Last days of Christ

CLIFTON  Three of the four Gospel writers — Matthew, Mark and Luke — report that Jesus does something almost physically impossible before he dies on the Cross: utters a loud cry. Meanwhile, John says that, in great pain, Christ cries out the words, “It is finished” — a remarkable feat, because those who were crucified usually died completely spent and unable to utter anything at the moment of death.

In his new book, Bishop Serratelli writes that Christ’s dying words indicate something even more profound: that he brings God’s work to completion and “ushers in the kingdom of God.” That’s one of the many insights about the Passion of Christ in Scripture that the Bishop offers in his 123-page “Jesus’ Last Days,” published on Jan. 22. In it, the former Sacred Scripture professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, gives a series of biblical meditations on the Gospel writers’ accounts of the events of the Passion. He not only captures the agony of Jesus and the drama of those moments that capture our imagination, but also emphasizes that the Cross “remains the instrument of our salvation.” The book also aims to help readers see more clearly their own call to discipleship.

“Returning to the Father, Jesus cries out in a loud voice. It is the shout of triumph. It is the cry of the Conqueror claiming victory. The battle is over. The strife is won. Sin is defeated,” Bishop Serratelli writes in the chapter, “The Kingdom Come.” “His [Christ’s] obedience to the Father establishes the absolute sovereignty of God over all creation. Through Christ and in him, we enter the kingdom and we are saved. Purpled in his own blood and crowned with thorns, Christ reigns from the Cross. The kingdom of God has come in power and Christ is King of all time and all peoples,” the Bishop writes.

The small, soft-cover “Jesus’ Last Days” marks Bishop Serratelli’s third book published with Catholic Book Publishing Corp. in Totowa — all within the last year. He also wrote “From the Cross to the Empty Tomb” and “The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.” The Bishop waited until his latest book to dedicate it to his mother, Eva, who died in 2014.

“My mother was after me to write a book. I’ve been working on this book for 10 or 15 years,” Bishop Serratelli told The Beacon last week. “With this book, I wanted to make the events of the Passion in Scripture understandable in their historical context and help readers apply them to their own lives, so that they can become strong in following Christ,” he said.

Beautifully detailed classic paintings before each chapter — along with a related Scripture quote — help draw readers into the events — and the spiritual meaning — of each scene in the Passion. The last few pages of “Jesus’ Last Days” present prayers and images, so readers can pray the Scriptural Way of the Cross, “a devotion…in which we accompany, in spirit, our Blessed Lord in his sorrowful journey from the house of Pilate to Calvary,” Bishop Serratelli writes.

Each of the four Gospel writers tailored their accounts of Jesus’ Passion to different communities and at different times, under varied circumstances and with different purposes. Yet, their accounts of the Passion bear striking similarities, such as that they all give a great deal of attention to the Passion. These stories were handed down in a “firmly established narrative,” which “would explain why the evangelists are more in agreement with each other in the Passion accounts than in other parts of the Gospel,” Bishop Serratelli writes in the book’s introduction.

“Despite the all too human instinct to blot out pain, Christians have remembered the Passion of Jesus,” Bishop Serratelli writes. “The Cross speaks to the believer…In our own life, we are called to walk with Jesus in joy and in suffering. His Cross continues to enable us in every event of our life to discover God. And as Paul says, it is the source of our salvation,” he writes.

In 19 chapters, Bishop Serratelli offers meditations on the events of the Passion, including Christ’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the loneliness of the Cross, Mary at the Cross and the kingdom to come. In the chapter, “The Final Test,” he writes about Jesus’ struggle in the garden to accept the last details of the Lord’s plan for redemption. Mark describes him as feeling “troubled and distressed,” the Bishop writes.

“Mark would not have us miss the intense pain Jesus experiences in Gethsemane…Jesus, who saves us, is totally human…He lived as we do, in questioning and anguish. It is very likely that the Agony in the Garden cost Jesus far more than the physical suffering of the Crucifixion,” writes Bishop Serratelli, who also noted that, in Mark, Jesus refers to his suffering in the garden with the symbol of a cup. “The cup contains the blood of Jesus poured out in His death on the Cross…Like James and John and all the Apostles in the Upper Room, every follower of Jesus comes to share in the salvific effects of his Cross by receiving the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist and by living out these sacraments in life,” he writes.

In his conclusion, Bishop Serratelli writes, “Suffering is part of the fabric of this creation” and, with that, the “Passion narrative exposes the word in all its brutal pain.”

“Through suffering, which God allows to enter our lives, he is leading us, his sons and daughters, to glory…When we emerge from the waters of Baptism as sons and daughters of God, we face the world’s opposition to the Christian way of life…At times, we may stumble in the darkness, groping for the light. We do not reach the truth or come to perfect love in one step,” Bishop Serratelli writes. “Each evangelist realized this. Each took the traditions of the believing community and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, retold them in his own way. Their example invites us to do the same. Moved by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, we are called to retell the Passion of Jesus with our lives. For in so doing, we experience the richness of God’s love and we ourselves become evangelists, ‘bearers of the good news.’ To a waiting world, we are witnesses to the saving power of the Cross,” he writes.

Having reviewed Bishop Serratelli’s three books for theological errors, Father Kevin Corcoran, the Bishop’s priest-secretary, praised the Bishop for his down-to-Earth writing style.

“Bishop Serratelli wanted to give people in the pews very hands-on books to help them grow in faith and put them in contact with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus to make them more accessible,” Father Corcoran said.

The retail price of “Jesus’ Last Days” is $6.95. Catholic Book Publishing Corp. is offering a 40-percent discount for orders up to 24 copies and a 50-percent discount for orders of 25 copies or more. Use promo code Bishop3.