Lenten Meditation 2017

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
Reading 1 Is 52:13—53:12
Reading 2 Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel Jn 18:1—19:42
"It is finished."
Meditation:
Breath is gone, no more pain. There is only stillness when death comes. 
Stillness…
Death…
Jesus...
Good Friday...
For so many, their hopes and dreams have faded like the morning dew: the Messiah, the “King of the Jews”, hanged limp and still on a Roman cross. Those hoping to see Roman oppressors driven out must now wait for another liberator. The disciples who travelled with him proclaiming "the Kingdom of God is here " must be disappointed, bewildered. Everything spun out of control so fast. Jesus is dead. It is finished. Failure.
Or is it? The final cry of Jesus was not one of abject defeat but rather a shout of victory: The purposes of God are completed. The powers of sin and death have been defeated because the Son of God has faced the ultimate unknown of our human experience, paying the wage of sin which is death, so that we may have eternal life.
God was willing to die for our sins; it was the final step of the 'emptying' we read in St. Paul's letter to the Philippians.
“It is finished”. There is no more to do. The work is complete, the way into God’s Kingdom is open. All that is left for us to do is proclaim the good news!
Good Friday tells us that whoever we are, whatever we face and do, if we place our faith and trust in God he will not disappoint us. Our Blessed Mother Mary would look at her son and grieve but there was something else in her heart: hope - and Romans 5:5 tells us hope does not disappoint. Our story does not end in the tomb.
"It is finished."
Peace.