it, he told her about their travels together, and evenings spent dancing. “At the end of the day,” she says, “you have to take time to enjoy one another.”

Read it all.