Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
At last the hour has come, in which Jesus considers that He has made reparation to His heavenly Father for all the sins of mankind. The chalice has been drained--all possible humiliation had been heaped upon Him. Jesus cried, "It is consummated." All the work of salvation is now at an end. All the sufferings that the Father has ordained in His eternal providence have been undergone. "The work which Thou gavest me, I have performed." The work of grace is accomplished. About the ninth hour, Our Lord cried out, with a loud voice, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The Father had demanded the death of the Son. He must be exterminated with the most cruel torments; nothing less than death will satisfy the Father. He turns to the Father for one look of kindness, but He receives none, until that hated human flesh has been punished.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
O my dear Jesus, Thou art altogether forsaken; there is nothing from which Thou canst gather consolation and support. Even in the hour of death Thou dost enter the portals of the other world without one friendly face before Thine eyes. Yes, Thou art forsaken; Thy strength, the assistance of Thy Father, the light of Thine eyes, Thy holy Mother, hath no consolation for Thee. The people that stood around the cross did not know what that great cry meant. Only Jesus knew it. He felt it. How few people understand the language of divine love! Who could think that the Father would desert His Son, and would not be satisfied but with the most extreme punishment! We should sympathize with Our Lord in His cruel abandonment, we who have been the cause of this agony. Our Lord suffers the same feeling of desertion when we do not visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Let it be our joy, our pastime, our recreation, to go to Him, and to thank Him for His great love for us.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
The last words which Our Lord uttered were, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." Again Jesus calls God His Father. God has accepted the sacrifice, and has taken His divine Son to His bosom, hence the Lord calls Him Father. The sacred countenance of Jesus takes on the pallor of death, the lips are parted and the last breath is gone. His soul has flown to the Father; the adorable spirit of Jesus has entered the realms of eternal bliss, where He is joyfully received. Jesus is dead, but by the infinite merits of His death and Passion He has freed us from death. Jesus is dead, but by His death we have become children of God. Jesus is dead, but we acknowledge Him to be our good Lord, our Master and our King. The death of Christ is our life, but we must exterminate sin, and let the love of Jesus flame up in our hearts.