Happy Good Friday

Homily for Good Friday

By Deacon Thomas Stephenson

March 25, 2016

Many years ago, I went into a store on Good Friday, and as I approached the clerk, she said to me in a cheery voice and with a big smile, “Happy Good Friday!” I was more than a little surprised, that someone would consider this as another holiday, like Christmas or Easter. I knew her intentions were good, although not very carefully considered. But perhaps we should give deeper consideration to this day, and reflect on the fact that, while not happy, this is called Good Friday for a reason.

Of course, we know that it is good, it is for our benefit, it is for our eternal salvation, that our Lord died on the cross for our sake. This is what He came to do; this is the reason He was born. Today, March 25, would normally be the Feast of the Annunciation, except that this year it is superseded by Good Friday, so celebration of the Annunciation has been moved to April 04. In a column Wednesday, Fr. Raymond De Souza reminds us that, although we celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25, His incarnation, the beginning of His formation in Mary’s womb, was March 25. We know that, in God’s plan for our salvation, His death on the cross was the ultimate reason for Jesus to become man.

To get to the good, we have to get through a lot that is not good. Even just the beginning of the Passion account we just heard – have any of us ever been arrested? Can we imagine being out with our friends, and having the police show up to take us into custody, with a crowd standing around? That in itself would be frightening and humiliating. Jesus was at this point already being categorized as a common criminal. What would the apostles and other followers of Jesus be thinking? And as the trial and crucifixion unfolded, their hearts must have been sinking, their hopes fading, as they saw that Jesus did nothing to defend Himself from this disgraceful, scandalous, excruciating death. Doesn’t seem to be much good there.

The good is not apparent, but it is there. Because in His mercy, He did this for us. Pope Francis said: “The cross is the mystery of the love of God who humbles Himself. There is no Christianity without the cross. There is no way for us to abandon sin unaided. Christ humbles Himself to save us.” “The heart of God’s salvation is His son, who took upon Himself our sins, our pride, our self-reliance, our vanity, our desire to be like God. A Christian who is not able to glory in Christ crucified has not understood what it means to be Christian. Our wounds, those that sin leaves in us, are only healed through the Lord’s wounds, through the wounds of God made man who humbled Himself, who emptied Himself.”

Jesus willingly submitted to death on the cross, as an offering to reconcile us to God. Our contemplation of His death today should not be to realise how horrible we are, but to see that He loves us so much that He would do this for us. For all of us, for any us, for you, for me. We should be deeply grateful for this, which none of us deserve. This does not make this day happy, but this is where we can find the good in Good Friday.