Maundy Thursday is one of the holiest nights of the year, for it is the time that Our Lord institutes the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At the same time, Christ exhorted His Apostles to not fear pain, suffering, and death, but rather fear that which can kill the soul. And though we, like the Apostles, may initially fear these afflictions before they occur, Christ comforts us through His final victory over sin and the curse of death.

Meditating on the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the assistance of Padre Pio’s considerations, opens up the deeper meaning behind the great distress Our Lord endured. For it is during this sorrowful period in Our Lord’s life that He focuses upon His forthcoming Passion while seeing every sin committed by mankind and mankind’s refusal to accept the satisfaction obtained on the Cross.

We find in Christ’s Cross the culmination of the Father’s love for us. By accepting crosses in our own lives, we show our love toward God. For it is through these crosses that we purify ourselves, atone for past sins, and grow in His grace.

The Passion of Our Lord occupies an eminent place in all of God’s work, for through it Christ accomplished our salvation. To unite ourselves deeper with Our Lord during this time, we must meditate upon His abasement, that is, His willingness to endure humiliation for our sake. This abasement is not the least of Our Lord’s works during the time of His Passion and it is indeed central to the liturgy of Holy Week.

Passiontide opens up a period for us to reflect on all that Our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, including above all His Passion. We have two sources to meditate upon: the Gospel accounts of Christ’s suffering and His holy relic, the Shroud of Turin. It is the Shroud that reveals the extent of Our Lord’s physical suffering—suffering that He undertook for the salvation of our souls.

Lent, as we know, is a time of preparation for Our Lord’s Resurrection. However, what good are our sacrificial acts during this time unless we first have charity? And while this charity must begin in the home, it must extend outward to all those around us in our churches and wider community, even even it is difficult.

God works through human instruments. And unlike the everyday instruments we use, be it a pen or a paintbrush, human beings have the capacity to be willing instruments of Our Lord and therefore give glory back to Him. Moreover, by using us as His willing instruments, particularly in the context of the Church, God demonstrates His love for us through the Church’s ministry.

At every moment we can discover how the Church guides us to find joy in every moment and situation. By sharing in God’s divine nature, embrace authentic happiness and rejoice in His presence.

Our Lord provides us the grace to persevere in this life, though too often we fail to recognize it. Even during His earthly ministry, He revealed Himself to the Apostles and those He ministered to and they also did not realize it. While Christ does not owe us another chance to realize this great gift of salvation He has bestowed upon us, through His love and the ministry the Church and the sacraments, we are able to come back into a state of grace.