“He said, ‘It is finished.’
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
St. John 19:30
Today is the twenty-fifth of
March. That, in itself, may seem rather
unremarkable to you. The dates for the
celebration of these great three days of Holy Week change from year to year,
depending on the cycles of the moon. We
last kept Good Friday on March 25 eleven years ago, and it will next be on this
date in 2157, when we will have all gone to our reward.
But it may be that the first Good
Friday was also on the 25th of March, and as they say, thereby hangs
a tale.
If you know your liturgical calendar
really well, you will remember that when Holy Week and Easter Week don’t
interfere, we celebrate another festival on this date, March 25, the Feast of
the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, and God
sent His Son into the world to save us.
Christmas is exactly nine months from today. This is a day of the great end, but also of
the great beginning. He came on this day
to save us, and this day He announced His work was done. The
life of Christ is a perfect circle.
