March 24
Jesus commends us all to the Father
esus Christ,
the immortal God, came not to save himself but to save those condemned
to death; he suffered not for his own sake but for ours. He took upon himself
our wretchedness and poverty so as to enrich us by his own wealth. His
suffering is our freedom from pain; his death is our immortality; his grief
is our joy, his burial our resurrection, his baptism our sanctification.
For their sake, he says, I consecrate myself, that they also
may be consecrated in truth. His bruising is our healing, for by
his stripes we were healed. His chastisement is our peace, for the
chastisement of our peace is upon him, that is to say, for the sake
of our peace he is chastised.
Moreover, when on the cross he says: Father, into your hands I commend
my spirit, Jesus commends us all to the Father through himself, all
of us who are being brought to life in him. They are his members, and many
members are one body, and the body is the Church. As Saint Paul writes
to the Galatians: You are all one in Christ Jesus. In himself, therefore,
Jesus commends us all to the Father.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
