Session 6: The Death

I free myself from worldly cares… I go downwards into the deep… to the place I meet my maker…

Let us see if he will be saved, let us gaze up at three o’clock, let us raise sour wine on a sponge, let us listen to his last cry, let us breathe with him his last breath, we wait at the foot of the cross…let us wait…

Ask for the grace to remain with Jesus all the way to the end…or whatever it is that you need at this moment…

Matthew 27:45-56
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’


Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

As you stand at the foot of the cross, let yourself be united with Jesus at the moment of his greatest suffering. How is it possible that the one who preached the good news, who healed the sick, who met the poor and outcast, is dying on a cross…? How is it possible that one who loved his friends so much has been betrayed…? As you stand there, what do you learn from all you have witnessed?

As you listen again to these words, let the meaning of this moment sink in… all that has happened to Jesus has been done just for you… Are you able to join with the Centurion in recognising that Jesus is God’s son?

Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Speak to Jesus, as one friend speaks to another, tell him that you want to remain with him whatever happens, then Listen to his response…

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.