A marvelous column today at Catholic Thing.
An excerpt.
“According to the ancient tradition of the Church, Good Friday is the only day of the year when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not offered. The celebration of the Eucharist is suspended on all the altars in every Catholic Church throughout the world as we mourn the Passion and Death of the Lord.
“Good Friday is a day of prayerful contemplation of the mystery of the Cross. And the Church invites us to do this as a community in the Good Friday liturgy, which consists of three parts: the liturgy of the Word, including the Passion according to St. John; the Veneration of the Cross; and Holy Communion, or what was formerly called the Mass of the Pre-sanctified (which consists of the distribution of Holy Communion from hosts that have been consecrated or “pre-sanctified” at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper.)
“In our contemplation of the Cross we discover the “sign of contradiction.” This is at the heart of the Paschal Mystery, the coming together of apparent opposites: suffering and healing, death and resurrection, defeat and victory, agony and glory.
“And yet they are not really opposites. Self-giving is a necessary prerequisite for perfect freedom, and perfect freedom constitutes new life and glory.
“I think one of the most powerful and mysterious lines in Mel Gibson’s popular movie, The Passion of the Christ, is when our Lord meets His dear Mother along the Way of the Cross, as she comes to His side when He falls, yet again, under the weight of the Cross. Looking into her compassionate and sorrowful eyes He tells her, “Don’t you see, Mother? I make all things new.” Now these words are not found in the Gospel, but are actually in the Book of the Apocalypse (21:5), and the filmmaker superimposes these words on the lips of Jesus for dramatic effect. Nonetheless, the scene conveys a powerful and mysterious truth.”
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.