Experience Seven Last Words: An Invitation To A Deeper Friendship With Jesus Documented By James Martin Exhibited In Leaflet

forma didáctica, inteligente y muy cercana de ayudarnos a comprender las palabras que Jesús pronunció en la Cruz, y la forma en que podemos interiorizarlas en nuestro ser.
No quita a pesar de su intención, sin embargo, que algunas afirmaciones pueden incluso ser no se si polémicas, pero sí algo desconcertantes, pues propone interpretaciones algo distintas a las comúnmente aceptadas.
No obstante, merece la pena considerarlas pues nos acerca al misterio de Jesús Dios y hombre, y a pensar en Él siempre junto nosotros, This is a lovely read, exploring a side of Christ that should be encouraging to anyone of faith, Although it is sprinkled lightly with Catholic doctrine that is not consistent with my beliefs I don't pray to the Virgin Mary it is no less valuable as a whole due to its exegesis of Christ's words on the cross.
Every time I read James Martin, SJ, I learn and grow, He either confirms what I know or brings up something that makes me see from another angle, I appreciate his stories, his insight and his knowledge, James Martin, SJ, is not afraid to make his writings fun and joyful even while discussing topics of importance, He also shares some great stories in his writings, This book was no exception, Read in one sitting, I want to go back to it time and again, as I do with his other books, Profunda y muy aplicable reflexión del mensaje final de Cristo en la cruz, I was rather disappointed by this one, I ordinarily enjoy Martin's work, but this seemed very thin, I've read at least one book on Jesus' seven last words before the Fulton J, Sheen one, which also included sentences from Mary, It's a book of meditation on the lastsayings of Jesus from the cross and what they show of what he felt for us, and why they are helpful for in turning to him in our troubles.
The tradition of mediating and preaching on the sentences has been going on since theth century, The book is based on the author's homilies at New York's St, Patrick's Cathedral on Good Friday,

The sentences are:
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing, "
"Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise, " said to the good thief
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" quoting a psalm starting with this
"Woman, here is your son.
. . Here is your mother. " said to Mary, and John the Apostle
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit, "
"I am thirsty. " No wonder: I don't think he had got much to drink since the Last Supper
"It is finished, "
three from Luke, three from John, one that is shared by Mark and Matthew, One has to remember that each gospel's had some personal source, as well as common ones, when their books were put together so the sentences being sometimes only in one can be explained.


I found some new ideas from this author, on the sentences, Like: Jesus might have wondered if the disciples would have it in them to continue on the mission He had given them this might be because his humanity wouldn't give Him a full sight into this, before death.
The author also believes that because of human side of Jesus, His realisation of his divinity and purpose only gradually came to Him I think it might've made it easier on Him, in waiting to start his preaching career, and made Him sympathise with the humanity better, both before and after His death.
. I might not agree with this completely, but it's not an impossible idea,

I think this book would work well with a 'week's daily read' use, and it's kind of a companion to his other book, "Jesus: A Pilgrimage", which I plan to read soonish.
The book certainly gives one something to think about, maybe search for some paintings of His Passion, which I like, A good little read, this one, This book is plagued with errors and misconceptions,

. Right off the bat Fr, Martin attests to Marcan Priority and the “Q Theory” which was an automatic red flag to me as I read the introduction, That teaching is completely absurd, with many holes and little evidence to back it up, Consequently, he dates the origins of the Gospels completely backwards and sets up an interpretation of the Seven Last Words of Christ on a false foundation,

. A couple pages later Discussing the LITURGIES of the Seven Last Words on Good Friday, Fr, Martin writes, “Most churches choose seven different speakers, each of whom reflects on one of the sayings, In the Jesuit church in New York where I often celebrate Mass, the pastor usually invites Episcopal priests both men and women, Baptist pastors, Lutheran clergy, members of Catholic religious orders, and laypeople from various walks of life for a wide variety of perspectives on Good Friday.
” Here is why that is a problem, First of all, that “Q Theory” I mentioned above Yeah, thats a Protestant idea, We need to be careful when listening to Protestants preach because they have a lot of whacky ideas which usually originate from German Lutherans in theth andth centuries like the “Q Theory.
” The second problem is that Fr, Martin is saying that nonCatholic ministers who are improperly ordainedare preaching on words from the Gospel in the context of the Liturgy on Good Friday, If you see a female Episcopalian minister walk up to the ambo on Good Friday and start preaching on the last words of Jesus from the Gospels, you should be wholly alarmed and shocked.
Only Catholic deacons, priests, and bishops are to preach on the Gospels in a Catholic church,

. Fr. Martin attempts to make strange guesses about Jesus interior thoughts and emotions, He explains that the Good Thief calls Jesus by his first name rather than “Teacher” or “Rabbi,” which is what other men typically call him, Then Fr. Martin writes, “Maybe Jesus hadnt heard the name very much lately, Maybe he missed being called by the name his parents used, ” So thats why Jesus was so gentle with the Good Thief Because he missed being called “Jesus” Uhm, Anyway, an overall good rule of thumb is to not extrapolate on Jesus inner ruminations, because youre probably wrong,

. On writing about the Wedding at Cana, Fr, Martin writes, “She informs Jesus that the partys hosts have run out of wine, Woman, he says to her, what concern is that to you and to me Addressing your mother as woman was as sharp a comment in those days as it would be today.
” Not true. In the original Greek in this passage the term “woman” is in the vocative case, When the noun “woman” is used in this way, it is always meant as a term of respect, or even endearment, It would be like calling her “maam, ” So really this is a slight translation problem, Fr. Martin, as a priest, should really know something this basic, It appears that while being very educated in the Protestant “Q Theory,” he doesnt know very much about the Biblical languages, Also, we must always assume that Christs words are righteous disrespecting his mother would be far from righteous,

. Again, when writing about the Wedding at Cana and also Marys encounter with Jesus in Capernaum, Fr, Martin writes, “Its likely that Mary went through her own journey of understanding Jesus, She moves from confusion about his ministry which prompts her to come to Capernaum, to encouraging him to begin his miracle working in Cana, Indeed she seems to grasp Jesuss vocation before he does perhaps because shes had more time to think about it, ” So, I almost dont have any words for this one, except “wow, ” I think Fr. Martin has a fundamentally skewed understanding of Mary and Jesus knowledge, Mary understood from the Annunciation exactly who Jesus is that He is the Messiah, She was present when Simeon exclaimed that Jesus is the light to the Gentiles and the glory of God, Elizabeth, her cousin, immediately exclaimed her delight at the presence of her Lord in Marys womb, Then, Mary proclaimed the Magnificat, praising God for choosing her to bear the Messiah, She may not have always known exactly HOW He would save mankind or been able to predict His every move, but I wouldnt say that she was by any means “confused” about his identity.
She knew He was God and her will was in perfect union with His will, She lovingly trusted and followed Him, and she knew that whatever He did was an act of God, Also, Jesus definitely knew before she did what He was called to do we see Him already teaching in the synagogue at the age of twelve, Christ had infused knowledge, and through His divine knowledge he had the understanding He needed to perform His ministry and sacrifice,

. When discussing the verse “Woman, here is your son, Here is your mother” Fr, Martin only addresses half of this verse, which is a little irritating, One the one hand, I really loved what he said about the first part “Woman, here is your son”, He says that Jesus was making sure that Mary was provided for after His imminent death, Thats very beautiful and definitely a point that most people probably miss, So I really appreciated that, However, Fr. Martin ignores the opportunity to discuss the second part “Here is your son” and teach about Marys universal motherhood, Perhaps he chose to skip this point because many other spiritual writers have covered it so well but, at the same time, he really is missing the most important part of Jesus fourth Last Word.
Jesus mother becomes Our Mother in that moment, The Theotokos, the Godbearer, suddenly becomes a woman who is called to bear the hearts and prayers of all mankind, She is the new Eve, She is our mother because she leads us to our Savior, the Godman she lovingly guides us to her Son who she held in her womb for nine months and in her arms for thirtythree years.


. Fr. Martin explains that proof of Jesus true feelings of abandonment are evidence by His shift in how He addresses God the Father, In the Garden, Jesus called the Father “Abba,” while on the cross Jesus called the Father “Eloi, ” In other words, he uses an intimate address in the Garden and then a formal address on the cross, I think this is a stretch, Jesus intention was clearly to connect his death with Psalm, which ends with hope, Jesus intention wasnt to show that He lost hope in His Fathers love, but actually that He still trusted His Father, The message of Psalmis trust in God even in the midst of suffering and loneliness, Take note, Im not saying Jesus didnt suffer, He obviously suffered in both body and soul, My problem is that Fr, Martins “evidence” for this is shaky,

. Fr. Martin writes, “Jesus may even have fallen in love with a girl in Nazareth, ” What hes trying to say here is that Jesus had manly experiences, He ate, he drank, he slept, Good. Yes. Jesus is a human and therefore had similar human experiences to us while he was on earth, But do we really need to speculate about His love life I dont think that helps, and it can lead to many misconceptions about Jesus humanity, All we need to know is that he lived a celibate life, Again, Fr. Martin writes, “Jesus pulled muscles, got headaches, felt sick to his stomach, came down with the flu, . . ” There is no evidence of any of this, In fact, did the flu even exist in Palestine at this time There is a reason why St, Thomas Aquinas remains vague on this question, Aquinas affirms that Christ suffered human infirmities and defects fear, bodily suffering, death, But, Aquinas never extrapolates and says that Jesus suffered the flu or got headaches, The fact is, Jesus is human not because he suffered every possible infirmity, but because he could have, In other words, Jesus lived his whole earthly life never suffering from Covid, but that doesnt make him less human, The fact that he has a body which could have contracted Covidis the real focus, To try and pinpoint exactly which illnesses Christ experienced is ridiculous, Then Fr. Martin writes, “Everything proper to the human being, to the human body, he experienced except sin, ” Therefore, Jesus threw up, scratched, and sneezed! He experienced every possible defect! I mean, . . no. Go read some more Aquinas,

. Fr. Martin rarely connects the Seven Last Words of Jesus to the Old Testament, The Old Testament must be read in light of the New Testament, and vice versa, For example, he missed a great opportunity to connect the “I thirst” verse with the hyssop used in Exodus, and the thirst and vinegar mentioned in Psalmand Psalm.
Im aware that Fr. Martins intentions arent necessarily to write a comprehensive treatise on the Seven Last Words, But at the same time, to truly understand what Jesus was actually saying we must turn to the Old Testament,

. Connected to point three, Fr, Martin speculates whether Jesus was worried about how his “project” would last after his death, “Did Jesus know what was going to happen after the crucifixion, . . whether his followers would continue to do what he charged them to do, In other words, whether part of what you might call his project would survive, ” Uhm, yeah. How about “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, ” Continuing, Fr. Martin writes, “That is a kind of suffering too, the suffering of seeing something seemingly come to an end, The suffering of knowing that something may be over, Perhaps this is another way to think about the words, It is finished, Accepting the possibility that his project might not endure must have been difficult, ” No!!!! This is so off base!!!! Have you read what Christ said to Peter “You are Peter and in this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
” Or the promise he made to the Apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete to aid them after he left How could he say these things if he didnt know his “project,” as you call it, would survive

.
Fr. Martin writes, “As a fully divine person, Jesus would have known all things, with the consciousness of God the Father, Therefore, he

would have fully anticipated the Resurrection, But as a fully human person he would have known only what a human being could know, . . By that logic, he could not have known what would happen to him after the Crucifixion, ” Fr. Martin fundamentally misunderstands Christological dogma, It is true that Jesus knew everything a human being could know, Aquinas calls this infused knowledge, Infused knowledge is not bound by time, So to say that Jesus knew everything that a man can properly know means that he knew literally everything a man could possibly know, He knew where King Tut was buried, He knew C. He knew Christopher Columbus would discover the West Indies, Jesus learned over time just like any man, so he didnt know these things as an infant, But by the time he was in his thirties his brain had developed fully, and he knew anything a thirtythree year old man could know, He knew anything a man could know, Therefore, he knew he would rise three days after his crucifixion,

. Fr. Martin writes, “Perhaps Jesus fully knew only on Easter Sunday who he was, As one theologian has written, on Easter Sunday perhaps Jesuss identity burst upon him in all clarity, ” No. Jesus already had the Beatific vision during His earthly life and infused knowledge, He knew while he was on earth,

. Fr. Martin writes, “For me, Jesuss sacrifice on Good Friday is even more powerful if he did not fully know what awaited him, ” Well theres your problem Fr,

There are a few moments while I read this book where I was pleasantly surprised with what he wrote, But, despite those few moments, I really think most of what he wrote is plagued with error and poor teaching, In many places the book felt trite rather than deeply spiritually connected to the Catholic tradition, For only being aboutpages and only taking around/hours to read, there sure is a lot of nonsense in it, .