QUESTION: What does Good Friday tell the Church today?

ANSWER: Christ’s passion, death on the cross and resurrection have relevance for all time. The love of Christ inspires many. Now, in the con-text of Kerala particularly, in the post-pandemic situation, people became anxious. There is always hope ahead, including in this crisis. There is the hope of resurrection even today, when the Church faces a big crisis. It is good to recall now the story of the three young men in the book of Daniel. They were thrown into the fire, and they hoped that the Lord would save them. Even the king who threw them into the fire was amazed to see them dance. And then there is a fourth person who was dancing with them. The dance of these young men is a reminder of the joy of resurrection.
There are problems in the Church, but then we look forward to the celebration of joyful victory. The helplessness of Je-sus on the cross can be interpreted as a failure, but the forgiveness he has shown is a new lesson for victory. It is a show of the audacity of faith, the courageous self-sub-mission to the providential hand of God. The final words of Jesus on the cross express the joy of a person who has accomplished what he came for. Jesus on the cross is a symbol of triumph, not of failure.

Bishop Alex Joseph Vadakumthala,
Kannur