Today is called Good Friday. It is just two simple words and yet we know what today is all about.
Today is a day of fast and abstinence. It is also one of the days when the liturgy of the Church is quite different.
One of the highlights, besides Holy Communion, is the adoration of the cross.
In fact, the instructions for the celebration of today's liturgy states that "care should be taken that the individual faithful are able to adore the cross, a feature of great importance in today's celebration."
Although it is not clear how the term "Good Friday" came about, yet it is not that difficult to arrive at a possible explanation for that term.
It is through the goodness of God that Jesus died on that Friday. Jesus died on the cross for the "good" of man, ie. to save mankind from sin and eternal death.
Jesus died not just for the good of mankind, but also to bring out the goodness of mankind.
Jesus is the Son of God, hence He is also God. For God to die for sinful mankind is truly incredible and astounding.
A man may sacrifice his life for something worthy. But would he do it for someone who is unworthy and does not deserve it at all?
Yet for us who are sinfully unworthy and do not deserve at all, Jesus sacrificed His life for us.
So on this day, we acknowledge the goodness of the Lord and His love for us.
May we in turn see the goodness in ourselves and offer our lives in love to the Lord.