The Greatest Sorrow of Jesus
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
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Indifference to the Love and
Suffering of Jesus -
Treading under foot the Son of
God, and offering an affront
to the Spirit of Grace. [Hebrews 10:29]
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Jesus Christ
revealed to
the Venerable Agatha of the Cross that whilst He
was in His Mother's womb,
that which afflicted Him more than any other sorrow
was the hardness of the
hearts of men, who should,
after His Redemption,
despise
the graces which He
came into the world
to
diffuse. And He
had expressed this
sentiment before,
by the mouth of David, in the words just
quoted, which are generally thus understood by the holy Fathers: What profit is there in My blood, whilst I go down to corruption?
Saint Isidore explains ' whilst I
descend into corruption',
"whilst I descend to take the nature of man, so corrupted
by vices and sins;" as if He
had said, "O my Father, I am
indeed going to clothe Myself with human flesh, in order to shed My Blood for men; but
what profit is there in My Blood?- - - the greater part of the world will set no value on
My Blood, and will go on offending Me, as if I had done nothing for the love of them."
This sorrow
was
the bitter chalice which Jesus
begged the Eternal Father
to remove from
Him,
saying: Let this chalice pass from Me. [Matthew
26:39] What
chalice?
The sight of the contempt with which
His love was treated.
This made Him exclaim
again on the Cross:
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Our Lord revealed to Saint
Catherine of Sienna, that this was the abandonment of which
He complained - - - the knowledge,
namely, that His Father would
have to suffer that
His Passion and
His
love should be despised by so many
men for whom He
died.
And this same sorrow tormented the
Infant
Jesus in the womb of Mary, the
foresight of such a prodigality of
sorrows, of ignominy, of
blood-shedding, and of
so cruel and ignominious
a death, and all to so little
purpose. The Holy Child saw,
even there, what the Apostle says, that many
[indeed the greater number] should
trample under foot His Blood, and
despise His grace, which this
Blood would obtain for them:
Treading
under foot the Son of God, and offering an
affront to the Spirit of Grace. [Hebrews
10:29]
But if we have been of the number of these
ungrateful men, let
us not despair; Jesus,
at His birth,
came to offer peace to men of
good will, as He made the
Angels sing:
And on earth peace to men of
good will. [Luke
2:14] Let us, then, change our will,
repent of our sins, and resolve
to love this good
God, and we shall find peace, that is, the
Divine friendship.
Affections and Prayers
O my most amiable Jesus,
How much have I too caused Thee to suffer during Thy lifetime!
Thou hast shed Thy blood for me with so much sorrow and love,
and what fruit hast Thou hitherto drawn from me but contempt, offenses, and insults?
But, my Redeemer, I will no longer afflict Thee;
I hope that in the future Thy Passion will produce fruit in me by Thy grace,
Which I feel is already assisting me.
I will love Thee above every other good; and to
please Thee,
I am ready to give my life a thousand times.
Eternal Father, I should not have the boldness to appear before Thee
to implore either
pardon or graces,
but Thy Son has told me, that whatever grace I ask of Thee in His name Thou wilt grant it
to me:
If ye shall ask anything of the Father in My name, He will give
it to ye. [John 16: 23]
I offer Thee, therefore, the merits of Jesus
Christ, and in His name
I ask of Thee first a general pardon of all my sins;
I ask holy perseverance even unto death;
I ask of Thee, above all, the gift of Thy holy love,
that it may make me always live according to Thy Divine will.
As to my own will,
I am resolved to choose a thousand deaths sooner than offend Thee,
and to love Thee with my whole heart,
and to do everything that I possibly can to please Thee.
But in order to do all this,
I beg of Thee, and hope to receive from Thee,
grace to execute what I propose.
My Mother Mary, if thou wilt pray for me, I am
safe.
Oh, pray for me, pray;
and cease not to pray till thou seest that I am changed,
and made what God wishes me to be.
Amen
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