“There is nothing greater in the universe than Jesus Christ; and in Jesus Christ there is nothing greater than His Sacrifice,” said Bossuet. Might we not perhaps add that there is nothing greater in the Sacrifice of Jesus than the moment He accepted it.
Nuestro Padre Jesús
del Prendimiento
Jerez de la Frontera,
Spain
We have arrived at the conclusion of sublime resolution; the principal event; the culminating point in the history of the world; the victory which the just souls have already awaited for thousands of years; the triumph, the consequences of which are eternal: the fiat of Gethsemane!
Let us raise ourselves to such sublimity. And as if from higher ground, let us contemplate all the beauty of that acceptance: before putting on the purple of Calvary, the Sun of Infinite love has gathered together all His splendours.
See Him in the garden of Gethsemane: holy, innocent, immaculate, sublime. See Him embrace with one glance alone, the earth and all its sins, hell and all its pains, Heaven and all the rights of God.
Christian souls, contemplate Jesus the Pontiff of our religion. Contemplate Him the moment He offers His Sacrifice, in the Sancta Sanctorum of Gethsemane.
His Sacrifice is entire – absolute, perfect, irrevocable, without regret.
St Bernard has Our Blessed Lord asking Judas: “What do you want Judas? Do you want to sell me to the Jews? I want that too. Do you want to hand me over to them? I want that too. Do you want me to be crucified? I want that too. That I should die? I want that too. What you must do, do quickly.”
Our Lord is no more Master of Himself. He gave Himself for the salvation of man. The executioners torture His body and God disposes of His Soul as it pleases Him. An earthworm trampled underfoot, still makes some effort to escape…but Jesus, Who awaits the blow, does not want to diminish the strength of it, even by the least movement of His Head.
He is but the Victim of Heaven and earth; and what put Him in this state? His fiat of Gethsemane. And for how long? His Sacrifice is eternal.
[From De Vita Contemplativa, Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, Italy. Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana.]
