"Most loving and merciful Jesus, I offer myself now to the Father for YOU."
To close out the year and as the newest one begins, please share this touching meditation that focuses on the Sacred Hands of Jesus during His Passion.
Truly, we are loved and valued by God beyond measure.
Once Jesus was taken into custody, the Sacred Hands of our Lord were
bound and the benefit of Their use was denied Him throughout the many sufferings of His Passion.
From the time of His betrayal, arrest, and arrival at the Pillar, our Jesus was scorned, ridiculed, shoved, beaten, dragged, and mocked; while suffering these indescribable torments further along the Way of Sacrificial Love toward our Redemption on a Cross on Calvary, our Lord was denied the use of His Sacred Hands.
Our Savior could not even wipe His lovely and Holy Face, which had been so disfigured after
having been beaten and was covered with His
Sacred Blood from the blows and the piercings of the thorns in the crown, with His Sacred Perspiration, and with dirt.
Our sweet and gentle Jesus was no longer even recognizable, and He could not even use His Hands to wipe His eyes so He could see better on His Way to our salvation.
Our sweet and gentle Jesus was no longer even recognizable, and He could not even use His Hands to wipe His eyes so He could see better on His Way to our salvation.
Consider what Jesus did with His
bound hands throughout His Passion, before they were immobilized on the Cross with
nails.
Even with His Sacred Hands bound and chained, Jesus continued to use them to love us.
Our merciful Savior prayed while holding His Hands as close as He possibly could, and gestured with Them at every possible opportunity.
In the limited ways Jesus could use His Hands, He used Them for us and not for His own benefit. Jesus used His Hands to accomplish great good, even while being assaulted by tremendous evil.
Jesus continued to use His Sacred Hands as He had throughout His entire life to glorify God the Father and bless, love, and serve His beloved Creation.
Our merciful Savior prayed while holding His Hands as close as He possibly could, and gestured with Them at every possible opportunity.
In the limited ways Jesus could use His Hands, He used Them for us and not for His own benefit. Jesus used His Hands to accomplish great good, even while being assaulted by tremendous evil.
Jesus continued to use His Sacred Hands as He had throughout His entire life to glorify God the Father and bless, love, and serve His beloved Creation.
As Jesus suffered on the Way to His death and our Redemption, His thoughts were always on you.
How many times He offered a loving gesture with His Hands just for you.
Imagine the moment when He embraced the beam with the skilled and helpful Hands that had so often handcrafted items of wood.
When those kind and gentle Hands were freed from Their binding only so He could be nailed to the Cross, Jesus consented and cooperated with the executioners, His arms opened wide in death as in life, welcoming us all, beckoning us to come to Him, to be loved by Him, to love Him in return, and to share His love with others.
How many times He offered a loving gesture with His Hands just for you.
Imagine the moment when He embraced the beam with the skilled and helpful Hands that had so often handcrafted items of wood.
When those kind and gentle Hands were freed from Their binding only so He could be nailed to the Cross, Jesus consented and cooperated with the executioners, His arms opened wide in death as in life, welcoming us all, beckoning us to come to Him, to be loved by Him, to love Him in return, and to share His love with others.
Whether His Sacred Hands were free, bound, or nailed to the Cross, Jesus always showed us how to
live. He continuously loved, gave, served, forgave, blessed, and called us to
Himself so He could show us the way to our Father.
Jesus never stopped loving us, and He continues to love us in so many different and delightful ways.
Even now, Jesus presents His Sacred Body and Blood to us with His very own Sacred Hands.
Jesus never stopped loving us, and He continues to love us in so many different and delightful ways.
Even now, Jesus presents His Sacred Body and Blood to us with His very own Sacred Hands.
As you prepare your heart to love
and serve God in the newest year, and as you thank God for all He has done for you, offer yourself to Him forever as His servant, to be bound and
chained by the hands to Jesus, and used by Him always and forever at His good
pleasure.
"Most loving and merciful Jesus, I now offer myself, especially the use of my hands, to the Father for YOU."
Wishing you and yours a very holy,
blessed, and sacrificial New Year.
God is at work in you!
