Luke 23: God's infinite mercy

There's an old tradition that the place of Jesus' crucifixion -- Golgotha or Calvary, meaning The Skull -- was so called because it was the resting place of Adam, and that as Jesus suffered and died on the cross, his blood seeped into the soil and touched the skull of our first parent.

Whether or not this is historically accurate is immaterial; the truth that it represents remains: The redemptive power of Christ's precious shed blood extends to all mankind. In his infinite mercy, the God-man willingly bore unthinkable pain and shame and the weight of all the sins of the world in order to save us from our sins and open the way to eternal life. God died out of mercy for us.

Of the four Passion narratives, Luke's most explicitly emphasizes Jesus' mercy: Even as he is nailed to the cross, Jesus prays for his executioners, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (23:34). And when one of the thieves crucified beside him humbly asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (23:42), he replies, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (23:43).

May we always be grateful and never take his mercy for granted.

(Image: Fra Angelico, "Crucifixion of Christ and two thieves," c. 1437-1446)