One of the prayers we say on Good Friday has sparked some recent controversy in the media. It’s the prayer we say for the Jewish people. At every mass we offer prayers of = the faithful for various intentions. On Good Friday these prayers are more solemn.= I will sing 10 of them, and we kneel in silence for each intention t= hat I name. The sixth one is for = the Jewish people. It calls them “the first to hear the word of God,” and it prays that they may continue to grow in the love of God’s name and in faithfulness to the covenant, so that they may arrive at the fullness of redemption. Prior to the Second Vatican Counci= l, we were asking God to remove the blindness of the Jews that they might recogni= ze Jesus Christ as our Lord. Aft= er the Council, we changed that prayer in two ways: we no longer speak of the blindness of the Jews, and we no longer pray for their conversion. These changes resulted from dialog= ues between Catholic bishops and Jewish leaders.

Last year when Pope Benedict gave permission for a broader usage of the pre-Vatican II mass, that included the prayer for the conversi= on of the Jews. Last month he re= wrote the prayer for those using the pre-Vatican II missal. He took out the word blindness, bu= t he left in the part about conversion. This caused a strong reaction from the Jewish community, who felt th= at the respect they had gained during the council was now being lost. More dialogues are underway. Somehow we need to balance our des= ire that all people come to believe in Christ with our respect for those who believe they are being faithful to the covenant God made with their ancesto= rs.

Our Christian faith is spelled out in today’s Second Reading, where we hear that Jesus became the source of salvation. He suffered just as we do, but he = never sinned the way we do. Through= his suffering he learned greater obedience to his Father. Through his death he has passed th= rough the heavens, where he intercedes for us as the source of our salvation. We believe that God can save anyon= e, even those who do not believe in Jesus.&nb= sp; But we also believe that Jesus is the one who saves you, whether or = not you believe in him. Even we who b= elieve don’t always act like we do. God has mercy in spite of our sins, and still offers us the grace of repentance.

Good Friday is called “good” for this reason.= It’s not good because of what happened to Jesus; it’s good because of what Jesus did, and what he does. He offers salvation to = those who obey God’s law.