What the Crucifixion means to me?

One of the most important aspects of my spirituality is the Incarnation. The infinite, loving, merciful God became one of us. In light of that, and my work with the sick and dying, the Crucifixion means quite a lot to me.

Source.

It means that God knows what it means to suffer and die. God knows what my residents and patients go through. He knows what I will eventually go through when my time comes. There is a great comfort in knowing that the Creator of the universe knows what a puny little being like me goes through.

And He loves me. He loved me enough to go through all of that. So, not only does God know what I'm going through from personal experience, but He cared enough about me to do it and now He walks with me through it.

A crucifix from a church in Minnesota (I think?). A classmate said that this crucifix was really scary looking. 

Jesus' experience on the cross wasn't your ordinary death either. It was one of the worst deaths you could imagine. He was abandoned by those he cared about. Regardless of what you see in the paintings, in reality, Jesus was likely naked. He probably died from asphyxiation long before the blood loss did him in. The Romans were experts in horrible, humiliating executions. So, whatever we go through, we can be assured that Jesus went through just as bad or worse.

Any discussion of the crucifixion is incomplete without the resurrection. But that's for tomorrow's entry. I hope the rest of your Triduum is fruitful. God bless.