A Love Beyond Comprehension

This past Friday afternoon, I sat down and watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ.  It had been several years since I had watched it.  As hard as it is to watch, I knew I needed a reminder.  A reminder of what Jesus did for us and what it would have looked like, beyond what words can convey.  Regardless of your thoughts on the film, one thing it does an effective job of doing is showing just how bloody, brutal, and agonizing Jesus’ journey to the cross, and the crucifixion itself, were.

How often do we gloss over the fact that Jesus was crucified?  I know many times I have found myself allowing this fact to be just a fleeting thought.  Of course, we know what Jesus went through was brutal and bloody.  But we often don’t let the reality of it penetrate and pierce our hearts and minds.  Every weekend at mass, during the creed, we pray, “for our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried…”  But most of us are numb to what this really means.

As I watched the movie, I did not make it through without tears.  During the scenes of Jesus’ scourging and being nailed to the cross, I was struck once again by the immense and extreme suffering He took on because of sin- my own and that of the whole world.  Scourging and crucifixion involve suffering and excruciating pain far beyond what we can comprehend.  And it was all because of a love beyond what we can comprehend.

He took every whipping, beating, and hammering of the nails with each one of us on His mind, all for love of us.  It is a love that we will never find anywhere else.  For the times we deny Him in our words and actions, the times we choose other things above Him, may we be reminded of the ultimate sacrifice He made for us.  He made this sacrifice in hopes that we would maybe choose to love Him back, knowing that many would not.  And He would do it again because He loves us that much.
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This love that Christ has for us is a love that is life-changing.  As we journey through this Holy Week, the most powerful and moving week of the year as Catholics, may we let this love change us just a little more.  May we enter deeply into the liturgies and take time to reflect on everything Jesus experienced this week.  And may we walk with Him to the cross, remembering just how much pain and agony he went through for us.