Man of Sorrows

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author.

God bless you for coming out on this cold, rainy, Good Friday to honor our Lord and accompany Him in His passion. And some of you were here this morning, we had a very cold and wet away at the cross. And so, for those who did that pretty long day, but a good day to be offering, making that effort for the Lord. Today, we on this most solemn day, we have the Lord speaks to us through the prophet Isaiah, who presents the God of eternal joy, as the man of sorrows, the man of sorrows. And so, I wanted to spend a moment with you to look at this passage from Isaiah. And thinking about the different ways that it applies to us, because on the one hand, we’re sinners, so we’re those who also caused the sorrows that Jesus experienced by our sins, by our infidelity. But we can also be those who share His sorrows. And we know that there’s a lot of sorrow in life. Or we can be like our Blessed Mother, though, those who share the sufferings of others that we know. Because Jesus is not the only man of sorrows. There’s many who are underserved in a special way, some of them victim souls, who especially share His call. And so, let’s look at this passage from Isaiah because one of the things that Isaiah emphasizes right away, is how surprising this is. And I’ve said it many times, but we’ve heard this story of Jesus in His crucifixion so many times.  But when we encounter it, it’s so hard to accept because it remains still so mysterious. And that’s one of the things that Isaiah emphasizes, is the shock of people when they encounter this message. He says, as many were astonished at Him. His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and is formed beyond that of the sons of man. So shall He startle many nations, astonished, startled, kings shall shut their mouths because of Him, kings will be left speechless, because of Him. For that which had not been told them, they shall see. You know, Isiah, it’s very close to this passage where the Lord says, through Isaiah, that, “My ways are not your ways. And My thoughts are not your thoughts, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways above your ways.” And we see one of the great examples right here in this, this mystery of the man of sorrows. It’s so different from what the kings had expected. And he says, that which they had not been told, they shall see. And that which they had not heard, they shall understand. And then Isaiah says, “Who has believed what we have heard, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Who has believed, and still, who today believes this because it’s such a shock, and it’s such a contradiction to our humanity, as it was then for the people. They wanted, and we want a powerful ruler, a powerful guide, we make idols of all sorts of humans. We want people who can make our life better, more comfortable, more delightful, more enjoyable. We want people who are very impressive. And the great King comes in a complete contradiction to that. It says, so this is Jesus, Jesus, who had been the most revealed, the strongest, the most handsome of men, it says, Now, he had no form or attractiveness, that we should look at him in no beauty, that we should desire him. You know, we’re in a culture which more and more idolizes physical beauty, you know, who tend to be the movie stars. And so, Jesus comes, and Jesus in His great and the grave culmination of His mission becomes the man who had no former attractiveness that we should look at and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, a man of sorrow. And that’s good for us to know, because when in Jesus and also when we encounter people, we also can easily despise or reject, look down upon those who are experiencing great sorrow. And it may be that they’re experiencing great sorrow because they’re sharing in a special way, the mission of Jesus, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces. You know, there’s people who have a very impressive appearance, there’s people whose appearance is not very impressive at all. Even their appearance can be disfigured and how hard that can be. And Jesus takes on at this time, that experience of the one that says, “As from whom men hide their faces.” He was despised, and we esteemed him not. And then this prophecy goes deeper into the mystery of this man of sorrows. Why is He experiencing this? And what we’re going to see is that He’s experiencing this, not because He did something wrong, but He’s experiencing this for others. And of course, we’re so used to hearing that, we’ve heard that many times. But it’s very mysterious in life, to realize that a person suffering may be suffering, that is sharing in Jesus redemptive suffering to save souls. The passage says, “surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” So, the man of sorrows is carrying our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. The man it was esteemed as struck down by God, in a sense, He was struck down by God, but it was not for His own faults, but for the sins, for our sins. It says, “for He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole. And by His stripes, we are healed.” And so that has as the mystery begins to deepen, it says, Not only is He doing this for us, but His very wounds are healing. The chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes, with His wounds, we are healed. And that’s why in the hidden, that in the, in the image of Jesus at Divine Mercy, the risen Jesus, He appears, risen in His glory, but with His wounds, with His sacred wounds, which continue to heal. And that’s mysterious, because all of us have wounds, we can have wounds in our body. We can have wounds and our heart and in our soul. And the Lord can use those wounds, for healing, for healing for ourselves, and for healing for others. “All we like sheep had gone astray; we have turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of a soul.” So, we’re here because this crushing weight that Jesus is carrying, He’s carrying it for us. He was oppressed, He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. So, the prophecy emphasizes His silence, His acceptance which is so, so, hard, “like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before shearers is silent. So, He opened not His mouth,” (forgot to mention as we hear the rain, the gentle rain, but it seems like it’s kind of rough. It was rough weather for us to do our way of the cross but it also seems this weather seems so appropriate for Good Friday. It’s like weather of mourning) “Like a sheep that before shearers is silent. So be open not His mouth.” And what a lesson that is, right for us. How hard it is sometimes, especially when we’re being treated unjustly to not open our mouth. And that doesn’t mean that there’s sometimes we do need to open our mouth and speak up. But Jesus, gives us also an example of being willing to suffer. And so now then, as I say, the mystery deepens. And this mystery of suffering, which is suffering from not for Himself, but for others. And this is perhaps the most surprising thing. It says, “when He makes Himself an offering for sin,” which He did, of course, dying on the cross. It says, “He shall see His offspring.” How could this man who is dying with no children, dying young, on the cross, see His offspring? He doesn’t have any offspring. He doesn’t have any offspring in a human way. But it says He will see His offspring, because He will truly have offspring. And by the spiritual fruitfulness, He will see His offspring, He shall prolong His days. How can He prolong His days if He’s dying? If He’s dead? How can He prolong His days. And so, it’s such a mystery of the way things appear to us humanly. And the way things are in the light of eternity. Jesus prolongs His days, by dying in the Father’s will. And so many people, even people who die young, how much their days have been prolonged, for all eternity, the richness of their life for all eternity, because of the fidelity. He shall prolong His days. And it says, “The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” He seems to be dying, defeated. His mission seems to be a defeat, a failure. And yet it says, “The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” And so many times we might be trying to be faithful to God and try and try and in our effort seems wasted. Like maybe we’re trying to convert somebody. And it seems like there’s no response. And we don’t see that response. And we can even die without seeing that response. But if we’re faithful to the Lord, the Lord has showning how, in a way beyond what we can see on this earth, the will of the Lord shall prosper. And again, it says, “He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied,” as He’s dying, with, as I said, which seems to be the failure, the frustration and failure of His mission. And it says, “He will see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” How often our soul can be in travail, travail for our own efforts, our own struggles, travail for those we love, travail for our Church and our country, and not and how much suffering that can cause. And it says, “Jesus sees the fruit, this man of sorrows, the fruit of the travail of His soul, and He will be satisfied.” It doesn’t end in frustration; it ends in joy and satisfaction. “Through His suffering, my servant shall justify many,” so He doesn’t just suffer. He doesn’t just take on the sins of others, but His doing that is effective. By doing that, He justifies many, “and their guilt He shall bear. Therefore, I will give Him His portion among the great, the greatest of all, and He shall divide the spoils of victory with the mighty. He who is dying on the cross, will divide the spoils of victory” that is, He will celebrate forever, the spoils of His victory, what is the spoils of His victory? It’s the souls that He is saving from satan, who are the spoils of His victory that He will be celebrating with forever. As satan is gnashing  teeth. Because He surrendered Himself to death, all this victory, all of this Triumph, all this glory, where does it come from? Because He surrendered Himself to death, how different as I say how, how, what a contrast between our human ways. I’ve said I think of all the human movies about the guy who is gonna get revenge and so he shoots everybody up and blows everybody up. Those are human movies. But God is much more realistic than we are. God wants to destroy the power of satan. So, He’s shown a very different path. And it’s a path which comes from the power of love, sacrificial love, the infinite, invincible power of His love. “He shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.” So, Jesus suffering, this man, this account, this prophecy, and the prophecies speaks of the Man of Sorrows, of course, the man of sorrows, is, first of all, and above all, Jesus. But it’s not just Jesus. Jesus is not the only man of sorrows. And many men of sorrows are women of sorrows, beginning with our Blessed Mother. All those who share this path, which seems like a curse, which seems like a malediction. What seems disgraceful. And yet, when we’re sharing it with Jesus, it’s precisely that path of sharing the sorrows of the Man of Sorrows, which becomes this path of life of glorious triumph. And so, this is for all those who are sharing that. And it’s also for the Church today, the Church, which is living so much sorrow, is also experiencing this. And so, in conclusion, this prophecy of the Man of Sorrows, which is so, so explicit, and so frank about the intensity of His sorrows, but it doesn’t end there. It leads to triumph. So, I’ll read those, those few passages again. “He shall see His offspring. He shall be very fruitful; He shall prolong His days.” His life, it seems to be cut off, is on the contrary life, which prolongs forever. “The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand, He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul, and He shall be satisfied. Behold, my servant shall prosper, He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high, exalted in the extreme, My servant, that my humble servant, shall be exalted and lifted up very high.” And to the Most High, we call God, the Most High, and His exalted as the Most High, the man of sorrows, becomes exalted as the Most High. “The man of sorrows becomes the exalted victorious King.”  Amen.

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
Isiah 52:13-53:12
Man of Sorrows