An 8th Sunday after Pentecost Thought to Start the Week Off Right
As has been our custom this Liturgical Year, we'll reference The Inner Life of the Soul this Sunday. But rather than the entry for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, we'll go with the entry with the title, "The Sunday of the Precious Blood."
July has traditionally been a time of special devotion to the Precious Blood. But you don't hear much about this devotion these days. In light of that sad fact, here's a quick review of the basis for this devotion.
Tradition holds that Our Lord shed His blood on seven occasions: His circumcision; shedding His blood during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemani; the scourging at the pillar; the crowning with thorns; the stripping of His garments before being nailed to the cross; the actual nailing of His hands and feet to the cross; the piercing of His side by the centurion's lance.
Each of these deserves some time and attention, don't you think? Our Holy Church certainly thinks so (or at least thought so) and so the devotion to Our Lord's Precious Blood developed and was practiced for centuries. Why that's been muted of late, I don't know. I could speculate, but let's not go there. Rather, let's rejoice in knowing that this centuries-old traditional devotion remains one we can return to from time to time.
The simple fact that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, did shed His blood should wake us up from any spiritual torpor to which we may be inclined at times. Then again, sometimes we've got to force the issue, you know, use a little imagination, to make that simple fact real. Try this:
Think about blood: maybe your own or someone else's. Some of us can't stand the sight of it. That alone should shake you up a bit. But even if you can manage the sight of blood, it's never particularly pleasant.
In my own case, I'm not all that squeamish about my own blood. For example, I don't feel faint when I have blood drawn. I've cut myself innumerable times prepping a meal. One particular time I really sliced into my finger. It took a loooong time to stop the bleeding. That was a bit disturbing. As for seeing other folks blood, it's a bit different. When our kids had cuts, the sight of their blood was unsettling, calling forth a quick, determined effort to set things right.
I hope you get the point, so I won't belabor it. Even if you've managed to bleed or look at blood without falling to pieces, it's still at some level unsettling.
Using a little imagination, maybe we can apply this experience to the Passion of Our Lord. Of course, the movie, Passion of the Christ, had plenty of blood; but I don't think all of us need to watch that to develop a deep appreciation and devotion to the Precious Blood. The simple recognition of just Who Jesus is, and why He suffered as He did should really be sufficient, don't you think?
So despite the puzzling de-emphasis on this traditional devotion to the Precious Blood, we can, from time to time, keep the tradition going. Maybe the simplest way would be to take a moment to look at the crucifix on our rosary. Just hold it up and fix your eyes on our suffering Lord. And think of the Blood he shed for us. He suffered, He shed His Blood so that you and I could be eternally happy with Him in Heaven.
It's that simple. And it deserves our attention and devotion.
July has traditionally been a time of special devotion to the Precious Blood. But you don't hear much about this devotion these days. In light of that sad fact, here's a quick review of the basis for this devotion.
Tradition holds that Our Lord shed His blood on seven occasions: His circumcision; shedding His blood during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemani; the scourging at the pillar; the crowning with thorns; the stripping of His garments before being nailed to the cross; the actual nailing of His hands and feet to the cross; the piercing of His side by the centurion's lance.
Each of these deserves some time and attention, don't you think? Our Holy Church certainly thinks so (or at least thought so) and so the devotion to Our Lord's Precious Blood developed and was practiced for centuries. Why that's been muted of late, I don't know. I could speculate, but let's not go there. Rather, let's rejoice in knowing that this centuries-old traditional devotion remains one we can return to from time to time.
The simple fact that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, did shed His blood should wake us up from any spiritual torpor to which we may be inclined at times. Then again, sometimes we've got to force the issue, you know, use a little imagination, to make that simple fact real. Try this:
Think about blood: maybe your own or someone else's. Some of us can't stand the sight of it. That alone should shake you up a bit. But even if you can manage the sight of blood, it's never particularly pleasant.
In my own case, I'm not all that squeamish about my own blood. For example, I don't feel faint when I have blood drawn. I've cut myself innumerable times prepping a meal. One particular time I really sliced into my finger. It took a loooong time to stop the bleeding. That was a bit disturbing. As for seeing other folks blood, it's a bit different. When our kids had cuts, the sight of their blood was unsettling, calling forth a quick, determined effort to set things right.
I hope you get the point, so I won't belabor it. Even if you've managed to bleed or look at blood without falling to pieces, it's still at some level unsettling.
Using a little imagination, maybe we can apply this experience to the Passion of Our Lord. Of course, the movie, Passion of the Christ, had plenty of blood; but I don't think all of us need to watch that to develop a deep appreciation and devotion to the Precious Blood. The simple recognition of just Who Jesus is, and why He suffered as He did should really be sufficient, don't you think?
So despite the puzzling de-emphasis on this traditional devotion to the Precious Blood, we can, from time to time, keep the tradition going. Maybe the simplest way would be to take a moment to look at the crucifix on our rosary. Just hold it up and fix your eyes on our suffering Lord. And think of the Blood he shed for us. He suffered, He shed His Blood so that you and I could be eternally happy with Him in Heaven.
It's that simple. And it deserves our attention and devotion.
Happy Sunday!
Comments