“His Blood Be on Us!”

Jesus, Man of Sorrows, the crime of the Jews reminds me of my own sinning. I heard Your Father say to me, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and yet my sins made me cry out, “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” I have loved death and slain the God of my salvation.

Give me an attitude toward sin like unto Yours; yes, one with Yours. because of the infinite iniury it causes the sovereign goodness of Your heavenly Father and its fatal hurt to my own immortal soul. When I sinned, I cried out that Your Blood might be upon me. May it be upon me henceforth, because I come to You in repentance for my sinful past. May Your Blood be upon the outward life I live, a sign that Your love now reigns within my soul, as a proof of my sincerest love. gratitude and loyalty. May Your Blood be upon my children, namely, upon all my works and words, and ever redden with Its glorious merit the whole stream of my life. And when life’s day is done, may the seal of Your Blood be a lasting, shin­ing mark upon my soul, to place me among those of whom it is said, “These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14).

The Meeting of Martyrs

Jesus, Man of Sorrows, there is one who remains close to You in joy and in pain – Your own dear Mother. Who will describe the sorrow that pierces her loving soul when she catches sight of You, the dear and beloved Son of her heart of hearts, with Your head crowned with thorns, Your face stained with blood and spittle, miserably swollen and disfigured? She had once known You beautiful, with the freshness of Divine innocence and peace upon Your sacred face; now she sees You so changed and deformed that she can scarcely recognize You. Not a feature, not a limb but speaks of the frightful guilt of sin, of punishment, of agony.

Jesus, in Your glance upon her so desolate, every fiber of Your Heart seems to be torn. And she feels all Your pain together with You. How she would have snatched that hide­ous crown from Your head, cleansed and kissed Your wounds, knelt down and adored You, taken You away and nursed You to health. But no! She remembers why You are suffering all this. That dear Mother of Sorrows gives You up to die for my redemption.

That blessed meeting when only a word of love passes between you is full of love, for never did son love his mother as You love Yours. When You, when her hands and Yours touch the Cross together as a pledge of joint suffer­ing, lasts but an instant, and then Your Mother is thrust back into that mob, thirsty for Your death, by the soldiers who know not who she is, nor care.

The Divine Mediator

Jesus, Man of Sorrows, at last the dearest wish of Your life is granted ­You are crucified. You have been the Victim of the envy of the high priests, of the mockery of Herod, of the weakness of Pilate, of the ingratitude of the people; but You will to die unavenged. Patiently You hang there on the open wounds of Your hands and feet, exhausted almost to death by the long stretch of the physical and mental suffer­ing You have undergone. Your Sacred Body, which suffers so much because It has so great a Soul, is now turned into a crucible of pain where all the sufferings of the world burn together.

My Savior, I am surprised at the cruelty of Your ene­mies and the greatness of Your torments, but what have I done to ease or lessen Your suffering? On the contrary, how much I have done to increase it!  Never before did You appear more lovable in Your prayer than now, as You hang between heaven and earth, an inter­mediary between an infinite God and His sinful creatures. With extended arms, and hands dug with nails, in an upright peni­tential posture of prayer, as our elder Brother, You plead the cause of wayward children before Your offended Father and offer Yourself to Him as a Victim for the sins of the world. Your bleeding wounds are proofs of a love unto death.

I see Your head bent down to reach me in my sinfulness ; Your arms extended to embrace me, though it was I who nailed them there; Your Body hanging to redeem me, though I sometimes hardly seemed to care. You love me with a Heart I myself have broken, and offer Your death, the most painful and most disgraceful known to the human race, to save me from eternal death; yet too often You have found me so slow to appre­ciate all You have done.

“I Will Draw All Things to Myself”

Jesus, hatred lifted You up on a cross; hut once on it You said You would lift all lovers up to Your Heart, which is Love, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself” (John 12: 32) . You are now fulfilling that promise, for You are drawing heaven to Yourself, as You hang on the Cross, to give me the possession of it, and God, to make me His child and friend again. Oh, draw also my poor heart, so cold and ungrateful, to Yourself to inflame it with Your own love and generosity; my sinful soul as well, to cleanse and save it. You are true to me till death.

Then draw me, Lord, and make me true to Yon forever, both in my inner­most soul by faith in Your doctrine, hope in Your Divine promises and love of Your holy Person, and in my outward behavior by daily imitation of Your crucified life and by an unceasing union of my life with Your Sacrifice on the Cross. Dear Savior, draw all the world to Your crucified Self, as You promised, that all men may find in Your broken Heart, peace, consolation, and joy here, and eternal life and bliss hereafter.Let me at last learn that the Crucifix does not teach pain, but sacrifice, for sacri­fice is pain with love. Let me mount the cross with You so that the pain I hear in life may he transformed through love into a joyful sacrifice.

Fr. Lawrence Lovasik : Heart Talks with the Man of Sorrows

The post The Friday that is called Good first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #121126b ( 12min) Play – Fr. Elias on the life of St. Leonard of Port Maurice and how he preached Christ and Him Crucified, promoting the devotion to the Stations of the Cross as the solution to all the problems in his time. He relates this to modern times and how the state should at least allow the Church the freedom to evangelize.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Monday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
1st: rev 14:1-3, 4-5
Resp: psa 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gsp: luk 21:1-4

Audio (MP3)

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The memorial of Sts. Nicholas Tavelic and companion martyrs is a good occasion to reflect on the charity that underlies the courage of the martyrs. Faith and hope alone probably wouldn’t have sufficed to motivate the martyrs to preach to hostile enemies of the faith, but identification with Christ and with His love for souls led these Franciscan martyrs to lay down their lives and face torture for the sake of witnessing to the Saracens in 14th Century Jerusalem.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Nicholas Tavelic and companions – Mem
Readings: Tuesday 32nd Week of Ordinary Time

1st: Wis 2:23-3:9
Resp: Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19
Gsp: Lk 17:7-10

Quote taken from Daniel McInerny’s “The Sinister Theology of Endo’s SILENCE,”a review of Martin Scorcese’s film “Silence” based on the book by Shusaku Endo (https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2014/07/14/the-sinister-theology-of-endos-silence/).

Excerpt of St. James’ epistle 2:18-20,26 taken from the Didache Bible.

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The post Nov 14 – Homily – Fr Alan: Martyrdom and the Courage of Charity first appeared on AirMaria.com.

On the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Jul 03), Fr. Matthias explains in the homily that St. Thomas shows us the way to recognize Jesus is by seeing His wounds, by seeing how much He loved us.

Ave Maria!

Reference: Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience address, Sept. 27, 2006 (http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060927.html)

Mass: St. Thomas the Apostle – Feast

Readings: 
1st: Eph 2:19-22
Resp: Ps 117:1, 2
Gsp: Jn 20:24-29

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=1100

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The post Recognize the Lord by His Wounds: St. Thomas, Apostle – Jul 03 – Homily – Fr Matthias first appeared on AirMaria.com.

For the homily on Tuesday after Epiphany (Jan 07, 2020, Optional Memorial of Saint Raymond of Penyafort), Fr. Andre reflects on the meaning of tragedy. God allows His creatures—who He wants to save—to suffer in order that they may awaken from proud delusions of self-sufficiency to the realization of their complete dependence on Him for all that is good. Suffering is a way we can be brought to our senses, and Christ was the first to accept suffering that we might know the Truth.

Ave Maria!

Mass: Tue post Epiphany or Jan 8 – Wkdy

Readings: 
1st: 1 Jn 4:7-10
Resp: Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
Gsp: Mk 6:34-44

More on the Readings:

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The post God Allows Tragedy to Wake Us Up – Jan 07 – Homily – Fr Andre first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The Life of St. Clare of Montefalco, Virgin, Third Order (1268-1308) for the Franciscan Saint of the Day for Aug 16. St. Clare of Montefalco had many mystical experiences and had much influence outside her convent. She had a great devotion to Christ crucified and there were many miracles associated with her before and after her death.  She is also known as St. Clare of the Cross.

Reflection is on signs of election, whether these are mystical experiences or profound tendency to piety, devotion, and good works.

For more on St. Clare of Montefalco
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_of_Montefalco
– https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saint-clare-of-montefalco.html

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/GV9IlUnrmQQ

Read by Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia, FI from Marion Habig’s ‘The Franciscan Book of Saints’ Revised Edition, Franciscan Herald Press, ISBN: 978-0819907516

Playlist of Franciscan Saints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TxcAETrU_k&list=PLejh_e0-LN4wErRczZGry4TXytCZFiLCm

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The Life of S. of God Jane of St. Erasmus, Widow, Second Order (1575-1649) for the Franciscan Saint of the Day for Jan 20. Jane  was married to a nobleman in the Netherlands. She worked successfully to convert her husband and to help the poor. She then asked her husband to enter the convent to which he eventually agreed. She then grew in piety and example of living religious life. She had a strong devotion to Christ Crucified

Reflection is on perseverance in prayer which Jane exemplified
Should not interfere with other duties
Especially needed in times of suffering, making it meritorious

For more on S. of God Jane of St. Erasmus
– https://www.blogtalkradio.com/fr-bob-warren/2015/01/09/the-servant-of-god-jane-of-saint-erasmus

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/H8jTb9e0ilU

Read by Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia, FI from Marion Habig’s ‘The Franciscan Book of Saints’ Revised Edition, Franciscan Herald Press, ISBN: 978-0819907516

Playlist of Franciscan Saints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TxcAETrU_k&list=PLejh_e0-LN4wErRczZGry4TXytCZFiLCm

Ave Maria!

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The Life of Bl. John of Triora, Martyr, First Order (1760-1816) for the Franciscan Saint of the Day for Feb 13. John was a missionary to China who was on fire for the love of Christ crucified and for souls, doing much prayer, penance, and miracles. He was apprehended imprisoned, tortured, tempted to apostatize, sentenced to death, but witnessed to the faith before his execution by Crucifixion.

Reflection is on true zeal for souls
Imitating Jesus who gave all to save us, zeal for our salvation
Imitation of St. Francis long prayer and penance for souls

For more on Bl. John of Triora
– https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lantrua-giovanni-triora-st

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/kFkDMZ_ELSQ

Read by Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia, FI from Marion Habig’s ‘The Franciscan Book of Saints’ Revised Edition, Franciscan Herald Press, ISBN: 978-0819907516

Playlist of Franciscan Saints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TxcAETrU_k&list=PLejh_e0-LN4wErRczZGry4TXytCZFiLCm

Ave Maria!

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