PREACHING THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS THE CHRIST ON THIS GOOD FRIDAY.............

As the Easter Triduum we have begun proceeds seamlessly from part one, the Mass of the Lord's Supper Last Supper last night, to the Friday of the Passion of the Lord today, we will hear proclaimed from the Word of God, the Passion of the Lord according to St. John, as well as Scripture Readings from Isaiah the Prophet's Suffering Servant Song, and a passage from the Letter to the Hebrews.  These three proclamations along with Responsorial Psalm passages from Psalm 312; and the Gospel Acclamation from Philippians 2; form the message and the focus for our commemoration and meditation on the Suffering, Passion, Crucifixion, and Death, of Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Son of Mary, who sent by the Heavenly Father and born of the Virgin, came into the World to become the suffering servant and sacrificial lamb, for the sins and salvation of Humankind.   As I pray and reflect on today's Sacred Scriptures, preparing to preach the Word at the Good Friday Service in Sacred Heart Church in East Sacramento at Noon,  I ponder their meaning and seek to deliver a brief homily that speaks to the poignancy and yet, positive purpose of this sorrowful and ignominious event for us and All Believers in Jesus Christ.  As we hear and break open the profundity of God's Word today and then venerate the Cross, followed by our offering of extended universal prayers for all peoples and circumstances, and then receive the already consecrated Holy Communion , on this only day of the year when Holy Mass is not celebrated; may you and me, together with all persons of Faith and goodness, take time to share in the commemoration of these sacred mysteries and offer up our hearts and minds, to pray, ponder, and worship, the Lord Jesus who obediently endured extreme suffering and the ultimate sacrifice of death, in dying for our sins and the sins of all.............Fr.  Troy