Intentional Focus on Good Friday

By President Gil Picciotto

On the first Good Friday, every indiscretion, great and small, every sin we can imagine, was paid for in full by the only One who could ever pay a price so high.

It was finished. His mission was accomplished. The great chasm between God and man was now bridged for all who will place their trust in Him. Three days later, in a shattering exclamation of His power over death, He walked forth from an empty tomb that never had any chance to contain the son of God.

Life will go on like any other typical Friday for many of us on this Good Friday. There will be traffic, bills to pay, homework to be done or decisions about how our weekends will be spent. And it is so easy just to forget what Good Friday means, really means, for all eternity.

All of us here at Eastside Catholic hope that your Good Friday will be different.

May we all calm our hearts, step away from our busy lives and think deeply about the impact we hope to have on others.

Today EC faculty, staff and students participated in EC’s designated Peace and Justice Day. Peace and Justice Day has been an annual tradition at Eastside Catholic and we were thrilled to re-introduce and celebrate this day of service and advocacy with our entire school community again.

The focus of Peace and Justice Day is to reflect on Catholic Social Teachings, which call us to serve those in immediate need and to advocate for solutions to the root causes of issues in our local, national and global communities.

All students attended an assembly with keynote speaker Christian Paige, an Emmy-nominated spoken word poet, professional speaker and educator, who shared his work and experience in schools and how they relate to peace and justice. After the assembly, students attended separate workshops led by EC faculty and students ranging in topics from environmental justice to hands-on community service projects benefiting service organizations like Union Gospel Mission and Adopt-a-Road.

We hope that the intentional focus of what we do on campus today provides us with a moment of reflection that Good Friday was a day unlike any the world has ever known and unlike any day, it will ever know again.

May you and your family have a blessed Easter!