The air is still. The candles are snuffed. The tabernacle stands open and empty. The Church does not celebrate the Mass today. On Good Friday, the heart of Holy Week, we confront the unfathomable mystery of love poured out through suffering. We kneel before the Cross and behold the God who chose death to give us life.
This is not a day of comfort—it is a day of confrontation. Good Friday lays bare the full weight of human sin and the boundless mercy of God. It is the one day in the Church’s liturgical year when the altar is bare, the music is hushed, and the faithful are invited into the silence of Christ’s Passion. We do not come to be entertained. We come to be changed.
The Scandal of the Cross
St. Paul wrote, “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Even today, the image of the Crucified Christ offends a world obsessed with power, pleasure, and pride. But for Catholics, this image is the source of all meaning. On the Cross, the suffering of the Innocent One exposes the cruelty of sin—but it also reveals a love so profound, so self-emptying, that it turns the very instrument of torture into a throne of glory.
The Cross is not a symbol of defeat. It is the sign of our victory. But that victory was won through blood, through agony, through a willing descent into utter humiliation. And it is that same path we are called to walk.
The Silence That Speaks
Good Friday is marked not by words, but by silence. The liturgy includes the reading of the Passion according to St. John, the Solemn Intercessions, the Veneration of the Cross, and the distribution of Communion consecrated the night before. There is no Eucharistic Prayer. There is no Gloria. There is only the Body of Christ, given up for you, and the piercing cry: “It is finished.”
Yet in the silence of this day, God speaks volumes. He says: “I know your suffering. I have entered it. I have redeemed it.”
He says: “You are not abandoned.”
He says: “Come, follow me through the Cross—and into the Resurrection.”
A Day to Kneel and Remember
We kneel before the wood of the Cross not out of superstition, but because we recognize the cost of our salvation. Each strike of the hammer, each thorn of the crown, each lash on His back—these are not distant relics of a long-ago event. They are the price paid for our sins, the ransom that set us free.
This day calls for fasting, for stillness, for sorrow—but also for gratitude that pierces through our pain. It reminds us that no suffering is meaningless when united to Christ. And that the darkest hour is not the end of the story.
The Cross in Our Own Lives
Good Friday challenges us to take up our own crosses—not just as burdens to carry, but as gifts to offer. Whether it is sickness, heartbreak, injustice, or failure, every Catholic is invited today to join their suffering to Christ’s. “If we have died with Him,” writes St. Paul, “we shall also live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11).
The saints teach us that to suffer with Christ is to be closest to Him. St. Teresa of Ávila once said, “Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end, and take courage.” Good Friday is our annual reminder that the road to Easter always passes through Calvary.
A Call to Stay and Watch
Today, don’t rush ahead to the Resurrection. Don’t seek to escape the grief. Stay in the garden with the Lord. Stand beneath the Cross with Our Lady, with John, with the holy women. Watch with Him. Weep with Him. And adore the God who gave everything to draw you back to Himself.
He is not asking for our perfection. He is asking for our presence.
So come. Be still. Bow down before the Cross. Because here—at this place of death—we encounter the Source of eternal life.
“It is finished.” But it is not over. Sunday is coming.
By His wounds, we are healed.
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