When meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, which culminated in His death on the cross, we can hardly avoid wondering, “Why such an enormous price for our salvation.” We know that one tear of the Savior’s divine eyes, one sigh of His Sacred Heart, would have been enough to ransom the whole world, because even that price would have been infinite. Why then the extreme price that was actually paid?
Several answers at once come to the mind. First of all, such a price was the requirement of the eternal Father for adequate and perfect reparation to the Divine Majesty because of the injury done to God by man’s sin. It is hard for us to conceive the enormity of a grievous offense against an infinite Being; but enormous it is.
In the second place, the price Our Lord paid for us shows how precious our souls are in God’s sight and how much He loves us and desires our eternal salvation.
Thirdly, the eternal Father and our Savior wanted to impress on the world of human kind for all time to come and in a way that would never be forgotten what sin is in God’s sight and what human souls mean to God. Had the divine plan been according to some lesser mode of redeeming us, that could have been more easily forgotten and, in the course of ages, would likely have been denied altogether. But now an unparalleled record of suffering by a God-man has been so indelibly stamped on the pages of the world’s history that to the end of humanity on earth mankind can never forget or explain away what God has suffered and done for human souls.
Since all this is so, how pathetic it is that so many people, even those who have grave responsibility, frequently look with such indifference upon sin and the welfare of souls, including their lin! How can this be, in view of all that Our Lord has done for ‘us and for the world?
Of course, a first explanation is that they do not know or understand the life, history, and teachings of Christ, nor are they at pains to learn about them. They are so immersed in material things, in trying to make what they call a “living” here, in seeking satisfaction for the cravings of their fleshly appetites, in chasing the mirages of this fleeting world, that there is little time or energy left for any¬thing of the higher order. This situation and condition also apply too often and too much to those whose call and chief business in life are supposed to be the pursuit of the things of the spirit and the care of souls. If our redemption and salvation have cost the God-man so much, how can we expect that the fruits of His sacrifice will be applied to us and to the souls of others in the world with small or no effort on our own or their part? God who made and redeemed us without our help will not save us without our effort. Eternal treasures, peace, and happiness are prizes for which we were made and for which we yearn, but they will not be conferred on us without due striving on our part.
Charles J. Callan, OP and John F. McConnell, MM
Spiritual Riches of the Rosary Mysteries
