As we reflect on this Good Friday, let us attempt to fathom what Christ has given us.

Himself – He has given us Himself, fully human and fully divine.  God has given everything He has.  He has taken upon Himself our sinfulness and weakness.

Eternal life – He has conquered death.  He has removed the power of sin.  He has provided the means of eternal salvation through the New Birth of baptism.  He provides Himself, The Bread of Life in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist as food to sustain our growth and spiritual life.  Eventually, He will give us glorified, resurrected bodies.  We will be the perfect creations of body and spirit that we were always meant to be.

Forgiveness – Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation He has given us forgiveness and new life when, through our feeble, human nature we damage or extinguish the spiritual life within us.

His Church, His Bible and The Holy Spirit – He established His Church.  He gave the Church the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us.  Through His Church He gave us the Bible and men with His authority to rightly interpret the Scriptures.  Through the Sacraments of His Church we are given graces beyond measure.

His family – He became our Brother, led us to His Father, and from the cross, gave us his mother.  He connects us to each other as one Body of believers on Earth and in Heaven.  Through Christ, the Communion of Saints is one, big, universal family.

He has given us much more than I can list here.  He has not left us as orphans to fend for ourselves.  He has provided all we need for our pilgrimage from this life to the next.