SATURDAY V LENT: having loved his own he loved them to the end

Posted on April 1, 2023 by franksantucci

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them,

“You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”

John 11:49-50

It was not enough for the incomprehensible love of the divine Saviour to come down from heaven…  to proclaim the truth and to teach his sublime doctrine, for three years, in the midst of contradictions and the persecution of men, finally to deliver himself to the hatred and the rage of the wicked to the point of shedding his blood to the last drop on Calvary. No! Having loved his own he loved them to the end and he loved them especially at the end

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 16 April 1850 EO XXII

REFLECTION

Jesus on the cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it; he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Jesus does for us on the throne of the cross. Christ’s cross, embraced with love, never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.

 Pope Francis

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One Response to SATURDAY V LENT: having loved his own he loved them to the end

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    April 1, 2023 at 13:11

    I find myself pondering Eugene’s words: “Having loved his own he loved them to the end and he loved them especially at the end.” How was that possible, that he continued to love them? Perhaps if was only possible in the light of keeping his eyes and being focused on the Father, his Father… His love of God was so great that it carried him through the pain, desolation and seeming abandonment of death. His love of the Father and of all God’s people, so great that it carried him as he went to the very depths of hell to gather every soul that was trapped there, bringing them into the light of the Father…

    This past week has been difficult with the six other women who like me are trying to find our way back from long-covid. They have and continue to suffer greatly as they work hard to find a way of working around their physical and cognitive limitations. I do not know if they are women of any faith for they do not share or speak of that. Most assuredly though, Jesus has and is descending into this hellish part of their lives to gather them up and bring them into the light.

    My heart seems to have found a way of recognizing God, the Father, the Mother and any other name that our hearts use to try and describe our relationship with the Beloved. I find myself wanting to join Francis in being led to “joy, the joy of having been saved and doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.”

    Reply

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