Good Friday: A Holy Day Without Obligation; A Tragic Day We Call Good
This week I’m in the throes of preparing for and experiencing the Triduum, the three days from the celebration of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday through the Easter celebration. This lent has absolutely flown by, and I cannot believe we have come to the climax already.
Growing up I always wondered why Good Friday wasn’t a Holy Day of Obligation. It seemed to me to be a very important day. We always attended the Stations of the Cross, confession when it was available, and the long Good Friday Service. We spend vastly more time at church each Good Friday than a typical Sunday, but it wasn’t a Holy Day of Obligation.
Jesus came to earth and became human, including all its limitations, specifically for this. He came to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins, so that the gates of heaven will be opened to us. He became human to die for our sins.
Yet, the Catholic Church doesn’t impose an official obligation on this day. The reason? We don’t celebrate Mass on Good Friday. A Holy Day of Obligation, like Christmas Day (Dec. 25), the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (Aug. 15), and All Saints Day (Nov. 1), mandates the faithful to attend Mass. We can’t do that on Good Friday, because no Eucharistic Celebrations happen on that day.
We do still come to the church and remember the passion of our Lord. We walk along with Jesus as he is betrayed, tortured and eventually killed for us. We venerate the cross which was the means of his death. We pray reverently for all people in the world to come to know and love the one who loved us, even to the point of death. We mourn and meditate on the passion of Jesus.
The Good Friday service may look a lot like a long Sunday Mass, but there is one very significant difference. The priest does not celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist. He does not repeat the words Jesus said at the Last Supper when he instituted the Eucharist and Priesthood. There is no consecration on Good Friday, meaning no ordinary bread is transubstantiated (transformed) into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. The part of the Mass that makes it a Mass is removed. When we solemnly receive Jesus in the Eucharist on Good Friday, we receive the hosts which were consecrated the preceding evening during the Holy Thursday Mass.
None of this is mandatory. Following Jesus’ footsteps as he suffered for us is not a requirement. Even his own apostles who were with him for his public ministry—those who had seen first hand his authority and power, those who professed he was truly the Messiah, the Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father—even they abandoned Jesus on his way to Gethsemane.
Despite everything Jesus endured on that Friday, we still profess it “Good.” How can a day plagued with betrayal, abuse, and death be good? Why do we willingly go to services to be reminded of the agony and awful crucifixion of our Lord?
The answer is two-fold. The first is that his death—the exact moment he willingly gave his life for us—is the moment the gates of heaven are opened to us. His selfless sacrifice grants us an opportunity for everlasting life. His love, his endless Divine Mercy, demonstrated so fully in this moment in history, is the key to our salvation. And that is good.
The second reason we call this day good is because without it, there can be no resurrection. If Jesus skipped his passion and went straight to his ascension into heaven (which he absolutely had the power and authority to do), he would have also been skipping the resurrection. In this we place our hope, that on the last day, we too will be resurrected.
The suffering isn’t the end of the story. Death isn’t the end of the story. Good Friday is good because even when the bleakest circumstances suffocate us, we know what is waiting for us in three days’ time. This is why, even without an obligation, you will find me in the church on Friday to remember that painful yet very good day.
Copyright 2024 Maria Riley
Images: Canva
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