V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)
An encounter of great depth… The Mother sees her suffering Son.
She had said “yes” to the Father’s will and understood that her Son was the Saviour of the world. Now she sees Him walking this path of humiliation in order to exalt us men, just as the old man Simeon had foretold:
Read MoreThe way of the Lord is unimaginably difficult! It was not only the physical suffering that tormented Him, but above all the weight of sin that He carried to the cross for us men. If a single sin weighs immensely on us until we have presented it to the Lord and received His forgiveness, how much more the countless faults of all mankind!
Read MoreIn Roman times, criminals were punished by crucifixion. It was a death of dishonour and shame. The condemned died by suffocation.
Jesus is not only condemned to crucifixion; He has to carry His own cross. They want to make a spectacle of Him for the people.
Read MoreJesus, the innocent One, stands before Pilate.
An earthly judge, the representative of Rome, is to judge the Son of God.
The leaders of His own people are His accusers. Those who were to lead the chosen people and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah did not recognise Him because they did not know the Father (Jn 8:19). This is what Jesus said to them.
Read MoreSince it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of him shall be broken.” And again another scripture says, “They shall look on him whom they have pierced.” After this Joseph of Arimathe′a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave.
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol′gotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.”
With today’s meditation I conclude this series which I began after the systematic reflections on the Gospel of St John in preparation for the great solemnity of Easter.
A brief recapitulation is in order to highlight the essentials. After this meditation, we will return to the accounts of the Lord’s death and burial in the Gospel of John.
The concept of ‘discretion’, which we have learned from the desert fathers and which means ‘discernment of spirits’ in ecclesiastical usage, has led us to look carefully at the situation in the Church and in the world and to apply it also to our spiritual life. In analysing the spiritual armour proposed in the Letter to the Ephesians, we have come to the conclusion that we must prepare ourselves for the spiritual combat, which goes beyond the personal sphere, especially when we consider the anti-Christian threats to the world and to the Church.
This Lent we have set ourselves the task of being better disciples of the Lord, especially in the face of the great confusion that the Church is currently experiencing. The disciple has the task of proclaiming and glorifying his Lord. The essential content of this proclamation is found in Sacred Scripture and in the authentic teaching of the Church. This is the criterion that guides us, for as disciples we do not act in our own name but we were sent. It is not for us, therefore, to introduce our own ideas or contents which are alien to the Gospel and which would weaken the witness of Christ. It is also important that our lives be as consistent as possible with what we proclaim, so that our witness in word is not obscured by our way of life.
With these reflections we come to the end of these Lenten meditations. In the last days before Passion Sunday, I will take up the passages of St John’s Gospel that remain to be meditated on, with the exception of the resurrection stories, to which we will return after Easter.
We are now in the fourth week of Lent and Passion Sunday is fast approaching. Everything is now focused on the commemoration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of humanity.
This series of Lenten meditations has led us to look closely at the current situation in the Church and in the world, and to draw the appropriate conclusions. One of them is to consciously engage in spiritual combat, not only to guard our own spiritual life, but also to assume, beyond the personal sphere, the place God has assigned to us in the ‘army of the Lamb’ and thus to serve the Kingdom of God.
After reflecting on fasting, vigils, the desert and silence, let us continue to listen to the other suggestions of the Desert Fathers in order to protect ourselves from the wiles of the devil and to progress more quickly on the path of perfection. Another piece of advice they proposed was this: give priority to works of charity, for which the Lord has promised the Kingdom of God in return. Read More
