Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 45 / Good Friday

From scandal to salvation, the Cross stands at the center of our faith journey. Today's Good Friday reflection delves into the profound paradox that defines Christianity – how an instrument of torture became the trophy of victory, how death gave way to eternal life.

Father Patrick Troadec's powerful meditation from "Toward Easter" guides us through the theological significance of Christ's final words: "It is consummated." We explore how Jesus fulfilled all prophecies as the true Lamb of God, becoming the new fruit attached to the tree of the Cross, thereby reversing Adam's disobedience in Eden. The Cross transforms before our eyes into a throne of glory, a tribunal of forgiveness, and an altar of sacrifice.

The traditional Good Friday liturgy reveals this mystery through its ritualized unveiling of the cross in three stages, symbolizing how the message spread from fearful disciples to the Jewish people after Pentecost and finally to all nations. This progressive revelation invites us to deepen our understanding of the meaning of the Cross in our lives. As St. Vincent de Paul reminds us, "God is more pleased when one meditates on the passion of his Son than when we fast for a year."

Four practical resolutions anchor this meditation: maintaining gentleness in adversity, reading the prayers of Good Friday slowly, making a reverent Sign of the Cross, and periodically touching the Crucifix of our rosary in gratitude. These simple practices help transform intellectual understanding into lived spirituality. Whether you're attending today's solemn liturgy or creating space for personal reflection, join us in contemplating the price of our salvation and discovering how the darkest day in history became our brightest hope.

Chapters

• 0:00 Good Friday's Meaning and Scripture
• 5:04 Meditations on Christ's Sacrifice
• 6:57 Resolutions for Good Friday
• 8:52 The Three Expositions of the Cross
• 16:02 Proper Adoration and Daily Practice
• 20:17 Closing Thoughts on Holy Friday

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:47

Sancte. Sancte, amare morti necradas nos. Good morning everyone. Good morning on this good Friday here in Lent, day 44. No, sorry, day 45. And it is Good Friday today. So we will be talking about the price of our salvation, the price paid by Christ On this day 2000, some years ago. So I imagine you've all seen one or two of these prior, but in case you are joining today for the first time, these are all from the reading and meditation is from toward easter by father patrick trodek. Link is in the description below and uh, throw up an image on screen. So you just listen and we're going to get going here.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Good Friday, the price of our salvation From the Passion. According to St John, chapter 19, verse 30. When Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said it is consummated. And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. It is consummated, that is to say, all has been fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, the law and its Paschal Lamb. The curtain of the temple may now be torn because Jesus is the true Lamb of God. Come to earth to take away the sins of the world. There is no other.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Adam, in his pride, had disobeyed by plucking the forbidden fruit from the tree of paradise, the new Adam, gentle, lamb, humble and obedient, even to death. Jesus becomes the new fruit in allowing himself to be violently attached to the tree of the cross. There he is brutally lifted up from the earth, nailed to his throne of glory. The cross the cross scandal for the Jews. The cross folly for the pagans. The Cross trophy of victory of the Son of God. The Cross glorious instrument of our salvation. Yes, fulfilled is the oracle of David who had said to the nations in his inspired poems God will reign by the wood.

Speaker 1: 3:58

Lord Jesus, help me to see in thy cross the throne of thy kingdom, the tribunal where thou forgivest, the altar where thou immolatest thyself, the pulpit from which thou preachest to me the abandonment of my soul into the hands of thy Father. Zeal for souls, forgetfulness of injuries, merry in piety, the liturgical offering and perfect purity. O Jesus, teach me to venerate and to love the image of Thy cross Each time I see it represented. Help me to remember how much I ought to thank Thee for having given Thy life for me. After the Holy Eucharist, there is nothing on earth more worthy of respect than the cross. I will render it today a homage of adoration which is directed toward thee, my Savior. Thy divine blood washed it and it opened the gate of heaven to faithful souls. I want to imitate thee today, especially in maintaining gentleness and meekness in the face of contradictions.

Speaker 1: 5:18

And now a prayer taken from the Vexilla Regis, the Vesper's Hem, for Passion Tide, in the name of the Father, the son and the holy ghost, amen. Oh cross, happy are you to have carried suspended from your arms he who was the price of the world. You are the scales on which was weighed this body, our ransom which deprived hell of its prey. Hail O cross, our only hope in these days of the passion of the Savior. Augment grace in the just Erase the crime of sinners. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Speaker 1: 6:10

Our first thought of the day is from St Vincent de Paul. You see, the saints tell us that God is more pleased when one meditates on the passion of his Son than when we fast for a year. And our second thought is from St John B. Annie, our Lord is our model. Let us take up our cross and follow him. And we have four resolutions today. Number one let us unite ourselves to Jesus ascending to Calvary in maintaining gentleness and meekness in adversity, us ascending to Calvary in maintaining gentleness and meekness in adversity. Number two let us read slowly the great prayers of Good Friday in our missal. Number three let us apply ourselves henceforth to making the sign of the cross well, like little Bernadette of Lourdes. Number four from time to time, let us discreetly grasp the cross of the rosary in our pocket and thank Jesus for having given his life for us. Okay, so that's the end of the normal reading, but there is a section here Give me a second. There is a section here Give me a second On like liturgical stuff for Good Friday, and this one's a little longer, so I'm going to throw the image back up on screen. Like I said, this is a little bit of a longer reading. So here we go, as the Savior is dying on the cross. The Church calls us together to follow the way of the cross. Let us make a great effort to participate in this pious exercise in company with the youngest children, who will not be coming to the evening ceremony.

Speaker 1: 8:26

On the evening of Good Friday, the Church celebrates the redemption of the world During this office. The solemn chant of the Passion, the great intercessions, where the Church prays for the salvation of all men. The adoration of the cross and the chant of the improperia are more than mere rituals that inspire and move us. They are the prayer and thanksgiving of the redeemed who together realize before God all that the mystery of the cross represents for them. The ceremony is composed of four parts. The first is a catechesis consisting of two readings drawn from the Old Testament and the chant of the Passion, according to St John. The second is a series of solemn prayers. They are called the Great Intercessions. They proclaim the universality of salvation. The third is the Adoration of the cross, trophy of our redemption.

Speaker 1: 9:28

The ceremony comes to us from jerusalem, where the true cross was prevented, was presented to the veneration of the faithful on good friday. It begins with the solemn presentation of the cross, veiled during all of passion tide. The celebrant uncovers it in three stages, mounting each time one of the altar steps and singing in a progressively higher tone. Ecce lignum crucis in qua salis mundi pependit venite adoramus. Behold the wood of the cross on which hung the Savior of the world. Come, let us adore Excuse my poor latin everyone. We kneel in a door in silence for a few moments.

Speaker 1: 10:16

The first exposition, which is made at the side of the altar, in in a low tone of voice, represents the first preaching of the cross, that name, that namely, which the apostles made before they had received the Holy Ghost when, for fear of the Jews, they dared not speak of the great mystery except to the few disciples of Jesus. For the same reason, the priest, but slightly, elevates the cross. The homage here paid to it is intended as a reparation for the insults and injuries offered to our Redeemer in the house of Caiaphas. The second unveiling, which takes place nearer the people, on a higher note, signifies the apostles extending their preaching of the mystery of our redemption to the Jews after the descent of the Holy Ghost, by which preaching they made many thousand converts and planted the church in the the descent of the Holy Ghost, by which preaching they made many thousand converts and planted the church in the very midst of the synagogue. It is intended as a reparation to our Savior for the treatment he received in the court of Pilate. The third exposition is solemn and entire, sung triumphantly on a still higher note from the middle of the altar, this third and unreserved manifestation represents the mystery of the cross being preached to the whole earth when the apostles, after being rejected by the majority of the Jewish people, turned towards the Gentiles, the pagans, and preached Christ crucified even far beyond the limits of the Roman Empire. It is intended as a reparation to our Lord for the outrages offered to him on Calvary.

Speaker 1: 11:57

By this gradual unveiling of the cross, the church would express to us the contrast of the Jewish and the Christian view. The one finds nothing in Christ crucified but shame and ignominy. The other discovers in him the power and the wisdom of God. As St Paul says, honor, then, and veneration to his cross. Now that the veil is removed by faith, unveiled, let it be upon our altar, for he that died upon it is soon to triumph by a glorious resurrection. Upon our altar, for he that died upon it is soon to triumph by a glorious resurrection. Yea, let every crucifixion our church be unveiled and every altar be once more with the vision of the glorious standard. But the church is not satisfied with showing her children the cross that has saved them. She would have them approach and kiss it.

Speaker 1: 12:44

The chants which are used during this ceremony are exceedingly fine. First of all, there are the improperia, that is, the reproaches made by our Savior to the Jews O my people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I grieved thee? Answer me, because I brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior. Each of the first three stanzas of this plaintive hymn is founded by the Trisegion, or prayer to the thrice. Holy God who, as man, suffers death for us. O, let us fervently proclaim him to be the holy the immortal. Fervently proclaim him to be the holy the immortal. This triple glorify, this triple glorification, is maintained in its original language, greek, followed by the latin translation of the words. The rest of this beautiful chant contains the comparison made by our lord between the favors he has bestowed upon the jewish and the injuries he has received from them in return.

Speaker 1: 13:49

We then sing the antiphon Crux Fidelis, o Faithful Cross, thou noblest of all trees, no forest yields thy like in leaf or flower or fruit. Sweet is the wood that hath nails so sweet and bear so sweet a weight. O sing my tongue the victory of the glorious combat. Tell how was won the noble triumph on the trophy of the cross and how the world's redeemer, when immolated, conquered so rich an office can only be followed with missile in hand. Let us be sure that each of the older children has his own, and let us help them to follow as well as possible. If possible, plan ahead so as to arrive early enough to have a place that allows the children to see. Well, this will help them to maintain their attention. It is a good idea to confide one or other of the youngest children to the watchful care of another of the faithful of goodwill who can help him to follow if we cannot do so ourselves.

Speaker 1: 14:57

Okay, that's the reading for the Liturgy of Good Friday. For the liturgy of good Friday. And I loved the part about um, the, the, the three expositions of the cross. I, I, I had never heard that before, so that is amazing. Um, and yeah, that's awesome. Now, one other thing I'm going to do here. Let me pause this real quick so I can find it. Okay. I found it, um.

Speaker 1: 15:33

So, throughout the, the two readings there, you, you probably heard a few times how we offer adoration to the cross. Many some of you might think that that sounds wrong. Right, we're only supposed to offer adoration to God and not to any people or objects. So I just want to read this part to you from St Thomas. I can close this ad out here. That's covering everything.

Speaker 1: 16:10

So this is yeah, this is from the Summa Theologica, the third part, question 25, article 4, whether Christ's cross should be worshipped with the adoration of Latria. St Thomas says, article four, whether christ's cross should be worshiped with the adoration of latria. Saint thomas says we show the worship of latria to that in which we place our hope of salvation, but we place our hope in christ's cross, for the church sings dear cross, best hope over all. Beside that cheers the solemn passion tide. Give to the the just increase of grace, give to each contrite sinner peace. And that's from the Vexilla Regis that we just read a little of earlier. And he says, therefore, christ's cross should be worshipped with the adoration of Latria. So we offer Latria to the Holy Trinity, of course, to the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ, and to the cross of Christ. So we do offer Latria to the cross. So it is proper to say that we adore the cross, and Good Friday is the day in which we offer that adoration to the cross, to the cross. So, yeah, so I really don't have much more for you Other than the reading. The reading was great.

Speaker 1: 17:42

Let me go back to the actual first reading and see if anything sparks my memory here Um, yeah, that's, that's really about it. So, uh, so, get to the liturgy today if you can. Um, adore the cross, remember, uh, if you, if you watch some of our other recent videos, especially with father modzley, you'll have heard how we really shouldn't receive communion today, even if your liturgy does offer communion, that it's not the traditional practice to receive communion on Good Friday, even if it is offered. Now it's being offered, so it's not wrong to receive it, it's not sinful to receive it. Right, you are being offered it, but if there was ever a day to not receive it, it is Good Friday. So I hope you all have a holy Good Friday. I hope you all meditate upon the cross. You know one of the resolutions here that the Father gives that I do really like. Well, there's two, they're all good, of course, but um, one, applying ourselves to make a? Um, a good sign of the cross. When we make it, um, that's important, um, especially if you have children, you know being a good model for them, so that they see that it's not rushed, it's not sloppy, but also just, from time to time, just grasping the cross of the rosary in our pocket.

Speaker 1: 19:35

If you don't carry a rosary. Carry a rosary, you never know when you might need it or want it. I've carried a rosary in my pocket for years, daily. It's part of my EDC, my everyday carry, matter of fact. No matter where I'm going or what little I might have on me, I always have the rosary on me and, like I said, you never know when you might want or need to pray it. Um, and even if you don't, uh, pray it, you never know when you might just get a feeling that you want to, you want to, you want to hold that cross in your hand, and I do so often, actually a lot of times. It's of subconscious, but so, yeah, if you don't carry a rosary, carry one in your pocket at all times. Yeah, so that's all I have for you. I hope you have a holy Good Friday. Meditate upon the cross, give adoration to the cross, and I'll see you again tomorrow for Holy Saturday. Thank you.