MEDITATION FOR TUESDAY
JESUS ON THE CROSS IS MOCKED AND PRAYS FOR HIS ENEMIES
“And they passed by, blaspheming Him, wagging their heads and saying: ‘Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God and in three days dost rebuild it: save thy own self; if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ In like manner also the chief priests, with the scribes and ancients, mocking said: ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe in Him’” (Matt. 27, 39-42).
First Prelude: Behold our Blessed Saviour on the cross, suffering the most excruciating torments, mocked and blasphemed by the passers-by.
Second Prelude: O Jesus, grant me grace to realize the baseness of human pride, to expiate which Thou didst will to suffer so much.
FIRST POINT
OUR BLESSED LORD ON THE CROSS, MOCKED AND BLASPHEMED
The more our Lord manifested the excess of His love, the more were His enemies urged to vent the excess of their malice and hatred upon Him. Enduring the most violent torments, He was reviled and mocked not only by the executioners, but also by the high priests and scribes, the populace and the soldiers. His sacred words were misinterpreted; He was reviled as having helped others, but being unable to help Himself. They promised to believe in Him if He would come down from the cross. Oh, how painful to His Sacred Heart must have been such blasphemous, impious language! Jesus hung on the wood, tortured by inexpressible pain, at the point of the most excruciating death. While His Blood streamed from countless wounds, those malicious tongues pierced, as with poisoned arrows, His loving Heart. How painful, too, that the very words He had so often spoken for the benefit and consolation of human kind were now made the object of contempt and ridicule—that these souls, for whom He had shed His Blood, rejected the bountiful redemption!
For some time the reviling and blaspheming had continued, mockery had been added to mockery, and still the Lamb of God opened not His mouth, but observed a profound silence. Jesus consummated the work of the redemption. He drank the chalice of suffering to the very dregs; He descended not from the cross, but suffered as universal Victim for all, prayed as a sacrificial Priest for all. Oh, that we would realize the culpability of our pride, since to atone for it, Jesus had to endure ignominy, ridicule and contempt! Let us consider that, suffering on the cross, Jesus merited for us the grace to subjugate pride, and to resemble Him, our Lord and Master, in humility.
Do I perceive in my heart at least the desire to conform to the meek and loving Heart of Jesus satiated with opprobrium?
SECOND POINT
JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS ENEMIES
After a long silence, Jesus opened His blessed lips and spoke the ever memorable and tender words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23, 34). He prayed for those that persecuted and reviled Him. Our Blessed Lord thus teaches us, not only by His words but more particularly by His example, that we should: “Do good to them that hate you and pray for them that calumniate and revile you” (Matt. 5, 44). His Precious Blood cries to heaven for vengeance, but His loving Heart cries out for pardon. Does not such generous love condemn the least bitterness that we might harbor against our neighbor! What are the offences that might be committed against us, when compared with the atrocities, the injustice heaped upon the Son of God, which Jesus, nevertheless, excused in His enemies when He said: “They know not what they do!” We, too, were the object of Christ’s prayer, because every sinner is guilty of His death. Must not such a petition on the lips of the dying Saviour incite us to true compunction and inflame us with ardent love! Moreover, to what extent must not our confidence increase in a Saviour Who lovingly defends and justifies us when He might justly accuse and chastise? He remembers not our iniquities, not the gravity of our sins, but draws the attention of the heavenly Father to our weakness, to our thoughtlessness, to our ignorance. Let us thank Him from the bottom of our heart for such love, and, contritely and in all humility, acknowledge our guilt, that on the Day of Judgment Jesus may Himself be our vindication. When an opportunity presents itself, we, too, will lovingly excuse others, and thus merit the special favor of God, and garner a rich harvest of heavenly gifts.
Am I of the number of those who seek to magnify the faults of others, or do I, according to the example of Jesus, try to find a reason for excusing at least the intention of the erring one?
Affections: O Blessed Saviour, what lessons Thou impartest to me from the height of the cross! Thou endurest the most excruciating pain in Thy whole Body, and at the same time Thy Sacred Heart is satiated with opprobrium. Oh, that I would never forget that it was my sins of pride, of vain-glory and ambition that imposed upon Thee, my beloved Saviour, such a heavy sacrifice of atonement. I behold Thee, O Jesus, accepting all the bitterness of the contempt, the reviling and the pains, in order to present to me the sweetness of Thy mercy and love. I pray Thee, let the sentiments of Thy Heart pass over into mine,—give me a truly humble and contrite heart, that I may be made worthy to participate in the blessed fruits of Thy prayer and learn of Thee to be patient and forbearing with others.
Resolution: To honor Jesus, mocked on the Cross, I will be humbly silent under reprimands, and according to His example, lovingly excuse the faults of others.
Spiritual Bouquet: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Prayer: Our Father . . .
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