| Friday, March 29, 2002 Day of Fast and Abstinence Good Friday |
||
|
From St. Alphonsus Liguori, On the Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ (Reflections, XII.5):
Jesus, on the point of dying, said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). And while uttering these words, he ran over in his mind the whole course of his life. He saw all the fatigues he had gone through--the poverty, the pains, the insults; and he offered them all to his Eternal Father for the salvation of the world.
Then, turning himself back again to us, it seems as if he repeated, "It is finished," as though he had said, "All is fulfilled; your redemption is accomplished; the divine justice is satisfied; paradise is opened; and 'behold your time, the time of lovers' (Ezekiel 16:8). It is time at last for you to surrender yourselves to my love. p>"Love me, then, for there is nothing more that I can do in order to be loved by you. You see what I have done to gain your love. For you I have led a life which has been but one series of tribulations. Now I am content to let myself be drained of blood, I have my face spit upon, my flesh torn to pieces, my head crowned with thorns. It only remains for me to die for you. Come, O death; I give you permission to take away my life for the salvation of my flock. And you, my flock, love me, love me; for I can do no more in order to make myself beloved by you."
O Jesus, if only I too, could say in dying, "I have accomplished all that you have given me to do ... I have pleased you in all things." O my God, if I were to die now, I would not die content. But should I always live ungrateful for your love? Lord, grant me the grace to please you during the rest of my life so that, when death comes, I may be able to say to you, that from this time at least I have fulfilled your will.
"Lord, if in the past I have offended you, your death is my hope. For the future, I don't want to betray you anymore. But it is only from you that I can hope to remain faithful. By your merits, O my Jesus, I ask and hope it from you."
-----------
Y'all have a great weekend and Resurrection Sunday. May God bless you abundantly.
AC
Sad but true.