Friends took us to watch a film about Jesus’ crucifixion. We watched the lead-up to this – a depiction of the beating leaving him utterly distressed, the humiliations, the crown of thorns pushed onto his head. Then the pain, in that pitiful state, of the carrying of the cross. As we left a silent and shocked cinema, I felt that I wanted to weep.

As I think back to that, with my knowledge of Scripture, Jesus suffered that fateful day willingly because he loved me. He loved every other person in that cinema. He loves us in this Church. It was a price that he was willing to pay because of his great love for us human beings. He showed us what loving His enemies meant.