Christians mark Good Friday

Accra, April 2, GNA - Christians in Ghana on Friday joined their counterparts all over the world to commemorate Good Friday - the suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.

Christians in Ghana are expected to wear black cloths or mourning dresses as they attend special church services to commemorate the day. Good Friday comes barely a week after Palm Sunday, which marked the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.

Many Christians meditated, fasted, prayed and asked for forgiveness during the Lent period, focussing on the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross and its significance.

Some Pentecostal churches are also holding conventions that would end on Easter Monday.

Easter Sunday is a cornerstone of Christianity, which marks the triumph of Jesus Christ over death.

Christians in Ghana would be adorned in white dresses as they attend special church services to commemorate the day. The activities of the day would climax the Easter celebrations, coming after Good Friday and Palm Sunday.

The Easter would be characterised by a series of liturgy, sermons and hymns from Good Friday through Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday to celebrate Christ's power over death and victory over sin. Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, dwells on the significance of this event to the Christian faith when he told them: "If Christ is not raised, then our preaching is in vain and so is your faith." The risen Christ, he said, was the pivot of the Christian faith and that, without this mystery, there would be no church, hope of eternal life or living Christ.

Christ himself affirmed this when he said in John 14: "I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live...."

Indeed, the early Christians believed that the Risen Christ heralded the dawn of the "New Creation - the church and a new hope."