Turning Nothing into Something Beautiful

Hello all!

Today is Good Friday, and even though I know why it is called "Good Friday," it is still hard for me to call the day by its name without cringing a bit. Just think about it:

Was it good that Jesus was betrayed for money?
Was it good that Jesus was mocked and ridiculed?
Was it good that Jesus was abandoned?
Was it good that Jesus was whipped, flogged, and scourged?
Was it good that a notorious criminal (Barabbas) was preferred by the people over the Lord of Lords?
Was it good that the same Jesus who was greeted with palms and with shouts of "Hosanna" would hear "Crucify him" by those same people less than a week later?
Was it good that Jesus was convicted to die like a criminal?
Was it good that Jesus was forced to carry a heavy wooden cross through most of Jerusalem and up a mountain?
Was it good that Jesus' hands were nailed to that same cross?
How about his feet?
Was it good that Jesus was still being mocked even while hanging on that cross?
Was it good that Jesus was suffering all this while his Mother watched?
Was it good that Jesus was hanging next to two men who deserved their punishment?
Was it good that Jesus felt forsaken?
Was it good that Jesus' last thought before passing was for us, His church, rather than on His own suffering?
Was it good that Jesus, even after death, had his side pierced by a Roman soldier?

The answer to all of these questions is "yes." Although most of those things sound horrible, for us - it was a Good Friday. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice. He turned Himself in for a punishment that all of us deserve. The only person in the History of Earth who did not deserve all of this is the only person in the History of Earth who endured all of this. It is a "Good" Friday because it is a pre-cursor to the most important day of all: Easter. This weekend, we first reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made. And then, the conquest he made over death and sin. Through Him, we can make that conquest.

I've heard a lot about people taking today off because today is supposedly a day where you are supposed to "do nothing." That is not the case. We are not to do needless work, but there is something we must do. We must reflect. We must pray. We must reconvert ourselves to Jesus.

As St. Augustine once said: "He once was fixed to the Cross in every part of His body for you, may He now be fixed in every part of your soul." He also said: "I meditate upon the price of my redemption."

Let us meditate today. Rather than doing nothing, let us turn that day of "doing nothing" into a day where we do something beautiful.

Love you all.