The first degree of humility, then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes (cf Ps 35[36]:2), shunning all forgetfulness and that he be ever mindful of all that God has commanded, that he always consider in his mind how those who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and that life everlasting is prepared for those who fear God. And while he guards himself evermore against sin and vices of thought, word, deed, and self-will, let him also hasten to cut off the desires of the flesh.
Let a man consider that God always sees him from Heaven, that the eye of God beholds his works everywhere, and that the angels report them to Him every hour. The Prophet tells us this when he shows God thus ever present in our thoughts, saying: “The searcher of hearts and reins is God” (Ps 7:10)…Therefore, in order that he may always be on his guard against evil thoughts, let the humble brother always say in his heart: “Then I shall be spotless before Him, if I shall keep myself from iniquity” (Ps 17[18]:24) . (Holy Rule 7)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
« Rising very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed. » Mark 1:35
Meditation
Sts. Louis and Zélie, « before the start of a very full day, often went to church at 5:30 in the morning. They both faithfully received Communion on the first Friday of every month. » According to the custom of their time, they received Communion four or five times a week and regularly went to Confession. They also participated in their parish’s activities such as Eucharistic Adoration, Vespers on Sunday, processions, missions during Lent, etc. They had a great devotion to the saints. St. Zélie recounted, for example, the time when baby Thérèse was at the point of death: « I quickly went upstairs to my room. I knelt at the feet of St. Joseph and asked him for mercy, that the little one be cured, resigning myself completely to the will of God if He wanted to take her. I don’t cry often, but I cried while I was praying. I didn’t know if I should go downstairs … finally, I decided to go. And what did I see? The child was suckling with all her heart. »
Resolution
Today, I will make an examination of conscience and be deeply sorry for everything that has offended God and my neighbor.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.
Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”
Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…
From the Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9:14-17
John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
What word made this passage come alive for you?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:
John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
What did your heart feel as you listened?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:
John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
What touched your heart in this time of prayer?
What did your heart feel as you prayed?
What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.
Brothers, the Holy Scripture crys to us saying: “Every one that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Lk 14:11; 18:14). Since, therefore, it says this, it shows us that every exaltation is a kind of pride…
Hence, brethren, if we wish to reach the greatest height of humility, and speedily to arrive at that heavenly exaltation to which ascent is made in the present life by humility, then, mounting by our actions, we must erect the ladder which appeared to Jacob in his dream, by means of which angels were shown to him ascending and descending (cf Gen 28:12). Without a doubt, we understand this ascending and descending to be nothing else but that we descend by pride and ascend by humility. The erected ladder, however, is our life in the present world, which, if the heart is humble, is by the Lord lifted up to heaven. For we say that our body and our soul are the two sides of this ladder; and into these sides the divine calling has inserted various degrees of humility or discipline which we must mount. . (Holy Rule 7)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
« Let the children come to Me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. » Mark 10:14
Meditation
The Martin household knew all the joys and tribulations of normal family life. With their nine children, four of whom died at a young age, Sts. Louis and Zélie had the difficult task of helping each daughter to develop her gifts of nature and grace. They undertook it in a spirit of creativity and Faith which made them always aim higher.
Everything was done in confidence and love, and yet with humor. « I promised the children we would celebrate the feast of St. Catherine Sunday evening, » St. Zélie wrote. « Marie wants donuts, others want cake, and others chestnuts, but as for me, I would like peace. »« Happy family evenings are, at the same time, a chance for more religious instruction. »« They frequently reminded us of eternity, » recounts Marie, their oldest daughter.
Their father was « always available to listen to his daughters, to advise them, and, with a heart filled with God, to receive whatever they said. »
When difficulties arose, such as educating Léonie, they included them in their prayer. « I’m deeply saddened to see Léonie as she is. Sometimes I have hope, but often I lose heart. »« Only God can change her, and I’m convinced that He will, » her mother wrote with hope.
Resolution
Today, I will pray for my family.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.
Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”
Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…
From the Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
What word made this passage come alive for you?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
What did your heart feel as you listened?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
What touched your heart in this time of prayer?
What did your heart feel as you prayed?
What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.
What, dearest brothers, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord shows us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who has called us to His kingdom (cf 1 Thes 2:12).
If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way, unless we run to it by good works. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to Him: “Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle, or who shall rest in Your holy hill” (Ps 14[15]:1)? . (Holy Rule 1)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you, I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries, and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion, and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I, therefore, invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray. » Luke 11:1
Meditation
Prayer had an important place in the lives of Sts. Louis and Zélie; personal or as a family, it profoundly marked their children.
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus testified that when « the little queen was all alone near her King (her father) »,it was enough to « look at him to see how the saints pray. »
Céline remembered, « The days on which he went to Holy Communion he generally remained silent on his return journey. ‘I like to continue my conversation with Our Lord,’ he would say to us. »
They had great confidence in God and abandoned everything to Him in prayer. St. Zélie wrote in one of her letters, « When I think of what God, in whom I’ve put all my trust and in whose hands I’ve put the care of my whole life, has done for me and my husband, I don’t doubt that His Divine Providence watches over His children with special care. »
Resolution
Today, I will take time to encounter God in prayer, and I will confide to Him my joys and my sorrows.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.
Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”
Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…
From the Holy Gospel According to St. John 20:24-29
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
What word made this passage come alive for you?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
What did your heart feel as you listened?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
What touched your heart in this time of prayer?
What did your heart feel as you prayed?
What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.
All Shall Be Well: A Journey Through Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love with Kris McGregor
Episode 7: The Ninth and Tenth Shewings — The Joy of the Redeemer and the Open Side of Christ
Summary:
In Episode 7 we journey with Julian of Norwich into the mystery of Christ’s joy in His Passion. Rather than sorrow alone, Julian sees the Redeemer rejoicing in His self-offering, delighting to give Himself for the salvation of souls. She is shown the threefold joy of the Trinity, where the Father is pleased, the Son is crowned, and the Holy Spirit is satisfied. Then Julian is led through the wound in Christ’s side into the depths of His Heart—a resting place “large enough for all mankind.” Drawing on Scripture, the Catechism, and the mystical tradition of the Church, this episode opens the mystery of divine charity that transforms suffering into eternal joy, and invites the soul into the inexhaustible mercy of the pierced Heart of Jesus.
Full Julian of Norwich Quotations Used in Episode 7:
From Revelations of Divine Love, Long Text, Chapters XXXII-XXIV, trans. Grace Warrack, Methuen & Co., 1901 (PDF edition).
The Joy of the Redeemer and the Gift of the Father
“THEN said our good Lord Jesus Christ: Art thou well pleased that I suffered for thee? I said: Yea, good Lord, I thank Thee; Yea, good Lord, blessed mayst Thou be. Then said Jesus, our kind Lord: If thou art pleased, I am pleased: it is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfying to me that ever suffered I Passion for thee; and if I might suffer more, I would suffer more.” (Ch. 22)
“In this feeling my understanding was lifted up into Heaven, and there I saw three heavens: of which sight I marvelled greatly. And though I see three heavens—and all in the blessed manhood of Christ—none is more, none is less, none is higher, none is lower, but [they are] even-like in bliss.” (Ch. 22)
“For the First Heaven, Christ shewed me His Father; in no bodily likeness, but in His property and in His working. That is to say, I saw in Christ that the Father is.” (Ch. 22)
“The working of the Father is this, that He giveth meed to His Son Jesus Christ. This gift and this meed is so blissful to Jesus that His Father might have given Him no meed that might have pleased Him better.” (Ch. 22)
“Wherefore we be not only His by His buying, but also by the courteous gift of His Father we be His bliss, we be His meed, we be His worship, we be His crown.” (Ch. 22)
“And in these words: If that I might suffer more, I would suffer more,—I saw in truth that as often as He might die, so often He would, and love should never let Him have rest till He had done it.” (Ch. 22)
“For though the sweet manhood of Christ might suffer but once, the goodness in Him may never cease of proffer: every day He is ready to the same, if it might be.” (Ch. 22)
“This deed, and this work about our salvation, was ordained as well as God might ordain it. And here I saw a Full Bliss in Christ: for His bliss should not have been full, if it might any better have been done.” (Ch. 22)
The Harmony of Wills in the Son and the Father
“And in these three words: It is a Joy, and a Bliss, and an endless satisfying to Me,—were shewed three heavens, as thus: for the joy, I understood the pleasure of the Father; and for the bliss, the worship of the Son; and for the endless satisfying, the Holy Ghost.” (Ch. 23)
“And these three are one bliss: and one meed: and one endless fulfilling: and throughout all, I saw bliss in the end: in which bliss He is grounded, and rooted; and He is our very Meed.” (Ch. 23)
“For I saw truly that our substance is in God, and also I saw that in our sensuality God is: for in the self-same point that our Soul is made sensual, in the self-same point is the City of God ordained to Him from without beginning; into which seat He cometh, and never shall remove it.” (Ch. 23)
“And all this bliss I saw in the bodily sight, in the showing of the Passion of Christ.”(Ch. 23)
“Lo, how I loved thee” — The Wounded Side and the Heart of Divine Mercy
“THEN with a glad cheer our Lord looked unto His Side and beheld, rejoicing. With His sweet looking He led forth the understanding of His creature by the same wound into His Side within. And then he shewed a fair, delectable place, and large enough for all mankind that shall be saved to rest in peace and in love.” (Ch. 24)
“And therewith He brought to mind His dearworthy blood and precious water which he let pour all out for love. And with the sweet beholding He shewed His blessed heart even cloven in two.” (Ch. 24)
“And with this sweet enjoying, He shewed unto mine understanding, in part, the blessed Godhead… the endless Love that was without beginning, and is, and shall be ever.” (Ch. 24)
“And with this our good Lord said full blissfully: Lo, how that I loved thee, as if He had said: My darling, behold and see thy Lord, thy God that is thy Maker and thine endless joy… and for my love rejoice [thou] with me.” (Ch. 24)
“Behold and see that I loved thee so much ere I died for thee that I would die for thee; and now I have died for thee and suffered willingly that which I may. And now is all my bitter pain and all my hard travail turned to endless joy and bliss to me and to thee.” (Ch. 24)
“How should it now be that thou shouldst anything pray that pleaseth me but that I should full gladly grant it thee? For my pleasing is thy holiness and thine endless joy and bliss with me.” (Ch. 24)
Scripture Featured
(Translations used: Revised Standard Version [RSV] )
(Ephesians 1:9-10, RSV)
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”
(Matthew John 19:34, RSV)
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day.”
(Hebrews 12:2, RSV)
“…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”
(John 19:34, RSV)
“But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water”
(Isaiah 53:3–4, RSV)
“He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows,and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
(Galatians 2:20, RSV)
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
(John 15:11, RSV)
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church
“The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the ‘one mediator between God and men.’ But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, ‘the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery’ is offered to all men.” (CCC 618)
“Jesus revealed that God is ‘Father’ in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son.” (CCC 240)
“By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant… He makes himself an offering for sin… and shall make many to be accounted righteous.” (CCC 615)
“The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice… “And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner… this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.” (CCC 1367)
“The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature.’” (CCC 460)
“Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us.” (CCC 521)
“For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'”172 As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.” (CCC 766)
“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. (CCC 1)
Pope Benedict XVI:
“She understood the core message of God’s love at a time when, even in theology, some currents emphasized God’s justice and harsh judgment more than his mercy.”
(Benedict XVI,General Audience,Julian of Norwich, November 3, 2010, Vatican.va)
St. Catherine of Siena:
“Sweet Jesus, I contemplate your open side as a hidden cellar filled with wine. I enter into it and see the secret of your heart.”(Letter T328/G148, to Fr. Bartolomeo Dominici)
“Do you want to be safe? Then hide yourself within this side. His open side is full of delight and sweetness. It is an open storehouse that souls will never want to leave.”(Letter T127/G59, to a religious)
Reflection Questions for Prayer
How does Christ’s joy in His Passion challenge my understanding of suffering and sacrifice?
In what ways do I see myself as part of Christ’s joy, His crown, and His reward?
Can I trust that God’s plan for my salvation is perfect—even when I cannot see or feel its fullness?
How might Christ be inviting me to enter more deeply into the “delectable place” of His open side—into the refuge of His Sacred Heart?
Closing Prayer (inspired by the Ninth and Tenth Shewing)
Lord Jesus Christ, In Your Passion You rejoiced, For love made Your suffering an offering of endless bliss. You looked upon us not as burdens, but as Your joy, The gift given You by the Father, the crown upon Your head. You opened Your side and revealed the resting place prepared for every soul. In Your cloven Heart, we find refuge, peace, and perfect love. Draw us into the depths of Your mercy. Teach us to gaze upon Your Passion not with fear but with confidence. May we become for You what You have desired: Your joy, Your reward, Your eternal delight. And may Your love, once poured out on the Cross, Continue to draw all souls into Your wounded Heart, Where joy never ends.
Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 2
Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast
