16
Christ’s Eyes are wet with tears and
blood, as He moves His Head until His
gaze finds His Love: His Mother. At her
side is John, the virgin apostle. His
anguished expression seems to say,
Mother, look at Me now, your
Child, beaten and shamed, a worm
and no-man, your Son. Then,
He makes her mother of all the
living, Mother of all mankind.
“Mother, behold thy son!” Care for
them, guide them, forgive and
love them. They are all yours in a
special way, because their need
of you is special. Help them,
Mother! Help them all!
Abandoned by the very ones He
came to earth to save, seeming to be
abandoned by His own Father, He
dies in deepest desolation. Christ thirsts
for us, our love and companionship,
our hearts and our will. Time is short.
Refuse Him not. Can we turn away? We
must give ourselves to Him! Our refusal
will hurt Him more than anything else
in His Passion. We must not say, “No”
again. We have said it already too many
times. We must give Him the gift of
ourselves for a lifetime! He is begging
for dedication and consecration. The
chalice of suffering is drained and
Heaven is opened wide for all men.
From His pierced side, comes forth
the Church and, through the Church,
redemption will go on and on, to all
men, unto eternity. No man will ever
change that. The gates of Hell will not
prevail against it.
What if Christ had never come to
earth and man had been left to himself?
What if Christ had not died for us
on the Cross? God have mercy on us!
But, it really did happen, all of it. And
the Mass is the “supreme instrument”
of the graces of Calvary, all is renewed
in our hearts and we learn to live, to
love and to return to our God. We live
for one reason: to die to sin and
self that Christ might live in us.
This is our vocation. The Passion
continues in us and we want it to be
so. We have seen, heard and touched
God. Now, we have no excuse, and we
want none.
We know the road,
because He is the WAY!
We live by faith in Him,
because He is TRUTH!
He carries us along with Him,
because He is LIFE!
Christ has come. Love has spent itself
unto death for men. Our lives must be
a living witness to the Love of Jesus
Christ, and Him Crucified. The Call to
the Cross is a sacred call. Suffering is
so valuable that we cannot be merely
resigned to it or even actually choose
it; we must REJOICE IN IT! If we bear
the cross in imitation of Christ, the
very source of our salvation, it is an
instrument of love!
My
God,
I
love
Thee!