3 April 2026 - Good Friday – The Passion
of the Lord
Mass
Readings: Is
52:13-53:12 Ps 30 Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Jn 18:1-19:42
Key
Verse to Ponder: When
Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed
his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn 19:30)
Dear brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
Good Friday is the day when the Church stops at the foot of the Cross
to meditate on the immense value of Christ’s love, definitively manifested
through His death. Today the Church is silent. The disciples are silent. Our
churches are bare, unadorned, and quiet.
In the evening, we gather for the celebration of the Passion of the Lord
and the adoration of the Cross. The Eucharist is not celebrated anywhere
today, because the only sacrifice that remains before our eyes is the sacrifice
of Christ hanging on the Cross, sealing the definitive bond between heaven and
earth.
Today our hearts and our prayers enter into silence. Here we contemplate
the mystery: Jesus died on the Cross on this Good Friday. His death
reveals that love can go to the very end, even to total sacrifice and
self-giving. Therefore, we bow our heads in adoration and thanksgiving,
professing that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of God. Looking at
the way Jesus died on Mount Calvary, the Cross becomes for us a luminous
sign of salvation, the supreme testimony of God’s love for humanity.
The Cross: The Measure of God’s Love
The Cross should not only hang around our necks but should also guide every
choice we make in life. The Cross has become the measure of the love
that God has for us. Let us stop today at the foot of the Cross in the
silence of our hearts and realize that we are loved to this extent.
On this holy day, the Church invites all the faithful to observe fasting,
prayer, and reflection, meditating on the mystery of Christ’s death. This
sense of emptiness is symbolized in the Church by the empty altar and the
covered crosses and statues. The Church becomes silent and penitent,
contemplating the mystery of a God who dies for love. We are invited to adore
the Cross, expressing with a kiss our gratitude for what we have received from
it and showing solidarity with all those who suffer in the world today.
They say that nails did not hold Jesus to the Cross—love did. In
Jesus’ death we see the complete and absolute self-giving of Christ for the
life of the world, in perfect obedience to the will of the Father.
The Liturgy of Good Friday
The liturgy of Good
Friday focuses on Jesus, the suffering servant of the Lord. The
celebration of this day is traditionally divided into three parts:
- The Liturgy of the Word
- The Adoration of the Cross
- Holy Communion
The Liturgy of the Word
reveals the deep reality of Christ’s suffering.
The First Reading: The Suffering Servant of Isaiah
The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah presents the fourth song of
the Suffering Servant, which prophetically describes the suffering of
Jesus: "He had no form or beauty that we should desire him. He was
despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
(Is 53:2-3). The prophet continues: "Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our
iniquities; by his stripes we are healed." (Is 53:4-5)
Jesus was rejected by many: the religious leaders, the political
authorities, the crowds, and even His own disciples. His appearance was
disfigured by suffering: "His appearance was marred more than any
man." (Is 52:14). The purpose of Christ’s suffering was clear: He
bore our sins so that we might receive forgiveness, healing, and new life.
Indeed, by His wounds we are healed.
The Second Reading: Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus understands our human
weakness: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet
without sin." (Heb 4:15). Because Jesus experienced suffering and
human weakness, we can confidently approach Him for mercy and grace.
The Gospel Reading: The Passion According to St. John
The Passion narrative from the Gospel of John presents the final moments of
Christ’s life. Many people appear in this story—disciples, women, priests,
soldiers, Pilate, and the crowds. Each one approaches Jesus in a different way.
At the end of the Passion narrative, we are reminded of an important truth: "They
shall look on him whom they have pierced." (Jn 19:37). This prophecy,
originally found in the Book of Zechariah (Zec 12:10), invites us today to fix
our gaze upon the crucified Savior.
Blood and Water from the Side of Christ
After Jesus died, a soldier pierced His side: "One of the soldiers
pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and
water." (Jn 19:34). This event holds deep spiritual meaning. The water
symbolizes Baptism and the blood symbolizes the Eucharist. Together
they represent the birth of the Church from the side of Christ. Just as
Eve was formed from the side of Adam, the Church was born from the pierced side
of Christ. As St. John Chrysostom explains, from Christ’s side flowed
the sacraments through which the Church lives.
Jesus Died on Good Friday
Jesus truly died on Good Friday. Yet in His death we discover the greatest
truth of all: love is stronger than death. As the Gospel of John reminds
us: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
(Jn 3:16). Christ died for the salvation of the world. By shedding His precious
blood, He established the new covenant of God with humanity. The words
of Isaiah are fulfilled in Him: "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all." (Is 53:6)
And as St. Paul reminds
us: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus."
(Rom 3:23-24). It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses
us from sin and makes us worthy of the life of God. What John the Baptist
declared at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is fulfilled at the Cross: “Behold
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29).
The Cross of Christ
Jesus’ death on the Cross is central to human
history. Two thousand years have passed, yet Jesus’ death on the Cross remains
the most remembered death in history. The empty tomb of Jesus and Mount Calvary
in Jerusalem are among the most visited places in the world. It was on that
unforgettable Good Friday that Jesus died on the Cross—for love. Since that
Friday, neither the world nor humanity has remained the same. His death turned
everything upside down.
Today, the Cross has become the most widely
recognized symbol in the world. It adorns the necks of countless people. Many
graves are marked with the Cross, and most churches have the Cross erected on
top. Art and jewellery are filled with representations of the Cross. Once the
most humiliating means of execution under the Roman Empire, the Cross has,
after Jesus’ death, gained profound theological significance. Once a symbol of
imperial power and cruelty, it has become a symbol of the suffering love of God—a
transformation from ultimate threat to ultimate hope.
Love of Christ
The love of Christ is beyond human explanation. It is this love that led
Him to the Cross. St. Paul expresses it beautifully: “That you may comprehend
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ that surpasses all knowledge” (Eph 3:18–19). This love became the
driving force of Paul’s life: “The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14). He
trusted in that love, convinced that nothing could separate him from it. Even
in our sin, God loved us first (Rom 5:8). The self-sacrifice of Christ gave
Paul an unshakable confidence in divine love.
If you want to understand what it means to love and to be loved, look to
the Cross. The Holy Cross is the ultimate expression of God’s unfathomable
love. As St. John proclaims, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16). The famous German
theologian Karl Barth was once asked by students in the United States, “Dr.
Barth, what is the greatest truth you have learned as a theologian?” His answer
was simple yet profound: “Jesus loves me.”
Jesus Did It
A simple yet profound question remains: Why did Jesus die the way He did?
The answer is clear—Jesus did it for us. He died for me. He took your place and
mine on the Cross. It was sin—the darkness in every human heart—that nailed Him
there. Yet Jesus believed that through love, the Cross could become not merely
a symbol of sin and death, but a sign of redeeming love. His true messianic
mission was not to conquer by force, but to surrender in love—and that is
exactly what He did.
He embraced suffering willingly. The story of the human race began in a
garden with Adam; the story of the Second Adam reaches its climax in a
garden—Gethsemane. After His arrest, Jesus had many choices: He could have
resisted the soldiers, defended His actions, escaped into the wilderness,
negotiated with the chief priests, bargained with Pilate, or even called upon
divine power to save Himself. He could have come down from the Cross or stirred
the crowds to revolt. But He chose none of these. In freely embracing the
Father’s will, He brought salvation—not only to the Roman soldiers, His
disciples, and Jerusalem, but to all humanity.
Conclusion: Looking at the Cross Today
The Cross is the
greatest gift of love. Love and death are so deeply united in the Passion of
the Saviour that you cannot have one without the other. On Calvary, there is no
life without love, nor love without the death of the Redeemer. Any love that
does not derive from the Passion of the Saviour is shallow and even dangerous.
It is not the magnitude of our actions that pleases God, but the love with
which we perform them. The mystery of Christ’s love must overwhelm our lives.
We are called to give our lives in love. As Charles Taylor writes in Sources of the Self, “Only in losing do we
attain fulfilment and self-satisfaction.”
Today we are invited to look at the Cross with gratitude and faith. In the
midst of suffering, uncertainty, and the struggles of life, the Cross reminds
us that God’s love is stronger than sin, suffering, and death.
The Passion of Jesus Christ remains the most important event in human
history. Jesus suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried for our
salvation. Yet from the Cross He still speaks the words of forgiveness: "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Lk 23:34)
May the Passion of Christ
heal our hearts and become the source of our hope.
