It’s more than colored eggs and candy this weekend for some NIU people.

Across campus, Christians are beginning to gear up for Easter Sunday as Lent comes to a close on Holy Saturday.

Tiffany Chinn, a freshman history major, is going home to her parents’ church to celebrate Good Friday.

“I think it’s important to celebrate the idea of Good Friday because it’s all about reflecting and remembering Jesus died for everybody,” Chinn said.

Chinn said she believes Christians must celebrate Good Friday, along with Easter and Christmas, because there are crucial elements to the religion.

“Jesus was God, he came to Earth because someone had to die for the sins of the world,” Chinn said. “If he wasn’t going to die then everyone else would have to die for their own sins.”

Father Addison Hart of the Newman Catholic Student Center agreed with Chinn’s definition and said Good Friday is the day when Jesus’ death on the cross is celebrated.

“He was the sacrifice on our behalf so we say he substituted himself for us, he took upon himself our sins so there would be no barrier between us and God,” Hart said.

Considered a day of mourning within the church, Good Friday services “often [take] the form of a meditation based on the last seven words of Jesus on the cross,” according to bbc.co.uk.

Hart continued to explain Good Friday is a part of the sacred triduum, which combines Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday as a single celebration.

“Good Friday is the day that Jesus was executed, the day he gave his life for us,” said Pastor Dwight Gorbel of Judson Baptist Fellowship.

Gorbel also said Good Friday is a time of repentance.

“It’s a time of reflection for Easter, of our sinfulness, the reason Jesus came and was sacrificed,” he said. “It’s our opportunity to dig deep within ourselves to find our sins and ask for forgiveness.”