“In this way the cross of Christ, on which the Son, consubstantial with the Father, renders full justice to God, is also a radical revelation of mercy, or rather of the love that goes against what constitutes the very root of evil in the history of man: against sin and death” ” (Dives in misericordia, 8).
Jesus’ suffering, His cruel Passion on the Cross and His consent to give our lives for each of us – it is extraordinary, one could even say: too great – proof of God’s mercy towards us. Did Jesus really have to suffer so terribly? Was the cross necessary with all its cruelty and violence?
The cross of Jesus is a response to our sin – mine and your sin … There, on Calvary, Love and sin met … In Jesus’ cross, the merciful God comes to meet evil in order to destroy it and to free us from it once and for all.
When I contemplate the passion of Jesus, am I deeply aware that the cause is my sins?What is born in my heart when I think it is for me, out of love for me, Jesus agreed to cruel torture and death?
„For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you
I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace” (Diary 1485).
