Fourth reflection of the fourth week of Lent
“The Shroud is also an image of God’s love, as well as of human sin. It invites us to rediscover the ultimate cause of Jesus’ redemptive death. In the immeasurable suffering it documents, the love of the One who ‘so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son’ (Jn 3:16) becomes almost palpable and reveals its astonishing dimensions. Before it, believers cannot help but exclaim in all truth: ‘Lord, you could not have loved me more!’ and immediately realize that sin is responsible for that suffering: the sins of every human being. By speaking to us of love and sin, the Shroud invites all of us to impress the face of God’s love upon our spirit, excluding from it the dreadful reality of sin. Contemplating that martyred Body helps contemporary people free themselves from the superficiality and selfishness with which they so often approach love and sin. Echoing the word of God and centuries of Christian awareness, the Shroud whispers: believe in God’s love, the greatest treasure given to humanity, and flee from sin, the greatest misfortune in history” (John Paul II).
What do I feel when I think about how much Jesus suffered in his Passion to save me?
I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow morning to continue reflecting together!
