Good Friday
This is undoubtedly the most solemn and muted of the Church's feasts. I'm sure that it would be even more striking if the previous use of black vestments were retained. Today is about death and mourning. After the previous day's glorious opening of the Triduum, we are left with an altar stripped and bare, not to be used for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass until Easter. We recall how Our Lord completed His sacrifice for us, and venerate a crucifix which is carried and unveiled before us. Like on Palm Sunday, the Passion is sung by three deacons, and thus the sacrifice which is made ever present in the Eucharist is presented specially today as the one sacrifice which Christ offered alone on the cross to reconcile a fallen humanity with God.Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pepéndit
Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the saviour of the world
Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the saviour of the world
Veníte adorémus
Come let us adore him
Come let us adore him
The congregation all file up and take turns to kiss the feet of our saviour crucified, once the crucifix has been unveiled. This is a very moving occasion, and brings to mind the scene in the film 'The Passion' when the women at the foot of the cross kiss Our Lord. Doubtless Mel Gibson was moved by this tradition from the Good Friday Liturgy: a ritual which expresses our interior love for the wood of the Cross, derived from a forth century custom of venerating a relic of the true Cross.
St Peter gives us some striking words about the crucifixion, which are given to us in the liturgy for Good Shepherd Sunday (the day I write):
Jesus has taken upon Himself the ultimate punishment for our sins. The very act of crucifixion is by its nature a result of the barbarity of sinful humanity; the punishment a decadent and cruel civilisation inflicted upon its subjects. This torture, cast upon the pure and spotless 'Lamb of God' shows us the way the divine plan includes the greatest act of love imaginable. He not only redeemed us with His blood; He spilt every last drop of it for us.
In Christ's suffering and death, he opened up for us the way to eternal life - removing the eternal punishment our separation from God's love had inflicted upon our souls. This separation stems from disobedience to God, expressed perfectly in the story of Adam and Eve, whereby they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - representing our constant attempt to decide our own relativistic morality. Truth is in God's grasp, and he conveys that perfect Truth through His divine Son.
In the Old Testament, when the High Priest had performed the ancient animal sacrifice of Atonement, he would then eat the victim which had been slain. The sacrifice here symbolised the ritual taking away of sins from the community of Israel. In Christ's sacrifice, this principle is perfected, as a divine victim appeases a divine and eternal justice which no amount of animal oblations could satisfy. But now, how do we consume the sacrifice offered? Through Holy Communion at the Mass. Such a heavenly food actually associates us with the community of Saints in Heaven, and sanctifies our souls.
Good Friday is the foundation of all Grace, the Sacrifice whereby Christ opened up the floodgates of Heaven so that we can transform our lives and fit us for eternal happiness and glory.
St Peter gives us some striking words about the crucifixion, which are given to us in the liturgy for Good Shepherd Sunday (the day I write):
[Christ] who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.1 Peter 2:24-25
Jesus has taken upon Himself the ultimate punishment for our sins. The very act of crucifixion is by its nature a result of the barbarity of sinful humanity; the punishment a decadent and cruel civilisation inflicted upon its subjects. This torture, cast upon the pure and spotless 'Lamb of God' shows us the way the divine plan includes the greatest act of love imaginable. He not only redeemed us with His blood; He spilt every last drop of it for us.In Christ's suffering and death, he opened up for us the way to eternal life - removing the eternal punishment our separation from God's love had inflicted upon our souls. This separation stems from disobedience to God, expressed perfectly in the story of Adam and Eve, whereby they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - representing our constant attempt to decide our own relativistic morality. Truth is in God's grasp, and he conveys that perfect Truth through His divine Son.
In the Old Testament, when the High Priest had performed the ancient animal sacrifice of Atonement, he would then eat the victim which had been slain. The sacrifice here symbolised the ritual taking away of sins from the community of Israel. In Christ's sacrifice, this principle is perfected, as a divine victim appeases a divine and eternal justice which no amount of animal oblations could satisfy. But now, how do we consume the sacrifice offered? Through Holy Communion at the Mass. Such a heavenly food actually associates us with the community of Saints in Heaven, and sanctifies our souls.
Good Friday is the foundation of all Grace, the Sacrifice whereby Christ opened up the floodgates of Heaven so that we can transform our lives and fit us for eternal happiness and glory.
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