Scripture - Matthew 27:45-46

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Meditation - Cardinal Robert Sarah

“For three days, the victory of darkness over light plunged the earth into a thick silence and a terrible anguish. The Messiah had died, and the silence of his death seemed to have had the last word. God himself seemed silent. His Son felt alone, abandoned to the torments of the Cross. This was the most terrible moment of his earthly life. He was on the verge of death. Jesus had lost his strength and his blood. When he was nothing more than an exhausted, dying man, he uttered a great cry. He was leaving this world, and his Father had not shown the slightest word of comfort. Certainly the Virgin Mary, his mother, and Saint John were at the foot of the Cross. But this sweet presence did not prevent him from shouting with all the strength that he had left: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). Jesus suffered from the apparent absence of God, but the confidence that he had always had in his Father did not fade.”