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There's a famous story about the lion who came upon a flock of sheep and to his amazement found a lion among the sheep. It was a lion who had been brought up by the sheep ever since he was a cub. It would bleat like a sheep and run around like a sheep. The lion went straight for him, and when the sheep-lion stood in front of the real one, he trembled in every limb. And the lion said to him, 'What are you doing
among these sheep?' And the sheep-lion said, 'I am a sheep." And the lion said, 'Oh no you're not. You're coming with me.' So he took the sheep-lion to a pool and said, 'Look!' And when the sheep-lion looked at his reflection in the water, he let out a mighty roar, and in that moment he was transformed. He was never the same again."
- Anthony de Mello, Awareness -
(Gaze into the spotless mirror of God's love for you. Feel your true self awakening.)
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Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9; Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Eph 3:8-12, 14-19
Jn 19:31-37
Since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Thus, you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may attain to the fullness of God Himself.” —Ephesians 3:18-19
God’s Word promises that by His grace we can fully grasp and personally experience Christ’s love. This is impossible for us, but nothing is impossible with God (Mk 10:27). It’s difficult to imagine experiencing the fullness of Christ’s perfect, infinite, and crucified love. Nonetheless, He will do in our lives more than we can ever ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on
man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9).
Jesus has given us an experience of His infinite love through the prophetic vision of the Sacred Heart. No one ever thought of a picture in which the heart was outside the body. This seems bizarre, even repulsive. However, the Sacred Heart has communicated the tender, healing, personal love of God for us. The vision of the Sacred Heart is one of the most confirmed, powerful, and life-changing prophecies in the history of the
Church. Every day look at a picture of the Sacred Heart and let the Lord show His love for you in a way you’ve never imagined possible.
Prayer: Jesus, may my heart be overwhelmed by Your love for me (see Hos 11:8).
Promise: “It was I Who taught Ephraim to walk, Who took them in My arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks.” —Hos 11:3-4
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING THE ASSISTANCE RENDERED BY THE FATHERLY PROVIDENCE OF GOD TO THOSE SOULS WHO HAVE ABANDONED THEMSELVES TO HIM
SECTION 11. The strength of simplicity
The soul in the state of abandonment knows how to see God even in the proud who oppose His action. All creatures, good or evil, reveal Him to it.
The whole practice of the simple soul is in the accomplishment of the will of God. This it respects even in those unruly actions by which the proud attempt to depreciate it. The proud soul despises one in whose sight it is as nothing, who beholds only God in it, and in all its actions. Often it imagines that the modesty of the simple soul is a mark of appreciation for itself; when, all the time, it is
only a sign of that loving fear of God and of His holy will as shown to it in the person of the proud. No, poor fool, the simple soul fears you not at all. You excite its compassion; it is answering God when you think it is speaking to you: it is with Him that it believes it has to do; it regards you only as one of His slaves, or rather as a mask with which He disguises Himself. Therefore the more you take a high tone, the lower you become in its estimation; and when you think to take it by
surprise, it surprises you. Your wiles and violence are just favours from Heaven.
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