“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
2000 years of Salvation. That is what we’re preparing to celebrate. Perhaps it seems strange to put so much effort into preparing for something that will simply occur whether we like it or not - or strange to single out 9 years when we’ve already had 2000 to prepare. That’s just it, though. We have had so long to prepare for it, to cherish and make use of the gift we received so long ago and continue to receive even to this very moment. What would you say, that we’ve made good use of that time already? That we don’t need any extra effort or attention as we approach this solemn anniversary?
Of course we do. As we embark on this 9 year novena, this “Great Novena,” we’ve chosen 9 guiding themes for our reflection so as to better engage with the mystery that we approach. The first seven of these are the traditional “seven last words” of Jesus on the cross. We begin with the first: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” We are “they” and truly, we so often do not know what we’re doing.
Imagine it. Place yourself in that moment and consider what is happening. A perfectly innocent man is being executed as a criminal - and not just executed, but brutally tortured and then executed in one of the most painful methods ever devised. Yet, while this man is still being tortured, he prays for the forgiveness of the people torturing him. So it is that we begin with God’s mercy, his unyielding patience.
The truth is that every pain, every torment, every deprivation and wound inflicted upon the body of Jesus during his crucifixion was caused by the soldiers only instrumentally. Yes, they struck the blows and hammered the nails, but on a much deeper level – the level of formal cause – it is our sins that caused his torturous death. Jesus, because he is both God and Man, exists at a unique intersection in reality. As man, he was in one time and place at a time: Egypt, Galilee & Jerusalem from roughly 1 to 33 AD. As God, he transcends time and space, present always and everywhere. Because of this unique intersection of time and eternity, space and infinity, we can accurately say that our sins, committed millennia after his death, caused his death. In his omniscience (ability to know all things), the God-man Jesus could mentally see every sin ever committed. This is what we mean when we say things like “Jesus died for your sins and would have died for them if you were the only person on earth,” and “when Jesus died, he saw you individually and offered it for you.”
So, when Jesus cries out “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” you can translate that to be “Father, forgive _____ for he/she does not know what he/she is doing.” Yes, Jesus was specifically talking about the people crucifying him in that moment, but he was also talking about you and me, about us. The crowds 2000 years ago did not really know Jesus is God the way you and I know it. Our ignorance is different than theirs. Every time we sin, we crucify the Lord. Yet, on some level, do we really understand what we’re doing by choosing sin over God? Do not misunderstand that question! This does not mean that no one ever really sins because no one ever really understands how bad their sin is. The point is not that everyone is invincibly ignorant and therefore guaranteed to go to heaven. No, the point is that Jesus really does want the Father to forgive us and that he will leverage any and everything he can to justify the outpouring of divine mercy.
If you flip the prayer around, you can see this more clearly: “Father, because they don’t know what they’re doing, forgive them.” The implication is that if someone does know what they’re doing, they don’t receive the benefit of that prayer. The Church has never taught that everyone is ignorant. The Church has always held that it is possible for a person to sin gravely with full knowledge and full freedom. Mortal Sin – deadly sin – is quite possible and sadly quite common (cf. 1 John 5:16-17). Do not despair, though. Even if one does commit mortal sin knowingly and freely, God can and does forgive. This is the nature of repentance. The point of all that is to say this: Jesus looks for every opportunity to save us from our sins even though it is our sins that make him suffer. This is one angle, one perspective on just how merciful Jesus is, how desperate he is to save us from our sins. When you take the whole scope of the 2000 years since Jesus’ crucifixion, you can apply this prayer of mercy and forbearance to the whole sweep of history. You and I are approaching 2000 years of infinite grace pouring out from the pierced side of Jesus on the cross, yet we are still full of sin and ignorance. We still have not allowed that grace to reach perfection in us. Why do we need 9 years of special preparation for this 2000th anniversary of our salvation? Because we know not what we are doing. We know not how many graces we’ve wasted, how many wounds we’ve inflicted on our Lord. Hearing this plaintive cry for the Father to be patient with our ignorance ought to move us to do better, to remedy our ignorance, to conform ourselves more fully to the salvation we’ve so often taken for granted.
That’s one reason we’re taking upon ourselves this Great Novena. It is a sustained effort to make good use of the grace that has never ceased to flow from the intersection of history and eternity on the Cross of Jesus Christ. It’s why we lift high the cross on September 14th and at every Mass. It’s why we’re committing to daily prayer so as to daily receive the grace of God. It’s why we’re exhorting you to monthly reflections so as to little by little deepen our understanding of and appreciation for the gift of our faith. It’s why we’re calling for regular intervals of fasting to detach from the temporary satisfactions of this world so as to stir up our longing for the things of eternity made available to us by the cross of Christ. It is why we’re asking you to celebrate more intentionally certain feasts of our salvation.
“Forgive us Father, for we know not what we do. Forgive us and grant us the grace to come to know what we can and ought to do, to come to know you and Jesus Christ whom you have sent for our salvation and the salvation of the whole world.”