Dear Friends:

In preparing for the broadcast I was going to do tonight, I kept coming up against the fact that Our Lord’s fifth word from the cross (John 19:28: “I thirst”) and His sixth word (John 19:30: “It is consummated”) are inextricably intertwined and should be discussed together: there is only one verse between them, and the identical Greek word translated “It is consummated” (tetélestai) in verse 30 shows up as well in verse 28, the verse where Jesus says “I thirst,” for reasons I’ll explain in tomorrow’s broadcast.

I see now, therefore, that I need to discuss these two sayings together, as I cannot fully explain the fifth word to you without explicating the sixth in the same conversation. But, though I am prepared to discuss the fifth word tonight, I am not yet finished with all my reading so as to be prepared to discuss the sixth.

I will therefore discuss them together tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 28, at 9 pm Eastern), and will take tonight off from broadcasting in order to catch up on other urgent work that’s been piling up during this broadcast series.

May God be granting you and yours a fruitful Holy Week. See you tomorrow!

Yours in Jesus and Mary,

Gerry Matatics