Jesus, most powerful, have mercy on us.
Since Jesus is fully God, He is indeed most powerful. He is omnipotent. Yet our Lord’s infinite power is always directed toward our good. He loves us; He made us; and He knows exactly what we need to flourish as human beings and as children of God. Our Lord’s power, then, works in perfect union with His perfect love.
Jesus, most patient, have mercy on us.
In his second letter, Peter tells us that we must “consider the patience of our Lord as salvation” (3:15, NAB). Jesus is perfectly patient with us. He gives us chance after chance, grace after grace. Why? Because He died for us and wants us to live with Him forever in Heaven. Paul adds that “God our Savior...desires all men to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:3, RSV-CE). We never have to worry about Jesus giving up on us; we just have to remain faithful to Him.
Jesus, most obedient, have mercy on us.
It may seem kind of strange to us that Jesus, fully God as well as fully Man, would be obedient. Yet He obeyed, accepted, and even embraced His Father’s will all the way to death on the Cross. Jesus’ obedience was not servile. He was not a slave to His Father. His obedience arose from the total, perfect self-giving love that flows between the Father and the Son. That love is the Holy Spirit. There is no opposition in the Family that is the Blessed Trinity.
This shows us something important about where our own obedience should flow from. We, too, are called to obey out of love. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us after all, so He knows what is best for us. He know what should be our highest goal (eternal life with Him!) and how we can best get there. So why would we not hear and obey, imitating Jesus, Who gave Himself completely to His Father?
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