Holding contradictions. A Holy Friday Meditation
Dear fellow traveler,
Here is a Holy Friday meditation for you as it has been laid in my heart walking the stations of the cross through Berlin, struggling with my own shadows - and finally listening to a JS Bach Cantata performed at the hour of Jesus’ death at our cloister church. May images, words and music console you as I have been consoled.
With love, Almut
PS: All photos by me.
Carrying the cross through the streets of Berlin, Germany across church yards and playgrounds all the way towards Reconciliation Church right at the memorial park where the Berlin Wall once stood.
“Let me help”, Hannah said and there she goes.
Station of the cross at the city cloister in Berlin, where we started our cross walk. “O Golgatha”…
With “O Golgatha” JC Bach starts the movement towards Jesus’ crucifixion. Performed by the counter tenor Tim Mead and the Netherland Bach Society. This video comes with English (and Hebrew!) subtitles.
A Portrait of D. Bonhoeffer at Zionskirche, Berlin.
“A king who dies on the cross
must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.
Only those who understand the profound
paradox of the cross
can also understand
the whole meaning of Jesus’ assertion:
my kingdom is not of this world. “
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter
Zionskirche, Berlin. Layers of history and afternoon light on Holy Friday.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
JS Bach - Aus Liebe from St Matthew Passion BWV 244 | Netherlands Bach Society.
For Love gives herself
Listen to the angelic aria of “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben…” / “Out of love my savior gives himself…”
Aus Liebe - Out of Love, Bach, the master of repetitive movement lets the soprano sing again and again. Follow the tune of the flute and the voice of the soprano. Listen with the ears of your heart. Ponder the text with the eyes of your heart.
Begin by simply listening to the flute. It will move your heart into the place it needs to be today. Not a place of tradition or theology or oughts. Just an intimate encounter with your self, and the awe and mystery of the Triduum.
Entrance at Zionskirche, Berlin.
Another still life at Zionskirche.
“The Christ Mystery anoints all physical matter with eternal purpose from the very beginning. (…) All of us take part in the evolving, universe-spanning Christ Mystery. … Christ is the blueprint for all time and space and life itself. Both reveal the universal pattern of self-emptying and infilling (Christ) and death and resurrection (Jesus), which is the process humans have called “holiness,” “salvation,” or “growth.”
*Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe(Convergent Books: 2019), 5, 20-21.
Spring arriving in the deserted streets of Berlin on Holy Friday.
This post is the sixth of our Passion Week Consolations 2023. To enter our virtual gathering space click here. To share your thoughts with us, write us here or comment below. To offer your gift, click here. If you are looking for personal consultation, visit our PathFinder.
Peace and Blessings, Almut & Chuck