Carrying the Cross: Good Friday Reflections of a Roman Catholic Woman Priest

“Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth…” Isaiah 53:7

“….For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,to bear witness to the truth.” John 18:37

Matthew 26 and 27

“Were you there when they crucified my lord?….” African American Spiritual

Dear Friends and Sisters and Brothers,

The Jesus bears witness to the truth of God’s love for us today. Jesus is in unity and solidarity with all who bear their crosses to death and suffering today and throughout history. Suffering can be on so many levels including and never minimizing the physical level, and Jesus suffered all of these, hunger and thirst, exhaustion, betrayal, denial, abandonment, misunderstanding, false accusations and persecutions. One of the truths Jesus bears witness to today is the truth of injustice. On this holiest of days evil seemed to win as Jesus’ life was tortured and taken from him. His enemies thought that death was the end-but he was to show them that it was not, but a new beginning.

IF you too long for a new beginning, here are some questions for you to consider.

WHAT CROSSES ARE YOU BEARING TODAY? Can you tell God how it hurts?

CAN YOU GIVE YOUR CROSS TO JESUS TO CARRY? Do you want the weight lifted from your shoulders, or heart?

WHAT DO YOU FEEL SEPARATES YOU FROM GOD? Instead can those very things draw you closer to the Cross?

CAN YOU NAIL IT TO THE CROSS WITH JESUS?

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT AFTER THE CROSS YOU TOO CAN RISE AGAIN?

Here is a beautiful prayer that Pope Francis wrote on Good Friday, 2019, will you join me in praying it today?

“Lord Jesus, help us to see in your cross

all the crosses of the world:

the cross of people hungry for bread and for love;

the cross of people alone and abandoned

even by their children and kin;

the cross of people who lack the comfort of faith;

the cross of the elderly who struggle under the weight

of years and of loneliness;

the cross of migrants who find doors closed in fear

and hearts armored by political calculations;

the cross of little ones, wounded in their innocence and purity;

the cross of humanity that wanders in the darkness

of uncertainty and in the obscurity of

temporary culture;

the cross of families split by betrayal, by the

seductions of the evil one or by homicidal

levity and selfishness;

the cross of our weaknesses, of our hypocrisy,

of our betrayals, of our sins and of our

many broken promises;

the cross of your church that, faithful to your Gospel,

struggles to spread your love even

among the baptized themselves;

Lord Jesus, revive in us the hope of resurrection

and of your definitive victory over all evil

and all death. Amen!”

If you would like to read my reflections of other years with pictures of our church on Good Friday Stations of the Cross go to

https://judyabl.blog/ and put Good Friday into the SEARCH box.

Bless you as you watch and pray today,

Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee

Good Shepherd Ministries of SWFL, Fort Myers, Fl

Good Friday April 7, 2023

.March 29,2024 Good Friday

From Living With Christ magazine: “ ….God loves us faults and all….Knowing l’m loved strengthens me to make changes in my life fitting with God’s regard. Changes to our systemic lives flow from our experience of God’s creative love for us and our common home. The Passion, even as it confuses, empowers us to live up to God’s hope for the world” (p246 ) Rev. Greg Kennedy, SJ. May God bless you on This holiest of days. Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP