Lenten Reflection from St. John Henry Newman

How has Lent been going so far? If you respond either with good or bad, today I would like to give you a reflection for your Lenten journey that I think may help you deepen your Lenten reflections with Christ. Since today is the second Friday of Lent and this is a time where the Church prays the Stations of the Cross. I felt that this is a very good time to release this article. Timing is most definitely not everything, but if you can read this article before going, I believe it will be of great benefit. 

Today, when we arrive at Church and prepare ourselves to begin to reflect on his Passion, a lot of us I think, if not all of us, focus mostly on the suffering of his body, but I ask you, why would we not also reflect deeply on his soul? St. John Henry Newman in his “Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in his Passion,” offers us a short reflection of his own on the subject of our Lord’s soul for us to meditate on. By the way, this is not to diminish the importance of the body of our Lord, and yes, we must certainly reflect on it as well during Lent, but as Catholics, it is important to remember what it means for God to become man. This does not mean that he just took on a body. To become fully man, he also took on a soul. Today and for the rest of Lent, we should also be reflecting on our Lord’s soul and heart if we want to reflect on the fullness of who he is. 

St. John Henry Newman’s Discourse helped me open myself to this reflection on our Lord, and brought me so much richness to my heart. Now I would like to give you some of his insights. First, and certainly not most importantly, when we look at Christ on his Cross, and see him with his flesh, we need to consider that his flesh is what experienced the pain that comes with being flogged, and being crucified for our sin, but it was his soul which was “the true recipient and seat of suffering” that made him conscious of the pain that he underwent for us. Take a moment to think about that. This is why this reflection is so powerful for us. We should not just contemplate the physical suffering of Christ, but enter into his heart where we will find the source of his pain. We can relate to this. We know the depths of suffering that go on inside our hearts. Now imagine how much he must have suffered. 

Now, before we continue, I will note that becoming fully conscious of his suffering goes beyond our understanding. St. John Henry Newman makes that clear for us, but this does not mean that we should not pursue it. Even if we cannot understand all of it at the end of our prayer, the blessing that God has given us is that it is actually quite easy to at least begin to contemplate it. All we need to do is open the Gospels and listen to our Lord’s own words. For example, when we hear Christ say in Matthew 26:38, "My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death.” Here we read that his suffering begins well before his Cross. His soul was heavy with grief, but what is also important to notice is “that Christ was fully prepared and willing to experience the totality of his pain.” He tells his Apostle in John 18:11, “The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" And when we see him being offered myrrh in Mark 15:23, did he drink it? No, he did not. He did not want to be numbed to his pain. He wanted to fully experience it. His soul was as St. John Henry Newan writes,

“...absolutely in His power, so simply free from the influence of distractions, so fully directed upon the pain, so utterly surrendered, so simply subjected to the suffering. And thus He may truly be said to have suffered the whole of His passion in every moment of it.”

Our Lord did not “turn away his mind” from his suffering. His soul was fully willing and therefore he offered up on his Cross: 

“His whole advertence, His whole consciousness, a mind awake, a sense acute, a living cooperation, a present, absolute intention, not a virtual permission, not a heartless submission…”

After taking a few moments with just a few of St. John Henry Newman’s words, we begin to realize the extreme torment that our Lord went through. Never was there a moment of relief. He felt it all. With all his energy, he took on the pain of our sin, and the sin of the world, but never was he as the Saint said, “thrown off its heavenly and most perfect balance.” His mission was never hidden from him. He knew why he came. He knew why he was on that Cross. He took on the load of all of our sin so that we may be saved. If this does not bring us to tears, then we ourselves are not fully awake to what this really means. Again, even if we cannot even begin to imagine what it must have felt like for him. The weight, terror, and pain that his most innocent soul must have felt, and he did it all for us. This is exactly why this needs to be part of our daily reflection during Lent.

To help guide my readers in this reflection. For just a moment, and only on the surface, we can contemplate how horrific his soul must have suffered when we ourselves can recollect all the news that we have been receiving recently about sex trafficking children, child sacrifice, and eating of human flesh just to name a few horrid acts that humanity commits. How does that make us feel? Now think about how our Lord must feel. Do you see him angry or sad? Is he enraged or completely heartbroken? Do you see him on the Cross, loving those who have sinned against him or do you see our Lord looking down on the world, and desiring pain and suffering for those who put him on his Cross. 

This reflection is not easy, and I will tell you why. As much as we want to be like our Lord, our minds barely can handle receiving such horrific acts of rape, and infantcide. It is so horrible that some of us may not even want to believe it possible for someone to commit such an act. Most of us, if not all of us, do not want to even think about it. Like any human soul, it does not want to undergo torment. We turn from it. We do not want to suffer because it is too hard to face, but this is where we can look to our Lord and remember that he freely faced it, felt it, and endured the horrors of sin, allowing the tormenting of his heart until his death. This is where we can find our strength. There in the heart of our Lord which beats for us is the grace we need to find the ability to begin to understand how our Lord truly suffered, so that we can suffer like him. With love and forgiveness. 

For Lent this year, as we look and pray over the suffering of our Lord's body, we should not forget the torturing of his soul. Even though no one can fathom what his soul endured, this does not mean we should not meditate on it. Taking the time to read St. John Henry Newman’s full discourse on this subject is a great place to start. From beginning to end, the entirety of the piece can be read in 15 minutes. He makes such a challenging reflection into something accessible for all. His use of the Sacred Scripture gives us places to go and read and meditate on as we reflect during this Lent. This season is a Lent of silence. So let us go within ourselves, in the silent places of our hearts, to be with our Lord in his suffering that he endured with both his body and soul.

I hope that this article has helped and for more insight and my thoughts, please give a follow on my Instagram Account:

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