April 2022 https://www.garabandal.it/en/live-garabandal/each-month/1403-april-2022 The Seven Last Words Traditionally, the seven last words are meditated and preached on Good Friday to remember the last words of Jesus before His death. It is a devotion spread all over the world. Its diffusion and practice is attributed to St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, who wrote a treatise entitled The Seven Words: Spoken by Christ on the Cross. It is a Lenten tradition of the Church that takes us into the very heart of Our Savior. We must widen our hearts to listen to these words with open ears and not let them fall into the void. What do these words of Jesus say to me in particular? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Jesus in his Passion gives us an example to follow: forgiveness to those who offend and persecute us. Jesus, the innocent one, the one who did not deserve insult, accepts the outrages, offers them to the Father and intercedes for those who mistreat Him. "Father, forgive them." His prayer is addressed to the Father. Jesus's prayer to the Father always was and is a confident prayer. Elsewhere in the Gospel He will say, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me" (John 11:41). This is how our prayer should be: confident, knowing that God always listens to us. In our prayer we should always ask for great things. We should not stop at the small things in our lives, but raise our eyes and see what we should ask on behalf of others. Among them is the prayer for the sinner, the distant one, the one who even hurts me. We must pray for their conversion and for God's forgiveness. Here we see also that Jesus says, "They know not what they do." How often we are more guilty than they are because we have known His love, and our sin and offense is committed knowingly! In a certain sense, Jesus also prays for us, for those times that, blinded by our vice and sin, we neither see nor realize how much we offend Him. "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." It says in Scripture that His word is living and active. The promises of Jesus, being His word, are also living and effective. It is a promise He makes to the repentant thief. Let us look at the repentant thief. Repentance is necessary to hear this promise of Jesus. The thief asked Him to remember him when He enters His Kingdom. Jesus's promise goes further: He promises him that he will be in Paradise with Him that day. Surely the thief did not dare to ask Jesus for the grace of being with Him because he was aware that he deserved his punishment. Yet humility, repentance and recognition of the divinity of Jesus are what purifies his sin and makes him worthy of hearing from Jesus the promise of something much more, not because of his merits but because of the Lord's mercy. This inspires us to approach Jesus and humbly ask for forgiveness: "Remember me, Lord Jesus. Do not forget me." "Woman, behold, your son!" Along with the Eucharist, the most precious gift the Lord left us was His own mother to be our mother. It is a great mystery that God wanted to entrust us with His mother, but even more mysterious is the deeper fact that in these words of Jesus, another, more important intention is revealed. It is not so much to entrust His mother to John, but to give the disciple to Mary, thus assigning her a new maternal mission. This mission is exercised towards all Christians, therefore towards each one of us, Mary's children. "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" A great darkness had fallen over Jerusalem. Jesus is on the cross. Death is near. From Jesus's innermost depths come these words from Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why?" Jesus took upon Himself the death of a sinner. In his encyclical Deus caritas est, Pope Benedict XVI says, "So great is God's love for man that by becoming man He follows him even unto death, and so reconciles justice and love." To give the sinner salvation and life, God goes so far as to "set Himself against Himself by giving Himself" up to death in His Son. Why? To fulfil God's justice. With what purpose? To reveal to us what love is in its most radical form. At times in our lives we may also experience an apparent abandonment and silence on God's behalf. It is in these moments when we must turn to Him with more confidence, knowing that He does not abandon us. The feeling of loneliness can help us grow in faith, abandonment and trust. It is also a precious opportunity to offer ourselves together with Jesus and make His sufferings our own. "I thirst." Jesus is thirsty. It could refer to a physical thirst since, after hours of suffering, loss of blood, and the fever that consumed Him, He would feel a burning thirst. But as always Jesus's words are much deeper. Jesus thirsts to drink the cup of suffering to pay our ransom and drink it to the dregs. Jesus also thirsts for our love. We could recall his request to the Samaritan woman, "Give me a drink" (John 4:7). Later, to the Samaritan woman's surprise, He said to her that if she knew who it was who was asking her to drink, she would ask Him and He would give her the water of eternal life. Here, too, Jesus shows His thirst in order to quench ours. He is thirsty for our love because if we love Him we will open ourselves to His love which is much more and He will fill us. "It is finished." "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:18). On the cross it is Jesus who decides when He will die. In so many moments of the Gospel, we see how there were attempts to kill, imprison, or cast Jesus out, yet it was impossible. Jesus, with a remaining thread of voice, says to the Father, "It is finished," I have fulfilled Your will in all things, I have sought only to please You, I have fulfilled Your mission to the end. Jesus was the faithful Son "obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8). The Father expects this same fidelity from us. He expects fidelity to His will in us, to the concrete mission He has entrusted to us, and to the vocation to which He has called us. "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." His last words are also for the Father. They reveal to us the secret of peace: "Into your hands I commit my spirit." Peace is abandoning ourselves to the Father and doing His will. God is with us at all times. Let us throw ourselves into His arms, just as we are. May our life be all for Him. Let us not forget that Our Lady in Garabandal insisted that we meditate on the Passion. This meditation helps us to realize how much God loves us and to feel impelled to correspond to this love in our concrete and daily life by responding to His call, living His commandments and striving to love our neighbor in Him. It is a time to fix our eyes on Christ crucified asking Him with confidence, "Grant that I may repay You love for love." We will not be able to reach the resurrection with Him if we have not passed through the Passion with Him. God bless you,
Thank you Caroline for this post. It is concise but encompassing. I have been blessed this lent, with my husband praying a sorrowful rosary each day of lent, with me. Praise God, my husband has been interested in learning more about the faith as lent has progressed. About a week ago he allowed me to comment on the 5th sorrowful mystery (the crucifixion) regarding the seven last things Our Lord spoke. I mentioned 6, possibly seven, nevertheless, I think I was able to convey Our Lords Heart felt Love for him, I believe the Lord is touching his soul! there has been other proofs and many signal graces for my husband, this is Big. My prayer is that.... I do not spoil Gods work, in my dear husband's soul. Lord have mercy on me and may you Dearest Lord direct me always to your sorrows and sufferings and those of your most sorrowful mother, so that I can always speak the truth in Love. Amen
The Good Lord must crush the grapes before he brings forth the wine. Your's was the heart that was crushed. Your husband the wine.
Padraig, In this link from Catholic Answers, they answer your question. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/did-the-father-forsake-jesus
During a Good Friday sermon some years ago, the priest explained that the translation of this word is an accounting term…. Meaning the debt that one owed is now completely paid. The debt one owed no longer exists. Is it not just a wonderful Good News that Jesus’ last word is the debt you owed to God for the sins of Adam and Eve and our own sins, is now completely and utterly paid by his death. It simply no longer exists because Jesus Christ erased / crossed it off of what was rightly owed to God. To me it’s like the seal on the legal document yiu get when you pay off a house, car,etc. Christ death is the seal to our debt being wiped out allowing us access to eternal life. And of course that access to eternal life is accomplished by His Resurrection which we celebrate tonight at the Great Easter vigil!
I will pray for your husband, Josephite, especially at the glorious Easter Vigil which begins in one hour, here in New York State.
Praise God that this is so; for so many of us (I would say all of us), because normally we can't see what God is doing during the times of our suffering, all seems lost, we feel abandoned due to being too weak, too sinful, too wretched and our pleadings seem useless! But let us not be discouraged, for when we are weak, God is strong, this is our (mine especially) consolation! St Paul tells us.... 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I feel very humbled that my husband will be remembered at the Easter Vigil Mass, firstly by you Dearest Deacon Terry but also in the US great state of New York. Thank you. May God continue to bless you, your gracious wife Geralyn, your beautiful family and your mission! Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for Deacon Terry and his family, who have recourse to You. Amen. I know the day will come when I am able to joyfully acclaim to you, Padraig and all here, that my family are strong in their faith and are warriors for truth! Praise God this is my hope! The tremendous Communion of Saints, alive here on the MoG forum will humbly manifest, Our Lady's designs, we are just to remain faithful and the above will be a reality for all members of the MoG forum! This is my humble belief. Christ Our King is Lord Forever Viva Crist0 Rey
While it is correct that the Psalms Jesus quoted express in the end a trust in deliverance, the particular verses He quoted or referenced, focused on the intense agony of his rejection and isolation. Jesus drank fully of the dregs of misery and suffering and separation. It was the darkest of all dark nights for Christ's soul in His humanity. For our precious Lord bore the iniquity of us all to the point that even satan must have believed he was in the process of defeating Christ. But not really: "...Father into your hands I commend my spirit!" Isaiah 50: 10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God? 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who set brands alight! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the brands which you have kindled! This shall you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.
This reminds me of a story I was reading about a very Holy nun and mystic who was dying. She was attacked by the devil very fiercely on her death bed by the devil with thoughts of despair and was heard to cry out, 'I am lost!' The priest was so concerned he did an exorcism. It is very like Mother Teresa of Calcutta who was in hospital very ill and was attacked in a similiar way. The Archbishop of Calcutta was also ill in hospital at the same time and when witnessing what was going authorised a similiar exorcism. God appears to permit much fiercer attacks in the case of saintly souls. The good Lord only knows how much power the Devil was granted to Satan to attack Jesus on the Cross. But both Blessed Catherine Emmerich and the Venerable Mary of Agreda state that at a certain point the demons themselves recognised they had had their asses kicked and withdrew to hell in a big, big hurry. When we say the words, 'Lead us not into temptation', in the Our Father I think it is a big, big reminder not to be complacent. St Peter said to Jesus that if everyone else deserted Jesus , he never would. Yet he took to his heels and denied Jesus three times. When I was young I was always so sure I myself would never desert Jesus. Yet for years I did. Life, if you live long enough certainly has a way of teaching huge dollops of humility.
