For generations, Christians have gathered at the cross of Christ to ponder his last words. We can probe Christ's words in the same way we sometimes decipher the last words of our loved ones, testing their meaning, wondering what he intended to communicate. But we can also turn the exercise around, for in the end we come to the cross not to probe Christ's words but to let them probe us — to let them work on our minds and hearts as we take our next step toward union with God.
— Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Christ's Passion, Our Passions