Christ descended from divine glory to take on human form and die on the cross for our salvation. His self-emptying and obedience led to his crucifixion on Good Friday. While this was an act of humiliation, the Father exalted Christ by raising him from the dead. At the name of Jesus, all creation will acknowledge his lordship and glorify God the Father through confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord.

1. By:
Zachary Pinaire
Colin Blatchford

2. Good Friday, The Descent of Christ!
In the first part of this hymn, the paradoxical ‚self-emptying‛ of the
Divine Word is described as he divests himself of his glory and takes on
the human condition.
-Pope Benedict XVI
Christ Jesus, from the splendour of divinity which by nature belongs to
him chooses to descend to the humiliation of ‘death on a cross’. In this
way he shows himself to be truly man and our Redeemer, with an
authentic and full participation in our human reality of suffering and
death.
-Pope Benedict XVI
Christ is descending into the human nature, from the ‚splendor of
divinity.‛ Enabling Christ to take expiate our sins upon the Cross and
bring us salvation. This mystery is culminated in the Good Friday
Liturgy most especially with the veneration of the Cross.

3. Veneration of the Cross
Every celebration of mass is re-presentation of the
bloody sacrifice of the Cross.
By the sacrifice of the mass we are drawn into a deeper communion with Christ,
and the Trinity as a whole.
Through our communion with Christ we are able to unite our suffering with his,
thereby receiving as a gift from God, merit from it, his sanctifying grace.
Thus, the mass culminating in the Eucharist, as a sacrifice and the unification of
man with God, is the apex of the Christian life, which would not be possible
without the Cross on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter.
Christ, incarnate and humiliated by the most shameful death of crucifixion, is held
up as a vital model for Christians. Indeed, as is clear from the context, their
‚attitude must be that of Christ,‛ and their sentiments, humility and self-giving,
detachment and generosity. -Pope Benedict XVI

4. Veneration of the Cross - The Reproaches
On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the
Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies
of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, chanting the 'Reproaches', reading the Passion, and
the mass of the pre-Sanctified, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death
to sin in the Death of our Lord.
The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle
standing open - is as if in mourning. In the fourth century the Apostolic Constitutions described
this day as a 'day of mourning, not a day of festive joy,' and this day was called the 'Pasch (passage)
of the Crucifixion.'
The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifixion and death evidently has been
in existence from the earliest days of the Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service
of Mass of the Pre-sanctified is celebrated in which the Eucharsit consecrated on Holy Thursday is
given to the people .
The omission of the prayer of consecration deepens our sense of loss because Mass throughout the
year reminds us of the Lord's triumph over death, the source of our joy and blessing. The desolate
quality of the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering during his Passion.
Catholic Online

5. The Cross
'Lord, by thy Cross and Resurrection thou hast redeemed the world’
In the symbol of the Cross we see the magnitude of the human tragedy, ravages of original sin, and
infinite love of God. Good Friday is a particularly appropriate time to attempt to penetrate the true
meaning of this sacred image represents through prayerful contemplation.
Looking at the Cross in prayer helps us to truly see it. Most Christians have crosses in their homes.
Many wear a cross around their necks. Some of these are very beautiful, perhaps made of precious
metal and embellished with jewels. The beauty of these devotional objects may emphasize the
glory and the victory of Our Lord's Cross; but too often representations of this central symbol of
our faith are regarded primarily as decorative, and its true message is lost.
It is fitting that we glorify the Cross as a sign of Christ's resurrection and victory over sin and
death, of course. But we should remember each time we see a cross that the Cross of Jesus'
crucifixion was an emblem of physical anguish and personal defilement, not triumph-of
debasement and humiliation, not glory-of degradation and shame, not beauty. It was a means of
execution, like a gallows or a gas chamber. What the Son of God endured for us was the depth of
ugliness and humiliation. We need to be reminded of the tremendous personal cost of love.
The image of the Cross may help each of us to learn more fully the meaning of Christ's
sacrifice, and how we are to imitate His example. We can hope that our prayers which focus on
the Crucifixion of our Lord will help atone for our own sins and the many grave sins of our
society.
Catholic Online

6. Common Prayers for Veneration
Rejoice, O Cross, thrice-blessed and divine
wood,
a light to those in darkness.
Shining on the four corners of the earth,
thou dost prepare us for the dawn of
Christ’s resurrection.
O grant to all the faithful that they may
come to the festival of Easter. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world
might be saved through him. (John 3:17)
On this day the wood anointed with life,
the cross of Christ,
fills all things with the perfume of divine
grace.
Let us smell its God-given fragrance,
venerating it with faith for ever.

7. Common Prayers for Veneration
Down from the Tree Joseph of Arimathea
took Thee dead,
who are the Life of all,
We worship you, Lord, and he wrapped Thee, O Christ, in a linen
we venerate your cross, cloth with spices.
we praise your resurrection. Moved in his heart by love, he kissed Thy
Through the cross you brought most pure body with his lips;
joy to the world. yet, drawing back in fear, he cried to Thee
rejoicing:
Glory to Thy self-abasement, O Thou who
lovest mankind. (Byzantine liturgy 614)
O come, ye faithful, and let us drink,
not from a well of earthly water that
perishes
but from the fountain of life,
as we venerate the cross of Christ; for his
cross is our glory.

8. Philippians Christological Hymn
This hymn of inestimable theological value presents a complete synthesis
of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday through Good Friday to the Sunday of
the Resurrection. These words from the Letter to the Philippians,
progressively repeated in an ancient responsory, will accompany us
throughout the Triduum Sacrum.
-Pope John Paul II
The beginning three verses help us to recall the humiliation that Christ
suffered for us, and to reflect on what we have done to follow him in
embracing God’s will, especially when it is contrary to ours.
The final three verses tell us what we have to look forward to, both on
Easter morning, and at the end of time. It also communicates in what
our salvation consists, to a degree.

9. Philippians 2:6
“Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality
with God something to be grasped at.”
This first verse of the Christological Hymn identifies two elements of
Christ.
First, that Jesus was ‚in the form of God‛ or that he was of the same
divine nature as God.
Second, that Jesus did not use this divine nature as a means of pride
and superiority, rather he did not deem the divine nature ‚something
to be grasped at.‛
This transcendent reality is not interpreted or lived out under the
banner of power, greatness and dominion.
-Pope Benedict XVI
By man it is lived out in complete submission to the will of the Father.

10. Philippians 2:7
“Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in
the likeness of men.”
Instead of using his divine nature as a means of glory and triumph, Jesus
did the opposite and ‚emptied himself‛ by taking on human nature.
In this emptying of himself, Jesus it taking on every part of human nature
(except sin), transforming it by his death and
resurrection.
‚Immersing himself without reserve in out
weak and wretched human condition. In Christ
the divine ‚form‛ (morphe) is consealed beneath
the human form‛ (morphe), that is, beneath our
reality marked by suffering, poverty, limitation
and death.‛
-Pope Benedict XVI

11. Pope Benedict XVI
Philippians 2:8 ‚This radical and true sharing in the human
condition, with the exception of sin, leads Jesus to
the boundary that is a sign of our finite condition
and transience: death.‛
“He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he
humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a
cross!”
It was through taking on human nature that Christ
‚humbled himself.‛ As well as, through his obedience to the Father
in laying down his life for all.
Jesus was ‚known to be of human estate‛ or he was fully man.
Jesus was not God taking on the appearance of God. No He was
both Fully God and Fully Man.
We too must humble ourselves taking up our crosses and suffering
through them, as our model Christ.

12. Ascent of Christ to Paschal Glory
The second half of the hymn shows Christ’s ascent to
glory.
Christ is raised to the right hand of God
Christ, by his name, is given the worship
previously reserved for God alone.
This is the fulfillment of Christ’s mission.
Christ bears up our humanity, transforming it,
and enabling our communion with God,
through the humiliation of his Cross.
It is precisely from this extreme humiliation that the
great movement of ascension takes off.
-Pope John Paul II
‚The sacrificial obedience of the Son is followed by the
glorifying response of the Father, to which adoration is
united on the part of humanity and creation.
-Pope Benedict XVI

13. Philippians 2:9
“For, this God has raised him high, and given him the name above every other name.”
The Father’s response to Christ’s perfect obedience is exaltation
His exaltation is expressed first by enthronement at God’s right
hand.
Then God gave him a name.
In biblical language a ‘name’ conveys a persons true essence and specific
function
Therefore the name given by the Father is a definition of the being of Jesus.
It contains his role in the Father’s plan for salvation and type of his
nature.
Now this ‘name’ Kyrios or ‘Lord’, the sacred name of the biblical God, is given to
the risen Christ.
-Pope John Paul II

14. Philipians 2:9
Christ resurrected from the dead is the foundation of our faith that radiates
throughout the Church's liturgy, giving it content and meaning ... Christ's
resurrection is the door to a new life that is no longer subjected to the termination of
time, a life immersed in the eternity of God. With Jesus' resurrection begins a new
condition of human being, which illuminates and transforms our daily path and
opens a qualitatively new and different future for all humanity.
-Pope Benedict XVI
The raising of Christ by God the Father, inaugurates a turning of the world on its
head. It is no longer in seeking pleasure that we end in suffering, because only God
can satisfy; rather we seek suffering that through the merit, sanctifying grace,
bestowed by God, we may have eternal life and joy.
Through his death, Christ not only denounced and conquered sin, he also gave new
meaning to suffering. The new meaning that Christ gave to suffering was not so much
made manifest in his death but rather in his victory over death, that is, the
Resurrection.
Raniero Cantalamessa

15. Philippians 2:10
“That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth,”
This is a mirror of Isa 45:23, referring to the universal worship due YHWH.
Assuming our creaturely nature, the Savior comes to redeem the
whole of the universe as expressed by the threefold division.
From the Greek, we understand that it is ‚when the name is uttered in the
heavenly court they prostrate themselves in subjection and
acknowledgement that this is the name over all.‛
Carmen Christi: Philippians 2:6-11
We are being prepared to receive a name which gives us partial
understanding of our God, which will command a response. A response
which is the subjugation of ourselves to Christ, that we may be raised up
with him unto our salvation.
A powerful profession of faith is raised not only from within the whole horizon
of human history, but also from heaven and from hell.
-Pope John Paul II

16. Philippians 2:11
“And every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, Jesus Christ is Lord.”
We are given to understand this is not a simple declaration, but rather it is
a personal witness of faith by those who proclaim it.
The root of the Hebrew name Yehôšûa, Jesus, means salvation, thus
Christ’s name speaks of his essence and work, for our salvation.
Christos is Greek for messiah, showing the connection between the Old
Testament prophesies and the New Testament fulfillment.
Kyrios is the Greek word used for the Hebrew word adoni, which is
the title used by Jews for the one God.
It serves as an early creedal formula attesting to Jesus’ cosmic submission and
universal acclaim.
For us it is a reminder of our necessity to submit, in Christ by the Holy
Spirit, and receive our acclaim, salvation.
‚To the Son, who, for love, was humiliated in death, the Father confers an incomparable
dignity, the ‚Name‛ above all others, that of ‚Lord‛, of God himself.
-Pope Benedict XVI

17. Philippians 2:11
“And every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, Jesus Christ is Lord.”
This last phrase signifies Christ role in salvation
fulfillment of God’s promise to man (Gen 3:15 and Isa 52:13-53:12)
his fitting absolute power and majesty
his consubstantiality with the Father
and in worship of him we glorify and worship the Father
Through the humiliation of Christ on the Cross and his Resurrection after
death, the Gates of Heaven are now opened to us.
‚On one hand, there is the recognition of the universal sovereignty of Jesus Christ,
who receives honor from all creation. On the other, however, the acclamation of faith
declares Christ existing in the divine form or condition, thereby presenting him as
worthy of adoration.
-Pope Benedict XVI

18. Sources
General Audience of John Paul II General Audience of John Paul II
Wednesday, 19 November 2003 Wednesday, 4 August 2004
General Audience Benedict XVI General Audience Benedict XVI
Wednesday, 1 June 2005 Wednesday, 26 October 2005
Gordon Fee Pope Paul VI
Pauline Christology Ad Gentes
Presbyterorum Ordinis
Fr. Randy Soto
Perfectae Caritatis
Lectio on Phil 2:6-11
Pope Benedict XVI St. John Chyrsostom
Deus Caritas Est Homily on Phiippians 2:5-11
Ed. Mark Kiley Douay-Rheims Bible
Prayer from Alexander to Constantine Servant Song of Isaiah; Isa 52:13-53:12
Trans. Robert Charles Hill R.P. Martin
Theodoret of Cyprus Carmen Christ: Philippians 2:6-11
Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul A Hymn of Christ: Philippians 2:6-11
An Early Christian Confession
Richard J. Buckham
The Worship of Jesus in Philippians 2:9-11 General Audience Benedict XVI
in Where Christology Began: Essays on Philipians 2 Wednesday, 27 April 2011
HOMILY OF THE POPE JOHN PAUL II
Good Friday Palm Sunday, 23 March 1997
http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/friday.php
General Audiences
www.vatican.va