Good Friday - April 19, 2019

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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?

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