Thank God It’s Friday
Friday has such varied connotations. For some, Friday is a source of superstition. Sailors, for example, believed it was unlucky to start a voyage on a Friday, and of course Friday the 13th is engrained in popular imagination as a day of bad luck. For many office workers, this last day of the week also is Casual Friday, when suits turn into jeans. For some Christians, Friday is a day of abstinence, particularly during Lent. Yet for most of us, Friday marks the transition between the cares of work and school and the enjoyments of the weekend. As the prevalence of end-of-week happy hours shows, Friday is when the fun starts.
Perhaps we should see Friday as a chance to recharge not just our minds and bodies but our souls—to seize opportunities for quiet contemplation that our structured weekdays might not offer. The beginning of the weekend, with its shift in schedule, can spark a renewed commitment to our Lenten discipline. After all, in just three weeks we commemorate the greatest Friday of all.

Betsy Danello

Appointed readings for today: Hosea 14:1-9, Psalm 81:8-14, Mark 12:28-34