Anticipation

     Much of the power of the Catholic liturgical calendar flows from its regularity. We know each season, each celebration, and each commemoration. We can see them coming. And though they are the same as last year, a host of factors freshen them as they return. Despite their regularity, the cycle renders them new.

     Part of that is the anticipation of each liturgical event. Anticipation, we are told, is itself a component of the thing anticipated, inseparable from it. With some of the feasts this is obvious, Christmas being the best example. Today’s commemoration is preceded by the sacrificial practices of Lent and is driven home by the contemplation of the Cross.

     But there’s an aspect to the Passion that’s seldom pondered. We aren’t the only ones who see it coming.

* * *

     Jesus of Nazareth, at once fully human and fully divine, was not unaware of the fate He faced. He told His followers that it was coming. During the episode of the Transfiguration, He conversed with Moses and Elijah about it:

     And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
     But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

     [Luke 9:28-32]

     And later on, He prayed at Gethsemane to be spared:

     And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
     And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
     And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

     [Luke 22:39-44]

     His anticipation of His impending torture and death was inseparable from the agony thereof. It was a single Passion, unitary and complete.

* * *

     The Passion is too solemn a commemoration to be burdened with a long, sententious exposition. Let me close with one more thought.

     Jesus, though divine, never referred to Himself as the Son of God. Those words came from the mouths of others. He called Himself the Son of Man, a title whose significance is unappreciated by many. It served to humble Him in others’ eyes, but it also carried a subtext: I am here because of you.

     For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. [Mark 10:45]

     He had not come from His own need, nor from His Father’s need, but from ours. He lived, preached, traveled, suffered, and died for us. We needed Him. And so He gave Himself to us.

     May God bless and keep you all on this Good Friday in the Year of Our Lord 2026.