Good Friday 2016

Good Friday is the day on which Catholics commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is a day of mourning and quiet prayer for many Christians. It represents the sacrifices and suffering in Jesus' life. The crucifixion was the culmination of a number of events in Holy Week, including: the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus; and the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. A special Way of the Cross was held at 12 noon.

The service on Good Friday is divided into four parts:

1.    Liturgy of the Word - reading of the Passion.

2.    Intercessory prayers for the Church and the entire world, Christian and non-Christian.

3.    Veneration of the Cross.

4.    Communion, or the 'Mass of the Pre-Sanctified.

The Good Friday Service at Most Holy Redeemer Church commenced at 5 in the evening. A huge crowd gathered in order to venerate and honour Jesus Christ for embracing suffering and for giving us his selfless love. Rev Fr Vincent Menezes along with Fr. Anil Lobo and Fr. Walter Pinto led the service. Speaking to the Parishioners on this day, Fr.Vincent Menezes conveyed the meaning of true suffering and as to why it is necessary for each of us to accept suffering as god’s will. He quoted the lines by C.S.Lewis which said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Man has never been able to fathom the cause of suffering but man has always been able to feel the presence of god in moments of pain.

The homily was followed by the Prayers of the Faithful and Veneration of the Holy Cross. After the Eucharist, the symbolic body of the Lord Jesus and his sorrowful mother Mary was brought in a procession to the Church

Report by: Lynsha Martis

Pictures: Simon Pereira