Reflection
He strained to raise His head and look up to heaven. “It is finished,” He cried and then bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
At the time, the moment was filled with too much emotion for those words to sink in and to ponder what they meant. But later, as the early Christians read John’s Gospel and heard again those words, it dawned on them just how powerful these dying words of Jesus were.
When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He is saying that His job of saving the world has been completed. Salvation is finished, Jesus cried. The restoration of the friendship between God and humanity has been finished. That is why we call today “Good Friday.” It wasn’t a good day for Jesus. We call it Good Friday because the cross is the proof of the powerful love God has for each one of us. Here we see a love that was prepared to endure the ultimate in order to rescue us.
Today we’re going to do an altar call. We are going to process to the front and venerate the cross. Let us think about what Jesus has done for you through His death on the cross. Ask God to wrap you tightly in His love — forgiving you, watching over you, guiding you.
Prayer
Loving God, what You have done for us in Jesus’ death on the cross is far more than we deserve. His death has made us friends with You again. His death has given us forgiveness and hope of life forever. Everything is complete. We thank You from the bottom of our hearts. Amen.
Fr. Stanley Deresienski, S.S.E. ’74, M’75
Scripture
Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel: John 18:1—19:42
Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website
No comments:
Post a Comment