Quote of the day for Good Friday, 29th March 2024

 From the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt Rev Justin Welby, this morning:

"Good Friday feels like the opposite of good. Good Friday invites us into a place of utter desolation. It reminds us of everything that is not good in the world: gross injustice, abuses of power, scapegoating of the vulnerable and those who are different, betrayal, abandonment, and the horrendous violence that human beings always seem willing to inflict upon one another. 

All that is ugly, shameful and sinful about humanity is brought into focus on Good Friday, as Jesus is nailed upon a cross. 

And yet, it is Good. Not because of what takes place, but because within the worst of circumstances, Jesus demonstrates what it is to inhabit the broken world with profound and ultimate goodness. Jesus demonstrates the cost of goodness in the world – and does not shrink from it, despite the tears and fears of Gethsemane. 

“From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” — Matthew 27:45-46




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