|
From the Gospel according
to Saint Luke. 23:46
Then Jesus, crying with
a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!”
And having said this, he breathed his last.
MEDITATION
Jesus hands over his spirit
to the Father in serene abandonment. What his persecutors thought to
be a moment of defeat proves, in fact, to be a moment of triumph.
When a prophet dies for the cause he stood for, he gives the final
proof of all that he has said. Christ’s death is something more than
that. It brings redemption.[1]
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses.”[2]
With that begins for me a
mystic journey: Christ draws me closer to him, until I shall
fully belong to him.[3]
“As a deer longs for
flowing streams,
So my soul longs for you, O God…
When shall I come and behold the face of God?”[4]
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, it is for my
own sins that you were nailed to the Cross. Help me to gain a deeper
understanding of the grievousness of my sins and the immensity of
your love. For “while we were still weak, Christ died for the
ungodly.”[5]
I admit my faults as the prophets did long ago:
“We have sinned and
done wrong and acted wickedly
and rebelled, turning aside
from your commandments and ordinances;
we have not listened to your servants the prophets….”
[6]
There was nothing in me to
deserve your kindness. Thank you for your immeasurable goodness to
me. Help me to live for you, to shape my life after you,[7]
to be joined to you and become a new creation.[8]
“Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.”[9]
[3]
Cf. Jn 12:32; Phil 3:12-14; Gal
2:20.
[9] “Saint
Patrick’s Breastplate” (Eighth-century Irish hymn).
|
Handicapped
accessible.