Reflection for Good Friday 2009
10 April 2009

by Prioress Anne Shepard, OSB

"Isaiah asks us 'Who would believe what we just heard?'"
After a meal with friends an innocent man was marched off to his death,
unjustly accused,
pushed into the hands of politicians that have no backbone,
scourged by soldiers who were only doing what they were told to do,
cared for after death by a man who was too timid to speak to him in the daylight but who cared for him extravagantly after death,
and buried by another friend.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people of Pakistan would.
50% of the country is illiterate.
The country is judged by our nation as perhaps the most dangerous in the world since terrorists may be living among the rugged terrain. At least that is why we are bombing them.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people of Haiti would.
That country is one of the poorest in the world and now they cannot even export their T-shirts.
The export rate is the worst it has been in 80 years.
Food is scarce, disease is on the increase and the death rate skyrockets.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people of Cambodia would.
Unlike the innocence of Jesus, they recently heard the testimony of a guilty man, Kaing Guek Eav, who admitted to playing a major role in the genocide of their country, killings which eliminated twenty five percent of their population in the late 70's.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people in India would and
we have only to see the movie Slumdog Millionnaire to know that innocent children and teens are tortured and killed daily on their streets.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people in Mexico would.
Our country’s penchant for recreational drugs and arms sales is causing kidnaping, disappearances and torture all throughout the country.

"Who would believe what we just heard?"
The people in the United States who are victims of trafficking, of unjust prison sentencing, of illegal search and seizures- they would believe what we heard in the reading. And billions more throughout the world who suffer needless arrest, torture, and death.

To enter the suffering of Christ is not to want torture ourselves or to thrive on pain. It is to be in solidarity with those who are suffering political and religious injustices now, in our country, in our world.
We, women, know how to keep vigil with the suffering Christ.
We, monastics, also know how and why to keep a silent watch.
Our silence and our voices, our individual works of charity and our corporate stands for justice assure Christ that His suffering was not in vain.

© 2009 Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, Kansas