Jesus took on all of humanity’s offenses against God past, present and future, and atoned for us by His horrendous crucifixion. By His resurrection and ascension, He was enthroned as King over all of creation and brought our humanity, wounds and all, into the Trinitarian mystery. And now He wants to personally perfect each of us individually so as to join in union with God, which has always been our destiny.
The Feast of the Precious blood of Jesus was established for all of Christendom to be the first Sunday in July by Pope Pius IX. However, its origin is in the scriptures and devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus goes back to the beginning of our Catholic heritage. The Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus is one of the most common devotions today. It is fruitful to meditate upon each sentence and consider what this means in terms of the personal love each person of the Trinity has for you.
In business, we measure the costs of lost opportunities. In life, the cost of some lost opportunities are immeasurable.
We entered the pandemic a world of consumerism, materialism, with all things disposable. Every means was available to have what we wanted, when we wanted, and no cost too high. The old norm of saving for a raining day became ‘buy now and pay for it later’. Yet we may possess something, but it isn’t ours until we pay the price for it.
Jesus paid the price for us so that God could possess us by us possessing more of Him within us. As He transforms us into Himself, we become vessels of Peace.
We think of peace as an adjective. Peace is a noun. It is a person, God. By our Baptism, we are daughters and sons of Peace. Mary, Mother of Peace, teach us to be receptive of Him so that, through us, Peace may reside in this world once again.
In an 1885 biography of Servant of God Mary Ward, Sr. Chambers writes of how she was filled with Grace. In the early 1600’s, women were not to be in public without a man’s escort, nor were they to speak unless spoken to. But Mary Ward could walk into a room of men in great dispute, and the entire room would still and calm in her presence. She was a vessel of Grace.
Can you imagine how life would change carrying that Grace into your family’s dinner table? Your workplace?