Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day Christians commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, by carrying the cross, meditating upon his agony and sharing in his experience. Yet others spend the day in prayer and repentance. Through His painful death and shame, Christians believe Good Friday marked the ultimate sacrifice to human suffering thus bridging the broken relationship between man and God in the Garden of Eden.

Fr Antony Eyuk, director of St Padre Pio Prayer Centre Nyendo-Misaali, Masaka District, explains that Good Friday symbolises a day of tragedy, mourning and shame, yet a  turning point for all creation.

“Good Friday is important because as Christians we see darkness but then light prevails which is a ray of hope. When we read the scriptures on that day at the ninth hour, the curtain in the temple tore down meaning whatever was blocking our relationship with God had been removed,” the Rev Fr Eyuk explains.
He points out that every event that took place on that day from the garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha, is the core of our faith and path to Christianity life. It is on that day that we get to see and learn the true meaning of forgiveness, being humble, and what it means to accept the cup of suffering.

Forgiveness

“Forgiveness is one of the key points of Good Friday and a lesson we need to pick as Christians. Commemorating it every year reminds us of forgiveness. For example, we see Jesus being betrayed, denied, put to shame and shouted at by those He called His own, he knew the only way to His father was to forgive them.
 “On many occasions this is what we face in our daily lives, people lie about us, they go against us but this day calls for our forgiveness, despite how hard it seems,” Fr Eyuk shares.   

Referring to the bible he quotes Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He says Jesus looked down from the cross as the Roman soldiers were gambling for His clothing and as the criminals on the crosses to either side of Him were also reviling Him. 
The religious leaders were as well mocking Him and the crowd He used to pray was blaspheming Him too. Surrounded by this most unworthy lot, Jesus still prayed for them.
 
Understanding of Christ

Pastor Nicholas Najuna of Kingdom Faith Tabernacle, Bweyogerere, says this day is meant to help Christians understand Christ and his true divinity. In the olden, days people did not understand Jesus until the day of his crucifixion, when the world got covered in total darkness and the curtain in the temple was torn down. Then, many came to realise that He was the true son of God.   

“On this day, I call upon Christians in my ministry to fast and also reach out to different communities preaching the gospel because what happened on that day is fully explained in the scriptures,” he reveals.   

Reconciliation and true love

 While addressing the Corinthians St Paul writes, He who was absolutely perfect died in the place of sinners, identifying with us in our guilt and becoming liable to our punishment.  St Paul tells us Jesus  was a substitute.He  died to restore peace between God and us who are sinners. That is why as humans we need to every now and then reconcile with one another because we are not perfect. 
 
Betty Kasule, a member of Christian fellowship Namirembe this day helps us recognise where we have spoken or acted in a wrongful manner towards our fellow human beings. Jesus’s death was not just an act of love, but a definition of true love. Let us always be true to ourselves and those around us in all that we do. By taking part in the way of the cross we are thinking of Jesus’s unconditional love. That love that endurance everything without a second thought.  
 
 Endurance and moral example

 To Fr Eyuk, Jesus endured the beating and the shame of undressing Him. In life, any suffering that you face is not for nothing as long as it is in Christ.  A believer who unites with Christ in times of darkness turns out victorious.  He says in the suffering of Christ we learn to be charitable, bearing the cross for others.  For example, a father should learn to carry the crosses for his family especially for his wife. Children should also do the same for the elderly. 

We also learn humility because  he abandoned everything to serve us which is a lesson to our leaders in the different institutions. Jesus died a shameful death, but God.  He did a sacrifice for you and me hence teaching us to deal with our selfishness, to sever and not to be severed.  By Phionah Nassanga, Daily Monitor