Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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Good Friday: Commemorating the supreme act of mercy

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Mercy is the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.

On Good Friday we commemorate the supreme act of mercy, Jesus giving himself up to an ignominious death to reconcile us to the Father. St. Paul describes it in his letter to the Church in Philippi: “… He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2: 7-8).

This supreme act of mercy flows from the compassion of God. At its root, the word compassion means to “suffer with,” accompanied by a desire to relieve the suffering. God’s compassion is not mere empathy, but a sharing of our suffering and a determination to alleviate it. That desire, that determination manifests itself in God’s mercy. Jesus is the personification of God’s mercy, or, as Pope Francis puts it, “Jesus is mercy incarnate.”

The liturgy on Good Friday is central to the Passion of the Lord. It includes the ancient Christian custom of Adoration of the Holy Cross, dating to the fourth century. (Cf Pilgrimage of Egeria). The antiphon sung during the adoration explains why we both venerate and exalt this symbol of our salvation:

We adore your cross, O Lord.
We praise and glorify our holy Resurrection.
For behold, because of the wood of a tree
Joy has come to the whole world.

Our Holy Father Francis recalls that, “Jesus on the cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it; he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Jesus does for us on the throne of the cross. Christ’s cross, embraced with love, never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.” The Church of Mercy

Think about this for a moment. Jesus transformed the cross, an instrument of death, a mark of ignominy and human failure, into a symbol of the triumph of love and mercy.

Each of us has his or her cross, and in some cases, crosses. They can be overwhelming, almost unbearable. Let us seek to embrace them, as Jesus did and he will come to us, as Simon of Cyrene did for him, to help us bear our cross. They are our badge of discipleship.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,* take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt 16:24)

Mercy permeates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper

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Mercy permeates the Mass of the Lord's Supper

Our reflection on Mercy Week reaches its climax with the Easter Triduum, the summit of the liturgical year. Holy Thursday marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Triduum. Our senior Catholics will recall that Lent ended at noon on Holy Saturday, but liturgical reforms that followed Vatican II established the Triduum, beginning Holy Thursday evening and ending Easter evening, as a separate liturgical season, changing the end of the Lenten season to Thursday.

Triduum is Latin for three days. Following the ancient Jewish tradition that a day begins and ends at sunset, the Triduum begins Holy Thursday evening and ends Easter Day with evening prayer. Liturgically the Triduum is only one day, recalling the continuum of the last days of Jesus’ life, his passion, death and resurrection.

It is meaningful that the passion begins with a ritual meal commemorating God’s merciful deliverance of his people from bondage in Egypt, for the Last Supper initiates a new deliverance from the bondage of sin, that leads to redemption. Not just a promise but a new covenant of mercy enduring and perpetuated through the gift of his body and blood. Which we recall in the Eucharistic Prayer:

Take this all of you, and drink from it,
For this is the chalice of my blood,
of the new and eternal covenant,
Which will be poured you for and for many
For the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.”(Matt 26:26-29, Luke 22:19)

John in his Gospel describes the incredible sight of Jesus, taking the role of a servant, washing the feet of the apostles, over the strenuous objections of Peter who recognized the incongruity of the situation. Jesus responded, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

This action of Jesus has taken on new meaning in this Year of Mercy with the decision of Our Holy Father Francis to modify the rubric regarding the washing of the feet to embrace all disciples, establishing that the selection of participants in the Rite is no longer limited to men but can now include women and youth.

After the Lord washes the feet of the startled Apostles he explains the meaning of merciful discipleship:

Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (John 13:5-8)

At the conclusion of the supper, Jesus and the Apostles, less Judas, depart for Gethsemane where he will endure his agony and confront his betrayer and cross.

Mercy permeates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper as it does the entire Triduum. It is indeed “twice blessed,” showered upon us in great abundance of love and sacrifice to which we respond in worship and faithful discipleship.

Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

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Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

When we think of Good Friday the image that immediately comes to mind is the cross, which is the most common Christian symbol. There was a time when Catholics in America were called “cross backs.” We begin our prayers with the Sign of the Cross, which not only professes Jesus crucified but the Holy Trinity.

In the Roman Missal, Good Friday is called Friday of the Passion of the Lord, and the liturgy, like all the Triduum liturgies, recalls the events that culminated in the Resurrection. Good Friday is the only day of the year when no Mass is celebrated and the only other sacraments that may be celebrated are Penance of the Sacrament of the Sick.

St. Ambrose referred to Good Friday as a “Day of Bitterness.” The desolation felt by Christians on this day is represented by the barren altar and open tabernacle – the altar having been stripped after the conclusion of the Holy Thursday. There is no cross, there are no candles and no altar cloths, and no music or bells may be used.

The Liturgy of the Word consists of Isaiah’s account of the Suffering Servant, who “was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins.”It is followed by Psalm 31, a penitential psalm with the antiphon from Psalm 23, which Christ spoke from the cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The second reading is the passage on Christ the High Priest from Hebrews, Chapter 4, “Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” John’s Passion narrative is preceded by a short verse from the Letter to Philemon, emphasizing that were saved by Jesus’ obedience, “Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Following a number of intersessions, the cross is unveiled in procession and public adoration begins after the priest and the ministers have reverenced the cross. When the adoration has been completed, the priest chants the ancient reproaches of God speaking to us for our commissions and omissions.

Although there is no Eucharistic liturgy, the Eucharist that has been reserved on Holy Thursday is distributed at the Good Friday liturgy, which used to be called the Mass of the Pre-sanctified. Distribution of Holy Communion is preceded by the Lord’s Prayer.

The liturgy concludes in silence as the priest and ministers leave and we are left to reflect prayerfully on Jesus in the tomb.

Image Credit: Parish Church of St. Barbara (Ramersbach), stained glass windows depicting the Man of Sorrows, Wikimedia Commons

The Sacred Triduum

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The Sacred Triduum

Our Lenten Journey comes to an end on Thursday evening when the Sacred Triduum (Three Days) begins. The Triduum is the summit of the liturgical year. It begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday evening and ends with Evening Prayer on Easter. It commemorates the heart of the Gospel, Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Christians as early as the Second Century marked the Lord’s Passion and death with an all-night Easter Vigil, culminating with the celebration of His resurrection at dawn. Over the years, the observance was spread over three days. When persecutions by the Roman Empire ended and the Christians could worship openly, more feast days were added to the calendar and the important night of the Easter Vigil faded and for some Christians was overshadowed by the celebration of the Nativity. The liturgical celebrations of Holy Week virtually became private affairs for the priests, ministers and a handful of parishioners, with the Triduum eclipsed by Lent and Easter.

Restoration of the Triduum began with Pope Pius XII in 1955 and was completed by the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The liturgies of the Lord’s Supper and Easter Vigil were to be celebrated in the evening when more people could participate. The center of the Good Friday became the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, de-emphasizing private devotions and emphasizing the Crucifixion.

Because of the council’s reforms, there is more active and fruitful participation on the part of parishioners and the Triduum has been restored to its rightful place as the high point of the Church’s liturgical year.

It is my hope that you will enrich your Lenten journey by participating in the Triduum at your parish and taking advantage of the extra times being made available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Sacred Triduum

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Last Supper

Lent ends with start of the Sacred Triduum. Each is a separate liturgical time. The Triduum or Three Days begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening and celebrates the greatest mystery of our redemption, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord. The Three Days of the Triduum are celebrated as a single event.

In the words of St. Ambrose, “We must observe no only the day of the Passion but the day of the Resurrection as well. Thus we will have a day of bitterness and a day of joy; on the one let us fast, on the other let us seek refreshment….During this Sacred Triduum….[Christ] suffered, rested and rose from the dead.” (Epis. 23, 12-13)

At the Last Supper, Jesus extended the Paschal Mystery, his unique sacrifice for our salvation, to each of us through the Eucharist. The Eucharist recalls the Paschal Mystery not simply as a reminder of things past but makes it truly present. Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist is his greatest gift to the Church. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; … He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and …  abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6:51, 54, 56)

On Holy Thursday, at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we celebrate and commemorate that wonderful gift and the priesthood through which it is perpetuated. The antiphon for the Holy Thursday liturgy reminds us:  “Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.”

Friday confronts us with the mystery of the Cross which is more than a memorial of Christ’s death but involves each of us directly in His sacrifice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that, “The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the “one mediator between God and men.”  But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, “the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal Mystery” is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to “take up [their] cross and follow [him]”, for “Christ also suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example so that [we] should follow in his steps.” (618)

Saturday Jesus rested in the tomb awaiting the moment of his victory over death.

 

Image: “The Last Supper” by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

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As our journey of remembrance brings us to the day of the Crucifixion, we might ask ourselves what can be good about Good Friday? There are many theories but we do not really know the origin. It is unique to English with other cultures referring to it as Suffering Friday, Long Friday or Holy Friday.

Whatever name you choose, the liturgy reminds us that it was the time when Jesus’ human nature was most demonstrated. It is the day He drank the cup He prayed would pass, it is the day He took upon Himself our sins. It is the day he experienced the ultimate human experience…death.

In the liturgy, which is not really a Mass because there is no consecration, we begin with Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52-53) where we are reminded that “it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured”…and that, “upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.”

We are then reminded in Hebrews (4:14ff) that we may seek forgiveness with confidence because “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.”

Then we hear of John’s Passion which begins after the Last Supper when Jesus suffers His agony at Gethsemane and betrayal by Judas, the kangaroo court at the home of Caiaphas and His interrogation and scourging by Pilate and finally His handing over by Pilate for crucifixion. John alone tells us that Mary is given to the care of the Beloved Disciple by Jesus, before surrendering His Spirit. Finally he is buriedl by Joseph of Arimathea in his personal tomb.

Following a series of intercessions, the crucifix which has been veiled is gradually uncovered with the Antiphon, “Behold the wood of the cross upon which hung the salvation of the world.” This is followed by adoration of the cross by the people.

After a series of reproaches in which God challenges His people about their multiple rejections of his outreaches to them, the priest retrieves the Eucharist consecrated on Holy Thursday for distribution.

When Communion is over, a short prayer is said and a final blessing given. Then without ceremony, and in silence, the priest and ministers leave the altar. Only the cross, a bare altar and an empty tabernacle remain to remind us of Jesus in the tomb.

No ceremonies of any sort are permitted until the Resurrection is celebrated.

And so, our journey of remembrance pauses in silent reflection on the incomprehensible love that in Paul’s words “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,” but rather “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6,8)