Good Friday

How can one adequately understand this day? It transcends our ability to comprehend. The absence of candles, holy water and the Eucharist in church sends a shock to our senses. He who is the “way, the truth and the life,” is gone. He has been betrayed, scourged, crowned with thorns and executed as if He was a criminal guilty of the most heinous crimes.

Tauberbischofsheimer Altar by Matthias Grünewald, c. 1523

Behold the love of God! A bruised and naked body, bloodied and gasping for air. He is an embarrassment to the crowds, a blasphemer to the Jews, a criminal to the Romans, yet to His mother and a few others He remains the savior of the world. 

Who then is this God? 

He is not the God we expect Him to be. He is quiet, docile, obedient and subject to human authority. We expect a God who is more like a warrior; instead we have a God who is a servant. We expect a God who would annihilate his enemies, yet He does not even fight back or say a word against them. It is only faith that can penetrate these depths. Our human intelligence stands before the Passion of Christ and humbly bows down in confusion.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

Sacred Heart Friary
Ft. Worth, TX
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