Seventh Word from the Cross: Sacrifice Upon the Altar of History

National Catholic Register, 3 April 2026

‘It is finished.’

Editor’s note: Father Raymond J. de Souza recorded meditations on the Seven Last Words at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg, New York. They will air on EWTN on Good Friday at 1 p.m. (EDT). It will also be available at ewtn.com and EWTN+. The Register will publish those meditations through Good Friday.

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“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

It is finished. In Latin, consummatum est. It is consummated. It is completed. It has been accomplished. It is finished, but it is not left behind. It is finished, but it remains.

On Friday afternoon at Golgotha, Jesus says, “It is finished.” On Sunday afternoon at Emmaus, Jesus makes it all present again. On Sunday afternoon in the Upper Room, he tells his Apostles, “As the Father sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21).

If the stained-glass windows of this cathedral were being designed today, they would include Archbishop Sheen, who did his part to continue that mission.

Instead, there are windows here of Father Damien of Molokai, who tended to lepers as Jesus did; of Marguerite d’Youville, Rose Hawthorne and Frances Xavier Cabrini caring for the sick, as Jesus did; of priests offering the first Mass within the territory of New York State. What Jesus did on Good Friday, we do each day upon our altars. It is finished and it continues. The mission of the Cross continues and is entrusted to each new disciple at baptism.

Americans look to 1776 and the bringing forth of a new nation. There is a window here depicting 1676, a hundred years earlier. It shows the bringing forth of a new disciple, the baptism of a Mohawk maiden, Kateri Tekakwitha. To her, as to every disciple, was given a share in the mission which Jesus consummated on the Cross. Kateri’s face during life had been marked by disfiguring scars due to smallpox. When she died, her face was miraculously healed. Those attending her were able to see the transformation of her earthly body by a soul now in the presence of the Risen Christ.

Americans rightly celebrate this anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, but 1776 — like all political arrangements — is worthy of celebration to the extent that it makes room for 1676, for the mission of the baptized to be more freely, more fully lived in this vale of tears.

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