Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, a priest-associate at All Saints Episcopal Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, has also served for several years as a chaplain to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church. She is the author of Holy Hunger: A Memoir of Desire. These seven meditations were preached on Good Friday, 2002, at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. She sets them up with these words: "For generations, Christians have gathered at the cross of Christ to ponder his last words. We can probe Christ's words in the same way we sometimes decipher the last words of our loved ones, testing their meaning, wondering what he intended to communicate. But we can also turn the exercise around, for in the end, we come to the cross not to probe Christ's words but to let them probe us — to let them work on our minds and hearts as we take our next step forward toward union with God."
Each meditation is followed by a section titled "To Ponder in Prayer" with ideas on how to go deeper into the text. For example, on the Second Word from the Cross, Bullitt-Jonas quotes St. Athanasius, one of the early Church Fathers who said "Always breathe Christ," and then she suggests: "Breathe in the loving kindness that Jesus is extending to you right now. Breathe out that loving kindness to every person or concern that comes to mind."
These thought-provoking sermons also discuss practicing forgiveness (a very relevant topic after September 11); dealing with the reality of violence; the need to reclaim the early Church's understanding that Jesus died for all creation, not just human beings; coming to terms with our buried desires; and the challenges inherent in living passionately for God.
