Jesus' cry from the cross that God had forsaken Him is perplexing. How is it possible that God the Father could have abandoned God the Son? Some have speculated that, since Christ bore our sins in that moment, a perfectly holy God turned His face away as part of the punishment Jesus suffered in our place. Anne Catherine envisions: Christ, she said, was speaking on behalf of all those who in their hour of death are tempted to despair. He has walked the way before them, borne their desperate hopelessness, and earned for them a sure and certain hope.

About three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" - Matthew 27:46

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)