Good Friday
Isa 52:13-53:12
Heb 4:14-16,5:7-9
Jn 18:1-19:42
“Who are you looking for?”
Two weekends ago, we conducted an overnight Lenten Vigil in CSC. The team had been assembled about a month prior and as usual, there were the usual anxieties and fears brought on by some who were new to the experience, and some who were not musically-inclined but who gamely stood at the microphones to praise & worship and to lead the congregation in prayer. I myself was preparing for perhaps the most important event on our university calendar. Naturally, I had not much bandwidth to focus on the preparation for the vigil, which began a quarter before midnight and would end with a mass at 5.30am.
I had requested for everyone to gather by 9pm in order to set up, practice some unfamiliar songs together and to just get comfortable with the space. Having only 90 minutes (there was group prayer scheduled for just before the vigil), I did not expect perfection and just encouraged everyone to sing from the heart.
Lo and behold, He did not forsake us. While practice was ‘scattered’ and, at times, disrupted by technical issues or general anxieties/doubts, the entire night (by many accounts) went by perfectly. Many of us on the service team received messages of affirmation from those who had attended that our voices were ‘angelic’ and that the music really touched everyone’s hearts.
Brothers and sisters, we have just come out from 40 days of fasting and abstinence from the ‘usual grind’. Depending on our own lifestyles and/or habits, each of us would have given up one (or more) things during Lent. We know that whatever we deem ‘worthy of giving up’, nothing can ever compare to what our blessed Saviour gave up for all of us – especially what He went through on His journey to Calvary. Going through the stations of Cross during Lent, I found myself asking the usual questions – “Why me?”, “What did I do to deserve you doing this for me?”, “What about those who have hurt/offended me?” And as always, He answers in the most tender, loving manner. Through sending people my way, through the miracles He works during our retreats/vigils, through the doors that open via testimonies/sharings from retreatants.
As we go about our daily lives, we all tend to be attracted to, or distracted by whatever is spectacular/shocking/awesome…(add your own adjective). Most times (for me at least), He speaks to me through the simplest of acts or a fleeting encounter with a stranger. There are no fireworks at all. I believe that on each of our Lenten journeys, we emerge with a deeper appreciation of what encountering Christ means. One thing for sure — it is certainly personal.
I pray that today, as we reflect on Christ’s enormous sacrifice for all of us, we can look back on our own journeys and see how He revealed himself to us during our times of ‘suffering’. And that we truly appreciate his presence in our lives moving forward. In every situation, every encounter.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Desmond Soon)
Prayer: We pray that you continue to reveal yourself to us, especially in times of desolation. That you assure us of your presence in our daily struggles, so as to provide us with comfort and assurance that all will eventually be well.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for your ultimate sacrifice.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment