April 3/Good Friday
Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6
“Into your hands I commend my spirit.” Is there a more compelling and powerful expression of trust in the entire Bible? As we stand at the foot of the Cross this dark and holy day, we hear Jesus uttering it at the moment of his death. In the midst of his profound suffering, he sustains complete trust in God. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s, as Paul reminds us, and whatever our stage of life, these are not only words to die by, but to live by. Yes, Jesus spoke them as he gave himself up to God — but he also lived them every day of his life, surrendering his own will as he sought to follow God’s will, even to Calvary and the Cross. We, too, are invited to live out these words, committing ourselves to seek and to do God’s will, wherever it may take us. Such trusting surrender does not come easily. Most of us would rather hold onto our dreams and hopes and ambitions than to place them in the hands of God, who just might see things differently. Today the psalmist reassures us we may safely commend our lives to ‘el ‘emet — in Hebrew, the God of firmness, faithfulness, and truth. Exemplifying such trusting surrender in her own life, the twentieth-century Carmelite nun (and Jewish convert, executed by the Nazis) Edith Stein wrote, “We know not, and we should not ask before the time, where our earthly way will lead us. We know only this, that to those who love the Lord all things will work together to the good, and further, that the ways by which the Savior leads us point beyond this earth.”
Loving God, Give me the confidence and faith I need to abandon myself to your trustworthy hands. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040326.cfm
To hear VOCES8 sing “In Manus Tuas” by Tomás Luis de Victoria, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT3VYJPVwEs&list=RDVT3VYJPVwEs&start_radio=1
