CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S PASSION – With the all-night vigil with Jesus from the Last Supper to Good Friday morning behind us, we reflect on what Jesus would have experienced during those night hours.  Arrested and moved from place to place, questioned and finally lowered into the prison cell, weak, tired and afraid.  The morn comes and He is once again treated cruelly, he is condemned to die and begins his journey to Calvary.  Our celebration of the Lord’s passion remembers this with the Liturgy of the Word and the Proclamation of the Passion.  How our hearts skip a beat when we read that He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.   We kneel in reverence of Jesus’ total giving of self for our sins and love of His Father.  We then move to the second section of this liturgy and reverence the Cross of Christ.  The crucifix, draped in a red cloth with the symbol of His wounds visible, is carried in procession on the shoulders of our Deacon and Deacon candidate through the church with lighted candles.  The silence at this time is palpable.  Once at the altar, the crucifix is uncovered and placed before us in the stark reality of the death of Jesus.  We all process forward and offer a sign of respect and love for what Jesus has done for us.  During this procession, we sing “Were You There” – it does cause me to tremble realizing that my sins are part of Jesus suffering.  But, it also brings great joy to know that through this action of Jesus, our sin are forgiven – all sins are forgiven.  We then celebrate the Communion Rite and receive the broken body of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   Our celebration ends in silence with the crucifix before us as a reminder of Jesus gift of salvation to us on that Good Friday.  This action continues today each time Mass is celebrated.  Let us rejoice in the great love that God has for us, to give His only Son for our sake.  This is why this Friday is called “Good”.