With these words of Jesus we have been forgiven. Let us meditate on how the Lord used these important words on the way to Calvary as we accompany him.
Let us feel the way Jesus felt and experience his merciful love. Let us live those moments of pain and echo his words as we pray for the forgiveness of our sins and the sins of the whole world.
In the agony in the Garden he suffered anguish in his soul, he was going to give his life for this ungrateful humanity and he hesitated because of the indifference by which we value his salvific sacrifice. Father if it is possible, remove this cup from me, but not my will, your will be done. "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the painful scourging Our Lord atoned for all the sins of impurity, how savagely his body was being torn for all the sins of impurity committed in our minds and in the flesh. Imagine how Jesus was almost fainting with pain and yet he could only think of saving us while he was saying silently "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the crowning with thorns he experienced so much pain on his sacred head which continued until the moment he died, his mind was tortured by the horrors of our despising his wisdom. Our pride and the attachments to the world have despised the kingdom of heaven while we open our hearts to the kingdom of the world. Jesus foresaw this and humbly atoned for pride. Very mindful of these humiliating sins he just prayed in silence: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the trial, the Supreme Judge was misjudged and condemned by our ignorance. What an insult to the One who has the power to forgive. But Jesus was very patient until death he was whispering with great love "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the carrying of the cross on his wounded shoulder, Jesus experienced the weight of all our sins, his pain can not be measured. And yet he did it willingly because he loves us so much, "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the encounter with his blessed mother, Jesus was united to her suffering, no words between them, but their hearts were one, they both felt so helpless, but in their powerful intercession for us they were saying the same prayer: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the encounter with the Cyrinean, the Lord shared a little bit of his suffering with this man, who represents everyone of us when we share the sufferings of Christ and our neighbour, not so much physically, but spiritually. Let us implore: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the encounter with Veronica, the Lord left an impression of his countenance on this woman’s veil since she felt compassion for his sufferings and was willing to be united to his words of salvation: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the encounter with the holy women of Jerusalem, the Lord felt pity for them and for their children, he pointed out to them that it was not enough just to weep for him, that they should be concerned for their children and always pray: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the three falls of our Lord, he stressed that we fall over and over again, weakening our souls with sin, but he suffered mercifully because knew the importance of his plea: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the painful stripping of his garments, the Lord experienced the pain that destroys souls of their innocence as they are stripped of the robes of salvation, the image of Christ. How fools we are, but Jesus continues to plead in his pain: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the crucifixion, the Lord suffered the most excruciating pain, we mortals are paralyzing our God with our sins, we don’t let him rule our lives because we rebel against Him, he gets stuck on the cross to put our sins to death and to forgive us as he says with great love: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the sorrowful agony and death, he suffered unimaginable pain out of his most merciful love for us. The infinite offence of men could not be paid by finite offerings or sacrifices, God in the person of his Son had to personally experience the pain of the sacrifice to satisfy his divine justice in order to forgive us and to open the way to everlasting life. "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
In the piercing of the Sacred heart of Jesus, he no longer suffered but the humiliation of men had to be pushed to the limit. From his heart flowed blood and water as symbols of his mercy and grace. Our Blessed mother had to endure all the sufferings of the passion and death, now the lance fulfills the prophecy of Simon who predicted her sufferings so that our thoughts would reveal compassion for her, the mother of humanity, our mother, who has conceived spiritually the children of God in great pain and sorrow.
She continues the prayer of our Savior: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
The body of Jesus is taken to the sepulchre. We are the temples of the living God, he visits our souls in the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, making us living sepulchres for the flesh and blood of our Savior who will grant us the resurrection and eternal life. His words reverberate in our hearts, he is continually saying: "Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do".
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