In Good Friday’s afternoon the great drama of Christ’s death in the Calvary is presented. The raised cross upon the world keeps itself stood as a sign of salvation and hope. By the Passion of Jesus according to the Gospel of John and also by the heart of the Beloved disciple, of the Mother, and of the soldier who pierced him, we contemplate the mystery of the Crucified One.
Saint John, theologian and chronicler of the passion, leads us toward contemplating the mystery of Christ’s cross as a solemn liturgy. Everything is dignified, solemn, and symbolical in his narrative: every word, every gesture. His Gospel’s density makes it more eloquent. And Jesus’ titles constitute a very well done Christology. Jesus is the King. That’s what the title on the cross says, and the Gallows is the throne where he reigns. He is a priest and a temple at the same time, wearing the seamless robe which the soldiers took by luck. He is the new Adam who came with his Mother, the new Eva, Son of Mary and Spouse of the Church. He is thirsty for God, the executor of the testament of the Scripture. The One who gives the Spirit. He is the immaculate and immolated Lamb, nobody was able to break His bones. He is Glorified in the cross and that when men turn the eyes to him, He attracts all to himself.
The Mother was there, at the foot of the Cross. She didn’t arrive suddenly in the Golgotha, for, since the beloved disciple had remembered her, she had been following, with a Mother’s heart, step by step, Jesus’ way. And now she is there as a mother and disciple who fully followed her Son’s path, a sign of contradiction like Him, she was always with him. But solemn and majestic as a mother, the mother of all, the new Eva, the mother of the afar children, those who she places around the cross of her Son.
Maternity by heart which inflates through the sword of pain that becomes fruitful.
The word of her Son that extends her maternity to the infinite ends of all men. Mother of the disciples, of her Son’s brothers. Mary’s maternity has the same reach as Jesus’ redemption. Mary contemplates and lives the mystery by the majesty of a Spouse; even still feeling a great pain as a Mother. Saint John glorifies her by the remembrance about this maternity. The last testament of Jesus. The last gift. The assurance of a maternal presence in our life, in everyone’s life. For Mary is faithful to the word: Behold, your son.
The soldier, who pierced Christ’s side, at the side of His heart, did not realize that a prophecy was being fulfilled; an amazing and last liturgical gesture was being performed. Blood and water come from Christ’s heart. Blood of redemption and water of salvation. Blood is a sing of that greatest love; a life offered to us, water is a sign of the Spirit, Jesus’ own life that now, as a new creation, pours upon us.
The Celebration
Today, all around the world, mass is not celebrated. The altar is illuminated without mantel, cross, candles or any other adornment. We recover Jesus’ death. The ministers fall on the ground in front of the altar at the beginning of the ceremony. They are the image of the oppressed and, at the same time, of the penitent humanity who implores for forgiveness of their sins.
They dress up in red color, the color of the martyrs: of Jesus, the first testimony of Father’s love and of all those who, like him, gave and kept giving their life to proclaim the liberation which God offers us.