Good Friday

He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces. How often do we avoid the suffering of the poor, the marginalized, and those who are different from us? We turn away to avoid seeing and being challenged to do something to alleviate the suffering.

On Good Friday, the liturgy invites us to see clearly the suffering of Jesus as we listen to the story of the self-emptying he endured for us. The Passion narrative asks us not only to see but also to feel the pain of rejection, denial, physical suffering, and eventual death. We stand in awe at the depth of love given for us.

We watch as even those closest to Him deny or run away. We wonder at the lack of courage of those who could have changed the outcome or the fury of the crowd calling to crucify him. And perhaps we feel uncomfortable knowing we have done the same.

And yet, we know that, like the women and the disciple at the foot of the Cross, we have stood with him in the face of injustice and hurt. We kneel before the Cross in humble awe and gratitude for the gift of salvation we have been given. And we receive His Body broken and given for us that we might be nourished to do for others what he has done for us.

This is Good Friday. Good because we know the depth of God’s love for us. We know that this suffering is only temporary and that God promises to recreate all that is broken by sin. We stand in silence before so great a mystery.

How will I help to recreate what is broken by sin in my own life?

Let us pray:

Remember your mercies, O Lord, and with your eternal protection, sanctify your servants for whom Christ your Son, by the shedding of his Blood, established the Paschal Mystery. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. (Good Friday Collect)