The silence that pervades the world
Good Friday is the day of great silence. After the tumult of accusations, blows and mockery, after the crash of the cross planted in the ground, the world seems suspended. Jesus has died, and everything seems to stand still. The silence is not just around us, it penetrates our hearts. It's a silence that invites deep contemplation, a silence inhabited by the mystery of total self-giving.
In this silence, human words give way to the word of God inscribed in the gestures of Christ crucified. There is no need for speeches, because the Cross speaks for itself. It teaches us about love that goes right to the end, about God's unshakeable fidelity to wounded humanity.
Contemplating the Cross with an open heart
Welcoming to the silence of Good Friday means accepting to be disarmed before the mystery of the Cross. It means accepting not to understand everything with our human reason, but to allow ourselves to be touched by the depth of divine love revealed in that ultimate moment.
The Cross is not a failure. It is the supreme expression of the victory of love over evil and death. In contemplating Jesus crucified, we discover a path of humility and hope. He shows us that suffering, even the most unjust, can be transformed into a source of life, when it is offered in love.
This mystery of the Cross is beyond us, but it is not foreign to us. It comes to embrace our own crosses, our secret pains, our abandonments, to offer us a new hope.
The silence that speaks to our hearts
This silence of Good Friday is not empty. It is inhabited. It speaks to us more than a thousand words. It whispers to us that God has never been so close to us as in this hour when Jesus gives his life. It reveals to us that in our own silences, in our expectations and trials, God is at work in secret.
To take the time to remain in silence on this day is to enter into deep prayer. It means opening our hearts to God's discreet but powerful presence. This silence then becomes an inner space where the mystery of the Cross unfolds gently, like a light in the night.
It also helps us to hear the cry of the poor, the suffering, of all those who, even today, carry their cross. The silence of Good Friday is a school of listening and compassion.
The Cross: a passage to life
By welcoming the silence of Good Friday, we do not remain frozen in pain. This silence prepares us for the resounding word of the Resurrection. For the Cross is not God's last word. It is the necessary passage to new life.
This silent journey teaches us the patience of faith. Like the disciples who experienced the trial of Jesus' absence and silence at the tomb, we are called to hope against all hope. In this apparent silence, God is at work. He is preparing for Easter morning, the triumph of light over darkness.
Living the silence of Good Friday today
Even away from the great liturgical celebrations, we can fully live the silence of Good Friday in our daily lives. By turning off the incessant stream of distractions, by stopping for a few moments to contemplate the Cross, we make room for grace.
This silence is not a void to be filled, but a space to be inhabited. It shapes us, it transforms us. It makes us more attentive to God's voice and to the suffering of others. It prepares us to welcome, in joy, the light of the Resurrection.
