Good Friday
Cycle B
April 7, 2023
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
Arms and Legs
Some years ago, I read a story about a poor, peasant family in Brazil back in the 1950’s.
After years of work, this family finally succeeded in buying a piece of land. On the day that they took possession of the property, the mother and the six children started to fix up the small, two-bedroom shack.
The father walked the perimeter of the land and placed stone markers on the four corners. As he was doing this, he noticed something sticking out from a bush.
It was the figure of Jesus’ body, apparently torn off of a large old crucifix. The figure was badly damaged, with its arms and legs missing.
The poor peasant man brought this wooden figure home and laid it on the kitchen table. He asked his family: “What should we do with this?”
Before long, the youngest child, Maria, spoke up: “Papa, I have an idea. Why don’t we hang it here in the kitchen and put a sign underneath it?”
Maria then shared her idea for the sign. It read: “Jesus now has no arms or legs. Will you lend him yours?”
Saint John’s Passion
That’s the question that the Passion according to Saint John asks us today.
This story of Jesus’ suffering and death shows God’s great love for us. It also calls us to live as Jesus did – to be his arms and legs in our world today.
I will highlight just three of the ways for doing this that I see in this passage.
1.Bearing Pain
First, we may have to bear pain for the sake of the gospel, but we are not to inflict it.
Peter strikes the servant of the high priest and Jesus tells him to put his sword away. We also are to put away the sword of our tongue when we are tempted to strike back at someone who has offended us.
Or we are to remain respectful when we talk about those who are different from us. We may have to bear pain for the sake of the gospel, but we are not to inflict it.
2.Using Power
The second way of being Jesus’ arms and legs that I see in this passage is to use power carefully and not misuse it.
When Pilate asserts his power, Jesus responds: “You would have no power over me if it were not given you from above.” We all have different forms of power – like the power of an office or a title, as a priest has; or the power of a relationship, as parents have; or the power of physical size, as some taller or stronger persons have.
We sin – whether priest or whoever – we sin when we hurt and abuse those who are vulnerable with the power that we have. We are to use power carefully and not misuse it.
3.God’s Family
And the third way of being Jesus’ arms and legs is to see all persons as members of God’s family and not just some persons.
As Jesus hangs on the cross, he says to his mother: “Woman, there is your son,” and to the disciple closest to him he says, “And there is your mother.” With his mother Mary, Jesus fashions a new family.
Through the disciple John and again though Mary, Jesus signals that he wants all of us to have him as our brother and Mary as our mother. We are to see all persons as members of God’s family and nor just some.
Conclusion
So, if we accept these three possibilities in the account of Jesus’ Passion, as that little girl in Brazil said, we will be his arms and legs in our world today.
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