Too often, the crucifixes that hang in our churches and homes anesthetize us from the painful and awful reality that befell our Lord, in history called Good Friday. The lengthy readings of the Lord's passion invite us to look at Jesus in the raw, unmitigated condition of human suffering at its extreme.

Prophet Isaiah portrays the picture of the anawim Yahweh, without hiding the visual monstrosity of one made to carry the sins of the world: "no looks to attract our eyes; a thing despised and rejected by men... a man to make people screen their faces; He was despised and we took no account of Him." (Is.52:2) Yet, Isaiah also reminds us that it is this suffering servant who bears our sufferings and sorrows, crushed for our sins... and by His wounds, we are healed.

This is the Son of God who come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He did not, spare Himself the ultimate physical torture and suffering, the consequence of the collective sins of all humankind. He bore in silence: the sinless One made to bear the sins of all, witnessed by a world that has lost its sense of humanity.

On this day, we can do little but stay as close as we can to the Lord and the cross He bears, praying over and over again with Him: