Independent Online, South Africa- Mar 21, 2008

 

By Paddy Kearney

Durban has a unique Good Friday custom: every year, a large cross is carried through the main streets in a silent dawn procession.

This event, organised by the Diakonia Council of Churches, brings together Christians of many different churches to commemorate Jesus's suffering and death, and to reflect on some aspect of suffering in our own society today.

This year's theme is "who is my neighbour?" - a question which Jesus was once asked by a lawyer.

Jesus answered by telling one of the best-known short stories - that of the Good Samaritan.

Luke (10: 29-37): Jesus's hearers would have been startled that he chose a Samaritan as the hero of the story because Samaritans were a despised people.