Meditation for Good Friday 04/03/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

Meditation for Good Friday – The Death of Jesus

“Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: ‘It is consummated’ and bowing His head, He gave up the Ghost” (John 19, 30).

First Prelude: In spirit ascend the heights of Calvary and reverently remain at the foot of the cross, whereon our Blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, dies for love of us.

Second Prelude: O my crucified Saviour, Who didst die for love of me, grant that, through the merits of Thy precious death, I may die to self, and live henceforth only in Thee and for Thee.

In the gospel narrative we read: “Having tasted the vinegar, He said: ‘It is consummated’ and thereupon He bowed His head and gave up the Ghost” (John 19, 30). Oh, marvelous death of the God-Man! The Saviour died of His own free will for love of us! For, though the torments He suffered were more than sufficient to deprive Him of life, nevertheless, death should have been powerless over Him Who holds in His hands the keys of life and death, had not love deprived Him of life. The prophet had foretold of Him: “He was offered because it was His own will, and He opened not His mouth; He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before His shearer, and He shall not open His mouth” (Is. 53, 7). His death was a holocaust of the purest love, which He offered to His heavenly Father for our redemption. Contemplating our Divine Saviour on the cross, let us seek to penetrate His forgiving and merciful Heart, and we shall find therein nothing but love. Love took His very life away; His passion breathes love, speaks the language of love. His holy lips are sealed, but His outstretched arms, His wounds, His lovingly-inclined head, speak louder than words: “I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep” (John 10, 11). In union with Mary, with the beloved disciple, and the pious women, let us embrace the foot of the cross, the tree of salvation, and adore the Eternal Son, Who immolated Himself to the Father for our redemption—the Innocent Lamb Who takes away the sins of the world. Let us beseech our Divine Saviour, bleeding for love of us, for the grace to die for love of Him; to die to our evil habits, to our sensual desires, to pride, to self-will, to levity and dissipation, and to all that opposes His love in our hearts. Let us humbly offer the passion and death of our Lord and God to the heavenly Father through the hands of the Mother of Dolors, for the conversion of sinners and for the salvation of the whole world. By the Precious Blood flowing copiously from the cross, let us beg for a love, strong as death, which recoils from no sacrifice, that thus strengthened we may persevere on the cross of our religious vows until death.

How do I account for my lack of love? Is it not due to my neglect to ponder sufficiently the love of the Crucified? Having considered His painful sufferings, His boundless love, can I ever again refuse my dear Lord a sacrifice?

Not satisfied with having suffered and died, Jesus, in His infinite love, desired to have His Sacred Heart opened, that in life and in death we might conceal ourselves therein as in a secure fortress. The fire of His love should melt our icy hearts. In His Sacred Heart, we should find not only sufficient grace, but an abundance of all the graces which we desire, protection in all temptations, consolation in distress, encouragement and strength in all our sufferings and afflictions. With what confidence should we then approach the throne of grace and heed the sweetly penetrating words of our dear Saviour: “Come to Me all ye that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you” (Matt. 11, 28). Our hearts have need to love and be loved; here we find a Heart that is ever good and true, Whose love is constant, shedding even the last drop of blood to draw our icy hearts close to His loving Heart. On this great day of love let us offer Him our heart in return. Many a time we have given it to Him, but how often have we not reclaimed it wholly or in part, and sullied it by our infidelity! Penetrated with the most profound sentiments of contrition and love, let us, at last, surrender it irrevocably to Him Who will not despise a humble and contrite heart.

By what sacrifice will I prove my gratitude to Jesus for having suffered His sacred side to be opened for me?

Affections: O my Divine Saviour, obedient unto death, even unto the death of the cross, Thou hast achieved on the sacrificial altar of Thy love the sacrifice whereby Thou didst merit eternal life for my soul. What couldst Thou have done more for me, to impress me with the terrible malice of sin, but also with the astounding greatness of Thy divine love and mercy? Embracing Thy holy cross, dear Lord, I detest and repent of all my sins. By the merits of Thy saving death, by every drop of Thy Precious Blood, give me the grace to die to myself and all my evil inclinations, and to live in future for Thee alone as a victim of immolation. Wound my heart with the love that opened Thine, O my beloved Saviour, and let the Blood and water from the sacred wound in Thy side flow upon my soul, and be my salvation and my consolation. O sacred Blood, that flowed so copiously on Calvary’s height, cleanse all sinners that they may love Thee.

Resolution: With tender love and gratitude, I will frequently contemplate my crucified Saviour and renew the sacrifice of the complete abandonment of my entire being.

Spiritual Bouquet: “He was obedient unto death, even unto the death of the cross.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ. . .