This Tenebrae Service for Good Friday uses growing darkness to invite worshipers deeper into meditation on Christ’s passion and death.
Good Friday is one of the most tender days in the church calendar. As this service recounts the story of the day Jesus died, it evokes themes of betrayal, hate, apathy, injustice, suffering, and death. The Seed of Joy spends the Lenten season exploring the theme of joy in all circumstances, but the experience of joy is notably absent on Good Friday.
This liturgy does not attempt to manufacture joy; rather, it invites worshipers to enter the story of Jesus’ Passion without fear of the pain it holds. Like eyes adjusting to a dark night or ears adapting to a silent room, our perception adjusts to the shadowed tones of this holy day. Alongside the suffering, we notice tenderness, love, care, questioning, and sorrow.
Where can we find similar nuance and complexity in global and local crises today? Where does the crucified Christ appear among us? Where is Mary with her jar of perfume, Peter in his courtyard, and Joseph of Arimathea with Jesus’ body in his arms? Through music, prayer, and creative reflection, worshipers will seek them together.