Friday April 2

Good Friday

 

1.The Suffering Servant Wins

2.The Cry of All Those Crucified

3.It Is Accomplished

 

1.The Suffering Servant Wins

 

Introduction by the Commentator

We are here to remember the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. He stands before us as the Man of Sorrows, insulted, tortured, disfigured, crushed, finally dying on a cross the death of a criminal. Yet, at the foot of the cross we are not lamenting a man whose life was a failure, for to us the cross is the sign of victory over sin and death. We believe that he is God’s own Son risen from the dead and alive in our midst. This is not merely a story about the past, for the passion and death of Jesus is still going on in the people and the nations that suffer, in the poor, the hungry, in the victims of war, in all those crucified in any way. But we also believe that Christ rises today in Christians who struggle against sin and evil, in those who bring hope and joy to others. This is how we are one with our Lord today.

 

2.The Cry of All Those Crucified

 

Introduction by the Commentator

Good Friday: good for us, but painful and humiliating for Jesus. In his suffering and death God seems to be reduced to silence. But today we do not weep over someone who died. We raise up our eyes to Jesus who died to give us life. His death means the victory of life over death, for we see Jesus’ death in the light of his resurrection and the beginning of our risen life. Death is defeated. So, we raise our eyes to a risen Lord. In Jesus’ cry on the cross we hear the cry of all those who have been crucified in their lives, but also their hopes that they and we with Jesus will overcome all evil.

 

3.It Is Accomplished

 

Introduction by the Commentator

Just before his death on the cross, Jesus says: “It is accomplished” or “It is fulfilled.” What is accomplished? Accomplished and finished is his torture on the cross and his earthly life and task. Accomplished in him is the will of the Father and his work to bring forgiveness and life to people. All is accomplished as far as Jesus’ mission on earth is concerned and we are assured that evil will never triumph again: The final victory belongs to God. But… Not yet accomplished is the kingdom of justice and love and compassion on earth. For that task is to be accomplished by us, the disciples of Jesus, who have to let the Spirit of Jesus accomplish that work in us and with us. As long as there are people who suffer from hunger and injustice, they add to what was lacking in the suffering of Jesus and we, the disciples, have to do away with these evils. This celebration of the Lord’s Passion reminds us of this task, so that we can help people rise with him.

 

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God the Lord
to make us new people
made in the image of his beloved Son
(silence)
God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
your beloved Son became one of us,
like us in everything but sin,
when he was born from our flesh and blood.
By his suffering you save us
from the death we deserve
for being co-responsible for the evil of sin
in us and in the world.
May his suffering not have been in vain,
but fill us with the life and grace
he has won for us on the cross
and help us to become like him, our risen Lord
who lives and reigns with you for ever. R/ Amen.

 

First Reading: Jesus Took Our Ills Upon Himself

Suffering is hard to take and will always remain a mystery. Yet it is through suffering that the Servant of God won his victory over evil and sin. Suffering is a part of life and a source of life, in us as well as in Jesus the Servant.

 

Reading 1: Is 52:13—53:12

See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him
so marred was his look beyond human semblance
and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man
so shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25

(Lk 23:46) Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends;
they who see me abroad flee from me.
I am forgotten like the unremembered dead;
I am like a dish that is broken.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.”
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
all you who hope in the LORD.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

 

Second Reading: Jesus Felt and Made Up For Our Weakness

Jesus suffered for us to save us. Since his death and resurrection, everyone who suffers can unite one’s pains to those of Jesus and share in his victory over evil.

Reading 2: Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

In the days when Christ was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Verse before the Gospel: Phil 2:8-9

Christ became obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of the this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.

 

Passion of Jesus: It Is Accomplished

John stood at the foot of the cross. He wants the world to know that Jesus is not merely a man who suffered and was put to death, but God’s own Son who voluntarily offered his life for all so that we can become God’s sons and daughters.

 

Gospel: Jn 18:1—19:42

Celebrant’s Introduction of the Intercessions

Gathered at the foot of the cross, we will pray now for the great needs of the Church and of the world, for we remember today that Jesus gave his life that all might be saved and be gathered in his body, the Church.

 

Celebrant’s Introduction to the Veneration Rite

We shall now venerate the Lord’s cross. Strangely enough, to venerate the cross does not mean, even this Good Friday, to mourn the death of Jesus. It is true, we are sad and sorry that our sins caused his death; yet today we acclaim and kiss the cross as the sign of Jesus’ victory over sin and death, and therefore the sign of our liberation. He rose from the dead and he is alive. Therefore, we can rise and be alive to forgiveness and joy, and hope and life.

 

Introduction to the Communion Rite

Before us lies the broken body
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He did not live for himself,
he did not die for himself.
He lived and died for us.
He invites us now to take and eat his body
in his memory, to share in his sufferings and death

and to rise with him to a deeper Christian life.
He also invites us to break bread for one another,
that is, like him, to live for one another.
We now pray with Jesus to our Father in heaven. R/ Our Father…

 

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin
and renew with us your covenant
on account of the love
with which your suffering Servant
died for us on the cross today,
in the joyful hope of rising again
as our glorious Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…

 

Invitation to Communion

Thus says the Lord:
If the grain of wheat
does not fall in the ground
it remains a single grain,
but if it dies it yields fruit in abundance.
(raising the host)
This is the body of our Lord
who died on the cross
to become for us the source of life.
Happy are we to be invited
to the supper of forgiveness and life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, merciful Father,
we thank you for loving us so much
that you gave your only Son Jesus Christ
to restore us to life
by his triumphant death and resurrection.
Continue giving us the strength
to win our struggles against sin and evil
and to bear our crosses in life
together with your Son.
Give us the firm faith
that you want us to live
and to render you always
faithful, dedicated service.
Help us to give ourselves to one another
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

Prayer Over the People

Lord God, Father of Jesus Christ,
bless your people gathered here before you.
May your Son not have died for us in vain.
Send us home with the assurance
that our sins are forgiven,
that evil can be overcome
and that death is not the end.
Give us your risen Son
as our companion on the road of life,
to help us grow in your eternal life
and to bear witness to the world
that he lives among us
as our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

 

Reflection :

On his reflections on Good Friday, Fr. Ron Rolheiser had written these beautiful lines. He says: “Good Friday was bad long before it was good, at least from outward appearances.” How could this be good when God was being crucified? The author of the Gospel expressed it so poignantly that, as Jesus was dying, it grew dark in the middle of the day. As Jesus hung upon the cross, light gave way to darkness, love to hatred, and life to death. How could this day be good?
Jesus no longer seemed divine, powerful, and in control of things. He seemed to be sinking into a personal doubt. Other than a few strong women who stood their ground, in spite of a hostile crowd jeering, everyone else was aiding in the crucifixion of Jesus, either out of ignorance, jealousy, or weakness. The Good Friday was not good. It showed humanity at its worst before God’s seeming silence.
Even the angel who strengthened him in Gethsemane seems to disappear when he is on the cross. A crushing dark night of doubt now torments him to the point of making him cry out with what seemingly sounds like despair: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”
To understand the gravity of this feeling of despair, we must recall Jesus’ relationship with his Father. On how many occasions did the gospels say, “Jesus went out to a lonely place and prayed”? “The one who see me, sees the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in me…I and the Father are one”;… “I have come to do the will of my Father” and as a culmination of this beautiful Father-Son union, he taught us to call the Father “Abba” – Dady! How would it feel if someone whom you love the most, abandons you at a time when you actually need him/her the most?
In the face of that seeming abandonment, in ultimate darkness, Jesus had to make a choice for faith, love, and trust. What does Jesus do? He surrenders to the Father whom he cannot at that moment feel or understand but only trust. Here’s where Good Friday turns from bad to good, Jesus surrenders himself not in bitterness, grasping, or anger, but in trust, gratitude, and forgiveness. In that surrender, Jesus has won the most epic of all battles – the struggle between good and evil.
We will rid our world of those powers that perennially crucify God, only when each of us, like Jesus, can let our bitterness, grasping, and anger give way to trust, gratitude, and forgiveness. Like Jesus, we have to surrender ourselves to God that is, by trusting even when we don’t understand, by loving even when we are hated, and by forgiving even when we are being hurt.
All of us will have our Good Fridays. By every appearance, they will look bad, but if we give ourselves over in trust they will be good.