Ah. my Jesus, I love Thee above all things, and whom shall I ever love if I love not Thee, Who art infinite goodness, and Who hast died for me? Would that I could die of grief often as I think how I have driven Thee from my soul by my sins, and thus separated myself from Thee. Who art my only good, and Who hast loved me so much. Who shall separate me from the charity of Christ? (Rom. viii. 35.) It is sin and sin only that can separate me from Thee. But I hope in the blood Thou hast shed for me, that Thou wilt never again allow me to separate myself from Thy love, and lose Thy grace, which I value more than all else in this world. I give my whole self to Thee.
From Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord, Chapter One,
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
The great
servant of God, Father Balthassar Alvarez, used to say: 'We must not suppose
that we have made any progress in the way that leads to God until we keep Jesus
Crucified ever in our hearts. And St. Francis de Sales wrote: 'The love which
is not the fruit of the Passion is feeble. And so it is; for we can have no
more pressing motive for loving God than the Passion of Jesus Christ, in which
we learn that the Eternal Father, in order to make manifest the exceeding love
which He had for us, sent on earth His only begotten Son to die for us sinners.
Hence the Apostle wrote that God, through the too great love wherewith He loved
us, willed that the death of His Son should bring life to us: For exceeding
charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together in Christ. (Eph. ii. 4.) And it was in like terms Moses and Elias
expressed themselves on Mount Thabor when speaking of the Passion of Jesus
Christ, not knowing how to describe it otherwise than to call it an excess of
love: And they spoke of His excess which He should consummate in Jerusalem.
(Luke ix. 31.)
When our
Saviour came into the world to die for men, the shepherds heard the angels
sing: Glory to God on high. But the Son of God, humbling Himself thus in
becoming man for the love of man, seemed to obscure rather than to manifest the
divine glory; but no; there was no means better adapted to manifest the glory of
God to the world than the death of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind,
since the Passion of our Blessed Lord has made manifest the attributes of God.
It has made
known to us the greatness of the Mercy of God, inasmuch as He was willing to
die to save sinners, and to die in the Most painful and ignominious manner.
'The sufferings of Jesus Christ, says St. John Chrysostom, 'were not ordinary
sufferings, nor was His death a simple death like that of other men.
It has also
made known to us the Wisdom of God. Had our Redeemer been only God, He could
not have made satisfaction for man, and God could not have made satisfaction to
Himself in place of man, nor could He make satisfaction by way of suffering. On
the other hand, had He been merely man, He could not have made satisfaction to
God for the grievous injury done by man to the Divine Majesty. What, then, did
God do? He sent His own Son, true 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.
Hence, while
making satisfaction to divine justice as He died on the Cross, Jesus spoke only
of mercy. He prayed His Father to have mercy even on the Jews who had brought
about His death, and on the murderers who were putting Him to death: Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke xxiii. 34.) While on the
Cross instead of punishing the two thieves who at first reviled Him, on hearing
one ask for mercy (Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom)
(Luke xxiii. 42), He promised him Paradise that very day: This day thou shalt
be with Me in Paradise. (Mark xv. 43.) There on Calvary, before He expired, He
gave to us, in the person of St. John, His own Mother to be our Mother. There
from the Cross He declares Himself content to have done all for our salvation,
and now He makes perfect the sacrifice by His death: Afterwards Jesus, knowing
that all things were now accomplished . . . said: It is consummated. And bowing
His head, He gave up the ghost. (John xix. 28. 30.)
Behold by
the death of Jesus, man is freed from sin and from the power of the devil; he
is, moreover, raised to a life of grace, and to a higher degree of grace than
that which Adam lost: And where sin abounded, says St. Paul, grace did more
abound. (Rom. v. 20.) And now, therefore, it is for us, according to the same
Apostle, to have recourse frequently and with all confidence to this throne of
grace, for such indeed is Jesus crucified, that we may, through His mercy,
obtain the grace to save our souls, together with the help we need to overcome
the temptations of the world and of hell: Let us go therefore with confidence
to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable
aid. (Heb. iv. 16.)
Ah. my
Jesus, I love Thee above all things, and whom shall I ever love if I love not
Thee, Who art infinite goodness, and Who hast died for me? Would that I could
die of grief often as I think how I have driven Thee from my soul by my sins,
and thus separated myself from Thee. Who art my only good, and Who hast loved
me so much. Who shall separate me from the charity of Christ? (Rom. viii. 35.)
It is sin and sin only that can separate me from Thee. But I hope in the blood
Thou hast shed for me, that Thou wilt never again allow me to separate myself
from Thy love, and lose Thy grace, which I value more than all else in this
world. I give my whole self to Thee.
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