There’s something very special about the Good Friday liturgy. It’s sparse and dignified. If one is still hungry from the Good Friday fast, it creates even more of a sense of identification with Jesus (not that we can approximate it, but good Catholic liturgy gets us closest) and his sufferings and death.

The most meaningful part of the service for me is the veneration of the cross. It’s especially humbling to bow before the cross and kiss it. It creates in me a real sense of recognition of the sacrifice made by Jesus and the need for total submission to live at the foot of the Cross, our hope.