Jesus died praying, Jesus died forgiving my sins, Jesus died thinking of me; Jesus died loving and praying. Therefore, His death doesn’t speak of death, His death speaks of life; His death speaks of love. Do you see the heart that hangs on the cross? Get to know this heart intimately. Look at it constantly. Listen to what silently resounds from this heart.
The prayer of Jesus was not only an act of acceptance of His suffering and death but of relentless self offering. It was love that was hung on the cross, a heart full of love. And through this love: death becomes life, the end becomes the beginning, the separation of two worlds becomes an intimate meeting point of union, and sin becomes the vehicle of redeeming grace.
“His dying was itself an act of prayer…Death, which by its very nature, is the end, the destruction of every communication, is changed by him into an act of self-communication; and this is man’s redemption, for it signifies the triumph of love over death”. (Behold the Pierced One, Ratzinger, p 24-25) It was love that hung on the cross.
