Holy Week

How to have a ‘good’ Good Friday

How can Good Friday be good? Good Friday is the day that Christians all around the world remember the suffering of Jesus Christ on a cross.

Depictions of Jesus Christ’s suffering are immortalized within our cultural framework because of such movies as The Passion of the Christ. However, we are not meant to wallow or suffer in the grief of Jesus with torment and pain.

On this day of sadness, we wonder: what is so good about this phrase Good Friday? There is no clear answer, but the word “good” and “God” were mixed together in the English speaking world. For instance, the surname “Goodspeed” derives from “Godspeed”, which comes from the expression “God speed (with you)” The expression, “good bye” came from the phase, “God be with ye (you).

Despite the origins of the phases, we don’t really feel “good” on Good Friday.

No matter what the origins of the phase, we cannot escape our feelings. Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering. Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful of Jesus’ torment?

No! We must acknowledge our feelings of grief and loss regarding Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday. We cannot deny these feelings, nor should we. The stages of grief are real for us as they were for Jesus and his disciples:

Good Friday, Holy Week

Prayer for Good Friday

O Christ, your life was no triumph, you carried a cross; may we walk along the same road as you.

O Christ, by your suffering you learned faithfulness; you became a source of eternal salvation for the whole human race.

O Christ, when threatened you did not retaliate; enable us to forgive to the very end.

O Christ, you see the pain of those who are exiled and abandoned; take their suffering upon yourself.

O Christ, when lies and worries try to separate us from you, your Holy Spirit is always with us.

O Christ, you are the happiness of those who follow you: enable us to live by your trust.

O Christ, our life is hidden with you in God; that is a joy that touches the depths of the soul.

Strengthen us, Eternal God, and we will wait in silence and peace until the light of the Resurrection rises upon us. Amen.

Prayer from Taize

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Loving Provider,
you gather me in this upper room with your son,
to be fed by your love.
At that supper, Jesus told us to “love one another”
and I know that is the heart of his gift,
his sacrifice for me.
I ask that I might find the source of my own heart,
the meaning for my own life, in that Eucharist.
Guide me to the fullness of your love and life.
Amen.

Holy Week

What is so good about Good Friday?

Good Friday? How about Bad Friday, Black Friday, or Depressing Friday? If this is the day in which we remember Jesus suffering, bleeding, and dying on the cross, what is so good about it? The movie, The Passion of the Christ, in many ways, change the way we feel about Christ suffering. The graphic and bloody movie was a stirring portray of Jesus’ last hours. For some, Good Friday induces feelings of guilt, depression, and even remorse. Christians, on this day, truly feel a sense of sadness.

On this day of sadness, we wonder: Where did we get the term “Good Friday? There is no clear answer, but the word “good” and “God” mixed together in the English speaking world. For instance, the surname “Goodspeed” derives from “Godspeed”, which comes from the expression “God speed (with you)” The expression, “good bye” came from the phase, “God be with ye (you). Despite the origins of the phases, we don’t really feel “good” on Good Friday.

No matter what the origins of the phase comes from we cannot escape our feelings. Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering. Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful of Jesus’ torment?

Christianity Today recently published an article that gives a good take on this day. John Witvliet explains why we should not punish ourselves:

Holy Week

What is Maundy Thursday?

Today, Christians around the world commemorate Maundy Thursday — no, not Monday Thursday, which would be an interesting concept: society could work Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off! Some Christians misunderstand that this day is only a “Catholic” celebration. Christians both ancient and modern have remembered Christ’s last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, which begins the great triduum, the three days of the paschal celebration.

The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word maundatum for “commandment”, which comes from Jesus’ words from the last supper: “I give you a new commandment; that you love one another…” The full Latin phase is maundatum novarum, which means “a new commandment.” According to Robert Webber (The Services of the Christian Year, #252), these words were translated in the French word mande. This in turn was anglicized into “maundy.”

During this day, Christians celebrate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples through serving and receiving communion with a special service. Often, all of or some of John 13 is read. This scripture recalls:

Holy Week

Palm Sunday Processional

My son, Rowan leading the Palm Sunday procession… confusion ensues.

Holy Week

Prayer for Holy Week

God whose word cannot be broken:
with Jerusalem we are stunned this Holy Week.
Like a city overcome with sudden devastation,
we are swept up in the confusion and desolation,
wondering what is happening.

Liturgy, Scripture, and song immerse us in the river
that flows to betrayal and the cross.
The gospel we have tried to make manageable
has overturned our tables of control.
The sufferings of Jesus
that we try to avoid engulf us.
The fruitless fig tree withers before the majesty
of one whose mission is
relentless and uncompromised.

Help us with all of your church to watch and pray,
to behold anew the unfolding scandal
and the ragged good news of salvation.
Behold with mercy the agonies of the world
where the suffering of Jesus is being completed,
both then and now.

Let the Via Dolorosa for us
be both acts of devotion and worship
and of compassion and justice,
so that Christ’s abundant sufferings
become the world’s abundant consolations.

Silent prayer and listening

Order of Saint Luke Publications. This prayer, written by Dan Benedict, is from The Daily Office: A Book of Hours for Daily Prayer (Volume II: For Lent and the Triduum).

Holy Week

Palm Sunday Prayer

Call to Worship

Leader: On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the Holy City, Jerusalem. The crowds cheered and cried out;

People: Hosanna to the Son of David!

Leader: Jesus rode upon a donkey and the crowds spread their garments before him, cheering:

People: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Leader: When the leaders asked, “Who is this?” the crowds said:

All: This is the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, from Galilee. (Matthew 21:11)

Prayer of Confession

Leader: On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the Holy City, Jerusalem. The crowds cheered and cried out;

People: Hosanna to the Son of David!

Leader: Jesus rode upon a donkey and the crowds spread their garments before him, cheering:

People: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Leader: But by the end of the week, the crowds were gone and only a few followers remained.

Let the people be silent, offering silent confession.

Leader: The night he was arrested, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, as was his custom.

People: May we pray with Jesus as we remember the night he was arrested; may our faith prove true and sure.

Leader: Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”

People: May we, too, pray not for comfort and ease,
not for the easy road, not for a life without trial or worry;
but, like Jesus, may we pray that we will do the will of the Lord,
no matter the circumstance, not counting the cost.

Let the people pray in silence.

from: Hosanna to the Son of David! A 21st Century Worship Resource for Palm Sunday, The Rev. Dr. Steven F. Plymale

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