“Christ took on Himself all the hatred, rebellion, derision, despair, all the murders, all the suicides, all the tortures”

Because of the ontological unity of Christ with the whole human race, the sacrifice was a bloody crucifixion. United with us in being and in love, Christ took on Himself all the hatred, rebellion, derision, despair—“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”—all the murders, all the suicides, all the tortures, all the agonies of all humanity throughout all time and all space. In all these, Christ bled, suffered, and cried out in anguish and in desolation. But as He suffered in a human way, so was He trustful in a human way: “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit.” At that moment death is swallowed up in life, the abyss of hatred is lost in the bottomless depths of love.

Olivier Clément