Kohima: The Good Friday Service was celebrated in two parts at the Cathedral Church, Kohima, led by Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, the bishop of Kohima. The first part consisted in retracing of Christ’s steps in the city of Jerusalem, popularly known as the 14 Stations of the Cross.
“In each of the stations, there were reflections in various languages with a message. These stations remind us of the crosses that we have to carry in our life. Jesus went before us giving us an example. His every step and stop on the way to Calvary spoke volumes, every look and glance had a message, every action and move had a meaning. We are to follow Him and he leads us with his grace.”
The second part of the celebration had three segments: namely, the liturgy of the Word and general intercession for various needs, the Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion. In his homily after the passion narrative according to the Gospel of St. John, the Bishop highlighted the words of Pope Francis who said that the Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world and it is also the Christian answer to evil around us. “We are to walk the way of the cross to confront the evil. The way of the cross is a way of love and forgiveness. There no other way we can find salvation.”
The Veneration of the Cross was a symbolic way of accepting the great sacrifice Jesus on the Cross and submitting oneself to the divine plan of salvation. The service ended with the Holy Communion, giving the Christian the possibility of union with the divine. In the words of Jesus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” John 6: 53-54. There were 3000 participants and most observed the day as a day of prayer, fasting and abstinence.
