The lone dereliction of the Lord Jesus on his Cross
The lone dereliction of the Lord Jesus on his Cross
LORD JESUS CHRIST, beloved Son of the Father’s special love, I bless and thank you for your overpowering lone dereliction on the Cross. In your most difficult hour you were abandoned by God the Father, by the entire heavenly host, and by all creatures of this earth. You felt as if you were a stranger or someone unknown, as if you were not the true Son of God, but one who was powerless and worthless. Only your sorrowful Mother, together with the disciple to whom you commended her and a few feeble women, remained at your side, and she could hardly speak a single word to you because of her grief and anxiety.
I praise and glorify you for your powerful outburst, when in the presence of so many bystanders, you shouted that tragic lament: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.1 These words distinctly disclosed the depth of your affliction, your loss of all consolation, and the degree of your suffering to achieve the salvation of mankind. Mankind, in turn, looked upon you as a nothing, in fact, you were considered as the worst of criminals and, therefore, as one totally unworthy of life.
My soul, pay special attention to these words of Jesus for they were primarily spoken for your instruction. This is the wonder of it all: the Lord of all things, who has need of nothing, has been brought to such a measure of misery as to speak his needs into his Father’s ears. He, who cooperates in all that the Father does, now complains that the Father has abandoned him; he, who sustains all things without difficulty, now reveals that he is heavily weighted down; he who was accustomed to console the sorrowful and the sickly now confesses that he is helpless and a stranger; he who was appointed to receive everyone’s prayer and habitually hears the cry of the poor now voices his humble appeal: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?2 From the very beginning of his Passion until now, never has Christ uttered so lamentable a cry!
I, therefore, acknowledge your lament, O Christ, which, in your passible flesh, you spoke for my benefit from the Cross. Your abandonment becomes my consolation, your complaint my encouragement, your weakness my strength, and your chastisement is the satisfaction paid for all my sins and transgressions.
You are the heavenly Physician, who, out of immense love and compassion, freely took upon yourself this suffering and punishment. You, thus, chose to become weak with those who are weak, sorrowful with those in sorrow, sad with those in sin. In addition you befriended those under oppression and pleaded for all your weak members. These words of yours, therefore, were not born of despair or defiance, but flowed from your sensitive human nature. Indeed, your flesh, which knew not sin’s stain, endured its penalty, and your innocent body underwent the most painful punishment, while your soul enjoyed supreme beatitude. Your being divine in no way lessened your suffering, rather your divinity became manifest in your remarkable strength and forbearance, while accomplishing the redemption of the human race.
Who is the faithful soul, who will not feel compassion on hearing these words? Who is so callous as not to be pricked by this cry, this utterance? Even the unfeeling elements burst forth with stupendous signs of their sympathy. From the sixth to the ninth hour, the sun withdrew its luminous rays from the earth, so unwilling was it to shine on those unworthy. And the earth itself quaked and quivered at the injuries done to its Creator and lamented that the Author of life should suffer such punishment. The elements thus made it known that they did not want to see him die.
Since you are endowed with reason, you should join in their mourning, while the sun grieves and the earth trembles. Attend to Jesus’ words; understand why he cries out and what that cry means. Throughout his anguish and affliction, the Lord Jesus remained calm and patient—nothing but sweetness and affection escaped his lips. He directs his prayer to the Father above and mentions no other name than that of God, and this only to bring his desolation to his notice. He asks no comfort from his Mother and from his friends he asks no assistance.
Jesus is thus instructing you as to how you should imitate him, when you yourself feel desolate. If you are infirm in body, or if you find that you are mentally weary and depressed, or if others despise you, or you lose the good graces of men because of your poverty or some inadequacy, do not give in to sadness or yield to anger. Rather, let this be your way of acting: choose this scene as your safe refuge and enter into conversation with Jesus, despised and hanging on his Cross and abandoned for a time by the Father, and reflect on what he meant when he uttered the words: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
When you are ill, be sure to be gentle and kind, and do not chafe if those serving you sometimes neglect you, or if the brethren rarely visit you. Think of Jesus, forsaken on his Cross, and stop complaining about trifling inconveniences. Ask Jesus to come to you and seek your support in him, for he can change your desolation into consolation. Forget about this world’s disappointing comforts and do not fret about whether your friends love you; rather desire that the angels always be your companions and ask the saints to pray for you. Lift up your eyes to the Crucified and meditate on his sacred wounds. Implore the glorious Virgin by pouring out a special prayer in her honor, for she alone stood staunchly at the foot of the Cross and heard Jesus crying out in a loud voice to the Father. Clear your head of all worldly thoughts and images and concentrate on your heavenly homeland. Cherish God as your Father, Jesus as your brother, Mary as your mother, the angels as your friends, and the saints as your relatives. For you are descended from a noble and distinguished family—not according to the flesh but in the freedom of the Spirit. Surrounded by such spiritual defenses and with so many dear patrons upon whom you can call for assistance, you can confidently await the day of the final Judgment and anchor your hope in the goodness of the merciful Savior.
Supreme and revered Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech you to look kindly on the prayer of your servant, which he humbly offers to you today, through the hands of your beloved Son, as he hangs on the Cross. Pardon all the sins I have committed, and do not for any length of time keep the gift of heaven’s grace from me or allow me to be endangered by severe temptations or harassed by disquieting passions.
Prove me, Lord, and test me, for you know what is best for me. Preserve my soul and during time of temptation also provide me with the strength to overcome them. Take what the scheming enemy has contrived for my soul’s detriment and turn it into a means for gaining salvation and for a greater increase of your grace. Be my bulwark and be ever near me, especially when I am heavily weighted down with trials and have very little trust in other human beings. In such times of critical need, you remain my faithful friend. If I am to be tested and to be deprived of your consolation for a time, then grant me to bear it patiently and to commit my entire burden trustingly into your care, and also grant that I may call to mind the hour of desolation that your most beloved and favored Son, Jesus, experienced, when in his most trying moment and when he was without friends, you alone were in his thoughts.