GOOD FRIDAY

After a period of rejoicing over the birth of Christ, His followers observe a time of penance and fasting. This period, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Good Friday, is known as Lent. Fasting and other forms of renunciation or self-sacrifice are recommended as so many ways of following the example of Jesus, Who fasted for forty days in the desert, before He began His preaching. Jesus taught the need of prayer and fasting to overcome the Evil One. The practice of austerities has always been considered important in Christian spirituality.

A plank of wood, representing the cross on which Christ was crucified is displayed in churches for the veneration of believers. One by one, they come and kiss it. This is followed by a service from noon to3 o'clock, in which narratives from the four Gospels are read out. Sermons, meditation and prayers form part of the ceremony, in memory of the suffering endured by Jesus Christ for three hours. This is followed by a general communion service at midnight. In some churches, mourners wearing black, move in a procession with an image of Christ, and a ceremonial burial takes place. A day of prayer and penance, the bells of the churches remain silent on Good Friday.

The Cross and the Father's Will

The preaching and activities of Jesus provoked the admiration of the multitudes, but also the opposition and hatred of the leaders of lsrael. This resulted in His death on the Cross on Good Friday. The entire life of Jesus in all its details was in fulfillment of a divine plan. His Passion and Crucifixion were no exception. Overcoming His natural repugnance and horror Jesus went to meet His enemies when it became absolutely clear that surrender to them was the Father's will. Peter's use of the sword to defend Him was against His Father's will, and therefore an obstacle in His path, a devilish action. When Peter expressed his human reaction to Christ's prediction of His Suffering and Death, Jesus called him Satan (Matthew 16:22-23).

The Cross as Liberation

The death of Christ on the Cross was so entirely against human calculations to establish a kingdom, or to initiate a world movement of liberation, that this event alone can be said to be an argument to prove the divinity of Christ. Man-made-gods were always victorious kings or warriors who carried out their mission by destroying their enemies through the use of force. Jesus stands unique as the only Son of God Who saved mankind by accepting death at the hands of His enemies. Jesus did not come to kill, but to be killed. Through His sacrifice on the Cross He destroyed the power of the devil, the real enemy of humanity.

Evil Conquered by Goodness

Mary standing near the Cross associated herself in the closest possible way with the sacrifice of Jesus. The message of Good Friday is that evil can never be conquered by evil, but only by goodness, violence by non-violence, hatred by love for the enemy.