DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR JULY  2008.

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+A Meditation for the Month of July in which we adore the Precious Blood of JESUS CHRIST+

There is but one Absolver, Jesus Christ Himself; but He has ten thousand Ministers on earth, through whom He applies His Precious Blood to souls that are truly penitent. If only we can live in an habitual sense of our perfect pardon and Absolution through the most Precious Blood of Jesus, of His friendship for us, of His perpetual presence, love and care, we shall have the root of perseverance firmly fixed in our will. For the Precious Blood cries to us in the Sacrament of Penance at all hours, by day and by night. The Precious Blood of Jesus has brought Absolution upon all people – and for all our sins that are as countless as the stars of heaven. There is but one Baptism, but there are many Absolutions: for the Sacrament of Penance is a fountain ever flowing, perennial and inexhaustible. No man needs another’s hand to help him to go down into the pool of the most Precious Blood.

(Cardinal Manning)

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Bishop Anthony writes: Christ adds, year by year, new Catholic priests to His Store and every one of us  is able, however unworthy we be ourselves, to apply the Precious Blood of Christ to a penitent who sincerely desires Absolution. In other words it is by the Blood of JESUS, shed for us in agony on the Cross, that we are set free. Priestly Absolution in and by the Precious Blood has been left by JESUS to His Church. As Saint Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled over men defiled, have power to hallow them for every purpose of outward purification; shall not the blood of Christ Who offered Himself through the Holy Spirit as a Victim unblemished in God’s sight, purify our consciences and set them free from lifeless observances to serve the Living God?” The lifeless observances refer to the old Jewish rituals which Christ’s Coming made redundant. Saint Paul says: “Here are gifts and sacrifices being offered, which have no power..” Calvary has set us free and Christ’s blood is our Salvation if only we accept Him into our lives. As the priest says at every Mass: “This is the Chalice of my Blood, of the new and eternal Covenant, a mystery of Faith. It shall be shed for you and many others so that sins may be forgiven.” This gift of Redemption depends on our Faith in Christ and His work of Redemption on the Cross. JESUS applies His Precious Blood to those who believe. Cardinal Manning wants us to live in a perpetual sense of our perfect pardon through the Precious Blood. And that saving Blood is our gift in a very real way – when we drink It at Holy Mass. Let us live always in the knowledge of what the Precious Blood has done for us and indeed does for us whenever we receive JESU in Holy Communion. As the hymn says rejoicingly
LOUDER STILL AND LOUDER, PRAISE THE PRECIOUS BLOOD!

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Let us pray: Eternal God Who didst ordain that Thy only begotten Son should redeem the world and with His Blood atone to Thee for man’s offences: grant, we pray, that we may so worship the ransom paid for our Salvation and find in its power such defence against the evils of this earthly life, that we may enjoy its everlasting fruit in heaven.   Through the same Christ our Lord. +Amen+

And a passing thought

Desire to see God, be fearful of losing Him, and find joy in everything that can lead to Him. If you act in this way, you will always live in great peace. 

(Saint Teresa of Avila)

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J

BLESSED AND PRAISED UNTO AGES OF AGES BE THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS!
SACRED AND EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS, O HAVE MERCY! HAVE MERCY UPON US!
MAY THE SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY BE OUR SALVATION!
SAINTS JOHN FISHER & THOMAS MORE, PRAY THAT WE MAY BE FAITHFUL TO ROME!

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