At the Last Supper, Jesus left us with a new command to serve with humble love and to love one another. Throughout His public life He showed kindness, love , mercy, compassion and goodness. At the Last Supper He showed us how to be a servant to all, self giving, by washing the feet of the apostles, including His betrayer, Judas.
He spent the night in a dungeon under the house of Caiaphas. There was a sham of a trial, false witnesses and distortions of His teachings. He remained silent. In the morning, He went to Pontius Pilate, then Herod then back to Pilate, condemned to die, and led out to be crucified.
He stretched out his hands as He endured his Passion. He did this for you and me. Our Savior, our friend did all this to pay a debt that we could not pay, He gave His life as a ransom.
Today, please meditate on the last seven words spoken by Jesus and on Psalm 22. Ponder how the coming of the Messiah was prophesied and the reality of Jesus' sacrifice.
This psalm, prayed by the dying Jesus, reveals the two sides of the
cross: in death lies the promise of life, in life the remembrance of
death. In the Lord’s Death and Resurrection lies our redemption.
(Magnificat April 7, 2023)
Psalm 22 2-12, 15-25, 30b-32
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.
O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;
I call by night and I find no peace.
Yet you, O God, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you set them free.
When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you they trusted and never in vain.
But I am a worm and no man,
the butt of men, laughing-stock of the people.
All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
“He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend.”
Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,
entrusted me to my mother’s breast.
To you I was committed from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not leave me alone in my distress;
come close, there is none else to help.
Like water I am poured out,
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax,
it is melted within my breast.
Parched as burnt clay is my throat,
my tongue cleaves to my jaws.
Many dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet
and lay me in the dust of death.
I can count every one of my bones.
These people stare at me and gloat;
they divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.
O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of these dogs.
Save my life from the jaws of these lions,
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.
I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.
“You who fear the Lord give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel’s sons.
For he has never despised
nor scorned the poverty of the poor.
From him he has not hidden his face,
but he heard the poor man when he cried.”
And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
“These things the Lord has done.”
(Magnificat April 7, 2023)
Jesus surrendered His Will to His Father.
Pray for a trust that will allow us to surrender.
Let God be in control and let Him be the perfect guide to His Kingdom..
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