For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
On Great Friday, the Church celebrates the wonderful mystery of Christ’s death upon the Cross. When I look upon the cross I see how extravagant God’s Love and sacrifice is for each one of us. Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man poured out his life and blood on the cross to save me from my sins. I see suffering, vulnerability, self-emptying love, cruelty, injustice, the evil of man, and the misery of my own sins… I see my Lord and my God on the cross loving me without limits… How I hunger and earnestly need this forgiving love…What do you see when you look at a cross? Do you see the depths of Jesus’ boundless love for you and ponder how much he cares for you?
Here is an inspiring prayer from our Maronite Divine Office:
“Our salvation cost a great price which you paid on the cross. However, you did not consider the cost, for it was your incomprehensible love for us that caused you to act. You humbled yourself and took the condition of a slave and were obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.”
(Divine Office, Monday of Passion week)
Jesus’ death on the cross conquers all sin, darkness, death and evil. The crucifixion and death of God’s Son is not the end. His victorious love and Resurrection on Easter Sunday is! We believe in a Crucified and Risen Lord who is alive and with us in the “now” of our messiness. What great hope! Jesus, our Radiant Light desires to refresh and animate us with his life-giving spirit. Give Jesus everything. Hold nothing back from him, your shame, sins, wounds, desires, needs. Surrender them. Let him in to those darkest places so that he transform them into Light!
“He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep…” (Isaiah 53)
What a precious gift… By his Glorious wounds we are healed and made whole and reconciled to God our Father and to each other… let us ask for the grace to truly weep and repent of our sins, to beg forgiveness for the times we have fallen short in loving God and others…and to deepen our resolve to become more like Jesus in the way we make a total gift of our self without holding anything back, and in showing compassion and forgiving those who have offended us.
In our Maronite Church on Great Friday, the Divine Liturgy, the Mass is not celebrated, instead the pre-sanctified Liturgy of the Anaphora of the Signing of the Chalice is used. This is one of the most ancient prayers of the Syriac Church. Holy Communion, consecrated the day before, is given to the faithful. In addition to the celebration of the pre-sanctified Liturgy, the Church also recalls the mystery of the cross by the rite of adoration of the cross and the burial of our Lord. O Christ, crucified for us, have mercy on us!
“O Lamb without blemish, you allowed yourself to be led to the cross as the gentle lamb is led to the slaughter.” (Divine Office, Tuesday of Passion Week)