how would I spend my last kiss?

 Homily

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

7 April 2023

St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas

How would I spend my last kiss?

Would I spend it here?

Would I spend it now?

I can tell for sure how I wouldn't spend my last kiss - on the kiss cam!  I hate the kiss cam. I don't got to sporting events to watch PDA.  The inventor of the kiss cam should be canceled.  I don't care if everyone else loves it.  I live in fear that some cameraman far far away would think it funny to put a priest on the kiss cam.  So whenever it comes on I make a beeline for the beer line!  It's a hard no for me.

Yet what's my yes?  How would I spend my last kiss.  Would I spend it here?  Would I spend it now.

At this juncture of the Lord's passion, the last kiss is that of Jesus.  It's a kiss of betrayal.  It's the kiss of death.  Jesus is dead, and I killed him.  That's where the story is.  That's where the story could end.

Yet what if I have one more kiss, a kiss not of betrayal, not of death, but a kiss of reconciliation.

The Good Friday liturgy is famous for its liturgical kiss.  As you approach the crucifix in just a few minutes, you get to choose what your kiss means to you.  Is it the kiss of death, or the kiss of desire for new life.  Is it where your story will end, or where your story truly begins?

For the only love that could defeat death, is a love willing to suffer and lay down its life for it's beloved.  The axis of the cross can only mean two things - it's either the final defeat of love, or the place where eternal life begins.

What if you had only one kiss left.  Would you spend it here?  Would you spend it now?