Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord – 3 pm Ceremony
(For you at Home). 2026.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
Psalm: Ps 30:2. 6. 12-13. 15-17. 25. "Father, I put my life in your hands"
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel Acclamation: Philippians 2:8-9
Passion: John 18:1 - 19:42
Homily
Solemn Intercessions
Spiritual Veneration of the Cross
Communion
Departure in Silence
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the readings, prayers, and reflections for Good Friday Passion - by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/good-friday-master-passion-of/s-YNTIOvQeXBq
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THE LORD'S PASSION - Good Friday Message.
With so much suffering, violence and hatred in the world, we can clearly see Christ crucified and suffering in the faces of all who hold out for good, for the building blocks of the kingdom.
People who keep acting to heal, to build and to foster understanding, dignity and peace, often at the ultimate cost of their own lives or own livelihood. The cross of Christ is God's wordless declaration of this. I give you my whole heart.
I give you my very self. I have held nothing back from you. Christ invites us to join him in doing the same, by the words we use, in our actions, in our priorities, in our attitudes.
Christ gives of himself for us. He gives every last drop. As we remember our Lord's suffering and death, we see that Jesus is the visible expression of God's love, which is deeper and more heartfelt than anyone could ever fathom.
Christ is the visible expression of God's mercy, God's compassion and kindness, and the visible expression of God's values. God's values are beautifully different from what the world often considers the highest of values. Christ shows us that God is love, complete, self-sacrificing love and mercy, especially in the form of service.
Christ is utter self-emptying love and service for all. Our Lord gave the very last drop of his blood, literally, out of love and service for all others.
There's a huge irony in the revelation of Christ's cross.
Here, in the cross, is true victory, true power and glory. That is, because he stood up in faithfulness for all that was essential, all that was life-giving. Even in the face of the threat and the actual realisation of suffering and death, he never gave up, he never sold out on what mattered, no matter what the cost, and the cost was huge.
And also, true defeat would be actually avoiding hardship, letting go of what matters to protect one's own personal welfare. True failure is lashing out in hatred and anger because others are giving us that in kind, and trying to dominate others or obtain fleeting results.
Through Christ's suffering and death, we are saved, we are freed, we are forgiven, and we're given hope to endure all the many "little deaths" and trials and suffering of this world.
For God has the final say in everything, and it's a word of hope, a word of love and faithfulness. In just a short while in this same ceremony, we'll have a time of adoration of the wood of Holy Cross, as we individually come forward and show our own personal and varied signs of reverence and veneration of this cross of Christ. Whether it's a profound and reverent bow, a gentle touch, a momentary pause in stillness and silence, it's always a deeply moving, personal and beautiful part of this Liturgy of Good Friday.
As we come forward and reverence the cross of our Lord, we join our lives and our struggles to Christ's suffering, and he joins himself to us. We nail to the cross of Christ, as it were, spiritually, all our sins, all our trials, our temptations, our failings, our doubts, our pride, our selfishness, our lack of compassion, our failure to love, our illness, our worries, all our thwarted priorities and desires. Christ calling out, "my God, my God, why have you abandoned me," gives voice to God's presence for everyone throughout history who has ever suffered hardship and rejection and violence or illness or injustice, war, disaster, and so much more.
Just as any person throughout history has called out to the Father in heaven, where are you, Lord, in this time of terrible suffering? Jesus takes that call upon his own lips in solidarity with us. Christ has entered into all of this, and he assures us that God is right there with us. The Lord really cares, and more than cares, he suffers along with us, and he lifts us all up.
We are always united deeply in God's love and faithfulness. Even when things are at their worst and seeming at their most hopeless, Christ is with us.
Our Lord offers us a radically different definition of power, victory, dominion, and success. It stands in direct contrast with the wider world's standard definition of such words.
We do wonder often, when will the wider world realise this beautiful message of Christ, the things that make for true and lasting peace, the things that last beyond this life into the kingdom of God: Peace, service, love.
Christ's definition of victory, glory, and power evoked scorn and derision from those who opposed him.
And this is just the same today. Just try to tell the superpowers that true power is revealed in weakness and vulnerability. If we weren't laughed at, it would be at least a cause of reaction or fear. The truth is we are all vulnerable. We're all limited. We all have weaknesses deep down.
This is at the heart of Jesus' message. He's only saying what is profoundly true, that all who try to deal with their vulnerability by using force and domination, fear, oppression, hatred, or violence, they're seeming to act somewhat effectively or forcefully for a time. They may even go through their whole lives appearing to show that no one is stronger than they are, and that they're in charge of everything to do with themselves and their environment. But underneath, they're still vulnerable, still flawed, still ever vigilant against surprise assailants, because they're not and cannot be inherently secure, because they base their lives and their values on things that ultimately do not last, things that are not fundamentally true.
Jesus warned us that power and oppressive tactics are very seductive options. He faced the temptation to use force to do good and rejected it utterly, knowing that in the end, force is a lie that must be resisted.
He shows us that if people see through this lie of force, violence, and threat, it loses all its power to make anyone do anything out of fear.
Many people throughout history, after the example of Christ, have peacefully resisted and have learned and shown this message, not without the shadow of the cross, although they've experienced the cross very deeply and suffering that goes with it, but they show the weakness of violence and hatred. Jesus stood entirely unarmed and without armor.
Our Lord stood before the world with the truth of his relationship with his Father. He stood there alone on the validity of his good news message, confirming the absolute power of love, of graciousness and forgiveness, of inclusion and peace. He stood by that right to the end and beyond, and it proved to be utterly authentic and it saves us all.
Jesus showed that power is always actually a relationship, that true leadership is about service and sacrifice, not self-interest, and that the true community must be about including all others, not segregating or separating, not scapegoating or silencing minority voices out of fear.
When it comes time to venerate the cross, each of us is invited to pray quietly to God (God who is in that secret place of our heart).
Let us ponder upon what we're nailing to the cross as we come forward today.
For Christ died to save us, to include us individually and as a group, to show us God's mercy and that God is always faithful, even in our darkest hour.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly.
Mark link sj. "Vision – Praying Scripture in a Contemporary Way. Year A."
Image: Shutterstock Licensed Item ID: 1049715632 - Biblical vector illustration series. Way of the Cross or Stations of the Cross, twelfth station, Jesus Dies On The Cross. Contributor: rudall30
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to the weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the Liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins Publishers.
May God bless and keep you.
KER 2026
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