The Death of the Lord in Our Hearts

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:14-17)

The death of the Lord tells me that this is the price of my sins.  I cannot atone for my sins.  No matter what I do, I cannot hope for forgiveness for a single sin has infinite value and I have committed a lot including grave ones.

Christ has put an end to my sins through his death.. Christ though innocent has put an end to my slavery to sin and gave strength to my frail human nature.  Christ allowed me to partake in his suffering through my own sufferings.  As St. Paul says: I fill up in my own flesh what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. (Collossians 1:24)

In the sacrament of reconciliation, I receive the forgiveness of God through Christ.  I receive the fruits of Christ's suffering.  As I approach this sacrament and receive the absolution, Christ once again "renew" his atonement on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins.  In the Eucharist, I receive the same Body and Blood of Christ which he offered on the cross.  I also receive his salvation.  Since Christ lives in me now, he will take care of me.  He will make me into a new creation, heal me and supply me with every good thing much more than I expect.

In baptism, I experience his death and resurrection.  I died with him and rose with him.  Baptism is a sign of uniting myself with him.  In baptism, I am cleansed in my life of sin through Christ's Paschal Mystery.  So there is a need for me to back on the dignity of my baptism so that I may again become a new creation in Christ.

The death of the Lord tells me that all is done.  My sins are gone.  My pasts are healed. My old life is being lead to new.  Because the death of Jesus is a passage for his glory and the cross of Christ is a bridge to grace.

The death of the Lord invites me to love myself the way God loves me as expressed in his death.  If God loves me so much, I must also love myself boundlessly.  It is not love of self which is self centered and by which the Lord forbids.  Rather, it is a humble love.  I love myself out of humility because in my unworthiness, Christ has chosen to love me to the point of dying for me.  I must love myself according to the will of God.  Because love of self leads to the love of neighbor.  Christ says that I must love my neighbor as myself.  Without this true love of self, I can never love others.

Refusal to love myself means an insult to God who loves me.  All my discouragements, sins, weaknesses and failures are redeemed by Christ.  Christ took them all and now he is with me to carry this things.  Why can I refuse myself forgiveness when God has already forgiven me?  Why will I resort to self-pity when God has shown mercy?

The death of the Lord also means death to all the things that enslaves me--- the obstacles in living to my consecration.  His death means death to the world, death to the flesh, death to my myself.  Christ's passion has infinite value, if I unite myself to it, I attain it's richness although I am nothing.  Christ can do wonders for me if I just hold fast to him.

To unite myself to Christ means suffering like him--- taking up his cross and following him.  Dying on my own  cross like him.  It is painful but it becomes sweeter when I keep on thinking that I am with Christ and through all of this, I make things new for Christ.  Like him, I become a source of strength for the Church , for sufferings have great power if it is united with Christ.  It is only through the cross where he could transform my painful wounds into glorious wounds.

As I observe the crucifix and paintings of the Lord's passion, it is commonly depicted that Jesus is not a person to be pitied.  Rather, they express Christ as victorious.  In the Gospels, Jesus is not seen as a "man of sorrows".  He is seen as victorious on the account of soldiers falling on the ground when they asked if he is Jesus, on talking to Pilate as an equal,   speaking to the High Priest with similar authority, on never complaing of any suffering he endured.  This is what must change in my attitude towards the cross--- as I take it up, I am already victorious, in my death with Christ on the cross, I am assured of victory.