Christ in Agony Until the End of Time
Pascal’s bleak intuition provided impetus for the French painter, Georges Rouault’s equally dark “Miserere” series of prints.
An item in the October 19th issue of America brings further stark confirmation:
Gangs affiliated with the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda have been crossing the border into Sudan, “crucifying” Christians during raids. Near the town of Nazra, seven recently died. On discovering the bodies, villagers described what they found as a “grotesque crucifixion scene.” The guerillas nailed the victims to pieces of wood on the ground before killing them. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio blames the government in Khartoum for not increasing security in that area and has called upon the international community for help.
The Church’s Friday Morning Prayer always begins with Psalm 51: the Miserere. May we pray it for the Christifideles in many places who bear in their bodies the agony of Christ.
Thank you, Fr. Imbelli, for the beautiful reflection. As I read your words, I remembered a talk I once heard by Archbishop Sheen commenting on Paul’s words to the Colossians: “It is my privilege to suffer for you. It is my way of making up, in my poor human flesh, what is wanting to the full tale of Christ’s sufferings yet to be endured for the sake of His body, the Church.” He said that the Passion of Christ will not end until the last person has died at the end of the world, because He suffers in each of us, as we suffer.