DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR MARCH 2008.

+A Meditation for Holy Week and Easter+

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” Our Lord was in great physical agony and in great mental agony: in that desolation of body and soul when we should have expected His Father to come to His help. He generally comes to the aid of His saints in such circumstances. Our Lord does not call Him “Father” but “My God”, as if God no longer loved or cared for Him – a mystery, but no less true. Solitude or abandonment: with some souls this trial recurs as an awful wilderness.  “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Our Lord kept repeating these words – for his executioners, the jewish priests and others who had compassed His death. What wonderful love, pleading for them. “For they know not what they do.”  They did not know that He was God but it was their own fault. The prevailing sentiment with God is one of extraordinary indulgence. In spite of all our sins, Our Lord truly loves us. Throughout all we do, there is that element of ignorance and weakness which enables Him to look pitifully on us and love us. How many of us say: “He can’t love me; he can’t forget all my sins!” Yet He makes such wonderful allowance for us – more than perhaps we make for ourselves. Even we, wretches though we be, if someone behaves very badly toward us, we forgive entirely, It passes out not of our memory but of our hearts. We shall never be on proper terms with God till we believe in His real love for us. He, knowing how difficult it is for us to be consistent and good, forgives us absolutely.
Meanwhile He suffers and dies. But He is the Resurrection and the Life. The two disciples are on the road to Emmaus where Christ meets them and encourages them to open their hearts to Him. It is near sundown yet the Lord makes as if He must push on. A device on Our Lord’s part! Yet why did He pretend? In the language of love are so many little devices! They constrained Him: “You must stay and dine with us.” As soon as He communicates them at supper, they know Him. Their hearts had burned within them – with love. See, if you want to please Our Lord, how much He likes us to speak of Him, to love Him and want to do your best for Him. He doesn’t mind our stupid mistakes and our involuntary faults. Be sure He will make our hearts burn within us.

(Father Daniel Considine, S.J.  From a meditation given at Farm Street Church, Mayfair,London)

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Bishop Anthony writes: We walk with Jesus in His Passion; we stand with Him beneath the Cross; we rejoice with Him in His Resurrection; and because we believe in Him and know with all our souls that He died and rose to unite us forever with Himself in Heaven, we prepare throughout our earthly life for that final, unending bliss! Not as the world lives do we live! At least, that is how it should be! Because He forgave his executioners, His own people far more than the ignorant soldiers who were merely doing their duty, we too must forgive others from our heart if we call ourselves His own! Christ is Risen: He is Risen indeed!   A +Blessing I wish you all at this most Holy Season.

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Let us pray: Jesus, Son of the living God, Who became man and made the supreme Sacrifice of Thyself in order to reveal the mystery of the Father’s love and His plan of mercy and salvation: we adore Thee because Thou hast redeemed us. Jesus, Who didst send Thine apostles to gather in the harvest from all the fields of the world and didst promise on the Cross to draw all men to Thyself, we thank Thee for all who taught us Thy Truth and so made us sharers in Thy grace.

Amen

(Blessed Pope John XXIII) +

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And a Passing Thought

Prayer is not just talking to God, not even simply listening to God. It is living with God. It is in prayer that we see things through God’s eyes.  (Anon)

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ADORABLE  JESUS, TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN, HAVE MERCY UPON US!
RISEN JESUS , MAY THY PRECIOUS BLOOD BRING US TO ETERNAL LIFE!

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