The compassion of Jesus. In the midst of His sufferings Jesus, while tormented by His enemies and unjustly condemned to death, forgot Himself and thought of His fallen apostle, and sought to recall and convert him by His glance. He did not upbraid him, nor punish him, but cast on him one look of love and compassion to bring him to a knowledge of his sin, and to kindle in him the hope of forgiveness. O, how unfathomable is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
Divine wisdom permitted Peter’s fall 1 . so that Peter might become very humble, and, as the vicar of the Good Shepherd, might be gentle and considerate to those under his charge; 2. that all men might learn to know the mercy of God and the power of grace, and that no sinner might give himself up to despair.
What the Sufferings of Jesus were. It is with deep emotion and compassion that we approach the thought of what our Lord Jesus suffered that night. For hours together a low, ruffianly rabble amused itself by mocking the Son of God! These men abused Him and insulted Him in every way that they could think of: they struck Him with their brutal fists, they tore out His hair, they spat on His Sacred Face; and Jesus bore all silently and without complaint. His Sacred Face, full of gentleness and grace, was marred with bruises, and dishonoured by the spittle of the very scum of humanity! Truly and terribly were David’s words of prophecy fulfilled (Ps. 21, 7): “I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people!” If we contemplate our Saviour in this state of deep abjection, we too could almost put the question to Him: “Art Thou the Christ? Art Thou the Son of God? Why dost Thou suffer this terrible treatment?” This is His answer: “I suffer this for love of thee; to make satisfaction for thy sins, and to give to thee an example of humility and patience.”
The repentance, confession, and despair of Judas. When Judas perceived the consequence of his treachery, his conscience reproached him with the awful thought: “I am guilty of the murder of my God!” And then Satan, who had taken possession of his heart by reason of his obduracy, drove him to despair. Before the deed was done, he induced Judas to sin, blinding him so that he did not perceive the heinousness of his crime, nor consider its consequences; but once thesin had been committed, he showed its full horror to the wretched sinner, and whispered to him as he had once whispered to Cain, thathis sin was too great to be forgiven. Judas might have obtained pardon even then, had he possessed the proper dispositions. It is true that “he repented himself’, and that he made a really good resolution of amendment, for at no price would he have committed the sin again. He confessed his guilt by the words: “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood”; and he made what satisfaction he could, for he gave back the blood-money, and tried to get the sentence of death reversed — but, for all this, he was wanting in true penance. Now, what did he lack? The
