Holy Week Reflection- Part 7

Scripture reading: Luke 23:44-49

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land^* until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵while the sun’s light failed;^* and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’^{* 48}And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Reflection: Love to the end

Darkness was taking over—so much so, that the sun’s light failed.   Jesus, the light of the world, was extinguished.   “Having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the end.”  And with his final words of trust and love for God the Father, Jesus breathed his last.

In the mystery of the cross, when things were most desperate, and dark,  when all hope seemed lost, God’s love shone most intensely and fully.  God’s love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God’s love never ends. 

What Wondrous Love Is This (vs. 1, 3,4)By: American Folk Hymn

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
 
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
 
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.