THE SEVEN LAST WORDS for quiet reflection and personal prayer

For those who prefer to stay home on Good Friday, you can deepen your experience of Holy Week and prepare for a joyful Easter celebration by spending quiet moments reflecting on the last words of Jesus discerning their message for you.

PREPARATION: Find a place where you can be alone, quiet, and comfortable. It would be helpful to have a crucifix that you can contemplate on. Bring your journal should you wish to write down the fruits of your reflection. Take time to reflect and pray over each of the seven last words of our dear Lord. You may linger and stay where you feel the Lord is speaking to you deeply. Feel free to respond to the Lord expressing whatever is in your heart.

1. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). Jesus is falsely accused, convicted unfairly and tortured brutally but still He sees and understands his persecutors’ ignorance and intercedes to the Father for their forgiveness.  In his suffering, Jesus offers forgiveness… not vengeance… nor hatred.

Have you been unjustly treated? Can you get past this injustice you might have endured? With God’s grace, would you be happier if you could set your heart free by offering forgiveness as Jesus did? Are there people in your life to whom you need to offer forgiveness? Or from whom you need to seek forgiveness?  

2. “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43). These are words of salvation Jesus speaks to one of the thieves being crucified. He is said to be the “Good Thief” because, after acknowledging his guilt, he turns to Jesus and humbly implores that he be remembered when Jesus comes into his kingdom. And Jesus, indeed, guarantees his and OUR salvation.

When you gaze at the cross of Jesus, are you ready to admit the guilt of your own sinfulness? Do you feel Jesus’s invitation to entrust to Him your brokenness? What sinful situation in your life right now you might want to ask Jesus to save you from?  What would you like to say to Jesus? Express your gratitude to the Lord for assuring you a place in His Kingdom.

3. “Woman, behold, your son. … Behold, your mother.” (John 19:26–27). As Jesus approaches his death, He thinks of Mary, his beloved Mother, and how she would be taken care of without Him. Here, Jesus entrusts Mary to “the disciple whom he loved.”

Who is Mary to you? What role does Mary play in your life? Do you express loving concern for your own mother? Or aging parents? Do you have close friends who are like a member of your family just like the beloved disciple? Would you like to write how you feel about them and how you appreciate their presence in your life?

4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Mark 15:34). Jesus cries out in anguish from the cross. He feels alone approaching his death. He is abandoned by most of his friends. The beloved Father too seems to be distant and tolerant of all the evil done to him.

Do you think God had abandoned his beloved Son? Have there been difficult moments in your life when you asked, “Where is God?” Have you ever felt abandoned by family, friends or even God? Do you trust God’s love despite His seeming silence in some difficult times in your life?

5. “I thirst.” (John 19:28). Jesus, after having been whipped, crowned with thorns and nailed to the cross expresses a human need. He thirsts. He, the source of living water, thirsts! To quench his thirst, Jesus is offered a sponge soaked in sour wine.

Don’t you ever feel that Jesus thirst is not for water but for your love? Your loyalty? For justice? For peace? For the healing of creation? In life, what are you thirsting for? Do you thirst spiritually for Jesus, the Living Water? Have there been moments when you cried out in distress? Were there people who gave you a helping hand?

6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30). These three words of Jesus express the fulfilment of God’s promises to his people. Jesus has accomplished his mission as the promised Savior of humankind. He now declares victory over sin and death.

Jesus had been resolute in doing the Father’s will. His life and death had a special purpose in God’s plan of salvation.  What is your life’s purpose? Would you write your own vision (who you are called to become) and mission (what are you called to do)?  Where are you in fulfilling God’s purpose in your life? Are there moments of victories?

7. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). These words summarize how Jesus lived—in humble surrender to the Father’s will. Here, again, He entrusts everything, His spirit to the Father, as He dies broken, humiliated, and abandoned. In this most despicable state, Jesus expresses His total trust in his unity with the Father.

Do you trust God so as to let go of your controls in life? Have there been some dark moments in your life, beyond your understanding, when you felt there’s nothing to hold on to but your faith in God? Have you ever doubted the abiding presence of the Father?

REVIEW:  Review the fruits of each meditation and discern how they all fit together as God’s invitation for you in life. Notice how Jesus’ suffering and death strengthen your faith, hope, and love amid your own struggles in some dark hours in life nudging you to move on with the joyful disposition of Easter.

CONVERSATION WITH THE LORD:  End with a heart to heart talk with the Lord. Express your gratitude, your love, your commitment to Him who laid down his life for you. GOD BLESS YOU!