A grey day begins. Something pervades the day, even among non-practicing Catholics and Christians and even unbelievers. Today is Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ death. So why do we call today “good”?
No one takes Jesus’ life from him. He gives his life freely, even though we read that he’s afraid to die. "Remove this cup,” Jesus pleads in the Garden of Gethsemane, petitioning God to spare him of what is sure to be a brutal death. He is 33 years old, far too young to die and in his prime when his ministry is cut short. But in his prayer, he arrives at the point of acceptance. This death must occur so that God can raise Jesus and show us that life does not end after mortal death for those who believe in Jesus. That’s good news for us.
Eastern Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox call today Holy and Great Friday. Depending on a particular country or continent, the word good seems nebulous for cultural reasons. In Germany, some call today Gottes Freitag (God’s Friday). However, to German Christians, today is Karfreitag – Sorrowful Friday or Suffering Friday. In Denmark, today is Long Friday. South Africans call today Great Friday or Holy Friday. The Spanish call Good Friday "Viernes Santo” and carry the corpus of the cross through the streets in procession. Throughout the world today, Christians remember that Christ died, was buried, grieved by his mother and followers and buried in a borrowed tomb through the compassion of a friend.
Why do you call Good Friday “good”? What does the word, the day, the event mean for you?
If you haven’t stepped into a church for awhile, today might be a “good” day to stop in. Churches are open all day. The main service is sometimes held in the afternoon at 3pm. In ancient Jerusalem, this is the time when lambs were slaughtered in the temple in preparation for the feast of Passover. This is the time when Jesus died. To accomodate people who work and want to celebrate the main service of Good Friday, many churches celebrate at 7pm to remember, celebrate and recall what and why we believe that Good Friday is a good day.