Tag: Good Friday

Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil

From the responsorial psalm: “The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 16:1-7)

On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’”

After the sabbath, early on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint him. As they approach the tomb, they question among themselves how they will remove the stone. When they look up, they see that it has been rolled away. A young man sits at the right side of the tomb who tells them Jesus has been raised, and he sends them with a message, mentioning Peter by name and the disciples. Jesus would meet them in Galilee, as he told them. In the resurrection, saving us from sin and death, Jesus goes ahead of us. And God always keeps his promises. In the Easter vigil Mass, the triumph of light over darkness appears in the risen Christ, the Light of the World.

God, help me fully embrace the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son in understanding it as much as your grace allows so that I can partake in the full Easter joy of receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. By taking him in, I take in his victory over sin and death and am strengthened through him in the hope of the resurrection, which he made possible for all who believe in him. Grant me the grace, Lord, to participate in the mystery of Christ’s resurrection and know the joy it offers for me and for the whole world. Have mercy on us, Lord, and on the whole world. “By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

From the responsorial psalm: “Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 18:1—19:42)

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Until the moment of his death, Jesus was aware that he was accomplishing his Father’s will. Throughout the days leading up to his passion and through all its brutality, he never lost sight of it and in the last moment knew when he had fulfilled all he was sent to fulfill. What was it Jesus thirsted for? To be sure, as a man, he thirsted as a man thirsts; as Immanuel, he thirsted not for any created thing but for the salvation of all. In saying “It is finished,” the Son announces to the Father in that moment the finality of life but also the beginning of the end of sin and death in his glorious resurrection to come. Jesus’ death on the cross is not an end but for all who believe in him the full flowering of the hope of the resurrection.

God, in contemplating the death of your Only Begotten Son on the cross, I strive to see the profound depth and breadth of its effects, for the sake of the whole world and for my own sake. Help me weigh the small sacrifices I make today against the weight of your crucifixion. There is no comparison, and it could be that all I can do today is stand in wonder of that. Give me the grace to know more deeply the meaning of the crucifixion; teach me through obedience to your will the meaning of suffering as a means of sanctification. A sinner, I am inclined to want to look away from the crucifixion and what it draws me to—Christ your Son—but I can’t look away. Help me understand who it is I behold and what it means.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,  went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them. When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM.”

In the Lord’s Passion, Jesus refers to himself as I AM from the moment the chief priests and Pharisees come looking for him to his moment of death, when he says, “It is finished.” In his self-declaration as I AM, Jesus identifies himself as God. When Pilate tells Jesus that his own nation has handed him over to him and asks what Jesus has done, Jesus replies: “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” Again, when Pilate tells Jesus he has the power to release him or crucify him, Jesus says, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above.” So it is the eternal God, the creator of the universe, God who loved us into existence and whose Son is one with him, who died on the cross to take away our sins. As Isaiah says in the first reading of the servant, the Son of God: “he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”

God, considering your Son on this day of his Passion, I fumble for words. What do I say to you? It’s the way I might feel when approaching a great or saintly person, yet there is added to that the sorrow of death and loss of a beloved one, your Son. It is your grace I need to help me expand and deepen my understanding of the passion. Saint Paul encourages me to come to you for that grace. Let me remember his words throughout the day: “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” To find grace in you, God—I know you desire that and that you thirst for me to come to you. From the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst.” Let me hear your voice today and come to you to receive your mercy.

Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings