Good Friday

The church is so empty.

Weep not for Me, but for yourselves and your children. Image Credit: Gianna Bonello

At the time of writing, one of my younger brother is still a permitted driver, so when the men's schola was assigned the Good Friday mass, I was signed up for the hour and a half long stretch of adoration while he practiced.

The church is so empty.

It's structural beauty remains, but aside from the purple fabrics draping the statues in the sanctuary, there is no other decoration. Further, the tabernacle is open and the sanctuary lamp is blown out. This may strike some as odd: many only see the inside of the tabernacle on Good Friday. At our last parish, I regularly performed a number of sacristan duties, some of which included the tabernacle. But this isn't routine maintenance. To leave it open feels like an invasion of privacy in some small way.

I remember being in adoration once as a kid and the sanctuary lamp was erroneously unlit. It bothered me all throughout the hour. Yes, sitting here, there is another candle lit on the alter of repose, but it is different.

Father challenged us last night to read and meditate on Psalm 22 before Good Friday.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest."

Such desperate words. To some, they may also sound accusatory. To me, they sound like the words of someone who is hurt and desperately wants to know why. But keep reading...

"Yet,"

…here our character admits that there may be hope.

"Yet, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not disappointed."

God has a track record. Anyone who has read the Old Testament knows that God's people have been though some really messed up times. If the Israelites weren't giving into idolatry, then they were doing their own thing like God would just "go-with-the-flow" (neither worked out by the way). God always had them though, and our suffering servant knows that.

Please go read the remainder of Psalm 22 (USCCB - Psalm 22). As we make our way through the Triduum, please be inspired by the hope of the suffering servant. Regardless of where you are in your faith journey, there is something in Psalm 22 for everyone.

P.S. Don't Forget: start your Divine Mercy Novena today in order to end on Divine Mercy Sunday!

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Alter of Repose: https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/revisiting-the-altar-of-repose/

Psalm 22: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/22

How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/how-pray-chaplet-divine-mercy