Inspirational Good Friday prayer

Created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Genesis 1:27), the human person is innately good. However, this has been drastically damaged after the Fall of Adam and Eve. But in the course of history, God did not abandon humanity to a fallen state. In the fullness of time, the Father sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us. Through His Paschal Mystery, Christ has reinstated the dignity lost due to sin and disobedience.

The sacrifice of Jesus is the summit of salvation history. It is the epitome of what the Church’s faith is all about. It was the desire of Jesus that this ultimate act of His selfless and self-sacrificing love be remembered for all time.

God’s marvelous deeds are remembered through the observance of special days and feasts. The Church gives profound reverence to the Paschal Mystery of Christ by observing the season of Lent, the Paschal Triduum, and the Easter season. This is to remind all the faithful of Christ’s redemptive act for the salvation of humanity.

In this prayer, we shall be meditating on the sacrifice of Christ as we observe Good Friday, the day we commemorate His Death. We might be going through tough times now, be it physical pains, emotional disturbances, or mental exhaustion. All of these are but part of our humanity. But they can also become redemptive and our means of becoming holy.

Prayer for Good Friday

Lord Jesus Christ, Your love for creation is boundless. It can never be measured. It can never be outdone. During Your time here on earth, You have shown what genuine and selfless love is. You healed the sick. You pardoned sinners. You fed the multitudes. You raised the dead. You have shown Yourself as the face of the Father’s love.

But You have shown love to its most profound and ultimate form through Your passion and death. You who are all good allowed Yourself to be sacrificed as the true Lamb of God. Your death brought us life. Your suffering provided us strength. Your passion encourages us even more.

I have not always been faithful to the promises of my baptism. I received the grace of becoming the Father’s child. The Holy Spirit filled me with the graces I need to live a holy and virtuous life. But my frailty and stubbornness led me to sin, guilt, and shame.

O, my good Jesus, I was so foolish to transgress my dignity as a child of God! By my sins, I dare not to approach You. But in Your mercy, I fall to Your pierced feet, begging for Your mercy. I fervently ask Your nailed hands to touch me and cure me of the leprosy of sin. Wash me once again with Your precious Blood so that my heart and soul may become pure and clean.

Most sweet Jesus, on the first Good Friday, You uttered the words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. Hear me, dear Savior, and plea to the Father on my behalf once more: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. If there is one thing that You cannot do, that is to be merciless to sinners like me who approach You with hearts full of contrition and shame.

Today is Good Friday. I once again recall the shame brought by my sins and the love You have shown on the cross. I desire to offer my hurts, pains, and sufferings to Your passion. Bring them, Lord Jesus, to the altar of Your cross. I offer them all to You as my union with Your suffering and death.

I beg You to listen to my prayer of mercy and forgiveness. May my sufferings today be redemptive and lead me to Your everlasting paradise. In Your most holy Name. Amen.

Short inspirational Good Friday prayer

O Lord, my God, I bow down before Your cross. With utmost humility and contrition, I beg for Your forgiveness. May Your precious Blood wash away my sins and guilt. May I participate in Your holy and saving sacrifice. Amen.

The Word of God

Prayer to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows

O Most Sorrowful Mother, how much must it have hurt you to see your own Son, the flesh of your flesh, the heart of your heart, nailed to an ugly cross, gasping for breath, tremendously suffering for all of us! At first, you may not have fully understood your Son’s mission, but it was at this moment of agony that you realized who your Son really is and why He has come. You suffered silently. You suffered standing by and watching your only Child slowly dying. You have heard the insults of the crowd, and every cruel word cuts your heart. Surely, you brought Him comfort and consolation in that final moment while at the same time, His Heart must have been breaking to see you suffer so. And so, He entrusted you to His disciple, a symbol for the Church – for us. From that time on, you became truly our mother. Teach us, dear Mother, to bring comfort and consolation to the many “Jesuses” – our neighbors in desperate need – we encounter every day.

O Sorrowful Heart of Mary, pray for us. Amen.

Further reflection

The cross, once a symbol of shame and suffering, now becomes our pride and strength. We could not boast of anything except the reality that Christ loved us so much that He willingly suffered all for us. We could not find any powerful reminder of what being strong really means except by looking at the One who was nailed to the cross. And we who wish to follow the Master are not greater than He: if the Master willingly suffered and died on the cross, so we, too, must be more than willing to suffer and die with and for Him.

So, if we have crosses in our lives now, do not worry. If we have heavy burdens now, do not lose hope. Christ has already led the way up to Golgotha, and He has already triumphed. Though we are still on our way to our respective Golgothas, let us be confident that Christ, our Master and Lord, will be there to accompany us in our struggles and miseries. After all, He already gave us the assurance: “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33)