A Sunday Thought About Precious Blood to Start the Week Off Right
In July, Holy Mother Church recommends we express special devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus. The reason for this devotion is simple: By His Precious Blood we are saved.
How often do we think about this? How often do we thank Him for saving us, specifically thanking Him for undergoing terrible suffering and a horrible death so that we might spend eternity in Heavenly bliss?
For centuries, theologians have debated the question whether Our Lord had to suffer as He did in order to redeem us. We won't try to settle the question now; nor will we even attempt to summarize the arguments one way or the other. The fact is, He did. He shed His Precious Blood, basically to the last drop to "make up for" that Original Sin of our first parents that drove them from Paradise and closed the Gates of Heaven for so many centuries until His death on the Cross.
While those who have been appropriately educated in such matters might attempt to demonstrate exactly how the shedding of His Precious Blood "reversed" the fate of mankind. most of us likely can't do this. We might, however, take time during this month of July to meditate on His Precious Blood and It's saving grace. We might allow ourselves to witness that Blood flowing copiously, beginning with the Agony in the Garden, and continuing with the overwhelming number of wounds inflicted by the beatings He received before, during, and after He stood trial, including His horrible scourging, the crowning with thorns, His falling under the weight of the Cross, and, finally, the nails driven mercilessly into His hands and feet, culminating with the piercing of His Sacred Heart as He hung on the Cross, already dead.
I've heard some say that it's not appropriate to meditate on such awful images. In fact, many turn their back on the Cross. It's too awful, too "negative." Indeed, many Catholics, poorly catechized these days, really don't grasp or accept the centrality of the Cross in their lives. But even those of us who accept this profound truth may not fully appreciate the real nature of its reality. Meditating on His Precious Blood in a manner informed by our Catholic Faith will assist us here.
It will help us to remember that in addition to His physical suffering, He felt the awful and overwhelming pain of rejection by those whom He loved. And we're not just talking about St Peter who denied Him three times, or the rest of His disciples who abandoned Him to His fate. We're talking about each and every one of us, every time we sin: Every time we chose some sinful indulge in some sinful thought, speak some words, commit some sinful action, we deny Him, we run from Him. Worse, we join hands with those who reviled Him, spit at Him, beat at Him, and ultimately crucified Him on Calvary.
I know. This can be just awful to contemplate. But don't go easy on yourself. Don't allow this terrible reality of complicity in Our Lord's suffering cause you to indulge in what we might call bouts of "self-administered" amnesia: when we conveniently blot out out any memory or understanding of what our sins have done to Him. And I'm not pointing fingers here. I know how this works.
Maybe that's why Holy Mother Church, in her wisdom, designates a month devoted to the Precious Blood. We can confront our amnesia and beg for the grace to courageously face what our personal sins brought down upon the Person of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on that first Good Friday. Remembering this as we go to Mass this Sunday, and begging His mercy and forgiveness, we can more lovingly receive Him in the precious gift of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as we receive Holy Communion.
Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us.
How often do we think about this? How often do we thank Him for saving us, specifically thanking Him for undergoing terrible suffering and a horrible death so that we might spend eternity in Heavenly bliss?
For centuries, theologians have debated the question whether Our Lord had to suffer as He did in order to redeem us. We won't try to settle the question now; nor will we even attempt to summarize the arguments one way or the other. The fact is, He did. He shed His Precious Blood, basically to the last drop to "make up for" that Original Sin of our first parents that drove them from Paradise and closed the Gates of Heaven for so many centuries until His death on the Cross.
While those who have been appropriately educated in such matters might attempt to demonstrate exactly how the shedding of His Precious Blood "reversed" the fate of mankind. most of us likely can't do this. We might, however, take time during this month of July to meditate on His Precious Blood and It's saving grace. We might allow ourselves to witness that Blood flowing copiously, beginning with the Agony in the Garden, and continuing with the overwhelming number of wounds inflicted by the beatings He received before, during, and after He stood trial, including His horrible scourging, the crowning with thorns, His falling under the weight of the Cross, and, finally, the nails driven mercilessly into His hands and feet, culminating with the piercing of His Sacred Heart as He hung on the Cross, already dead.
I've heard some say that it's not appropriate to meditate on such awful images. In fact, many turn their back on the Cross. It's too awful, too "negative." Indeed, many Catholics, poorly catechized these days, really don't grasp or accept the centrality of the Cross in their lives. But even those of us who accept this profound truth may not fully appreciate the real nature of its reality. Meditating on His Precious Blood in a manner informed by our Catholic Faith will assist us here.
It will help us to remember that in addition to His physical suffering, He felt the awful and overwhelming pain of rejection by those whom He loved. And we're not just talking about St Peter who denied Him three times, or the rest of His disciples who abandoned Him to His fate. We're talking about each and every one of us, every time we sin: Every time we chose some sinful indulge in some sinful thought, speak some words, commit some sinful action, we deny Him, we run from Him. Worse, we join hands with those who reviled Him, spit at Him, beat at Him, and ultimately crucified Him on Calvary.
I know. This can be just awful to contemplate. But don't go easy on yourself. Don't allow this terrible reality of complicity in Our Lord's suffering cause you to indulge in what we might call bouts of "self-administered" amnesia: when we conveniently blot out out any memory or understanding of what our sins have done to Him. And I'm not pointing fingers here. I know how this works.
Maybe that's why Holy Mother Church, in her wisdom, designates a month devoted to the Precious Blood. We can confront our amnesia and beg for the grace to courageously face what our personal sins brought down upon the Person of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on that first Good Friday. Remembering this as we go to Mass this Sunday, and begging His mercy and forgiveness, we can more lovingly receive Him in the precious gift of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as we receive Holy Communion.
Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us.
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