Friday 18 April 2025

Today is Good Friday, the 18th of April.

Ex Cathedra, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore, sing Versa est in luctum by Alonso Lobo. Versa est in luctum: My harp is tuned for sorrow. ‘Tuning your harp for sorrow’ is a conscious, deliberate preparation for sadness to come. As we begin to recall the suffering and death of Christ on this Good Friday, how can you prepare yourself for this sorrow? Allow the music to guide you…

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.

John 19:16-30

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews.” ’Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfil what the scripture says,

‘They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.’
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

There is no more poignant moment in the Gospels than when Jesus places his mother and the beloved disciple into each other’s care before he dies. What do you imagine was in the heart and mind of either of them as they stood and waited for his final moment?

For centuries Christians have meditated on the words of Jesus from the Cross. ‘I thirst’; ‘It is finished’. How do these words resonate within you and touch into your understanding of him undergoing the Passion for you and for the world?

Listen once more as the reading is repeated. Are there words or visual images that stay with you? What do you find yourself wanting to ask of Jesus or say to him, to his mother or others at this scene as you witness it? Speak from your heart.

In the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius tells us to ‘ask for what we want’ whenever we pray. We are not giving God a news bulletin here but bringing to our own consciousness the grace we feel we most need at this moment. What do you find yourself asking for right now?

We adore you O Christ and we bless you
For by your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
Amen