For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ •  St. Josaphat Formation Center • Phoenix, AZ

As we steadily progress to the heart of the Lenten Season and the celebration Holy Week this month of March, the figure of the Suffering Lord Jesus should be at the forefront of our minds and hearts in prayerful contemplation. Considering the Person and sufferings of the Lord Jesus during his Passion and on the Cross through the devotions of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and/or the reading of the Gospels or other accounts of the Passion, we gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Mystery of the Lord’s Cross. Why did His Heavenly Father ask such a sacrifice of His Beloved Son?

The Passion of Christ is radically connected to sin – our sins and those of everyone in the whole world for all ages. “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor 5:21) In the Garden the Lord took upon Himself the grief and despair of our guilty consciences; during the trial he suffered the injustices of all the lies, false accusations, prejudices and connivings of the ages; at the pillar He offered his back for the scourges of innumerable sins of the flesh and appetites; the thorns were for our arrogance, vanities and rebellions against God’s love and sovereignty; the Cross he carried was weighed down with the guilt of our infidelities, luke-warmness and contempt for God’s will and commands; at the Crucifixion our dear Lord suffered the nails, the piercing, abandonment and even death for the killings and violence on all scales, hatred in every form, despise and abandonment of others in their need. The Lord made him to be sin who knew no sin for our sake.

Considering the ‘for us’ and ‘our sake’ of this scenario, we should be moved with deep gratitude to the One who has loved us beyond telling. “O Lord our God, unwearied is your love for us!” We can consider these first person plurals ‘we, us, our’ to include all the people we live with here on earth. This time of Lent is very much for us to join with the Lord in praying for and making sacrifice for the conversion and salvation of everyone, especially those in most need of His Mercy. So well we say:

“Heavenly Father, for the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

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