Friday, June 08, 2018

Blood and Water Flowed

Blood and Water Flowed


Thus, says the LORD: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer. Hosea 11:1, 3-4

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
  Ephesians 3:14-19

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. John 19:32-34

Piety
Burning with divine love, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Empowers the poor
Cleanses sinners
Comforts the sick
Frees the oppressed
Humbles the arrogant
Exposes deceivers and
Silences falsehood

CAUTION! Approach only with humility, reverence, and awe.

(h/t to Maryknoll Fathers Twitter Account)

Study
We all know that God is love.  But how do we really personify that love?  The book of the Prophet Hosea uses two images – first that of a loving spouse and second that of the ultimate, highest loving parent. 

However, this image supersedes one of the preeminent parents from the Hebrew Bible – Abraham.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his ONLY and long-awaited son at the behest of the Lord.  However, the Lord does indeed offer his Son to sacrifice and there is no last-minute intervention of an angel.  No lamb caught up in a thorn bush. 

Instead, not only does God the father offer his only son for us, the Son offers his whole heart and soul until he has not even one more drop of blood to shed for our sins.

Action
Nailed to the cross, what more could Jesus offer for us?  The answer we realize today is every drop of blood that his sacred heart pumps through his veins.

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a constant reminder of God’s unending love for us. A love, visible in his sacrifice on the cross, that continues to be poured out for all humanity.

Where do you see reminders of the Sacred Heart?

Bonus Action:  Did you know that abstaining from meat is STILL a precept in the church?  Why bring this up today? Well...because I just read "Are Meatless Fridays Still a Thing? Does it Matter?" in the National Catholic Register. 

First, here is the Canon Law reference:
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Friday, of course, has always been a day of penance for Christians because Jesus died on a Friday, just as Sunday is the Lord’s Day because Jesus rose on a Sunday.  Thus, even though we are in “Ordinary Time,” every Sunday is like a mini-Easter season, and every Friday is like a mini-Lent in preparation for Sunday. That describes how it’s been throughout Church history, and that’s the way it still is in the universal law of the Latin Church.

Although Friday abstinence remains the law of the Latin Church, many national bishops’ conferences — including the U.S. bishops — make exceptions in their jurisdictions, permitting Catholics to choose another form of penance instead.

Fifty years ago, in 1966, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence in which they declared, among other things:
Among the works of voluntary self-denial and personal penance which we especially commend to our people for the future observance of Friday, even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat. We do so in the hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law.

The U.S. bishops, in the very act of abolishing the law of Friday abstinence in their jurisdiction, expressed the “hope” and “expectation” that “the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law.”

Why consider this today?  Because with the Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus falling on a Friday, if you were abstaining from meat as your personal choice for a penance, you would be excused today.

However, next week, as we return to ordinary time, consider some ways to honor the spirit of the 1966 pastoral as laid out by Deacon Steven D. Greydanus in the National Catholic Register. [1]
  • The crucial point that Friday is a day of penance. Don’t let it be just like any other day. Whether or not you choose to abstain from meat — and I heartily recommend that you do — do something. Consider doing more than abstaining: consider fasting every Friday. Or perhaps do without your evening beer or glass of wine. If you’re a vegan and a teetotaler, that still doesn’t get you off the hook! Find something. It could be something positive: Pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the rosary if you don’t already do it every day or do some extra spiritual reading.
  • Whatever you do, do it in a prayerful, penitential, Christian spirit. Do it to honor God, to remember Christ’s crucifixion, to discipline your appetites, to obey the Church, to express solidarity with your fellow Christians living and dead, and to prepare for Sunday Mass. (If you feel yourself weakening sometime in the afternoon, remember that it was in mid-afternoon that Christ died, and stay strong.)
  • Don’t make avoiding meat the be-all and end-all. For example, avoid whatever would be a special indulgence for you. Make it meaningful to you. There is literally nothing in this world I enjoy eating more than really good sushi. Since I typically eat sushi once or twice a month, it’s definitely a special indulgence for me. It’s fish, but for me, it’s contrary to the spirit of Friday penance, so I should probably avoid sushi on Fridays. The same would go for other fish delicacies. For that matter, if pizza is your favorite food in the world, maybe don’t do pizza on Fridays.
  • Don’t judge others by what they do or don’t do. Whether or not Friday abstinence should be binding, the bottom line is that it isn’t. We can recommend it, and I do recommend, but we can’t and shouldn’t try to make it quasi-mandatory.

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