• Definition: The execution of Our Lord on a cross, a symbol of the unique sacrifice of Christ as the sole mediator between God and man.

• Golgotha (Calvary) - The place of the skull.

• Christ's forgiveness of His executors is an example of His goodness or magnanimity.

• He ascribes the best possible motive to their evil - they don't know what they are doing.

• Jesus was nailed to the wood through the hands and feet.

• Arms outstretched - symbol of Christ's embrace of all of humanity.

• Crucifixion kills through slow asphyxiation...must lift up with your legs every time you take a breath.

• St. Dismas - The Good Thief

• "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And He said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Lk 23: 42-43)

• Jesus' words here reveal that the Gates of Heaven were about to be opened.

• Kenosis - Greek for "emptying."

• (Definition) - Reference to Christ having emptied Himself by becoming man and taking on human nature.

• Death - Separation of the soul from the body.

• The soul continues its existence outside the body, because it is immortal.

• After His Death, Jesus descended to the dead

• "The dead" - the state of all who had died before the redemption.

• Hell (Sheol) - The abode of the dead.

• Access to everlasting life in Heaven was barred, even for the righteous.

• Christ opens the doors of Heaven through His Death and Resurrection.

• Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell:

• Those that have been judged worthy may enter into Heaven.

• Those who need to be purified before entering Heaven go to Purgatory.

• Purgatory (definition) - A state of final purification after death and before entrance into Heaven for those who died in God’s friendship, but were only imperfectly purified.

• Those who die unrepentant of mortal sin go to Hell.

• Hell (definition) - The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse to repent from mortal sins.