The Redemption
1. The Incarnation of God was sufficient to have saved us. It would
have been enough for God made man to have offered Himself to God for our
redemption in a single act of love. Every act of Jesus, the God-man,
had infinite value and was therefore sufficient to be offered to the
Father as an infinite satisfaction for all our sins.
But if Jesus had desired to show more
clearly his great love for us, He could have offered His sufferings as a
child in the cold cave at Bethlehem, when He lay whimpering on a
wretched straw bed. He could have offered the sorrow of his exile in
Egypt, He could have offered a single drop of His Precious Blood during
the ceremony of circumcision. He could have offered the difficulties and
privations of His simple working life at Nazareth, or the fatiguing
exertions of His apostolic journeys. All these would have been more than
enough to have made amends to the divine Father for all the sins of
humanity, to have ransomed us from the devil, and to have restored to us
God’s grace and love. But in God everything is infinite. His love has
no limit. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,” He
has commanded men, “and with thy whole soul and with thy whole strength,
and with thy whole mind, and thy neighbour as thyself.” He Himself did
infinitely more than this, however. Jesus was not satisfied merely to
love us, His brothers by adoption, as He loved Himself, but He wished to
love us “more than He loved Himself. Greater love than this no one
has,” He said, “that one lay down his life for his friends.” (1 John
15:13) This was what He Himself did. Sinful though we are, He called us
friends. “You are my friends.” (John 15:14) Out of love for us He gave
Himself entirely. He perspired blood in the Garden of Gethsemane; He was
betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and abandoned by the Apostles; He
was bound like a criminal, insulted, scourged, crowned with thorns,
condemned to death, and burdened with a cross; finally, when He arrived
at Calvary, He was nailed to the gibbet, where He shed His Precious
Blood and gave His life for our redemption. Such was the extent of
Jesus’ infinite love for us.
“Calvary,” writes St. Francis de
Sales, “is the school of love.” The Saints were moved to tears by the
strange spectacle of God-made-man dying on the cross for men. What is
our reaction?
2. Do I ever think of all that I have cost Jesus?
Do I ever meditate on His infinite love for me? If I could constantly
bear in mind the work of Redemption and the passion of Jesus Christ, I
should certainly never offend God and I should be on fire with love for
Him. Moreover, if in time of temptation I were to pray earnestly before
the image of Christ crucified, I should certainly succeed in my
resistance by asking the suffering Lord for His divine assistance.
If by some misfortune, however, I should fall into sin, it should
suffice to kiss the crucifix in order to revive my confidence in Christ,
to rouse myself to sorrow, to obtain pardon, and to begin a new life.
That should be the fruit of the Redemption for me.
3. In
conclusion, let us say this prayer of St. Alphonsus de’ Ligouri: “My
soul, look at this crucified Man… see how the arms extend to embrace
you, how the head bows forward to give you the kiss of peace. See how
His side is open to receive you. What have you to say? Such a good and
loving God deserves to be loved. O my Jesus! Adorable Jesus! O Love of
my soul! How can I ever forget You? How can I ever love anything apart
from You? O suffering Jesus, may the memory of You ever remain in my
heart.”
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