Rev. Fr. Christopher Rengers O.F.M. Cap - The Seven Last Words (with Supplemental Reading: A Brief Life of Christ) [Illustrated]

Imprimi Potest:	Very Rev. Claude Vogel, O.F.M. Cap. Minister Provincial October 7, 1957
Nihil Obstat:	John A. Schulien, S.T.D. Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:		Albert G. Meyer Archbishop of Milwaukee November 22, 1957

Copyright 1958 by The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, under the title Words from the Cross .

Retypeset and republished in 2002 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc. under the title The Seven Last Words .

ISBN: 978-0-89555-731-5

Cover illustration of the Crucifixion: painting by Janssens from his series of seven illustrations of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, distributed by the Servite Fathers, Chicago.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
2002

Thou hast the words of eternal life.

John 6:69

CONTENTS

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. ( Luke 23:34).

F ORGIVENESS

Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. ( Luke 23:43).

T HE M ERCY OF G OD TO S INNERS

Woman, behold thy son.... Behold thy mother. ( John 19:26-27).

O UR S ORROWFUL M OTHER

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ( Matt . 27:46).

D ESOLATION OF C HRIST ON THE C ROSS

I thirst. ( John 19:28).

C HRIST S T HIRST FOR S OULS

It is consummated. ( John 19:30).

T HE T ASK I S F INISHED

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. ( Luke 23:46).

L EAVING T HINGS TO G OD

FIRST WORD

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Luke 23:34

Forgiveness

T HE first words that Jesus spoke after being nailed to the Cross were words of forgiveness. He had gone through much suffering and strain. He had been taken from court to court, from Caiphas to Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate. He had felt the angry tide of human passion explode against Him in false testimony, in insults and in shouting for His death. He had already sweat blood, had been scourged and crowned with thorns. He had walked the exhausting, bitter steps carrying His Cross to Calvary and had been stripped of His garments.

He Forgives

But no doubt the actual nailing to the Cross brings with it a new and more severe pain. The long, roughly shaped spikes tearing through His hands and feet not only burn like fire but send new throbs of pain throughout His whole body. Most of the poor slaves or criminals who were executed by crucifixion screamed and shouted in despair at this point. Ordinarily all this new, intense suffering wrung words from the mouth of the victim of crucifixion. But Christ put into practice what He had counseled, by praying for those who were His enemies. The height of physical pain wrung from His lips only the words of forgiveness: Father, forgive them. He asked forgiveness for the soldiers, for the Jews who had maneuvered His execution, for all who by sinning in the years to come were to co-operate in His death.

He Excuses

Christ added words of excuse: For they know not what they do. No doubt these words applied most fully to the Roman soldiers, for they were just the rough instruments of execution. But the words were put forth as a plea for all, considering the blindness of human reason and the force of passion on the human will. The high priests and other leaders knew quite well what they were doing, but even for them the enormity of the crime may not have been altogether clear. Our Lord prayed for their forgiveness.

He had much to forgive even as a man, abstracting from the fact of His Divine Nature. These people who had brought on Him so much pain and disgrace were the very ones whom He had been trying to help. He had spent the past few years going about their country preaching, working miracles, even raising the dead from the grave. Yet, they closed their eyes to all this. They invented lies, tried to make it appear that this Man who lived in poverty, who had fled when some would make Him king, was plotting to overthrow the government and take over the power for Himself and His followers. The accusations against Him during the trial were absolutely false, as Pontius Pilate, the neutral Roman, also recognized.

Hard to Take

Most of us probably know from experience that if there is anything hard to take, it is a deliberately false accusation. If we are accused of something we have not done, our blood begins to boil immediately, and angry words rush to our lips. When false accusations come from ones we have been trying to help, they are even harder to take, for the ingratitude stings us. Yet this is exactly the situation, humanly speaking, that Christ found Himself in. To false accusation, to ingrained ingratitude, He reacts by a prayer for forgiveness.

St. Stephen

St. Stephen, the first martyr, comes to mind as a striking instance of one who followed the example of his Master in forgiving. His words of wisdom and truth so cut the Jewish leaders to the heart that they gnashed their teeth. They took Stephen out and cast stones at him. But while they were stoning him to death, he fell on his knees and prayed: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. ( Acts 7:59). He could have called out to those who stoned him: Do not forget that there is a just God, and that you will be punished for this! Filled with the spirit of Christ, he prayed for the forgiveness of his enemies.

So have the true followers of Christ acted through the ages. The lives of Saints are full of examples of ready forgiveness. The early martyrs prayed for their executioners. From our own shores have come stories of those who were tortured, yet prayed for those who tortured them.

In March of 1649, Father Jean de Brbeuf endured martyrdom at the hands of the Iroquois Indians. Many times he spoke the words: Jesus, have mercy on us, begging perseverance for himself and the other Christian prisoners, and forgiveness for their tormentors. The Indians poured scalding water over his head, jesting that without this baptism he could not be saved. Jesus, have mercy on us was his answer. He asked that God might forgive them since they did not know what they were doing, and would lead them all to a true Baptism. In fury at not being able to break Father de Brbeufs spirit, the Iroquois cut off his nose and upper lip. Unable to endure his prayers for mercy for them, they cut out his tongue. Even then, the dying martyr forced from his tongueless mouth a hoarse, guttural: Jesus, have mercy!

Note: St. John de Brbeuf was responsible for the conversion of some 7,000 souls. Publisher, 2002.

St. John Gualbert

Back in the eleventh century, a man by the name of John Gualbert set out to avenge the death of his brother, Hugh. Hugh had been murdered, and John swore that he would kill the murderer. The father, also full of sorrow and resentment, encouraged him. John was a soldier and considered it upholding his honor to make up for the death of an only brother. So he set out to look for the killer.

He met him on Good Friday in a passage so narrow that there was no escape. The man was unarmed and fell on his knees. He stretched out his arms in the form of a cross and asked, for the love of Jesus Crucified, to be forgiven his crime. John Gualbert did not hesitate long. He responded to grace and forgave the man in the name of Jesus Crucified; he even went forward and embraced him. God did not allow John to go unrewarded, but filled his soul with grace, leading him to the monastery, where he was to lead a strict and holy life. The Catholic Church now celebrates the Feast of St. John Gualbert on July 12. Had he refused the plea for forgiveness, he would himself have become a vindictive murderer. But he forgave and became a Saint.