Thoughts on Good Friday

It is almost 2:15 PM on Good Friday, April 2, 2010. We are almost through the traditional three hours marked as the time Jesus was on the cross. I thought I'd share some reflections that I sent to parishioners yesterday. Good Friday is the critical day on our journey toward Easter. In our culture today it is often easy to move through Good Friday without reflection, to focus on Jesus' resurrection (the nice part of the story) and not on his suffering and death (the painful part of the story).

And yet, the day is called Good Friday, not Tragic Friday. The word "Good" in the title for the day comes from an older use of the word in English as an equivalent of "Holy." Good Friday, then, is Holy Friday. It is also, for all the focus on Jesus' death, a good day. It is good because it is the day that reminds us that Jesus died so that we might live, live free from the burden of our mistakes, weaknesses, and shortcomings (our sins, to use the traditional word) that become barriers to a full and loving relationship with God.

The day is good because the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a divine embrace, an open gesture that reminds us that if we are lost, we can be found; if we are in darkness, we can find light; if we are in despair, we can find hope; if we are isolated and alone, we can find love.

The day is good because it reminds us that we are not alone in the pain and struggles that impact our lives. When we suffer, we remember that God through Jesus suffered for us and suffers with us.

The day is good because it reveals our human capacity to love one another in the midst of evil. While there are people in the passion story who mock, hurt, and kill Jesus, there are also those who stand with him and by him, who care for him as he suffers and in his death. Divine goodness made incarnate in Jesus and in us, we learn on Good Friday, overcomes evil.

The day is good because it is redeemed by Easter Day, the day of resurrection. We know that Friday is not the end of the story, that our sufferings and struggles in life are not the last word or the last action. God will bring good out of everything. No matter what, as Dame Julian of Norwich told us centuries ago, "all will be well, and all will be well, and all matter of things will be well."