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The Death of the Lord Jesus
Good Friday commemorates the passion and death of the Lord Jesus.  During this time, the church is to be barren.  No signs or symbols of Jesus' presence should be found in the church to recall how Jesus was carried off outside of the walls of Jerusalem to be crucified.  It is the Church's ancient tradition that the Eucharist is not consecrated today.  Instead, the left over Eucharist from the Mass of the Lord's Supper is distributed during the Good Friday Liturgy without much ceremony.  This day is both somber and a time of intensified prayer and vigil for the coming celebration of the Lord's passover from death to new life.  The first day of the Triduum ends at sunset of Good Friday.
Sacred Scriptures

Isaiah 52:13-53, 12
Psalm 31
Hebrews 4:14-16
5:7-8
John 18:1-19:42
Oh my people!  What have I done to you?  How have I offended you?  Answer me!
...it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured....
                        -Isaiah
"Death ends a life, not a relationship."
- Morrie, from Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie
This day is upon us again.  We cannot escape it.  It is part of our Lord's story and it is part of our story.  We gather in silence to hear the word of God proclaimed.  "Who would believe what we have heard!"  Jesus of Nazareth, the man who came into the world to preach, to teach and to heal, died today at our hands.  It is a story that no one can ever forget though we were not there on Calvary with him.  We can never forget this story because we live this day at certain moments and hours in our lives.  Each of us has had a Good Friday when we finally have hit bottom and turned everything over to God saying, "Father, I put my life in your hands!" 

Perhaps then that is why this is GOOD Friday.  Jesus shows us the way to the Father.  In his moment of pain and powerlessness, when he realized there was nothing more he could do in the world as he was, Jesus let go and let God.  He allowed his body to be broken like a dish so that the Holy Spirit could be poured out upon the earth.  In his act of humility, Jesus Christ redeems the world.  He does not look out for his own needs; and he does not seek remedies to the situation he is in hanging in torment on the cross.  Rather, Jesus gives everything to the Father.  We are called to do the same.

So much of what we are called to do each day as followers of Jesus Christ involves dying to ourselves.  At various points in our lives we simply must come to the realization that we are limited, we can only do so much, we are not God.  But as it says in the letter to the Hebrews, we have a High Priest in Jesus who can sympathize, who can relate to everything we are going through whether it be joy or sorrow.  Jesus has experienced it all.  Jesus shows us on the cross that we need to lift everything that we are, every experience, every emotion, all that we have to the Father.

Though we gather singing lamentations, we know that there is a hidden joy underneath the red garments we wear to remember the Blood of Christ poured out for us.  The Cross itself is a sign of greater things to come.  We should not spend this day as if we are mourning the loss of a loved one.  Rather we must lift ourselves to the Father in union with Jesus confident that all things that are hidden from our knowing will be made clear and all that is dark in our lives will be cast with light.  Our story does not end on Calvary!  The Father does not abandon us no matter what it may seem.  Let us continue our vigil of prayer and wait for what has been promised!

Peace,
Shaun Lowery
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