Death

+JMJ+

Good Friday 2009.

The psalms and letters of Paul keep running through my head.

"He didn't deem equality with God something to be grasped at"

"He emptied Himself unto death, even death on a Cross"

"A Man of Sorrows"

Ecce Homo.

There He is, raised high on the Cross. Christ became sin for us, for the salvation of the world.

I was so taken by St. Alphonsus today, who reflected that when Christ spoke, "I thirst", He was not yearning for drink, but for OUR LOVE. Can you imagine? Christ died on the Cross, suffered the most despised death out of love for us...and He knew that many would reject that love.

What a position we are in! To have the freedom to reject Christ, to reject His love...to deny our Creator love! Imagine the suffering...and there, at the foot of the Cross, the Lady stands--the Virgin Mother. And she, in sharing with the suffering of her Son, knows that her suffering causes Him to SUFFER MORE! And yet, she cannot detach herself, she is His mother...and her mission is intimately intertwined with His. This, too, is her moment...a moment of Fiat so painful, yet so pure.

It is Consummated.

The perfect Victim, offered by Christ the High Priest...on the Alter of the Cross. And the world is never the same.