In These Silent Hours....

I see it all stripped bare,
the altar where You sacrificed
the cross on which You were
left to die.

And I ask, why Lord
why did You ever have to die?

I see Your blood pouring out,
giving us Your life
the life of true beauty....
And You tell me
it will be our Bread of Life,
the saving cup
the divinity of salvation.

Is this O Lord
why You came?
For someone so low
and so torn as me?

But it was for much more...

We are the betrayers
the ones who answer
by the name of Judas,
will we continue to deny
Your love shown on this cross?

In these silent hours,
the sun is not mourning,
I feel that the world should stop
it's motion to remember You.
But even in this light
I see through to the darkness,
I realize why You had to die.

You died that we might have life,
given the freedom of will
and souls to honor You,
to banish this darkness
and never let evil destroy us.

And in Your last breath O Lord,
I am told of what you said
of how You spoke to Your mother
and told her to care for her son.

It is finished- that is how You remind us
that without the ultimate sacrifice
we would not be saved.

O Lord, Jesus Divine,
I'll never forget how You died,
scourged, agonized, mocked,
condemned by Your
sons and daughters.
And though I've crucified You
a billion times or more,
please forgive me and remember me.

Written on Good Friday, April 6, 2012.