Holy Friday

First off, I apologize to anyone who has been checking for updates. I have not done much this week to write about. Spring Break has been restful, but moderately eventful. I have spent time nearly every day coaching my high school distance runner. He placed 4th in the mile (5:01) and 3rd in the two-mile (11:09), earning him a place in both events (top four) at next week's regional track meet! I was very happy for him and am glad to have another week to work with him. We shaved two seconds off of his mile in a week and just need two more in the next week to get under 5 minutes. That's going to be a great moment for him!

Our house is now "under contract" and we will be closing at the end of May. It's difficult to imagine moving out of this house and passing it to someone else, but we will be doing that very soon. While we've only lived here for two years, it is our first home, and we had dreams of having our babies in this house. However, I know that one day, we'll have another place to call "home," and it will be somewhere with better teacher pay, Lord willing!

Today is Holy Friday by my Church's calendar. Last night, we attended a beautiful, yet solemn, service where the Passion gospels were read with various chants and prayers in between. This service is always a very moving one for me. Much of the emphasis is placed on the Mother of God, which provides a striking contrast to the general course of events in the Passion. Meditations like these were especially moving:

TODAY THE BLAMELESS VIRGIN
SAW YOU SUSPENDED UPON THE CROSS, O WORD.
SHE MOURNED WITHIN HERSELF AND WAS SORELY PIERCED IN HER HEART.
SHE GROANED IN AGONY FROM THE DEPTH OF HER SOUL.
EXHAUSTED FROM TEARING HER HAIR AND CHEEKS AND BEATING HER BREAST,
SHE CRIED OUT LAMENTING:
WOE IS ME, MY DIVINE CHILD!
WOE IS ME, LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
WHY HAVE YOU DEPARTED FROM MY EYES, LAMB OF GOD?

...

WHEN SHE WHO BORE YOU WITHOUT SEED
SAW YOU SUSPENDED UPON THE TREE,
CHRIST, THE CREATOR AND GOD OF ALL,
SHE CRIED BITTERLY: WHERE IS THE BEAUTY OF YOUR COUNTENANCE, MY SON?
I CANNOT BEAR TO SEE YOU UNJUSTLY CRUCIFIED.
HASTEN AND ARISE,//
THAT I TOO MAY SEE YOUR RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD ON THE THIRD DAY!

One thing I really liked about Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ was the emphasis on Mary's experience while Christ is brutally beaten, tortured, and murdered. Through it all, she followed, wanting only to hold Him close. No one has ever loved God like that, to be with Him from beginning to end, knowing Him as both Son and Lord. Such a powerful love story only makes a person want to be better... at least, it does for me.