Good Friday
Scripture:
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
Hebrews 4:14 -16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42
Reflection:
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. -John 18:37
When I was a child, Good Friday was a very special and important day in our house. From
noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, there was no television, radio or record player playing.
It was still and quiet. My mother said it was to remember and respect the Passion and Death of
Jesus. We did not attend the communal worship in our parish, instead we read a book or colored.
Around two-thirty in the afternoon, our mother would retrieve her Life of Christ book from the
Catholic Library collection and read the Passion and Death of Jesus to us. As I listened, I
understood some of the story and other parts were not as clear. I remember how the sun shone in the living room as she read, and I felt the sacredness of the moment.
Today I still prefer to have a quiet house from noon until three o’clock and read the Passion of
Jesus from the Gospel. I do have my mother’s Life of Christ book and will read from it this year.
While communal celebration of the liturgy is an essential part of the Catholic faith and worship, on Good Friday I prefer to reflect in solitude and sit in the sacredness of the moment. I will also view Antonio Ciseri’s painting, Ecce Homo and spend time meditating on the moment that Pilate had the opportunity to change the injustice that was occurring but refused the grace of God and buckled under the political pressure of his time. In the painting Ecce Homo, Pilate’s own wife turns her back on the scene where Christ is presented to the people, Ecce Homo, refusing to take part in or give approval to the travesty.
In our busy and noisy world, it is good to take time to be quiet and reflect on those things which have meaning in our lives. May your Triduum embrace the elements of reflection, silence, and celebration, Providing a deeper experience of the love and peace of Christ.
Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.