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Friday, April 10, 2020

⛪ . "I Thirst ".. . .⛪

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Don't Lose the Connection

The moment in which we lose connection with Jesus and with the Church, we are no longer ourselves and we do not have any understanding of who we will be. For Peter at that moment, the cock crows and his crowing becomes an echo of Jesus's words during the Last Supper. Peter, now smitten and dejected, is brought back to self-awareness. The Lord, turning his head, looks at Peter. Once more it is the gaze of Jesus that conquers a person, that moves him to compassion. We can understand that this gaze is not the unpleasant gaze of "I told you so!" It is not a gaze of judgment but a gentle, tender gaze that seeks to win him back. It is a gaze that calls Peter back. What does Peter do? He recalls the words the Lord had spoken, and he goes out weeping bitterly. These tears of suffering, of repentance for his denial, are a blessing for Peter because they are the prerequisite to receiving forgiveness. These tears are his request to Jesus to forgive him and to accept him again as a friend. The falling tears from this "Sandman, Sandman" mix with the dirt, and, on the morning of Pentecost, that dirt mixed with the tears of suffering and repentance will be hardened into stone, as in a kiln, by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Then Simon will definitively become Peter, a solid rock on which finally the whole Church can remain firm; he knows he will never again deny his Lord. He might be weak, a sinner in his flesh, but he will not ever again betray Jesus; his faith will be sure, solid, and secure. Our self-understanding needs to start with our relationship with Jesus: I am a disciple of the Lord, of the Lord who decided to die and make himself a gift of love for me, of a Lord who is risen and alive.

—from the book Encountering Jesus: A Holy Land Experience by Vincenzo Peroni

***
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†Saint Quote
"Therefore, my brother, scorned as you are by men, lashed as it were by God, do not despair. Do not be depressed. Do not let your weakness make you impatient. Instead, let the serenity of your spirit shine through your face. Let the joy of your mind burst forth. Let words of thanks break from your lips."
— St. Peter Damian

† PRAYER DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
O clement, O loving, O sweet Mother Mary,
We, your children of every nation,
Turn to you in this pandemic.
Our troubles are numerous; our fears are great.
Grant that we might deposit them at your feet,
Take refuge in your Immaculate Heart,
And obtain peace, healing, rescue,
And timely help in all our needs.
You are our Mother.
Pray for us to your Son.
Amen.

† PRAYER OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man? Today he is, and tomorrow he appears no more. Fear God, and thou shalt have no need of being afraid of man. What can anyone do against thee by his words or injuries? He rather hurts himself than thee, nor can he escape the judgment of God whoever he be. See thou have God before thine eyes and do not contend with complaining words. And if at present thou seem to be overcome, and to suffer a confusion which thou has not deserved, do not repine at this and do not lessen thy crown by impatience."
— Thomas รก Kempis, p.148
AN EXCERPT FROM
Imitation of Christ

⛪ TODAY'S FEAST DAY

†GOOD FRIDAY†
On the Friday of the Lord's Passion (Good Friday) the Church commemorates the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross for the sins of all mankind, at the same time the Passover lamb was being killed and prepared for consumption among the Jewish people. On this day the Church does not celebrate Mass. The main altar remains completely bare, and the Tabernacle is empty. It is at the 3 o'clock hour on Good Friday that Jesus expired on the Cross, His Divine Mercy being poured out on the whole world. At this hour the Christian faithful should observe a solemn and prayerful silence in memory of the hour in which our salvation was won at so great a price.

† VERSE OF THE DAY
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God."
1 Corinthians 1:26-29

***
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ST. BADEMUS

St. Bademus (d. 376 A.D.) was a wealthy and noble citizen of Bethlapeta in Persia. Desiring to give himself completely to God, he gave away his wealth and founded a monastery where he led a life of prayer and austerity. His sanctity was known to all, and he trained his monks to progress in devotion, virtue, and love of God. One day he and seven of his monks were abducted during the Christian persecution by King Sapor of Persia. He was chained in a dungeon for four months and whipped daily for his faith. He suffered his tortures for Christ and triumphed over them with patience and joy. One day a Christian prince named Nersan was also put into the dungeon, and, seeing the torments he would endure, apostatized from the faith in order to be released. To prove his conversion, the king ordered Nersan to slay St. Bademus on the spot. Bademus, after declaring his willingness to die for Christ, also warned Nersan of the account he would have to give to God for his actions. Nersan, timid and fearful, then killed Bademus with several awkward and misplaced blows. The pagans who were present admired the abbot's holy and resigned death, while abhorring the king's cruelty. St. Bademus' feast day is April 10th.

asaina2

Saint Magdalen of Canossa

(March 1, 1774 – April 10, 1835)

Wealth and privilege did nothing to prevent today's saint from following her calling to serve Christ in the poor. Nor did the protests of her relatives, concerned that such work was beneath her.

Born in northern Italy in 1774, Magdalen knew her mind—and spoke it. At age 15 she announced she wished to become a nun. After trying out her vocation with the cloistered Carmelites, she realized her desire was to serve the needy without restriction. For years she worked among the poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes, and also among delinquent and abandoned girls.

In her mid-20s, Magdalen began offering lodging to poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered practical training and religious instruction. As other women joined her in the work, the new Congregation of the Canossian Daughters of Charity—or Canossian Sisters—emerged. Over time, houses were opened throughout Italy.

Members of the new religious congregation focused on the educational and spiritual needs of women. Magdalen also founded a smaller congregation for priests and brothers. Both groups continue to this day.

Magdalen died in 1835. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1988.
Reflection

Let us pray to Saint Magdalen for the many young women who are caught up in the sex trafficking epidemic of our day.

***
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Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
Lectionary: 40
Reading 1

Is 52:13—53:12

See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him--
so marred was his look beyond human semblance
and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man--
so shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25

R. (Lk 23:46) Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends;
they who see me abroad flee from me.
I am forgotten like the unremembered dead;
I am like a dish that is broken.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God.
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors."
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
all you who hope in the LORD.
R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Reading 2

Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

In the days when Christ was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Verse Before the Gospel

Phil 2:8-9

Christ became obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.

Gospel

Jn 18:1—19:42

Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, "Whom are you looking for?"
They answered him, "Jesus the Nazorean."
He said to them, "I AM."
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, "I AM, "
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
"Whom are you looking for?"
They said, "Jesus the Nazorean."
Jesus answered,
"I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go."
This was to fulfill what he had said,
"I have not lost any of those you gave me."
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave's name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
"Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?"

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,

went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
"You are not one of this man's disciples, are you?"
He said, "I am not."
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
"I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said."
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
"Is this the way you answer the high priest?"
Jesus answered him,
"If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
"You are not one of his disciples, are you?"
He denied it and said,
"I am not."
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
"Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
"What charge do you bring against this man?"
They answered and said to him,
"If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you."
At this, Pilate said to them,
"Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law."
The Jews answered him,
"We do not have the right to execute anyone, "

in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered,
"Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered,
"I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?"
Jesus answered,
"My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him,
"Then you are a king?"
Jesus answered,
"You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
"I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"
They cried out again,
"Not this one but Barabbas!"
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
"Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, "Behold, the man!"
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
"Crucify him, crucify him!"

Pilate said to them,
"Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him."
The Jews answered,
"We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God."
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
"Where are you from?"
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
"Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?"
Jesus answered him,
"You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin."
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
"If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar."

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge's bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
"Behold, your king!"
They cried out,
"Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!"
Pilate said to them,
"Shall I crucify your king?"
The chief priests answered,
"We have no king but Caesar."
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
"Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews."
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,

"Do not write 'The King of the Jews,'
but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews'."
Pilate answered,
"What I have written, I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
"Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, "
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, "I thirst."
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
"It is finished."
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.

***

Today's Meditation: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy. (Hebrews 4:16)

Jesus' passion and all that it entailed—the agony, the humiliation, the feeling of abandonment—was over. "It is finished," Jesus said, bowing his head and handing over his spirit (John 19:30). Jesus had been obedient to the Father's will; he had completed his mission to save the world from sin.

But what had also ended was the dividing wall that had separated us from God. Jesus' death on the cross undid the sin of Adam. His sacrificial death accomplished what no previous sacrifice made by a Hebrew priest on behalf of his people could do. The sacrifice would never have to be repeated; it was "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). The blood that flowed from Jesus' body is the blood that continues to wash us clean. It is, and always will be, enough. Our separation from God is truly finished! Now we can "confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy" (4:16).

But how confident are you of God's mercy? Do you sometimes wonder how God can forgive your sins? Maybe you focus on a sin from the past that seems especially serious and wonder if you've really been forgiven. Or you might wonder why God continues to forgive a sin you keep committing over and over again. Does God's mercy have limits?

The answer, of course, is no. God went to unimaginable lengths to assure us that we will always receive his mercy when we approach him. He sent his only begotten Son, his Beloved, to become man and sacrifice his life for us. That's how much he loves us. That's how much he desires to forgive us. And that's why today is called "Good" Friday.

As you venerate the cross today or pray the Stations of the Cross, remember that God's mercy is truly limitless. Never believe that the pain and suffering that Jesus endured was not enough to save you. Never think that the blood that flowed from his side was for everyone else but not for you. Never let any sin stand between you and the Lord. For by his holy cross, he has redeemed the world—and that includes you!

"Jesus, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for dying on the cross to save me."

Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25
John 18:1–19:42

ANF
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Christ is the new Adam! He was at the Tree of Death, which was going to bring about life (just like the first Adam, who was at the Tree of Life which brought about death). He took all of our sins, brought them down, and buried them himself. Nobody could understand that. Even the devil didn't know what was going on! God tricked him! Right when the devil thought he was defeating God, God defeated him.
— Steve Ray
from Stations of the Cross

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2cts

my2cents:
"Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth."
It was prophesied that the Lord's chosen would come and be unjustly treated, accused, beaten, and killed. The most innocent would pay. We have no king they said. But a man, they said. And the evil of that choice ensues.

psalms

Today we pray: "Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
They say that Jesus spoke in a particular language...not Aramaic, but the language of Love I'd say, and it sounded much like Psalms. How can this be though, if many Psalms are of laws, and many of them are supplication? They all point to God. Everything about Jesus points to God, upward bound.

2cents2

Jesus begins, our Lord begins today with ""I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue...". Our Lord teaches in the temple, in Church. Together we learn, and there He is teaching. He always teaches and will always teach us. He IS teacher. Not was.

Our Lord continues: ""My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over...". When Peter cut the ear off a guy, Jesus said to stop that, put the sword away, lest you die by the sword, and He said that He could call 12 Legions (thousands) of angels if He so desired to come protect Him. But that would go against the Father's will. Truly teaching Peace. And Pilate is opposite talking about power. To that Jesus says: ""You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin." The one who hands Him over has the greater sin, yet you are still in sin if you are involved with sin. How do you get involved in sin, like a third party? Perhaps, those who take their relatives or friends to the abortion mill, or perhaps those who love to gossip, or perhaps saying certain sins are permissible, you see, there are many ways to betray Christ.

And Peter denies even knowing Jesus three times in a row. We need not look further than our own lives to see how we deny knowing Christ. To know sin is to deny Christ. What is knowing? It is being naked. But that we may know the truth, God is stripped of everything that cloaked Him. He is fully revealed to the entire world, think Adam, ....His hour had come.
"For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
And they say the crowds covered their ears and yelled for the truth to be crucified.
We need not look to far to see how we cover our ears and start yelling. With what do we cover our ears? With noise. Random and worldly music. We play games, we tune into games, drama, and tune into so many things with these soundproof headphones....that we cannot hear the whisper of Christ. I don't know that the world is ready for the naked truth, because we'd have to look deep inside ourselves. And so you become anxious, as Bishop Sheen says in his book "Go To Heaven". Anxious when you depart from Him, and that anxiety becomes a distraction, to further yourself from the Lord, as you try to soothe it with various things in the world.

The next words from Christ we heard today are from the cross as He is hanging, dying: ""Behold, your mother." He says "hold on to what I wish I could hold on to". Hold on to my love, hold her because she is about to faint and fall and may get hurt without Me to hold her. Hold her and never let her go. This is a command from the cross. And the faithful behold the Mother of God. Why does He say behold? Pilate screamed "Behold your King!". And they rejected Him. Jesus says "Behold your mother", and she was accepted. Behold your Queen. He tells her an eternal command "Behold your son". We now have an earthly Mother. Momma in Heaven is so beautiful. Mommy is so caring. She is the supreme example of charity and compassion. But momma is stern, and she desires only what God wills and desires for our souls. She is tasked with the grace of God, the gift of God. And at the foot of the cross, grace is found. Behold grace.
Our Lord says from the cross in bitter agony ""I thirst." They put wine into His mouth, and out came water from His heart. The last miracle, blood water, clear as day, pure as light. Sure there were physical manifestations to produce a heart full of water, but that is the point, God makes things happen for a reason, and naturally. We want unnatural things, and signs, but God works with perfection, His creation. A calamity becomes a source for good. Death becomes life. And He is ushering in a whole new level we wish we could see already with our feeble eyes. But this is where faith comes in.
"It is finished."
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Heavenly Father, at 3pm, we remember that moment you handed over your life to the Father, fully accomplishing His will.
And it left us with a big mystery that has made all men ponder...what kind of Love is this? Unnatural. But it is natural to be Holy. Our Hearts are restless until they rest in Thee O God. Bring us together God. We need each other Lord. Whatever eternity is, let it be that constant love that energizes life, that oneness with You O God. Mother, hold our hands as we tremble and try to make our way to the Way of the Holy Cross....

***
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Random Bible verse from an online generator:

Romans 12:11
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,1 serve the Lord.

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