| 3550 Southwest Loop 820, Fort Worth, TX 76133 Phone: 817-926-8277 -- Fax: 817-926-8278 Preschool: 817-923-2040 email: st.christophers@att.net |
St. Christopher Episcopal Church
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To Know Christ and Make Him Known
| A Look at Our Church Seasons and Holy Days - Good Friday |
The Liturgy for Good Friday is spare, somber, and profound. To that end, little or no music
is used in the service. While there is communion, there is no prayer of consecration over the
elements. Instead, bread consecrated the night before at the Maundy Thursday service is
used. Why? My own take on this is that, on Good Friday, there are no bishops, priests, or
deacons. Before the great and terrible events of this day, all of our gifts fade in the light of the
One Gift given to us by our great High Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ. The prayers of the
people (called the Solemn collects) are prayers for all humanity, and remind us of the
universal nature of Jesus’ saving work. Customarily, the service is held at noon or three o’
clock, the time that Jesus was crucified, and the time that he died, respectively. The most
apparently different features of this service, besides its sparseness, are the reading of the
Passion Gospel, and the Veneration of the Cross. As noted in the Palm Sunday Introduction,
the congregation participates in the reading of the Passion when possible, both to be more
fully involved in the drama of these events, and to be more aware of our own culpability in
Christ’s suffering. The Veneration of the Cross takes place when a cross is brought to the
front of the church and people are invited to touch it, kiss it, or simply gaze upon it and
ponder the mighty things that were accomplished on it. It is an opportunity for intimate
appreciation for what God has done for us in the death of His Son. It is a time to be humbled
in realizing that God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. It is a time to realize and
acknowledge anew our need for a Savior, our need to relinquish our own fruitless pursuits,
our need to be crucified with him, that we may live in him.
Where should this service take me? To the foot of the cross. To the sorrow and pain that my
Lord endured to save me. To regret for the sorrow and pain I’ve caused others, even with
all my good intentions. To the death of my self, my self-serving, my blindness to human need,
and my willful ignorance of what truly has been done for me on the cross.
is used in the service. While there is communion, there is no prayer of consecration over the
elements. Instead, bread consecrated the night before at the Maundy Thursday service is
used. Why? My own take on this is that, on Good Friday, there are no bishops, priests, or
deacons. Before the great and terrible events of this day, all of our gifts fade in the light of the
One Gift given to us by our great High Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ. The prayers of the
people (called the Solemn collects) are prayers for all humanity, and remind us of the
universal nature of Jesus’ saving work. Customarily, the service is held at noon or three o’
clock, the time that Jesus was crucified, and the time that he died, respectively. The most
apparently different features of this service, besides its sparseness, are the reading of the
Passion Gospel, and the Veneration of the Cross. As noted in the Palm Sunday Introduction,
the congregation participates in the reading of the Passion when possible, both to be more
fully involved in the drama of these events, and to be more aware of our own culpability in
Christ’s suffering. The Veneration of the Cross takes place when a cross is brought to the
front of the church and people are invited to touch it, kiss it, or simply gaze upon it and
ponder the mighty things that were accomplished on it. It is an opportunity for intimate
appreciation for what God has done for us in the death of His Son. It is a time to be humbled
in realizing that God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. It is a time to realize and
acknowledge anew our need for a Savior, our need to relinquish our own fruitless pursuits,
our need to be crucified with him, that we may live in him.
Where should this service take me? To the foot of the cross. To the sorrow and pain that my
Lord endured to save me. To regret for the sorrow and pain I’ve caused others, even with
all my good intentions. To the death of my self, my self-serving, my blindness to human need,
and my willful ignorance of what truly has been done for me on the cross.