FRIDAY: On Passion Sunday, the
focus is on the suffering (passio)
of Christ, but on Good Friday, the Crucified One is put forward as the sign
of God’s victory over sin, death, and evil. Isaiah’s depiction of Jesus as the
‘suffering servant,’ so important to the early Christians as they sought to
understand the events of Good Friday, is read as the prelude to the Passion
according to St John, who presents Jesus as the one whose glory is revealed on
the Cross.
In the shadow of that
Cross, the Church then prays for the entire world, using an ancient form of
prayer in which the leader ‘bids’ (asks) the people to silently pray for
various groups of people. The service concludes with a solemn act of adoration
as we sing both of Christ’s great love for humanity and his triumph over death.
