Thoughts for Good Friday

Last year on Good Friday I went to Newman center church for stations of the cross. From one station to another station I carried the cross. I have never carried the cross in stations of the cross or in church before. So I got a new experience. I have never also gone on stations of the cross outside the church so that too was a new experience. It was cool to carry the cross. I enjoyed the walk through the university area for the stations. The Iowa River, several buildings of the university, the walking bridge and finally back in the church etc were so pleasant. The weather was perfect. At each station a question was asked to all the people. Lots of people gave very insightful answers and I learned a lot. One question was what legacy have you been entrusted with. I thought of 2000 years of Christianity legacy and writing legacy and one person said we have the legacy of sharing the love of Jesus. I thought that was better than the answer I thought. Because 2000 years of Christianity boils down to sharing the love of Jesus with our fellow humans. Then another person said we judge others before we know someone. I thought that was true too. Then someone said the time we pray is not time wasted. That is so true too. Then in our faults someone said about pride. That is so true too. It took around two hours. I really liked all the questions because I thought they would be good writing prompts for this time of the year as we ponder the sadness of good Friday. How do we condemn Christ and one another? We condemn Christ when we are unkind, or unthoughtful or quick to judge or condemn. What crosses do we bear in our lives? I bear the cross of sometimes misunderstanding others and others misunderstanding me. How have we fallen in our own lives and faith? I have fallen by taking for granted my loved ones -- not valuing the beautiful gift of my parents as much as I should have. I have also fallen through anger and pride. How can we help carry the burdens of others? We can help carry the burdens of others by understanding them. We can help carry the burdens of others being there for them. What commitments can we make to help us all become whole? To become whole we should just have peace in our heart and be polite to everyone. How do we confront the fragility of our lives? Life is very fragile. The people in our lives are fragile. Kind words, encouragement, prayers for others, being peaceful helps us honor the fragility in our lives and in the lives of others. What need do we have for peace and tranquility? Peace and tranquility are the biggest needs of this torn and fractured world. If countries pursue peace we can have peace in this world. How do we continue to inflict pain up on ourselves and others? We inflict pain upon ourselves and others when we say unkind words to others. What do we do to ridicule and humiliate others? Unkind words, judging someone's clothes, appearance, and actions etc. How can we accept our own pain and embrace that of others? We can accept our own pain by praying about pain and we can embrace that of others by praying for them. What does it mean to unconditionally give of ourselves? It means to do all we can to help them. How do we find hope in the midst of darkness? We find hope in the midst of darkness by praying. For me writing helps a lot. For me reading also helps. Funny videos also helps me find hope. What legacies have been entrusted to us? I have been entrusted with lots of legacies. One is the legacy of writing given to me by my parents. The other is the legacy of scholarship. I have 2000 years of Christianity and all the traditions of my Syrian Christian Roman Catholic faith to pass down to my kids. Honoring those older than us is something that was deeply ingrained and I don't want to lose that legacy. Raising loving children is a legacy I have received from my parents and grandparents which is something I don't want to lose. My parents themselves are extremely loving people and that is because they were raised by extremely loving people themselves. So being extremely loving is a legacy. At every station the response of the people was because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Jesus redeemed the world by the Holy Cross.