I am not especially religious but I do recognise Easter as the liturgically most important event of the year. I haven't been to Good Friday Mass for years. Despite my resentment in being forced to go, I also resented it when the priest in his (lack of) wisdom, decided to do the shortened version of the Gospel reading. It's so typical of the Catholic Church that you *have* to go to Mass, and then the objective is to gallop through as quickly as possible, with the standard liturgy being recited at meaningless speed, only half of hymn verses sung, and the hierarchy proposing a shortened version of the Gospel. (And what of Saturday evening Mass being allowed as an alternative to Sunday obligation? I mean, please, what utter hypocrisy...).
I have this memory of during the Gospel, the words 'Father into your hands I commend my spirit,' and with that he breathed His last breath. Yet in my Sunday Missal ("Souvenir of Confirmation 23rd May 1979" in my father's elegant handwriting) the text is
and bowing his head he gave up the spiritThe linked text is, to me, Christianity in a nutshell. Take or leave the rest. (Except Love God and Love your Neighbour as yourself).
For my confirmation my Aunt who was a nun (perhaps by then an ex-nun, I forget) gave me a slim volumes of Psalms with colour photographs of their setting.
Nothing quite beats my First Communion present, "The Gospel of Jesus - Text of the four gospels arranged into one continuous narrative", with every page containing at least one map and approximately 100 full page colour photos, also of "The Holy Land".
Despite all this, I am still implacably opposed to the tyranny of organised religion...
