In The Details of The Gospel

Sometimes, it is easy to overlook a detail in the Gospel, especially when one is reading a dramatic piece of Christ's Life.

Take, for example, the trial of Christ before the Sanhedrin.

Today, because I experienced a particularly hectic day yesterday, partly from the Net being on and off for over 24 hours and partly for other reasons beyond my control, I meditated on this passage from Matthew 26:

57 But they holding Jesus led him to Caiphas the high priest, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled.

58 And Peter followed him afar off, even to the court of the high priest. And going in, he sat with the servants, that he might see the end.

59 And the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death:

60 And they found not, whereas many false witnesses had come in. And last of all there came two false witnesses:

61 And they said: This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and after three days to rebuild it.

62 And the high priest rising up, said to him: Answerest thou nothing to the things which these witness against thee?

63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said to him: I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us if thou be the Christ the Son of God.

64 Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

65 Then the high priests rent his garments, saying: He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy:

66 What think you? But they answering, said: He is guilty of death.

67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him: and others struck his face with the palms of their hands,

68 Saying: Prophesy unto us, O Christ, who is he that struck thee?

The detail is that Jesus held his peace. 

Several things came to my mind while thinking of Jesus at peace while people yelled at Him, spit on Him, and slapped Him in the face.

First, He had peace amidst this chaos and hatred because He was totally dependent on the Father and the Holy Spirit. His life included a complete trust in God the Father, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, even in this scene of chaos, rested in peace within the Trinity. 

We all must come to this realization of the Indwelling of the Trinity given to us at baptism. This is our call to be holy in the world, even in chaos. Only in that Indwelling is there a deep, sustained peace.

Second, Christ was completely in the Will of God the Father. He had humanly willed what the Divine will desired. There was no conflict between Christ's humanity and His divinity, nor between His will and the will of the Father. 

For us, this means that only in a complete giving over of our wills can we find peace in the midst of chaos. Anxiety arises out of fear, and fear reveals a lack of trust not only in Providence taking care of us, but in the perfect plan of God's Will for us. Anxiety, which is a sin, causes us to make bad choices. We fall into self-perservation mode, rather than in trusting God, if we are anxious. 

Third, Christ did not have His plan for ordering the world into which He came, but submitted Himself to our chaotic world of sin and death, in order to defeat death. His comfort was not in re-ordering His environment, but responding in love to overcome to root of evil by sacrificing Himself on the cross.

Again, for us, this means that we cannot always control our environment and make a comfortable nest for ourselves. Americans, especially, pride themselves on creating the "perfect" home, car, dinner, etc., forgetting that this false world created by humans is totally temporary, and, too often, purely materialistic, not imbued with any spiritual life. We think that if we control our environment, we can find peace. Not so. We cannot shut out chaos, or evil, but must transcend both.

How?

By allowing God to perfect us, to purify us, to take away all our sins and imperfections, we can come to the peace which passes all understanding.

Jesus held his peace. As I struggle with a third day of constant Net interruptions, and a lack of peace in my immediate surroundings, having to endure another move, when I face, again, downright persecution from those who should be closest to me, and when I am made aware, through grace, with the depth of my own sins, I beg God for this peace of the Indwelling of the Trinity.

It is only when standing before the Sanhedrin that we finally see the true nobility and depth of God's sacrifice for us. All Christ had at that moment was His Own peace.

We may very well find ourselves in similar circumstances. Christ held His peace throughout the entire Passion. Imagine. I ask myself, "Could I maintain such deep peace in this chaos of evil?"

Yesterday, when I had to face spiritual chaos of a kind I had not experienced since 2011, because of intense spiritual warfare, and then, on top of that, the realization of my own sins and imperfections, I could have been lost in anxiety. But, instead, God allowed me to grow in humility, in the awareness of my complete dependence on Him, and, in the importance of denying my will and accepting, totally, His Will for my life.

Jesus held his peace. May He, in His mercy, teach us, quickly, how to hold ours when chaos and hatred surround us.

Continuing with Benedict

The Pope Emeritus continues in his book on faith, hope, and love, with amazing insights into love.
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Love is an affirmation of a person's goodness. Benedict notes that through love, a person is affirmed, with a "yes" to their existence. Likewise, the person who loves, in return, is affirmed in that love. The entire world is renewed.

One the Cross, Benedict shows us that Christ affirms each one of us in our goodness and existence. He said "yes" to suffering and dying for us, and, therefore, affirms our being. The Cross is the expression of Divine Love.

Benedict notes that to have an all-accepting Christ, who is not also a judge, minimizes both love and the sacrifice on the Cross.

Affirmation is forgiveness and forgiveness leads to truth, to conversion.

As the Pope Emeritus writes, love shows us reality, the truth of ourselves.

Today, as we contemplate the Cross, let us be grateful for our personal affirmation.

More from The Meditations of the Passion of Our Lord by St. Alphonsus

O Loving heart of Jesus, inflame this poor heart of mine.

My Jesus, when shall I begin to love You, as You have loved me?

My God, when shall I die to everything, to live for You alone?

My beloved, make me love You even in the midst of sufferings.

You have loved me without reserve; I wish to love You without reserve.

My Jesus, make Yourself known, make Yourself loved by all.

My Jesus, grant that I may die, saying, I love You, I love You.

My God, suffer me not to lose You for ever.

Give me the grace to love You, and then do with me what You will.

At this hour, I might have been in hell, but now I love You, and I hope always to love You.

And what else do I desire, my God! but You, my chief, my only good?

My Jesus, in the day of judgment do not send me away from You.

My Jesus, how lovely are You; but by how few are You loved!

My Jesus, grant me Your love; I ask for nothing more.

You have died for me, I wish also to die for You.

O death of Jesus, from you I hope for a happy death.

O blood of Jesus, from you I hope for pardon of all my sins.

O wounds of Jesus, from you I hope to love Jesus for ever.

O agony of Jesus, from you I hope to bear peacefully the agony of my death.

O sorrows of Jesus, from you I hope for patience in contradictions.

O scourges of Jesus, deliver me from everlasting despair.

O tears of Mary, obtain for me sorrow for my sins.

O my own St. Joseph, by your happy death, obtain for me a good death.

O holy Apostles, by your blessed deaths obtain for me the grace to die in the love of God.

And what do I desire, either in this life or in the next, but You alone, my God?

O my Jesus, had I died in sin, I could never more love You; now I desire to love You and You alone.

My God, I love You, and I will love none but You.

St. Teresa, St. Philip Neri, my patrons, make me burn with the love of God with which you were inflamed.

My Jesus, by the pain which You did endure when Your right hand was pierced with the nail, give me perseverance in Your grace.

My Jesus, by the pain which You did endure when Your left hand was pierced with the nail, give me a true sorrow for my sins.

My Jesus, by the pain which You did endure when Your left foot was pierced with the nail, deliver me from the pains of hell.

My Jesus, by the pains which You did endure when Your right foot was pierced with the nail, give me the grace to love You eternally in heaven.

My Jesus, by the wound that was made in Your Sacred Heart, give me the grace to love You always in this life and in the next.

Love Is Not Loved

More from St. Alphonsus:

God with the Father, to take human flesh, so that as Man, by dying might pay the debt due to divine justice, and, as God, 
might make to it full satisfaction. The Passion has, moreover, made known how strict is the Justice of God. According to 
Saint John Chrysostom, it is not so much in hell that the strictness of divine justice is seen; it is revealed rather in seeing 
Jesus on the Cross; for in hell creatures are punished for sins of their own, while on the Cross we see a God cruelly treated 
to make satisfaction for the sins of men. And what obligation had Jesus to die for us? None: He was offered because it 
was His own will. (Isaias liii. 7.) He might have, with justice, abandoned man to perdition; but the love which He had for 
us, would not allow Him to see us lost; therefore He chose to give Himself up to so painful a death, that He might save us: 
He hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us. (Eph. v. 2.) 
God had from all eternity loved man: I have loved thee with an everlasting love. (Jer. Xxxi. 3) But afterwards seeing 
that His justice obliged Him to condemn man and to keep him ever at a distance from Him and in hell, His mercy urged 
Him to find a way by which He might save him. But how? By making satisfaction to divine justice by His own death. 
And, consequently He willed that the condemnation to eternal death which man had merited should have been fixed to 
that very Cross on which He died, that thus it might be cancelled in His blood: Blotting out the writing of the decree that 
was against us, which was contrary to us, He hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the Cross. (Col. ii. 14.) 
Thus, by the merits of His own blood, He pardoned all our sins: Forgiving you all offences (Ibid.) At the same time He 
deprived the devils of the rights which they had acquired over us, carrying with Him in His triumph both His enemies and 
ourselves whom He had delivered, and who were till then the prey of the devils: And despoiling the principalities and 
powers, He hath exposed them confidently in open show, triumphing over them in Himself. (Col. ii. 15.) Theophylactus 
thus explains these words: "As a triumphant conqueror He carries with Him in His triumph the booty and the enemy

Calling Forth Love from All Our Hearts

Thoughts from St. Alphonsus  De Ligouri from The Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord:


St. Leo tells us that he who looks with confidence on Jesus dead on the Cross is healed of the wounds inflicted by his 
sins: "Those who with faith look on Jesus dead on the Cross are healed from the wounds of sin." This is why every 
Christian should constantly keep before his eyes Jesus crucified, and say with St. Paul: I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Cor. ii. 2.) From which words it is clear that the Apostle did 
not desire any other knowledge in this world than that of knowing how to love Jesus crucified. 
My beloved Saviour, to obtain for me a good death Thou hast chosen one so full of suffering and desolation! I cast 
myself unreservedly into the arms of Thy mercy. Thou hast called me to penance, and, I hope, hast pardoned me; but if, 
through my own fault, Thou hast not yet pardoned. ah! pardon me now. I repent, O my Jesus! of having ever turned my 
back upon Thee, and of having driven Thee out of my soul. Give me Thy grace; but this is not enough, give me as well 
strength to love Thee with my whole soul during the remainder of my life; and when I come to die, grant me the grace to 
expire burning with love for Thee, and saying: My Jesus, I love Thee, I love Thee, in order to continue to love Thee for all 
eternity. From this moment I unite my death to Thy holy death, through which I hope to be saved: In Thee, O Lord, have I 
hoped; let me never be confounded. (Psalm xxx. 2.) O great Mother of God! thou art, after Jesus, my hope. In thee, O 

Lady, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded for ever

St. Paul, speaking of the love which the Eternal Father bore us, when He saw us dead through sin and willed to restore 
us to life by sending His own Son to die for us, calls this too great a love: But God (who is rich in mercy), for His 
exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ. (Eph. ii. 
4. 5.) In like manner we ought to call the love wherewith Jesus willed to die for us too great a love. Hence, the same 
Apostle writes: We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling- block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness. (1 
Cor. i. 23.) The death of Jesus on the Cross, according to St. Paul, appeared a stumbling- block to the Jews, because they 
expected Him to appear on earth full of worldly majesty, and not as one condemned to die as a criminal on the Cross. On 
the other hand, it seemed to the Gentiles folly that God should be willing to die, and such a death, for His creatures. 
Hence, St. Laurence Justinian has daringly explained: " We have seen wisdom itself infatuated through excessive love! " 
And in truth, does it not seem folly that God who is Almighty and infinitely happy in Himself should be willing of His 
own accord to be scourged, treated as a mock king, buffeted, spat upon in the face, condemned as a malefactor, abandoned 
by all and left to die on a Cross of shame to save miserable worms He Himself had created? Considering these things, the 
enamoured St. Francis, as he went through the country, wept and exclaimed, " Love is not loved! Love is not loved! " 
Hence St. Bonaventure said that he who wishes to persevere in loving Jesus Christ should ever represent to himself his 
divine Lord hanging on the Cross and dying for him: "Let him ever have before the eyes of his heart Christ dying on the 
Cross."

Vexilla Regis by David Jones: Holy Saturday of Holy Week

Caravaggio's Entombment of Christ: Friday of Holy Week

Another Peter Paul Rubens Crucifixion: Thursday in Holy Week

Thanks to Wikimedia

A Peter Paul Rubens Crucifixion: Wednesday in Holy Week

Another David Jones Crucifixion: Tuesday in Holy Week

A David Jones Crucifixion: Monday in Holy Week

I am going to put a different Crucifixion scene on everyday this week for your meditations during Holy Week.

Here is the first one by David Jones. Many years ago, some of my David Jones prints were stolen. This one was my favorite that I had.