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When Christ our God suffered on the Cross, as man, He endured His Passion for the sake of sinners. As God, He could see, even then, which sinners of future times would repent and turn to Him. He could see which of us, now loving Him, would turn to Him in prayer to offer Him love and consolation.
By turning to Christ our God, in prayer, it is as if we can touch, in His Godhead, as in a great cloud, each of the events of His earthly life, including all the sufferings of His Passion.
Christ in His Passion was cheered on by millions of watching Angels; and we who follow Him in our own work and sufferings can be certain that we have Saints as well as Angels cheering us on, encouraging us to persevere.
The Lord showed me His torn flesh, and said: It is the same work, beating a human being to a bloody pulp, and tearing an infant, limb from limb, in the womb. The same hard-heartedness enables people to do such things or allow someone else to do them - especially if they don't see the results of their actions.
The Lord showed me His torn flesh, and said: It is the same work, beating a human being to a bloody pulp, and tearing an infant, limb from limb, in the womb. The same hard-heartedness enables people to do such things or allow someone else to do them - especially if they don't see the results of their actions.
The Lord showed me His torn flesh, and said: It is the same work, beating a human being to a bloody pulp, and tearing an infant, limb from limb, in the womb. The same hard-heartedness enables people to do such things or allow someone else to do them - especially if they don't see the results of their actions.
At the Consecration, Christ said, of His Sacrifice on the Cross: "This is what sin did". He wants everyone to know that everyone who kills an unborn child commits a grievous sin. Each abortion is like the suffering meted out to Christ in His Passion: a crucifixion of the innocent.
Whoever 'offers up' her suffering in union with Christ in His Passion, and prays for people in need, can be sure of bringing help to sinners, or the sick or lonely, and others. It's as if those needy souls are brought close to God, in a great procession, as His healing light shines upon them - even if the one praying has no idea who is being helped.
There is only one Way to Heaven, made by Christ, Who had come down from Heaven; so if we picture life on earth, we should picture Christ on the Cross, on Calvary - with a ladder nearby, which reaches as far as Heaven. Christ made that Way, by His suffering and death and Resurrection. We are heirs and heiresses to life in Heaven if we have passed through the water of Baptism - like a cleansing river - and live for love of Christ until we die. That is 'salvation'.
Whenever a person offers up, in union with Christ in His Passion, some painful or distressing experience or state or event, in patience, to help sinners, someone in spiritual danger is saved from falling into Hell. The prayers we offer in Jesus' name are powerful, especially when we do penance for those who refuse to do so.
Christ our Saviour is touched to heart - deeply touched - by all the suffering He sees. Every person who suffers, even those whose sufferings were caused by their own fault, can be certain of Christ's sympathy and compassion. Even when people are not healed, they should believe that Christ can bring good out of evil.
If we are tempted to be proud or self-satisfied, seeing the good work we achieve for God, we need only remember Christ's Passion, by which He won for us all the graces we enjoy, and the blessings of the spiritual life, and we shall be able to serve Him as He deserves, in humility and gratitude.
By offering up our pains and unavoidable sufferings in union with Christ in His Passion we join in His redeeming work in our generation and bring powerful help to needy souls caught in sin, sadness or near-despair.
If we meet someone who is blind to her own faults, and makes life miserable for those she waylays, we should treat her as we would treat someone with a horrible disease: with pity in our hearts, and compassion and kindness in our thoughts, greetings and actions.
Christ asked me to paint a picture of what it is like to be welcomed and hugged by Him, in a spiritual Communion, when I am aware of my weakness but put my trust in Him. There is no-one more compassionate to sick people, no-one more grateful that we honour Him by our love and devotion.
Mankind received from God the greatest possible gift: the life of God's own Son, on earth amongst us. And how was He treated, this gift from Heaven? Mocked, rejected, beaten, tortured and killed. If it were today, it would be the same.
The Father looks down from Heaven with a compassionate gaze, seeing all the elderly parents who are regarded as a nuisance by their healthy adult children. He sees how few are invited to share their children's lives and homes when they are becoming lonely, and deserve love and attention.
Christ, Who asks each of us to 'Honour your mother and father', set us an example of care. Even when He was dying in agony, on the Cross, He remembered to commend His dear Mother to the care of St. John, to ensure that she had a loving home.
The very Spirit Who was with Christ in His Passion and Who raised Him up from the grave dwells - with the Father and Son - in the soul of every persecuted Christian; and each one who suffers for love of Christ should remember that whatever happens externally, that faithful soul is full of Divine Light.
Our Blessed Lady and Saint John were with Christ in His Passion not only to comfort Him by their presence. It was part of the Father's plan that they should be witnesses to Christ's last hours in order to share with all who love Him the last words He uttered, and the complete 'picture' of His dying and death.
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