Don't ever just be Catholic; be PROFOUNDLY Catholic! God is so in love with you!!
Consider
making a Holy Hour before Holy Mass; the Lord wants your relationship
with Him to be deeply personal, incredibly meaningful, and very, very
powerful.
As a means to that end, He may just reveal to you some very interesting things!
Perhaps He will have you hear the sounds at the time of His Passion in order to draw your
soul into closer union with Him. Then, during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
He may just compare the sounds that were heard back then with the sounds we hear in our time.
Be moved to tears as you experience the sounds made by Jesus as He exhausted Himself of
everything and sacrificed all for us during His bitter Passion and Crucifixion as
people jeered, mocked, scorned, ridiculed, hated, and also consoled Him while
sharing in His suffering.
You
will find it no less moving to hear the voices of those in our time who
offend and anger God while rejecting Christ’s love and mercy, so many
unhappy voices that mingle with the sounds of worship and songs
of praise
coming from the devout faithful assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass.
Jesus
draws our souls to Himself in a very special way when we spend time
with Him in the Blessed Sacrament, and when we meditate on His Sacred Passion.
Take some time to contemplate, for example, what it cost Christ's Divinity and Humanity when Love and Mercy stood in our place
before Divine Justice. Be there as Innocence was proclaimed guilty, and accepted the
sentence for every sin committed by every single person ever created and yet to
be created, including yours.
We just cannot fathom
this particular suffering, but so much can be said about it nevertheless. Have you ever discussed it with Jesus? Do you ever thank Him? Do you love Him adequately in return.
Experience
so much more Divine Intimacy all throughout the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass as God loves you constantly, every single second from start to finish, in so
many diverse ways.
Do you hear the jeering, the mocking, the praise, and the thanksgiving, all directed at Jesus in our time?
Do you hear the jeering, the mocking, the praise, and the thanksgiving, all directed at Jesus in our time?
During Holy Communion, be there when the Lord
silences the noise as the faithful approach Jesus suspended on the Cross.
“Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Right there on
Calvary, no longer limiting us to time and space, Jesus allows us to experience
our soul’s union with His unspeakable suffering. See Him nailed to the Cross and feel
His pain. In the stillness of that profound moment, recognize how loved and valued you are by God as Jesus prepares your heart to be
unified with His in the Eucharist.
God’s love for us has been made very
clear, and it is absolutely limitless.
As
each person passes by Jesus on the Cross on our way
to kneel and reverently receive the Love of our eternal lives, our
Savior looks
down from the Cross at each person lovingly and with longing. Despite
His unfathomable agony, Jesus calls each one of us by name as we pass
by.
After Jesus addresses us, He continues communicating to each individual soul personally. “I love you,” He
says to you as you kneel. “I have exhausted (emptied) myself completely for you, and held
nothing back for Myself.”
Jesus adds last thing: “I
thirst.”
He longs for your love in return! He wants you to enter into
a mutual relationship with Him that is deeply personal, meaningful, and powerful, because you matter to Him that much.
We must always remember the Divine
exchange that takes place when we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. May we love Him
in return with all our hearts! Our hearts are so precious to Jesus.
He proves it to us again and again and again.
Jesus keeps coming and coming and coming to us.
Perhaps
Jesus will manifest Himself to you in the Eucharist in a very profound
and unexpected way. For example, He may present clearly His Sacred
Heart to you in the Host. Perhaps you will feel His Precious Blood
purifying your tongue, or taste and feel His Sacred wounds.
Oh so many incredibly meaningful
moments occur all throughout Holy Hour and also the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!
There is
always so much more of His love to discover or rediscover! God is so generous,
and He is so in love with you.
"Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and to Mary, Help of Christians, and you will see what miracles are." ~St. John Bosco
© Joseph Karl Publishing/Michele Bondi Bottesi
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Images taken at
Ss. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church,
Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A.,
in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Ss. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church,
Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A.,
in the Archdiocese of Detroit.