If you followed the highlighted parts in the Passion Narrative, were you able to see certain themes? One focus of St. Luke’s Gospel is the gentleness of Jesus. Only St. Luke tells us that Jesus greatly desired to eat the Passover with His friends, that He healed the servant’s ear after it had been cut off, that the Eucharist is given for us; only St. Luke tells us that one of the crucified criminals had a repentant heart and asked Jesus for mercy, and that Jesus then granted more than he asked for: heaven immediately after death.
If ever we’re tempted to believe one of the seven falsehoods of God, for instance, we feel like we can’t depend on Him or fall back into a transactional relationship, then it would help to meditate on St. Luke’s Passion Narrative.
The gentleness of Jesus means much to me because my temptation is ‘judgmental God,’ and I want to tell everyone: Jesus is more merciful than you know.
We heard Jesus tell St. Peter, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:31-32). In every religion, humans pray to God, but in Christianity, God prays for us. What does that mean to you, knowing that Jesus prays for you right now because you’re in spiritual difficulty?
And, when we sin against Him, we remember that “Jesus turned and looked at Peter” (Lk 22:61). It wasn’t a look of condemnation but one of mercy. Seven years ago, we explored the image of Divine Mercy.
St. Faustina actually cried when she saw it because it wasn’t artistically very beautiful, but Jesus taught her, “Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace” (Diary, 313). This image communicates, in eight ways, Who Jesus is when He looks at us:
1) The dark background “is symbolic of the darkness of our sins,” into which Jesus enters; notice that the light in the painting comes from Him; 2) His left hand is on His heart because that’s where “Jesus made the decision to offer his life for us.” 3) His right hand is raised in blessing because “the one… we condemned to death is raising his hand not to take revenge… but to bless us”; 4) Though His feet were pierced, Jesus “roams the world in search of the weak to help them come to Him.” The left foot steps forward because He’s not waiting for us to come to Him, but He makes the first move; 5) His eyes are looking downward because He said, “My gaze from this Image is like My gaze from the Cross” (Diary, 326), that is, looking on us with love and mercy; 6) The white ray stands for water which makes souls righteous through Baptism and Confession; the red for blood which is the life of souls, that is, the Eucharist; 7) “the white robe illustrates His victory over death” and is the garment of a priest; 8) Jesus said that inscription, ‘Jesus, I trust in You,’ is the response He wants to His love and that “the more a soul trusts the more it will receive” (Diary, 1578).
Jesus wants trust and love, and wants to forgive our sins. One response is going to Confession before Easter, for example, tonight at 6:30 p.m. for the penitential service or elsewhere during the week.
Also, we’re starting the Novena to Jesus’ Divine Mercy this Friday. Jesus said, “On each day [of the nine days] of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls [the whole world, priests, people who don’t yet know Jesus, etc.] and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy… On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls”. It only takes a few minutes every day and yet it will change people’s hearts. If we start it this Good Friday, we may obtain a plenary indulgence.
Against the seven distorted images of God, we saw that God is our Father, Jesus is the Bridegroom, and that God is generous. Today, with the help of St. Luke, we add that God is perfectly gentle.