Isaiah 54:9-10, Isaiah 52:13----53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1---19:42, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-17, 25

VIA CRUCIS - THE WAY OF THE CROSS 

Daily Meditation:  Isaiah 54:9-10

Isaiah 54:9-10

9 This is for me like Noah’s waters, when I swore that they would no more flood the earth; so now I swear not to be angry with you and never again to rebuke you. 10 The mountains may depart and the hills be moved, but never will my love depart from you nor my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh whose compassion is for you.

My Beloved, during this entire season of Lent culminating in the Paschal Triduum, we see Your boundless love for Your creatures pour itself out for sinful men.  In these beautiful verses that the prophet Isaiah has written, he speaks of this Covenant of Love that You will forge between God and man and ratify with Your Blood and Your Life.  It is a Covenant that will never be destroyed and because of it, all men will find hope.  No matter to what depths of sin we may have fallen, this love will seek, find and rescue the sinner and restore the soul to its pristine beauty, when it is washed in Your Blood in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Thank You Beloved.

M--- mine, if you belong to Me then love Me with all the ardor that you are capable of all through the hours of the day, and let the proof of this love show itself in your love for your neighbor. 

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Daily Mass Readings:   Isaiah 52:13----53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1---19:42, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-17, 25

Isaiah 52:13----53:12

Let those who have eyes see and those who have ears hear and seeing and hearing believe in the Good News of what Love has accomplished in order to save us.

The Father sent His Son to the very depths of hell to suffer as no man has ever suffered before.  He suffered both physical, mental and spiritual suffering in order to make reparation for every evil ever conceived and acted upon since the creation of man.

Every verse in today's reading rings out in prophesy of all that the Suffering Servant must undergo in frightening detail. How is it then that all are not converted and fall on their knees in worship,thanksgiving and adoration? We have not been faithful witnesses.  If, like the early Church, we lived like the early Christians, the world would look at us too and say, "See how they love one another."  And many more would have come to know You.

We thank the and wisdom of the Church for giving us this season of Lent each year when  we re-visit and contemplate in love and gratitude all You have done to redeem us.

Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9

My Beloved, how beautifully the Apostle Paul sums up what You have done for us in these verses.  Because You became one like us, You understand our human weaknesses and frailties and You can help us overcome them through the merits You won for us.  We need never doubt that we can approach You with confidence always and expect You to hear, understand, forgive, restore and love us back into the fold.


Verses 9-10 speak eloquently of how You understand our human frailties and plead for us to the Father.  You made perfect atonement for our wickedness, we in turn in imitation of You must always be humble and obedient.  As sinners who have been saved, we must live our lives in loving submission to both God and neighbor, just as You did.  It is in our witness that You become the Light of the world.

 

John 18:1---19:42

Beloved, in the Gospel narrative of Your passion, Judas' name will always be synonymous  with betrayal and despair.   Mother Mary and the two other Mary's along with John with faithfulness, Peter with denial and repentant sorrow, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus with kindness.  They proved to be more brave than the Apostles all of whom fled.  Peter's bravado melted into cowardice denying he ever knew You three times before the cock crowed as You had predicted and he realized to his shame and horror what he had done.  The Pharisees will be forever associated with hypocrisy and jealousy.  They had no qualms of conscience in sacrificing innocent blood in order to keep their temporal positions of power and human respect.


Through the whole narrative, You stand bright as a beacon of light in all that You suffered for our salvation, right to the bitter end, fulfilling to perfection the Father's plan.  Pilate tried feebly to save You but in the end was afraid that he would lose his position with Caesar.  He condemned a Man he knew was innocent, to die the death of a slave, a Man who was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, the price for slave.

The Gospel speaks in stark sentences what You suffered. It is only through the writings of those who have studied in-depth the culture of the time and what each torture involved, does a clear picture emerge as seen visually in the movie 'The Passion' and even that is just a movie and cannot capture the mental and spiritual agony which was even greater than the physical torment.

Until You gave up Your Spirit to the Father, You did not lose consciousness but were aware of all that was needed to be done.  You cried out Your thirst for souls, You gave Your Mother to us for our own, You forgave the thief on the right and promised him paradise - a promise of hope to all repentant sinners.  Then You forgave everyone who had a hand in Your death assuring Your Father that they did not know that they were committing Deicide. Finally You said, "It is accomplished."  All was done perfectly in accordance with the Father's plan.


Your bones were not broken as prophesied in Scripture, but Your side was opened like the side of Adam and Your Bride the Church was formed from that open side.  The Blood and Water are both a source of perennial grace that flow from the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist.  The Sacraments of regeneration and new life.

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-blood-and-water-from-side-of-christ.html


Thank You Beloved for Your obedience and humility and grant me the grace to follow God's plan for me in imitation of You faithfully until the end.

Luke 6:19, Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15, Psalm 116:12-18

Daily Inspiration:  Luke 6:19

Luke 6:19

The entire crowd tried to touch Him because of the power that went out from Him and He healed them all.

My Beloved, I can see the crowd, waves upon waves of them.  The verses prior to this say that the people had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.  It would have been like a rock concert.  All of them wanted to touch You because of the power that emanated from You.  The power of the Most High God and we are told that ALL WHO TOUCHED YOU WERE HEALED.  

Contrast this with the tinsel heroes of the world today.  Yes, they too gather huge crowds all of whom are hungry to look up to someone and to receive acceptance.  Their lives are empty, they are lonely and they long to touch and be touched in love.  Lives are wounded, sick and broken in every imaginable way and for a brief spell the crowds are taken up in the frenzy of a momentary togetherness and acceptance.

What is even more tragic is that the people they emulate are as sick, broken, unhappy and empty as they themselves are.  All the baubles in the world don't feed the hunger, nor does it satisfy or replace what our hearts are hungry for which is You and You alone.  All that the world"s present day tinsel heroes offer is a false gospel that preaches a certain way of dress and the acquiring of certain things or being part of a particular group or following the current lifestyle in order to be happy and fulfilled.  The broken lives of these tinsel stars are a testimony of this big lie.  Most of them end up in re-hab centres, they have multiple marriages or partners, and very few of them are genuinely satisfied and filled with the everlasting peace and joy that only comes from You despite our circumstances.

In the Adoration Chapel where You are present Beloved, many like me come to visit You daily.  We know that You are there truly present - heart, mind, soul, body and divinity.  Truly God and truly Man.  We come to worship, adore and offer You our praise and thanksgiving, to confide in You our troubles, to reveal our heartaches, and to tell You of our joys.  We intercede for those we love, family, friends, the world.  We know You are there and we communicate in silence.  We know you love us to visit You and You bless us and answer all our prayers - much like all those who touched You and were healed in every way that healing was needed.

I see them approach and touch the glass behind which You are present in the round, white Host.  They want to get as close as possible to You.  The glass stands between You and they.  I just send You fervent flying kisses as I leave.  I know that I will receive and touch You more intimately in the Eucharist.  We will become one heart, one flesh and for the duration when You remain one with me, You touch me and I am healed.  

Possessing You Beloved and being possessed by You in this marvelous way is exactly as the Father had planned in eternity.  It is a way of being in heaven while we are still on earth.  Thank You Father, thank You my Beloved for doing exactly as the Father wished You to do and which You did do in perfect love for Him and for us.  Thank You Holy Spirit for it is You, the bond of love between Father and Son that makes this miracle possible.

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Daily Mass Readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15, Psalm 116:12-18

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14

Here, in the beginning of salvation history is a foreshadowing  of the Eucharist.  It is what God intended from all eternity.   Verse 5 says, "5 You will select a perfect lamb without blemish, a male born."  Every word of this verse is significant for it speaks of You.  Every consecrated priest represents You Beloved, the male Lamb, sinless and without blemish the perfect Lamb of God. Ordaining female priests and bishops is a perversion of what You have ordained.  Verse 8 tells us, 8 That night you will eat the flesh roasted at the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  We receive Your Body that was burned in the holocaust of bitter suffering and offered as a perfect sacrifice and now the unleavened bread, at each Eucharist we celebrate becomes Your Body.  Verse 13 13 The blood on your houses will be the sign that you are there. I will see the blood and pass over you; and you will escape the mortal plague when I strike Egypt.   Your Body seals us in the Covenant of Love with the Triune God and we are marked for eternity with You. Verse 14   14 This is a day you are to remember and celebrate in honor of Yahweh. It is to be kept as a festival day for all gene­rations forever.  This is an echo of what You said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." We will do it through the ages to come until You come again in glory.  Maranatha!!!!

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 

Beloved, once again St Paul reiterates the Tradition You passed on to us through Your Apostles.  More illuminating are the verses that follow today's Epistle - verses 27-33.  How can all the various denominations be deceived into disbelief in Your True Presence behind what looks, feels and tastes like bread, Beloved?  Satan is alive and well and until the veil of deception is ripped from top to bottom and they begin to believe that what You said and did is literally true, these brothers and sisters will continue to remain our separated brethren - separated from You and us.  Denying this truth, they lack the fullness of Truth.

John 13:1-15

Here it is Beloved, You know that Your hour has finally come. verse 1 speaks so beautifully and eloquently,

• 1 It was before the feast of the Passover. Jesus realized that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, and as he had loved those who were his own in the world, he would love them with perfect love.

Verse 3 

3 Je­sus knew that the Father had entrusted all things to him, and as he had come from God, he was go­ing to God.  Beloved, You were perfectly aware of all that Your Father had entrusted You to do.

Verse 4-5

4 So he got up from table, removed his garment and taking a towel, wrapped it around his waist.

. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing.

  

To all those in the world who worship false gods in the shape of their tinsel heroes, here is what a real hero and a true Master does.   The Son of God wears an apron, gets down on His knees and washes our feet.  The Master, out of love becomes our Servant in love in order to teach us the way back to the Father which is through perfect humility and perfect obedience.

Peter knows You are God and so he said, " Why Lord, You want to wash my feet!!!"  Once Peter understood why it had to be so, he gladly submitted and spoke in his usual impetuous way, "9 Then Simon Peter said, “Lord, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”  But You responded that all of them (except one) were already clean and did not need to be washed all over.

Once again Judas had a chance to repent, when he head You speak and refer to him as being unclean.  Beloved, may all who call ourselves Catholic and Christian never forget Your words in verses 13-15 beginning with the hierarchy to the smallest member of Your Body, that we are called to be servants, first of God and then to each other.  Convict us Beloved if we expect everyone else to wash our feet while we look down our Pharisaical and hypocritical noses on every one else.

Psalm 116:12-13, 16-17

12 How can I repay the Lord

for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord.

16 O Lord, I am your servant,

truly your servant, your handmaid’s son.

You have freed me from my bonds.

At every Eucharist, I shall offer grateful praise and thanks for Your goodness to me for setting me loose from the bondage and slavery of sin.  Praise You Lord!!!