Today is Good Friday! The Catholic Encyclopedia which was first published in 1907
states that the day is called by various names. It says that the day is known as "the Holy
and Great Friday" in the Greek liturgy. In the Roman language it is called "Holy Friday";
and in German, Sorrowful Friday. By far the most popular is Good Friday. In
Christendom, this day marks the torture and ultimate death of Jesus on the cross. The
question is: How does a day of torture and death translate to good? Why is Good Friday
good? An article on bbc.com dated April 18, 2014 cited the Baltimore Catechism – the
standard US Catholic school text from 1885 to the 1960s, and claimed that Good Friday
is good because Christ “showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every
blessing”. The goodness of the day is not in the torture and death, but in what those
ordeals made possible for human beings.
“Whenever we want to measure our level of love, Jesus must be the standard.”
Jesus demonstrated what true love means. True love is costly! It is not an unstable
thing that follows the ebbs and flows of man’s emotions. True love is a decision, it is
laying down everything for the object of one’s love. That was what happened on the
cross. Before He went to the cross, Jesus already taught His disciples that what He was
about to go through was the greatest extent of love known in heaven and earth – one
laying down his life for his friends. Whenever we want to measure our level of love,
Jesus must be the standard. We are called to follow His example in loving the brethren.
As a final thought, it is good to state that the love that God showed through the death of
His son deserves that we reciprocate it as we lay down our all for Him too.