“The high priest tore his clothes, and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses?’” (Mt 26:65) How detestable was the hypocrisy of Caiphas and his party! Under an appearance of piety and zeal, they masked their mortal hatred of our Lord and their long-conceived plan of putting him to death.
They sought a flimsy excuse for their conduct so as not to enrage the people. Caiphas thought he could find one by begging Jesus to say if he is ‘really’ the Son of God.
If Jesus said ‘no’, he can condemn him as an impostor since the people believe him to be God. If he said ‘yes’, Caiphas would sentence him as a blasphemer. He would then make people believe he was overwhelmed with horror at the sin. The wicked can be very ingenious!
“What is your verdict? They answered, ‘He deserves death’.” (Mt 26:66) The judges who pronounced this sentence were men inflamed with hatred because Jesus had righteously confessed the truth.
In this world, the crafty often calumniate and oppress the innocent. God permits this for wise and merciful reasons. In this instance, Caiphas was the instrument by which Jesus should sacrifice his life in reparation to his Father for the sins of mankind. The wicked death sentence opened to us all the gates of eternal life.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp106-7
St Peter’s threefold denial
“Now when Peter was in the court below, there came one of the maid-servants of the high priest, and when she had seen Peter warming himself, stared at him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus of Nazareth’. But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him’.” (Lk 22:58)
Peter, having recovered from his terror in the garden, followed Jesus but stayed afar. Earlier he had boasted of his steadfast fidelity. His weakness truly great, grievous indeed was his fall.
St Peter’s fall shows us the weakness of human nature, and makes us tremble. Every effect has a cause. The Fathers give four reasons for his fall--
1) he was presumptuous of his own strength; 2) he had neglected prayer and vigil with his Master; 3) he was rash in exposing himself to temptation; and 4) he indulged tepidity and idle curiosity. Our past falls and false steps can easily be traced to one or other of these causes.
“And again he denied with an oath: ‘I know not the man’.” (Mt 26:72) As the danger increased, St Peter’s fear grew stronger, and he fell lower still. His first denial had been a cowardly falsehood; but his second was a perjury. His sins came fast and became more and more deadly. Correcting one mistake with another?
Once we yield to our passions, human respect, gluttony, curiosity, anger, sensuality, or any other sin, we shall soon drift farther. We must not say, ‘I will do what I wish for this once, and then I shall be at rest’; or, ‘I will go thus far in what is wrong, but no farther’. The passions are like fire which never says, ‘It is enough’. St Augustine, speaking from experience, said so.
“... after an hour, one of the servants said to him, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him? Surely you also are one of them?’ But he began to curse and swear, saying, ‘I know not this man of whom you speak’.” (cf Mk 14:71)
The Apostle’s fearsome fall was rapid. In less than two hours he thrice denied his Lord. Twice he perjured himself; and finally confirmed his false-swearing by a fearful curse on himself. What shame and grief he gave to his Master’s heart who, that very instant standing nearby, was enduring cruel insults for love of him!
Why did our Lord permit him, who was to become the head of the Church, to fall so low? And why was it recorded in the Gospel for the whole world to know? The Fathers give three reasons --
1) so that St Peter and his successors, the chief pastors of the Church, should excel in humility, and have a deep sympathy for the weakness of their people; 2) so that the world, perceiving the weak foundation the Catholic Church is built on, should recognize that it is indeed the work of God, not of men, and that its existence is a wonder and a marvel; and 3) as a warning to men, that, no matter to what height of sanctity they have attained, they are still very weak, and need continuing divine grace.
Let us exalt the wisdom of Divine Providence!
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp112-5
Your Grace Be Upon Us
The Lord Jesus took the path of Lent together with His disciples during His life on earth. He continues to follow it together with His Church. Lent is the period of a particularly intense presence of Christ in the life of the Church. So we ought to try to get closer to Christ in a more special way during this season.
We must live in intimacy with Him, open up our hearts to Him, our consciences: ‘Lord, may your grace be upon us, because we hope in You.’
Lent is especially a time when grace ought to be ‘over us’ in a particular fashion. Hence it is necessary for us simply to open up to it.
God’s grace is actually not so much something to be won as something available, like a gift without impediments being raised. This is concretely possible through an attitude of deep prayer; and an attitude of sincere humility, because faith is precisely adherence of heart and mind to the Word of God. Finally, through practice of authentic charity, which should reflect that love the Lord has already made us the object.
Just as the Lord commanded Abraham to set out on his path, so we, too set out once again along this path of Lent at the end of which is the Resurrection. We see that Christ overcomes death and causes life and immortality to shine forth by means of the Gospel.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp115-6
Mortification
The appropriate word you left unsaid; the joke you didn’t tell; the cheerful smile for those who bother you; that silence when you’re unjustly accused; your kind conversation with people you find boring and tactless; the daily effort to overlook one irritatting detail or another in those who live with you ... this, with perseverance, is indeed solid interior mortification. (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 173)
In our poor present life, let us drink to the last drop from the chalice of pain. What does it matter to suffer for ten, twenty, fifty years, if afterwards there is heaven forever, forever ... forever!
Above all -- even better than for the sake of the reward, what does suffering matter if we accept it to console, to please God our Lord with a spirit of reparation, united with him on his cross -- in a word, if we suffer for Love? ... (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 182)
“Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness.
“If with the help of God, you conquer yourself in that moment, you’ll have accomplished a great deal for the rest of the day.
“It’s so discouraging to find yourself beaten in the first skirmish!” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 191)
Our Lady -- “Before, by yourself, you couldn’t. Now, you’ve turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy!” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 513)
• Our Lady of Grace, in Normandy. This image is very famous in the country, and people from all parts come to venerate it. — Archives of the Church. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Grace, Normandy, France. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• “Notre Dame de Grace”. Normandy, France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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