A Latin spiritual journey with discerning hearts, from ashes to glory.

Day 45.

The cross stands while the world turns.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John, chapter 19, verses 25 through 30.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopis,

and Mary of Magdalah. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her,

Jesus said to his mother, woman, this is your son. Then to the disciple, he said, this is your mother. And from that moment, the disciple made a place

for her in his home. After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfill the

scripture perfectly, he said. I am thirsty.

A jar full of vinegar stood there,

so putting a sponge soaked in vinegar on a hyssop stick,

they held it up to his mouth.

After Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said,

It is accomplished.

And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. Good Friday silences the world.

It stops the liturgy. It draws us back to the place where everything was lost, and everything was given. There's no mass today, no consecration.

The tabernacle stands open, the sanctuary bare.

And yet this is the most sacred of days, because today the sacrifice is not repeated.

It is remembered, entered into, offered.

We are not watching someone else's pain.

This is for you.

This is for your healing.

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