SEQUELA CHRISTI – Following Christ

Father Pothin's Reflection for February 19, 2016

Sequela Christi. Last week in my weekly reflection, I said that the Pre-Lent season is a time of preparation for the great fast of Lent. Fasting helps us experience our part in the passion (suffering) of Jesus.

The Stations of the Cross, also known as the “Via Dolorosa,” is a narration of the final hours in the life of Jesus Christ on earth that continues to provide spiritual conviction for every Christian and application to our lives. The Stations of the Cross serve as a stark reminder of the humble manner in which Jesus was willing to set aside any privilege of deity in order to provide a path to salvation through His sacrifice. By fasting, we learn to humble ourselves before the majesty of God’s greatest gift:  The death of His beloved Son.

Jesus’ great sacrifice not only became the atonement for man’s sins, but it also became the victory that would defeat and overcome death, which would have otherwise been the inescapable fate of all men who are born under the curse of sin. Sin carries its own inescapable penalty, and that penalty is death. Our Creator is just and fair and so demanded that the penalty for sin be paid. Because God is loving and merciful as well as just, He sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for our sins, knowing we were otherwise doomed for all eternity (John 3:16). God’s love and mercy are greatly demonstrated by the words of Jesus as He hung dying on the cross when He asked God to forgive those who were killing Him in their ignorance (Luke 23:34).

The sinful man who refuses to accept the gift of salvation that Jesus made possible by His sacrifice is surely the product of rebellious ignorance and sin that separates a man from the wisdom of God. May we all, on this Sexagesima Sunday, wake up from our ignorance and be opened to the wisdom of God.

–Fr. Pothin