(Good Friday, 1998: This homily was given on April 10, 1998 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Isaiah 52: 13—53: 12; Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9; John 18: 1—19:42.)

"Good Friday: When Jesus did his BEST work!"

When did Jesus do his BEST work? Our Lord did many spectacular things during his earthly life and ministry--but when did he do his best work?

The answer is (of course): "On the Cross. He did his best work on the Cross--in the midst of his suffering and death."

Sometimes you hear people say, "Oh, I wish I had been there during the first Holy Week. How blessed those people were to have seen the Son of God in the flesh, as he reconciled the world to God the Father."

Yes—but the fact is: most of them didn’t realize what was happening! Not even the close friends of Jesus fully understood what was going on right before their eyes!"

And so, if any one of us had been standing there 2,000 years ago, in the midst of the crowd gathered before the Cross, and we had said, "What a great privilege we all have: to watch Jesus of Nazareth die for our sins—to watch Jesus do his very best work,"--if we had been there, and said that, the friends of Jesus would probably have turned on us and screamed, "What are you, crazy? His BEST work? How can you possibly say that? Look at him! He’s been ridiculed, beaten, humiliated, crucified! Don’t insult him any more than he’s already been insulted! He did his best work three years ago when he healed my friend of leprosy. . . .He did his best work when he expelled the demon from my son. . . . He did his best work when he gave that magnificent Sermon on the Mount. . . . That’s where Jesus showed his power and brilliance! Not now; not here."

BY FAITH, you and I know better! Which is why, in so many ways, we are much better off than those who actually witnessed the events of the first Holy Week.

By faith, we know that what Jesus accomplished on the Cross was, indeed, his greatest work.

How so?

Well, first of all, the Cross was where Jesus taught us about God’s love most profoundly! He had certainly done that throughout his life, but on the Cross his love went to the absolute limit: "Greater love no one has than to lay down his life for his friends." In the midst of his crucifixion, Jesus was a living, dying icon of love!

The Cross was also his greatest pulpit. Jesus had preached many powerful sermons during the three previous years, but he preached the gospel most powerfully (and most convincingly) as he poured out his blood for our sins. St. Francis of Assisi used to say, "Preach always—if necessary use words." Our Lord’s most eloquent sermon was the act of sacrificing his life for ours. It was so powerful, in fact, that he made two of his most noteworthy converts in the process—a pagan Roman soldier, and a thief.

Thirdly, the Cross is where Jesus accomplished his greatest miracle of healing. Oh yes, it was magnificent when he made the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak; it was truly incredible when he raised his good friend Lazarus from the dead! But all of those healings were temporary: Lazarus eventually died again; those who had been healed of physical illnesses eventually died of some other disease—or of old age. But the healing brought by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross was a healing through which people live FOREVER! As the author of Hebrews reminded us a few minutes ago: "Son though he was, he [Jesus] learned obedience from what he suffered; and when perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."

All of this has a very practical application to us and our daily lives. Jesus did his best work when he suffered—although that wasn’t obvious to most of the people who actually saw the crucifixion. We also have the opportunity to do our best work in the midst of our daily sufferings--although that might not always be obvious to us. This is true on the natural level as well as on the supernatural level. First of all, on the natural level: doing our best earthly work almost always involves some kind of suffering. I’ll give you one example, although there are countless others: the best work that parents can possibly do is to raise good, godly children. But--as every parent here will certainly attest—raising children is not easy! It very often involves sacrifice, frustration and many other types of suffering. And yet, in the midst of that ongoing cross, parents have the chance to do their very best work as mothers and fathers!

And then we have the supernatural level: In Colossians 1: 22 St. Paul said, "In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body the Church." Paul believed that his offered-up sufferings brought the Colossian people countless graces and spiritual benefits—benefits they would NOT have otherwise had! Our offered up sufferings can do the same thing for people today! Which means that if we make the conscious decision to offer up our daily crosses in union with the Cross of Christ, they can actually be the source of our best work in this life—because those sacrifices will help to bring people blessings which will benefit them both on this earth AND in eternity! It reminds me of the story that Bishop Sheen used to tell about a medical doctor who lived in Belgium at the turn of the century: Dr. Felix Leseur. Dr. Leseur was an avowed atheist. He became the editor of an atheistic newspaper and wrote a book against Lourdes, supposedly showing that it was a fraud. He eventually married a young Catholic woman, Elizabeth, who became seriously ill in 1904. She was bedridden; she lived in almost constant pain for ten years. When she was close to death, she called her husband to her bedside and said to him, "Felix, when I am dead, you will become a Catholic and a Dominican priest." He responded, "Elizabeth, you know [how I feel]. I’ve sworn hatred of God. I shall live in that hatred and die in it." She repeated her words and not long after passed away. It was 1914. Later Dr. Leseur found her will, in which Elizabeth had written these words to her husband: "In 1904 I asked Almighty God to send me sufficient sufferings to purchase your soul. On the day that I die you will have been bought and paid for. Greater love than this no woman has." By a special grace of the Holy Spirit, Leseur’s heart was converted, and eventually he did become a Dominican priest. Which is how Sheen heard the story: four years after he was ordained a priest, Sheen attended a retreat--a retreat that was given by Fr. Felix Leseur of the Order of Preachers: the Dominicans.