The Seven Last Words of Christ

[Bernard]

 

[Bernard]

The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ: Reflections and Prayers from St. Josemaria Escriva

The Seven Last Words is a beloved devotion of the Church that invites us to recall and meditate on Jesus’s last words as he hung on the cross.

In this collection, each word is accompanied by the corresponding Gospel passage and a reflection and prayer from St. Josemaria Escriva. The devotion can be prayed over a week—each day devoted to one of the seven words— or it may be prayed in a single day.

Holy Week, especially Good Friday, is an ideal time to make use of this devotion for personal prayer: to silently and prayerfully contemplate Jesus’s passion and death, to be united to him in his suffering, and to dwell on the strength and mercy of his love.

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The First Word
“Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

The Second Word
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43)

The Third Word
“Woman, behold, your son.”… “Behold, your mother.” (Jn 19:26-27)

The Fourth Word
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34)

The Fifth Word
“I thirst.” (Jn 19:28)

The Sixth Word
“It is finished.” (Jn 19:30)

The Seventh Word
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)

 

https://stjosemaria.org/the-seven-last-words/

[Bernard]

The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ: The First Word

The First Word
“Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

Gospel

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. [Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”] They divided his garments by casting lots.

Lk 23:33-34

Reflection

“Christ’s generous self-sacrifice is a challenge to sin. We find it hard to accept the reality of sin, although its existence is undeniable. Sin is the mysterium iniquitatis: the mystery of evil, the inexplicable evil of the creature whose pride leads him to rise up against God. The story is as old as mankind. It began with the fall of our first parents; then came the unending depravities which punctuate the behavior of mankind down the ages; and, finally, our own personal rebellions. It is very difficult to realize just how perverse sin is and to understand what our faith tells us. We should remember that even in the human context the scale of an offense is frequently determined by the importance of the injured party — his social standing, his qualities. But with sin man offends God, the creature repudiates his creator.

“But ‘God is love.’ The abyss of malice which sin opens wide has been bridged by his infinite charity. God did not abandon men. His plans foresaw that the sacrifices of the old law would be insufficient to repair our faults and re-establish the unity which had been lost. A man who was God would have to offer himself up. To help us grasp in some measure this unfathomable mystery, we might imagine the Blessed Trinity taking counsel together in its uninterrupted intimate relationship of infinite love. As a result of its eternal decision, the only-begotten Son of God the Father takes on our human condition and bears the burden of our wretchedness and sorrows, to end up sewn with nails to a piece of wood.”

St. Josemaria Escriva
Christ is Passing By, no. 95

Prayer of Abandonment to God’s Providence

My Lord and my God:
into your hands I abandon the past and the present and the future,
what is small and what is great,
what amounts to a little and what amounts to a lot,
things temporal and things eternal.
Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

 

https://stjosemaria.org/seven-last-words-first/

[Bernard]

The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ: The Second Word

 

The Second Word
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43)

Gospel

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Lk 23:39-43

Reflection

“The Christian is obliged to be alter Christus, ipse Christus: another Christ, Christ himself. Through baptism all of us have been made priests of our lives, ‘to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ Everything we do can be an expression of our obedience to God’s will and so perpetuate the mission of the God-man.

“Once we realize this, we are immediately reminded of our wretchedness and our personal failings. But they should not dishearten us; we should not become pessimistic and put our ideals aside. Our Lord is calling us, in our present state, to share his life and make an effort to be holy. I know holiness can sound like an empty word. Too many people think it is unattainable, something to do with ascetical theology — but not a real goal for them, a living reality. The first Christians didn’t think that way. They often used the word “saints” to describe each other in a very natural manner: ‘greetings to all the saints’; ‘my greetings to every one of the saints in Jesus Christ.’

“Take a look now at Calvary. Jesus has died and there is as yet no sign of his glorious triumph. It is a good time to examine how much we really want to live as Christians, to be holy. Here is our chance to react against our weaknesses with an act of faith.”

St. Josemaria Escriva
Christ is Passing By, no. 95

Prayer of Abandonment to God’s Providence

My Lord and my God:
into your hands I abandon the past and the present and the future,
what is small and what is great,
what amounts to a little and what amounts to a lot,
things temporal and things eternal.
Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.