Good Friday

Though two days apart, Good Friday and Easter are the two most radically different days on the Church calendar.

On the one, we have fasting and penance, sorrow and the remembrance of death and suffering. There is no Mass. The tabernacle is empty. We venerate the Cross.

On the other, we have feasting and celebration. We belt out songs of joy and gratitude. We cheer new believers who are entering Christ’s holy church. We behold the glories of Resurrection and the promise eternal life.

And each is, in its own way, a great day to run.

On the Good Friday run, I try to go early, when it’s still cold. Ideally, I’ll run far, so as to intensify the burden. On the hills I’ll think of Calvary. The aches and pains that I usually try to ignore I instead try to embrace. A long, hard, quiet run affords a powerful opportunity to reflect on Christ’s Passion.

As for the Easter run … well I’ll save that for Sunday. Till then, let’s remember that He was crucified by our transgressions, and that He died so that we may live.

“He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins,

Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,

by his stripes we were healed.”

— Isaiah 53:5

Special Good Friday prayer: For the safety and spiritual growth of the runners in today’s Passion Marathon.