March 2012 Archives

The Passion

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In praying the psalm that begins with "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Christ took on the speech of human infirmity. By taking the psalmist's voice to himself, his full humanity was visible, his complete identification with our vulnerable humanity is seen in the experience of being fully forsaken. Fully God, yet Fully human, the affections of his soul were feeling the full weight and terror of forsakenness.

He knew the care and love of the woman who bathed his feet with the expensive ointment.

He knew the weakness of friends, who could not remain awake, persisting in sleep in the face of a neighbor's tragedy.

He knew the conniving of an associate who may have thought that arrest would force Jesus to use his power.

He knew the hatred and violence of a temple and state that would exert full power over the weakest of our society.

Yet Simon, Alexander and Rufus became believers in the face of this. The Centurion makes a profession faith that "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

We know the care of friends, and the closer the friends have been we have seen as well their weakness, and we have had so-called friends that did not stand by us. And we know the power of society and government to wage a war against the truth.

But do we allow the struggles and tragedies of our lives make us doubt or turn away? No, this is when we take up the silence of Jesus who came and traveled this way for us and before us.

And now we see this cross as where our sins our destroyed, and where Jesus has turned this darkness in to light and life, we shall find this light and this life in Him, if we but belong to him and are found in him.

So let us mark this week as Holy. It is the center of our year. Let nothing else be found to be more important, because we are loath to be chasing shadows.

The centurion who came to faith had his life completely changed by this event. May it turn us too, so with him today and everyday for the rest of our lives , in whatver joy or sorrow, we acclaim, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

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...in this devotion we have a compendium of faith itself; that is why, in the consecration of the chalice, we say: "mysterium fidei"; and, consequently therein lies the salvation of souls. In fact, it is to this that the prophetic oracles, the predictions, the symbols, the figures, the sacrifices of the old covenant have their focus. As we read in Genesis: He washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes. (Gen. 49:11). The Hebrews were ordered to taint their doorposts with the blood of the lamb in order to be freed from their chastisements in Egypt, a symbol of the liberation of our souls from diabolical servitude... Without saying too much further, what did Moses do for his people? ) For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." ... Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Heb 9:19-22) Hear, now, what the Apostle says: If the blood of goats and calves sanctify such as are defiled, how much more shall the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse our conscience. (Heb 9:12-14) Without saying everything that could be said, the divine Scriptures are loaded with sacred citations... Why then is thy apparel red. (Isaiah 63:2) And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood. (Rev 19:13) .One should add only that by means of this devotion the remembrance of our baptism, through which our souls were purged, is revived; we are reminded of penance and the other sacraments. And when asked why, we conclude that it was because: Thou hast redeemed us to God, in thy blood, And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests. (Apoc. 5: 9-10) Other devotions are all means for facilitating Catholic piety, but this devotion is the basis, the sustenance, the essence of all.

San Gaspare del Bufalo
July 29, 1825

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I think that I will be a bit more faithful to blogging. It will be more about Jesus and Gaspar than about me, but at least I can control the content and the presentation.

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This page is an archive of entries from March 2012 listed from newest to oldest.

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