Another Good Friday (that makes 77 of them). This one turned
a light on in my mind. It seems strange
that after so many years of going through the Easter and Lenten rigors of my
Catholic upbringing and schooling, the message of what Christ endured had
escaped me. This week I made an effort
to read the Gospel of Mark in which he spoke of the life of Christ on through
the Crucifixion. Today I read the part
regarding His passion and the pain that he endured.
In the past in reading and listening to what took place in
the last few hours of that phase of his life, it was always about the
humiliation and the physical abuse our Lord went through. Today it struck me just how much He must have
loved us. Throughout the teaching of
Christ, his message was not only of looking toward the Father but He also was
very emphatic about loving our neighbor.
Many of His parables spoke of those who cared for the welfare of others,
the power of forgiveness and second chance.
Later on during the veneration of the Stations of the Cross,
coupled with a message given earlier during service at the Vatican, a thought
began to germinate in this old mind and heart.
The what Christ endured for certain has an impact but in
reality that is the exclamation point to the fact of the amount of Love that it
would require for any being to knowingly put themselves in a situation that
horrific. Christ did that to purchase
forgiveness for us. Christ allowed that
to happen because he hated sin so much he could not allow sin to be
victorious. The pain and anguish he
suffered was no doubt far less than what he experienced during his stay in hell
prior to his resurrection. Yet, foreseeing
all that, He loved us, we sinners, so much that He gave Himself up as ransom. He knew we were unable to earn Heaven without
that payment.
I think His message is the same as it was during His life on
earth as He forgave so many, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, and even
those who brought about his execution.
Remember him calling out “Forgive them Father for they know not what
they do.” As we strive to follow His
example, let me please do at least this much.
Let me hate only the sin and never the sinner. Let me condemn only the sin and never the
sinner. Let me always know that I have a
soul bought and paid for with the greatest love ever known to mankind. Thank you Jesus
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