Good Friday - April 19, 2019

-

Isaiah 52:13-53    Hebrews 4:14-16,5:7-9    John 18:1-19,42

“Now it is finished.”  This statement is read every Good Friday, with such silence throughout the church that you can hear a pin drop.  I recall years ago a time with Father Rotert saying those words; he could hardly get through it, his voice quivering. 

I was honored to be asked to write a reflection and a bit overwhelmed when given this particular day.  As I read the gospel, I kept coming back to the statement, “Now it is finished”. 
 I reflected on all those times I looked forward to “finishing” something, usually it was  tied to work like finishing a project, getting to or meeting a deadline.  However, the word can apply to many other things for all of us.

For example, our own twins are in 8th grade looking to “finish” this year and move on. Our Rockhurst junior is getting ready for his senior year and “finishing” high school.  Our oldest, a gifted fifth grade teacher, is looking forward to “finishing” this particular school year.  And as I write this Good Friday reflection, many months in advance of the Lenten season, Erin and I are looking forward to saying we are “finished” with Christmas shopping.  Yet Jesus, for all of us, “finished” his physical life here on earth for us, only to know his “finish” really was not “finished.”  He was “actually “beginning” his new chapter… again for all of us. 

So this day, as I sit in Good Friday service, in the silence of “Now it is finished” and am surrounded by so many I love and care for deeply, I will take that sadness, for that particular moment, and attempt to grasp the gift I have just been given by Jesus.  I will leave in silence with all of you and contemplate the example and love of our Lord who came to show us how to live.  I will think again, of what I am to do with this “new beginning.”  How can I take this gift and become a more aware and connected husband, dad, son, friend, not only to those closest to me but throughout my community, my city, and maybe even my country?  I will keep watch and listen for my new “beginnings.”

Q:  If my life were to finish today, would I be ready to meet the Lord face to face and feel I have done what the Lord has asked of me?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday of the First Week of Lent - March 11, 2019

-
Leviticus19:1-2, 11-18  Matthew 25:31-46 As I read my assignment for today, I felt relief. I knew these readings; I could relate to them. I had heard them multiple times and thought that I understood them well. The first reading from Leviticus tells me to love my neighbor as myself and to judge my neighbor justly. I know this! I believe this in my head! I often find it difficult to carry out, but I do believe it. Today’s gospel, Matthew 25, many of us know well through readings, songs, and social concerns committees, "Whatever you do for one of the least of …mine, you do to me." Feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; welcome the stranger; clothe the naked; comfort the sick; visit the prisoner. We try to do these things in our life. I decided to read our parish book, Stranger God by Richard Beck, to see how it could expand my understanding of Matthew 25 – and expand it did! After I read the book, I realized that I had been reading Matthew 25 literally. ...
Read more

Fifth Sunday of Lent - March 26, 2023

-
Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11 Unfortunately, I am able to easily say that death is the most significant image that is present in my life at this time. My wife of 50+ years died approximately 2½ years ago. My wife was a seriously  committed Catholic and she was able to accept her death after an illness of less than 2 years. She said, “Jim, I am ready.” I think a lot about what “ready” means and what it meant to Kathy! Clearly, Kathy thought that she had accomplished a full life of being a mother to our children, being a loving and faithful wife to me, and being an active and meaningful friend to the people she met and the organizations she assisted and contributed to. She was at her best when assisting “others.” Probably the biggest contribution Kathy made to me and our children was that she has made it easy for us to face our own deaths because she was “at peace” with her imminent death; and yet she showed us a graceful way to handle the process and demonstrate tha...
Read more

Annunciation of the Lord - March 25, 2021

-
Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 Psalm 40:7-8a,8b-9,10,11 Hebrews 10:4-10 Luke 1:26-38 In the Responsorial Psalm, I hear these words, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will,” and I immediately begin to hum the song we hear so often during mass: “Here I am Lord, here I am, I come to do your will.“ As I begin each day at my kitchen table reading the daily scriptures, a reflective app on my phone, and the daily devotional Jesus Calling, I sit in joyful hope, waiting to hear what God has to say to me. Although I don’t believe I will ever hear the enormous call that our mother Mary heard in the Annunciation of our Lord, I do try every day to listen and hear what God is calling me to do as a humble daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend. I feel all are called according to God’s plan in small and large ways; the trick is recognizing the signs when God is calling us. It is easy to get lost in all the “have to-dos of the day” in our crazy busy world. Today, let us start by asking Him to guide us to re...
Read more