Good Friday + The Mother / La Madre + 3.25.16

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M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Isaiah 52:13--53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1--19:42)

The mother, she was drawn to him, as we all are. La Madre estaba atraída a él, como todos nosotros, casi hasta sus propios brazos. Drawn almost to his very arms. But they could not reach her now. In trying to reach the whole world, they had been pinned down, nailed to the wood. Él no la podía acercar ahora, atado a la cruz. Él hablaba al mundo, pero el mundo no entendió. The world could not divine his meaning. Oh, those beautiful arms. Nailed they were, but it was absurd. None can bind God. De hecho, fue algo absurdo. Nadie puede atar a Dios-nuestras mentes no lo pueden contener. Our hands, our minds, cannot contain him. They could nail him down in the flesh, but his spirit would break out. It was only a matter of time ‘til he would be free, and so would we. En un tiempo corto, su Espíritu vencerá, y estará libre, y nosotros también.
But not yet. Now was not the moment. Ahora no fue el momento de libertad, pero de oscuridad. Now was the time of darkness. And of the powers. De los poderes.
Y la madre sintió como si no solo era su corazón que quebraba, pero su cuerpo, también. The mother--she felt it was not just her heart that broke, but her body too. The sears struck all at once, as if the whips had touched not just his flesh but her own. Fue como si los azotes le habían pegado a ella también, a su propia carne. The pain afflicted her, whacking her bodily. Broken, was how she felt. Rent like the temple curtain. Ella sintió tan rota como un vaso quebrado, como la cortina del templo, ahora rasgado.
But at that moment, when she thought he, and she could bear it no longer, he saw her. Pero en este momento, justo cuando ella pensaba que ella, y él, no aguantaba más, él miró hacia ella. Y la vio con cariño. He always saw her, that son of hers. He always knew her best. He saw her standing there, if you could call it that, the posture which she held. Who knows what held her up? But we know he saw her and loved her. Él la vio y la amó, y la miró. He loved her and beheld her. And for a moment, he held her, at least in Spirit.  Y por un momento, la abrazó, a lo menos en el Espíritu.
Y entonces movió su vista al discípulo quien él amaba. And then that loving gaze moved, to the disciple beside her, the one he loved. And he beheld him, held him too. Lo miraba, y lo abrazaba también, en el Espíritu. And in that beholding he joined those two, mother and son. Encouragement. Unity. Family. Strength. Y los unió como familia, los dio ánimo, unidad, familia, y fortaleza, aun en su momento más débil, de menos animación y vida.
They had walked this dark path together but at the end, at the Cross, they learned that it was all love. It is all love. Habian caminado juntos este camino, pero al fin, en la Cruz, aprendieron que todo fue amor. Amor es todo.
Saint Paul, he said: “and let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25).” San Pablo dijo: “animémonos unos a otros; y tanto más cuanto que vemos que el día del Señor se acerca” en la carta a los Hebreos (10:25).
Encouragement, Love, at the Cross. These are lessons for us today. Las lecciones para nosotros hoy en día son como animarnos uno al otro, como amar, aun en la cruz. Will we scatter or be drawn to the Cross? Can we face the pain and learn love? Nos dispersamos o ¿estamos atraídos a la Cruz? ¿Podemos enfrentar al dolor y aprender el amor?
A commentator points out that in this Gospel, by that warming fire, and in his confusion, Peter denies Jesus as with the synoptic gospels, but here he is asked if he is Jesus’ disciple. Un comentarista nota algo: que San Pedro, en la lectura de hoy, al acercar este fuego caloroso, esta preguntado no solo que conoce a Jesús pero si es su discípulo.[1] Y lo niega. And he denies it. He does not just deny Jesus, but he denies himself also. He denies his discipleship, a core part of his identity, and must realize it and reclaim that sense of self to reclaim his faith. En negar su discipulado, Pedro de hecho niega a sí mismo, pero no de la manera que Dios quiere, y tiene que encontrarse a sí mismo para reclamar a su fe.
Today is the day when we may wish to deny Jesus, because of the pain. Y para muchos de nosotros, es natural querer negar a Jesús hoy en día, porque hay dolor en la cruz.  It is natural, human for us to do so. Así que cuando queremos encogernos ante la Cruz, podemos mirar hacia la madre. So when we flinch, let us look to the model of his mother, drawn to the cross, and drawn to love, as we continue this journey with him. Ella fue atraída a la cruz, atraída a su amor. As we venerate the cross today, singing words of the Mother at the Cross, let us look to her son Jesus and be held in his loving gaze. Cuando hoy veneramos la cruz, que juntamos a la Santa Madre al pie de la Cruz, y miramos a Jesús. Que estemos mirados y transformados por su mirada de amor. Let us encourage each other. Because we know- grief may spend the night, but joy comes on the morrow. Y animémonos uno al otro porque aunque hoy hay dolor, mañana veremos la Gloria de Dios.


[1] Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis and Matt Skinner, Sermon Brainwave Podcast “475: Good Friday,” https://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=737 for March 25, 2016.

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