Living Good Friday
Later, at the Passion of the Lord, we will enter the
liturgy on Good Friday in silence. We don't need a "gathering rite."
It is as though we have been "gathered" since the night before. The
first act of the liturgy is for the Presider and ministers to lay face down
before the cross, in silence. As with all liturgical rituals, that invites us
to lay prostrate before the cross as well. We can prepare to begin the Good Friday celebration by
reflecting upon ourselves laying there - with all the feelings we want to
identify and pay attention to. Our feelings may not be consistent or even
inspiring. I might feel awe, gratitude, guilt, powerlessness, all at once.
During his very first general audience Pope Francis said, "Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God's logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life."
We come overwhelmed by the depth of Jesus' love for us, and his commitment to defeat evil, even when that meant his own suffering and his own death. For part of what we celebrate on Good Friday is that Christ has completely identified with us in suffering, even to death. On this Good Friday we hear again Christ pray the lament of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? On Good Friday, we remember how wondrous it is to have a Saviour who intercedes for us and understands our weakness. Although we rebel against God and fail to enter into an exchange of love with Him, God uses even our weakness for a higher purpose. Blessed John Paul says that Jesus descends to the ultimate limits of human weakness and impotence, but at the same time in this weakness he is lifted up, confirmed by the power of the resurrection. This is the gospel paradox of weakness and strength (2 Cor 12:9-10).
Today, we fast from celebrating the Eucharist today, but we are gathered by the Spirit to re-connect with our celebration of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. We do not want to forget what that liturgy continues to mean for us. This is the bread that gives life. This is his self-giving love for us.
During his very first general audience Pope Francis said, "Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God's logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life."
We come overwhelmed by the depth of Jesus' love for us, and his commitment to defeat evil, even when that meant his own suffering and his own death. For part of what we celebrate on Good Friday is that Christ has completely identified with us in suffering, even to death. On this Good Friday we hear again Christ pray the lament of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? On Good Friday, we remember how wondrous it is to have a Saviour who intercedes for us and understands our weakness. Although we rebel against God and fail to enter into an exchange of love with Him, God uses even our weakness for a higher purpose. Blessed John Paul says that Jesus descends to the ultimate limits of human weakness and impotence, but at the same time in this weakness he is lifted up, confirmed by the power of the resurrection. This is the gospel paradox of weakness and strength (2 Cor 12:9-10).
Today, we fast from celebrating the Eucharist today, but we are gathered by the Spirit to re-connect with our celebration of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. We do not want to forget what that liturgy continues to mean for us. This is the bread that gives life. This is his self-giving love for us.
Every Holy Week is a new experience. Every Good Friday, if you enter into it wholeheartedly, gives you a sense of familiarity in a way, but as you go deeper, year by your, the experience changes and transforms you. You can live it all over again and live it more richly every time. Unless, of course, you're experiencing a different kind of spiritual transformation like the dark night of the soul....but that's probably all part of it too.
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