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Cathedral
Incarnation
of the
The Diocese of Nashville
A.D. 1914
TRE ORE DEVOTIONS
The Seven Last Words of Christ
The "Tre Ore", also known as the Three Hours' Agony, is a liturgical service held on Good Friday from 12 noon until 3 o'clock to commemorate the Passion of Christ. This includes a series of homilies reflecting on the seven last words spoken by Jesus Christ. On this Good Friday, we share brief reflections on the "Tre Ore" so that we may draw closer to Christ.
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”
(Luke 23:34)
Christ’s first word in the throes of His agony is a prayer for his tormentors. Before leading Him to the cross, the Roman soldiers mocked Christ - placing a purple military cloak over His shoulder, a reed in His hand and a crown of thorns on His head. They furthered the humiliation by kneeling before Him spitting on Him and striking Him on the head with the reed. When have we found ourselves alone in the midst of estrangement? There is a sinking loneliness felt when someone we were once close to refuses to forgive us, or when we fail to forgive them. The fear of further hurt can confine us from making that resolute act of compassion. Yet, Christ was able to forgive and pray for those who mocked him, even in the pangs of immeasurable pain. Can we do as Jesus did on the cross? Can we pray for those who hurt us? Can we ask God to forgive our offenders and forgive our offenses, too?
“Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise”
(Luke 23:43)
Much like His first word, Jesus’s second word is of forgiveness, compassion and comfort. Christ was given two criminals as companions to suffer crucifixion and death. One of them, throws insults at Jesus, challenging Him to save them all if He truly was Christ. The other criminal admonishes the first for not recognizing God in their midst, who suffers the same brutality. In perhaps his last act, the “good thief” humbly asks to merely be remembered when Jesus enters into His kingly power. In His second words, Jesus offers abundantly more. He offers forgiveness and an invitation to heaven. How much overwhelming peace must have been felt in that moment when Christ says, “Truly, I say to you, you will be with me in Paradise”? God’s love is overflowing, and His mercy is always ready to save even at the ending moments of our lives.
“Woman, behold your son...”
(John 19:26-27)
Jesus’s compassion continues on to those closest to Him. That includes His mother and His beloved disciple - John. Christ’s third word is a desire for those whom He loves to continue to love and care for each other, as that of mother and child. We know Jesus grants Mary the role and title of “Queen of Heaven”, but also to be mother to John and to every person in the world. Just as she consoled John, Our Blessed Mother is willing and ready to run to our aid. Mary gives us the perfect example of how to live out our Christian faith. May we always be moved to compassion to see the needs of others and offer loving support.
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
(Matthew 27:46)
Christ plunges into the inner space of human dysfunction. It is here that God presses the sins of the entire world on Him. This is His mission - to bring the light and love of God to the depths of God-forsakenness. His disciples are nowhere to be found, and Christ recites the first verse of Psalm 22. In this state of alienation, Jesus begins with a prayer of despair. Yet, He knows Scripture and the Father’s salvific plan. Christ’s prayer alludes to a hope we share even in our loneliest moments. When we find ourselves isolated, feeling forsaken, can we still call out to God in hope that He will hear us?
“I thirst!”
(John 19:28)
Christ, in His fifth word, reminds us of His humanity. Jesus Christ - consubstantial with God the Father - meekly agreed to take on the frailties and cravings of the human flesh. Among His last words, this is the only expression of is physical anguish. Despite being scourged, crowned with thorns, bore the weight of the cross, and nailed through His hands and feet; Jesus never uttered a word of bodily pain. Nevertheless, Jesus’s thirst was more than just a physical thirst. Christ yearned for the souls that love compelled Him to redeem. Through Jesus’s suffering (spiritual, psychological, and physical), He stands with us shoulder-to-shoulder, bearing our sins. Likewise, we must do the same with those people in our lives. How often do we take time to think of those who might thirst for attention? God gives us these bodies as a means to communicate and share His love with the world. May we tend to a thirsty friend by offering a drink of living water.
“It is finished”
(John 19:30)
After hours of being nailed to the cross, Jesus is still conscious. His expression, “it is finished”, meant more than His imminent death. Through His willing acceptance of suffering and absolute pouring out of His life, Christ fulfills God’s redemptive mission through which He conquers sin and redeems humanity. But what is finished changes the spiritual dynamic. The element of defeat is now the foundation of victory. Relationship with God is now restored through Jesus Christ. Salvation is open to the sinner where no sin is unforgiveable, short of turning away from God definitively. Where Christ concludes in His passion is continued through His mystical body. Christ invites us all to unite our sufferings with His for the salvation of others. What will we do with the time given to us before it is finished here on earth? How will we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our words and deeds?
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”
(Luke 23:46)
What a beautiful ending to the Gospel! Jesus spoke of sinners, and enemies, trials and suffering, and of His own sacred humanity but now is speaking to the Father. Christ has finished the labors of His ministry that He came into the world to do, and now He can rest. Christ, who was perfectly obedient to the Father, focused on God all the way to the very last beat of His aching heart.
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We are meant to see the prodigal son in Christ’s life and death. Jesus left the father and moved into a foreign land - the world. He utterly spent himself, doing away with (as Venerable Fulton Sheen words it) “liberalities” and replaces with generosity. Now, the Son is coming home into the loving arms of the Father.