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LISTEN

“He said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ They cried out, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.”—JOHN 19:14B-18 (ESV)

Reflect
There is a solemnity that comes upon us in the face of death, any death. But this is different. Someone alive beyond all telling has died. His body is still. And now there are witnesses who confirm it. They were there with him during his life and his dying, and the strong were with him to the end. They did not turn away. And neither do we. With all that we are, all that we know, we come.

Respond
Solidarity in life and in death. That is the movement of God toward us in the life and death of Jesus. That we may be one with God. How do you approach this mystery? What words make sense to you?

Blessing for Good Friday

Bless you, following where love has led—
to the foot of the cross,
to stand with Mary and John,
a mother and a close friend,
overwhelmed that it should come to this:
powerlessness and utter loss.

Bless you, witnessing how hope and healing,
laughter and feasting,
miracles and promises
have come to this:
untold suffering, a cruel death.
It is finished.

Blessed are you, as the darkness deepens,
and a figure moves cautiously,
hands reaching to ease His body down.

Blessed are you with the women,
spices and linens in hand,
doing what’s possible with grief so large,
Laying Him in a tomb.

Blessed are you, in the shadow’s power,
Roman soldiers sealing the entrance,
the finality pressing down.

And blessed are we,
who remain here in wonder,
in the heavy silence of death,
asking again:
“Is this how love wins?”45

45 Kate Bowler. Adapted from “For a Good Friday” in Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs, and In-Betweens. (New York: Convergent Books, 2024). 173.

© KateBowler.com