We might, therefore, have expected his first words to be for her, asking the Father that she might be consoled and strengthened to bear up under her sufferings.  Since she must have been his chief earthly care at that moment, would it not have been natural for him to give her priority in his prayers?

And yet, his first cry from the Cross was not for her at all, but for those who stood around him and had taken part in the plot against him.  You see, his Mother was assured of eternal salvation, they were not.  Therefore he prayed first for those whom he had come to save and whose souls were now in the greatest danger even though they themselves were unaware of it.

This, more than any of his sayings reveals his Divine realism.  He felt for the sufferings of others more sharply and deeply than any mere man ever could, but his infinite capacity for compassion did not make him sentimental.  He knew that, however heart-rending human suffering may be, human wickedness is a matter of far graver concern.