In the Passion and Death of the Lord on the Cross, we grasp the significance of the two realities most intrinsic to humanity and God: for humanity, that reality is sin; for God, it is His merciful love.

The reading from the Prophet Isaiah describes the enigmatic ministry of a Servant of God—one who suffers greatly and innocently to save the multitude from the punishment due for their sins. As Isaiah writes: “We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.” This reveals the reality intrinsic to humanity: our sinfulness, where each of us follows our own path rather than God’s. Yet, we give thanks that the reality intrinsic to God is His merciful love; for our sake, the Lord laid those very offenses upon Him.

St. Paul wrote to the Romans regarding this merciful love of God, contrasting it with the typical human experience of sacrifice. Generally, humans might find the courage to lay down their lives for someone good, but rarely for someone 'bad.' As St. Paul observes: “Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8).

Many people ask themselves: Why did God choose to save us by enduring such a terrible death and such immense suffering? The Prophet Isaiah foresaw this, noting that “The LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity.” In my Holy Thursday homily yesterday, I explained that to truly demonstrate love for another, we must act through our physical bodies. To demonstrate His love, God became one of us—assuming our flesh—so that He could sacrifice Himself for our sake. As St. Thomas Aquinas taught, it was necessary for the Son of God to suffer to remedy our sins; he states that through the Passion of the Lord, we find the remedy for every evil that befalls us because of sin.

What took place on the Cross 2,000 years ago is the most momentous news humanity could ever receive. There on the Cross, a Servant of God—His beloved Son—suffered innocently and voluntarily unto death to make the forgiveness of our sins possible. There on the Cross, the Son of God suffered so that God might forgive a sinful world. There on the Cross, my sins were forgiven.

As St. Thomas Aquinas taught, the suffering of the Son of God is the remedy for every evil that befalls us because of sin. While sin brought death, the Passion of the Lord grants us access to eternal life. Just as misfortunes befell the people of Israel because of their transgressions, we too bring evils upon ourselves through our sins; yet, thanks be to God, these are also remedied by the Passion of the Lord.

Standing before the Cross of the Lord today, we must ask ourselves another question: Why do we—both as a human race and as individuals—continue to sin, despite knowing the mystery of the Lord’s Passion and Death? Why do we persist in offending Him? The truth is that we have not yet truly grasped the dual mysteries of our own sin and God’s merciful love. Perhaps we also fail to take seriously the weight our sins carry regarding our eternal life. It is in this lack of understanding that we remain stuck in our transgressions.

Today, before the Crucified Lord, we open our hearts to the words of Isaiah to better understand the mystery of God: “It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured… Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed… He took away the sins of many and won pardon for their offenses”. 

With all humility, prostrate before the Cross, we ask the Lord to lead us into the mystery of His Passion, so that we may finally comprehend the depth of our sin and the height of His merciful love.