“Jesus said: Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you” (Jn 17:1).
The hour of Jesus… It is the dark hour in which Jesus shows His love for the Father unto the end.
It is the dark hour when Jesus seeks comfort from His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, but finds none (Mt 26:36-46).
It is the dark hour when Jesus gives His definitive yes to the will of the Father (Mt 26:42).
It is the dark hour of the Passion of the Son of God and yet it is:
brighter than a thousand suns, for Jesus loves the Father more than Himself;
brighter than a thousand suns, because the Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16);
brighter than a thousand suns, because it was the hour that brought Redemption to mankind;
brighter than a thousand suns, because Jesus prayed even for those who had Him crucified (Lk 23:34);
brighter than a thousand suns, because He willingly accepted His Passion (cf. Jn 10:18);
brighter than a thousand suns, because He suffered for us men;
brighter than a thousand suns, because He responded to the greatest wickedness of men with the supreme love of God;
brighter than a thousand suns, because He defeated the power of darkness;
brighter than a thousand suns, because He snatched his prey from the devil (cf. Lk 10:18);
brighter than a thousand suns, because the Cross became the sign of salvation;
brighter than a thousand suns, because the blood of the Lamb washed away our guilt (cf. Rev 7:14);
brighter than a thousand suns, because the Father, in His infinite wisdom, opened the way for all people: the way to Him through His Son…
Brighter than a thousand suns!