But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”
John 11:49-50
It was not enough for the incomprehensible love of the divine Saviour to come down from heaven… to proclaim the truth and to teach his sublime doctrine, for three years, in the midst of contradictions and the persecution of men, finally to deliver himself to the hatred and the rage of the wicked to the point of shedding his blood to the last drop on Calvary. No! Having loved his own he loved them to the end and he loved them especially at the end
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 16 April 1850 EO XXII
REFLECTION
Jesus on the cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it; he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Jesus does for us on the throne of the cross. Christ’s cross, embraced with love, never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death.
Pope Francis
Can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” John 10: 36-39
I know all the time that it is my Father who is in heaven I am dealing with, who has at his right hand his Son Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who is our advocate, our mediator, who never ceases to make intercession for us, with that powerful prayer which has the right to be heard and which is in actual fact always heard if we put no obstacle in its way.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 10 October 1832, EO VIII n 436
REFLECTION
Dear Lord,
Help me keep my eyes on you. You are the incarnation of Divine Love, you are the expression of God’s infinite compassion, you are the visible manifestation of the Father’s holiness.
You are beauty, goodness, gentleness, forgiveness, and mercy. In you all can be found. Outside of you nothing can be found. Why should I look elsewhere or go elsewhere?
You have the words of eternal life, you are food and drink, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
You are the light that shines in the darkness, the lamp on the lampstand, the house on the hilltop.
You are the perfect Icon of God. In and through you I can see the Heavenly Father, and with you I can find my way to him.
O Holy One, Beautiful One, Glorious One, be my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Guide, my Consoler, my Comforter, my Hope, my Joy, and my Peace.
To you I want to give all that I am. Let me be generous, not stingy or hesitant. Let me give you all—all that I have, think, do, and feel. It is yours, O Lord. Please accept it and make it fully your own. Amen.
(Henri Nouwen)
“I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17: 7)
Let us keep on praying, let us never waver in trusting God completely.
It is He alone who has the right to decide and arrange all things, according to His infinite wisdom, and for the greatest glory of His holy name.
Letter to Father Tempier, from Rome, January 20, 1826.
REFLECTION
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Psalm 89, 2-3
“So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” (John 8:36)
I will fulfill these duties at fixed times, but with that freedom of the Spirit of God which will allow me, according to the advice of Saint Francis de Sales, to adapt to whatever circumstances require.
Eugene de Mazenod Diary (Rey, Vol. I, p. 26)
REFLECTION
Lord in heaven, I pray that as I begin this day you would be with me. I open my day to your leading. I thank you in advance for the freedom that is found in your presence. Lord I ask that your peace be before me as I come and go throughout my day. I pray that you would show me the places where I can share your peace with others. I pray that you would guide me away from temptation and keep my mind free from the corruption of this world. I long to walk in the freedom that you give! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Author unknown.(bloggersforthekingdom.com)
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” (John 8:28)
Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3: 10).
OMI Rule of Life, Constitution 4
REFLECTION
For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose,
life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered, through Christ our Lord.
(Preface for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross)
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” (John 8:11)
I was careful to try and understand all those who persecute me with such vengeful anger, because I pardon them with all my heart…
It seems that the good God gives me the grace to go and thank him for the humiliation which weighs upon me and which the Cross my Saviour bore to Calvary helps me to bear.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 13 April 1838, EO XIX
REFLECTION
Father, please forgive me when I allow anger and bitterness to fill my heart because I refuse to forgive someone who has hurt me. Teach me…to forgive in the same way You have forgiven me.
Mary Southerland
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” (John 35-36)
At the same time I certainly do not boast to being insensitive to the blows that seem at times about to crush us…
Jesus Christ is our only model and he did not set us an example of that kind. I adore Him as he sighs and weeps outside Lazarus’s tomb and I despise and abhor displays of stoicism, insensitivity and egoism from people who seem to want to outdo this prototype of every perfection, who so wanted to sanctify every aspect of our sad pilgrimage.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 11 January 1831, EO VII n 380
REFLECTION
Lord, when we are overwhelmed with grief and doubt your love and purpose, help us to know that you are with us and grieving alongside us. Give us enough faith to believe that You are good and that You care for us. Deepen our faith when we experience life in a ‘tomb’ so that when we enter a season of bright light we will not forget your grace. Amen.
Anglican.org
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk. 1:38)
Mary Immaculate received Christ in order to share him with all the world, whose hope he is. In her, we recognize the model of the Church’s faith and of our own.
OMI Rule of Life Constitution 10
REFLECTION
O Mary, Blessed Mother of God,
when the angel greeted you
you were surprised and fearful;
yet, in wonder you listened and
opened your heart to the divine message.
Generous and loving God,
like your daughter Mary,
help me to know and do your will
in this life and In the next.
(USCCB)
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from. (John 7:27)
On his return to Aix as a new priest, Father Eugene was conscious of his mission to lead people to know who Jesus Christ was.
My chief occupation will be to love him, my chief concern to make him loved. To this I will bend all my efforts, time, strength, and when after much toil I have succeeded in winning but a single act of love towards so good a Master, I will rightly consider myself very well paid.
Eugene de Mazenod’s retreat notes, December 1812, EO XV n. 109
REFLECTION
Father ever ancient, ever new, give me the grace to see you with new eyes and to be surprised once again by the wonder of your love and work in my life.
-Author unknown
The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them…” (Ex. 32:7)
Faced with such a deplorable situation,
the Church earnestly appeals to the ministers
whom she herself enrolled in the cause of her divine Spouse,
to do all in their power,
by word and example,
to rekindle the flame of faith that has all but died in the hearts of so many of her children.
Eugene de Mazenod’s Preface to the Rule of Life
REFLECTION
Lord, when we ourselves had turned away from you on account of our sins, you brought us back to be reconciled, O Lord, so that, converted at last to you, we might love one another through your Son, whom for our sake you handed over to death.
(Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II)
