At his dying father’s bedside in August, Bishop David Zubik repeated a prayer.
“Dad, just let go. Fall into the arms of God.”
The leader of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh encouraged hundreds to do the same during his homily at a solemn midday Good Friday service at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.
Let go of jealousy and resentment, he said. Let go of feelings of revenge.
“If what is wearing on you is a sense of prejudice against any other person, because of the color of their skin, or their political affiliation or their national background ... look to the cross. Let it go,” Bishop Zubik said.
The time with his father changed his view of the cross, the bishop said, and made him “appreciate just how much suffering Jesus went through, because I saw just how much suffering my dad went through.”
The bishop said he wanted his father to know he and God were there for him as he fought the complications of congestive heart failure. Stanley Zubik died Aug. 12 of asphyxiation — the same thing that would have been on Jesus’ death certificate, he said.
Christians observe Good Friday, the day Jesus died after being crucified, just before Easter Sunday, a celebration of his resurrection saving people from their sins and giving them eternal life.
The personal message brought the homily alive, said Hayley Wiegand, a Catholic missionary with Focus at Carnegie Mellon University.
“I thought it was really beautiful. It’s something I’ve been working on as a Catholic, and it was really great to hear it from our bishop,” said Margaret Edwards of North Versailles, who is a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon.
Bishop Zubik also encouraged parishioners to enter through an “inviting” side door of the church, draped in yellow and white fabric, at some point this year, to be reminded of God’s endless compassion and inviting mercy.
He formally ushered in the local observance of a global Jubilee Year of Mercy in December when he blessed that entrance of the cathedral representing a Holy Door of Mercy.
After the service, Tom Huey of Irwin said, “It’s nice to peel back the layers of what Easter means and to reflect on how someone suffered so greatly for all the things we have today.”
Lexi Belculfine: lbelculfine@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Twitter: @LexiBelc.
First Published: March 26, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
