The Church worships the Cross of Jesus who died to save us. Live the silence of respect and gratitude for the Lord’s delivery for us.
Mariangela Jaguraba – Vatican News
This Good Friday, the Church remembers the Passion and Death of Jesus. On this day, the Church experiences a great silence, it is not a silence of mourning, as we know that Jesus is alive, but a silence of respect and gratitude for the Lord’s delivery for us. The Church worships the Cross of Jesus who died to save us.
Jesus goes to Calvary, carrying the cross on his back, the weight of our sins. By carrying the cross, Jesus carries the pain and suffering of the entire world, through his death on the cross, He saves us from sin and gives us the guarantee of eternal life.
“On Good Friday, we celebrate the Passion of the Lord which we can also call Easter of the Cross and in the Passion of the Lord we contemplate the passion of humanity”, says the provincial of the Comboni Missionaries of Brazil (SP), Fr. Raimundo Rocha who worked for several years in South Sudan.
In his reflection for this Good Friday, he states that “in the Passion of Jesus we also look at suffering humanity, who suffers his passion. We contemplate the suffering of the victims. By celebrating the Passion of the Lord and contemplating him on the cross We cannot forget humanity crucified today, especially the poorest. Among many situations, we remember Sudan, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, the war in Ukraine and many other conflicts around the world.”
In Brazil, Fr. Raimundo recalls “the many young people who are victims of drugs, factions, families who are victims of floods, indigenous peoples threatened with losing their lands, religious and structural racism and the persecution of African-based religions.” “It is humanity that today continues to be crucified with Jesus”, he highlights. “As we celebrate the Passion of the Lord, let us remember the Lord’s gesture of love for all humanity, let us also remember the suffering humanity, the poor who are crucified today and let us strive to take them down from the cross and place ourselves at their side side as a sign of love and solidarity, continuing the liberating saving mission of Christ”.
This is a “moment in which the Church gathers around the mystery of Jesus’ sacrifice. In the celebration of this day we are invited to offer our Adoration of the Cross. We are before the person of Jesus, the crucified Christ and the mystery signified by this death for us”, is the reflection on the Adoration of the Cross by the priest of the Parish of Santa Edwiges, in Campinas (SP), Fr. José Tadeu Aguiar Lima, CSS, priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ, known as the Stigmatine Fathers.
“The cross for us Christians is the sign of the victory of Christ who breaks down the doors of evil. It is the greatest expression of the love of God the Father. In the cross is the project of death of all the evils in the world. In front of the cross on Friday Holy fair we revive and welcome this moment of Jesus’ greatest donation”, he highlights.
