The Death of Our Saviour - Cardinal Bacci

The Death of Our Saviour

1. In the midst of His sufferings, Jesus forgets Himself and prays for His executioners. “Father,” He pleaded, “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Who were these people who crucified Him? We know well that they were not only the Jews, but all of us. The prophet Isaias had foretold this. “He was wounded for our iniquities: he was bruised for our sins... He was offered because it was his own will... (Is. 53:5-7) We are all the crucifiers of Jesus, therefore. He willed to suffer and to die for all of us, and when He was hanging on the cross He begged for forgiveness for us all. This should incite us to trust in God and to repentance for our sins. We should be sorry for our sins because they were the real cause of the voluntary death of Jesus. We should have confidence in Him, because He forgave us when He was dying on the cross and is ready to pardon us again, as long as we are sincerely repentant.

Let us consider how Jesus, even though He was derided and nailed to the cross, prayed for and forgave His executioners. How do we normally behave? Perhaps we fly into anger at the first word of offence or act of misunderstanding, or perhaps we nourish secret feelings of hatred in our hearts for our brothers in Jesus Christ? Let us kneel before the cross and tell Our Lord that we wish to be meek and humble of heart like him. We wish to be quick to forgive and to live in peace, and even, if it is necessary, to do good to those who offend us, or at any rate to pray fervently for them.

2. Quite apart from the most fearful physical torments, such as the scourging, the crowning with thorns, and the crucifixion, Jesus willed to endure extreme moral sufferings, such as the betrayal by Judas, the desertion by His Apostles in His hour of trial, and the denial by the Head of the Apostles himself. He willed to endure an even greater spiritual affliction than these, which was so mysterious as to be almost beyond our understanding. This was His abandonment by His heavenly Father. "My God, my God," He cried out in His last agony, "why hast thou forsaken Me?" His human heart elected to experience at that moment the removal of the inmost consolations and joys which flowed from His continual union with His heavenly Father. He was both man and God. His human nature was hypostatically united to the Word, and in this way even His human nature participated in His infinite happiness. As man, however, He chose to be deprived of this happiness. Being burdened with all our sins, He wished to endure not only the most frightful sufferings, but even abandonment by His heavenly Father. We shall be able to understand this if we have ever experienced moral affliction, which can be so much worse than physical pain. On these occasions we should console ourselves with the reflection that Jesus has walked this way of sorrows before us. Then we shall remain united in these trials to Him who is the only source of comfort and resignation.

3. Jesus had now come to the last moments of His earthly life. The blood had been drained from His body as a result of His fatal wounds and He felt a great thirst. "I thirst," He murmured in a weak voice. He expressed in these words not only His physical thirst, but also His spiritual thirst for souls. He had given everything for the eternal salvation of men, yet he realised with divine foresight that many would refuse to co-operate with His infinite love. His thirst was a burning love for us, and it was answered on the physical level by the vinegar which was given to Him to drink and in the moral order by our ingratitude. Seeing that His mission was fulfilled, with His last breath Jesus entrusted His soul to His heavenly Father. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Then, in order to show that His death was voluntary, He cried out in a loud voice: “It is consummated!” (John 19:30) Jesus was dead. Let us prostrate ourselves before His lifeless body, covered with sores and furrowed with blood. The infinite justice of God, which demanded an adequate reparation for our offences, has been satisfied by the goodness and infinite mercy of the God-Man. But the immense love of Jesus, as well as His sufferings and death, should prevent us from ever offending Him again and should make us love Him more sincerely.

The Crucifixion - Cardinal Bacci

The Crucifixion

1. After a painful and exhausting journey Jesus reaches Calvary, where He is to be crucified. Once again He is stripped of His garments, which by this time have become stuck to His swollen sores. Then He is stretched upon the wooden cross, to which one of the brutal executioners fastens His hands and feet with blows from a hammer. The sharp nails are driven through His flesh into the hard wood. Jesus looks upwards and offers Himself in silence as a victim of expiation on behalf of His tormentors and of all of us. His mother Mary is standing a few paces away in the company of the holy women and of the beloved disciple. The blows of the hammer pierce the maternal heart of the Blessed Virgin, but she remains silent also and prays. When we have been afflicted by misfortune or sorrow and our hearts are racked with grief, how do we behave? Have we the resignation, the trust in God, and the spirit of prayer which Jesus and Mary had on Calvary? Let us remind ourselves that we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. If Jesus, our Head, has suffered, how much more do miserable sinners like the rest of us deserve to suffer. Jesus wishes us to participate in the work of redemption by uniting our sufferings to His. “I rejoice now,” says St. Paul, “in the sufferings I bear... and what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ I fill up in my flesh... (Col. 1:24) Let us face adversity with courage, therefore, and keep our eyes hopefully towards Heaven. Let us remember, as St. Paul also says, that even as we share in the sufferings of Christ, so we shall share in His triumph. (Cf. 2 Cor. 1:7) Jesus had to ascend Mount Calvary before He could ascend to Heaven. If we are to walk in His footsteps, we shall have to do the same.

2. When Jesus had been nailed to the cross and the executioners had dug a hole nearby, they lifted the heavy piece of wood and thrust it into the ground. The whole weight of Jesus' body was borne by His hands and feet, so that the shock caused the wounds made by the nails to become enlarged and sent an acute quiver of pain through His suffering members. He raised His glazed eyes towards Heaven and murmured a prayer of forgiveness and love. For three long hours Jesus hung suspended between earth and sky as a victim of reparation for our sins. His precious blood fell drop by drop from the wounds in His worn-out body. He gasped for breath in an ever-increasing agony, while His heart throbbed with infinite love. He looked down and saw His most holy Mother and the beloved disciple. Having sacrificed everything for us, He desired to leave us the last precious possession which remained to Him—His Mother. He turned to her and then to the beloved disciple. "Woman, behold thy son," He said. "Son, behold thy Mother." We were all present in the person of St. John, and we were all entrusted to the loving maternal care of Mary. From that moment we were taken into her protection. Let us turn to her, therefore, in sorrow and in temptation. Let us be faithful to her during life and she will be always at our side, especially at the hour of death.

3. On either side of Jesus there were two other crosses, to which two robbers had been tied. When one of these saw how Jesus prayed and forgave in the midst of His sufferings, he was touched by the grace of God. He began to hate his crimes and sins, and to believe in the divine Redeemer. Turning towards Jesus, he begged for forgiveness. "Lord, he said, "remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Jesus returned his gaze at once and replied: "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." This moving episode holds two main lessons for us. (1) No matter how great and numerous are our sins, God in His infinite mercy will forgive us if we sincerely repent, and resolve to lead better lives. (2) We should not, on the other hand, put off our conversion until the moment of death. As St. Augustine points out, only one of the two thieves is reported to have been converted. We are taking a grave risk whenever we abuse God's goodness and mercy.