In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

Today is in the Catholic Church of the West called Good Friday. What's so good about it, as you probably are wondering, as I've wondered. Why don't you call it bad Friday? Call it evil Friday. Call it sinful Friday. Call it anything else, but why good Friday? What's so good about it? St. Albert the Great many years ago said something to the effect

that if we were to ponder the mystery of Christ's passion and death

15 minutes a day, we would do more for our souls than if we were to fast on bread

and water Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

That is not to say that fasting is evil or wrong or bad, it's a hierarchy here.

What's so important then about looking at the passion and death of Christ, the way of the

cross?

What's so good about that?

Well, those of us who are adopted sons and daughters, we have been elevated to a higher plane of existence in a way. We've been divinized,

recreated by grace. We've been given divine life, a share of divine life. We only lose it

when we throw it away into grave sin.

And hopefully at the end of time we'll have another new recreation.

We will receive our bodies back in beauty and goodness and fullness, etc.

And so therefore, if we look at the passion and death of Christ and think about it in a day-by-day basis,

we're going to be looking at not only a defeat of a human nature, Christ, suffering a terrible, terrible passion, an awful murderous death,

but at the same time through the eyes of faith, we're also looking at a victory over sin, over death, and especially the

evil one, who was, in a sense, the first cause of the fall of the human race, cause in the sense of a persuader,

who persuaded both Adam and Eve to disobey Yahweh,

to disobey God, thinking that by disobeying God they would receive fulfillment of them,

become like God in the fullest way possible they thought,

contrary to the word of God that was given to them.

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