Come Breath of God…..

Wishing everyone a most Blessed Pentecost!  May the Holy Spirit increase His Gifts and Presence within all of us……

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God’s hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o’erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen

Jesus, my King and Bridegroom…

Crucifixion, Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Crucifixion, Bartolome Esteban Murill

This evening at Mass, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, I watched as the line formed to receive Our Lord’s Precious Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion.

Is Jesus not the most approachable of Kings?  One Who is humble, condescending and generous beyond all imagining!

As I took my place in the Communion line I thought of how this Glorious King does not seek to surround Himself with the rich and powerful of His Kingdom, but prefers the simple and ordinary souls who would never be allowed in the presence of an earthly king.

Yet, if Jesus has any favorites, it is the poorest, most despised and rejected among us.  His heart aches to love the least loved.  His Mercy burns for the most wretched sinner. Jesus is the King of Love.

As I drew nearer to the priest and glanced above the altar, I did not behold a King robed in magnificent garments and crowned with jewels.  I saw a gentle and irresistible King, hanging on a cross and wearing a crown of thorns.

This is Jesus Who is both King and Bridegroom, Whose Merciful Heart longs to wed every soul to Himself, to give each a share in His Eternal Glory and even a participation in His Own Divine Life.

That is what you do when you wed someone.  You give them all that you have, and all that you are.  And when Jesus gives Himself to us in Holy Communion, that is what He does.  He gives ALL.

And for a throne, Jesus desires our hearts….yours and mine.  How unthinkable that He would prefer us over all Creation, but He does.  He yearns to be King of our hearts and make His dwelling there.  He told us so on the night before He died.

Anyone who loves Me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make a home in him. (John 14:23) NJB

I could never find a picture for this post, glorious and beautiful enough to illustrate Jesus as He reigns in Heaven.  But, I don’t think Jesus minds at all.  He still bears His Wounds in Glory.

And somehow, I think He prefers the crown of thorns over any crown of gold and precious stones.

It is His Crown of Love….this King of Love.  My King.  Hopefully, your King too..

Our Heavenly Bridegroom!

After This….nothing more but Heaven

“The Eucharist is the supreme proof of the love of Jesus. After this, there is nothing more but Heaven itself.”

St. Peter Julian Eymard

“When we go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament we represent the one in the world who is in most need of God’s Mercy.” We “Stand in behalf of the one in the world who does not know Christ and who is farthest away from God and we bring down upon their soul the Precious Blood of The Lamb.”

Pope St. John Paul II

 “O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I would like to be filled with love for You; keep me closely united with You, may my heart be near to Yours. I want to be to You like the apostle John. O Mary of the Rosary, keep me recollected when I say these prayers of yours; bind me forever, with your rosary, to Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus, my love..,” 

Pope St. John XXIII, Journal of a Soul

 “For One in such a lofty position to stoop so low is a marvel that is staggering. What sublime humility and humble sublimeness, that the Lord of the Universe, the Divine Son of God, should stoop as to hide Himself under the appearance of bread for our salvation! Behold the humble way of God, my brothers. Therefore, do not hold yourselves to be anything of yourselves, so that you may be entirely acceptable to One Who gives Himself entirely to you.”

St. Francis of Assisi

“O Sisters, if we would only comprehend the fact that while the Eucharistic Species remain within us, Jesus is there and working in us inseparably with the Father and the Holy Spirit and therefore the whole Holy Trinity is there…,” 

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

My Beautiful One…..

“One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate His temple.” Psalm 27

chalice-host

I am held captive
by Your Beauty,
although You remain
unseen.
Nothing created
could ever enamor
my heart like You.
Yours is an
Indefinable Beauty
Which no words
could describe.
It is the Way You are
It is What You do
It is the Perfection
In all of Your Works.
It is Your
Flawless Wisdom.
Your Beauty is
the Way You Love,
the Way You ARE Love
It is the
Radiance of Your Face.
Awareness of
Divine Beauty
grows ever in my heart
Each of
Your Attributes
appears infused with
Beauty
to me.
Everything
about You
my God
is
Incomparably Beautiful.
And, gazing upon the
Sacred Host
my heart cries out:
How beautiful You are
my Jesus!
You are so
Beautiful!

Never enough……

pope-francis-blessed-sacrament-h-t-cwr
Pope Francis on the Feast of Corpus Christi, May 30, 2013, Rome, Italy

We cannot possibly adore enough, Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in the Sacred Host for us, waiting so patiently, so longingly for His children to find a moment to spend with Him.

Precious Jesus, on this Feast of Your Most Holy Body and Blood, give us the grace to promise that we will not abandon You in Your lonely vigil, but will come joyfully and gratefully into Your Presence at every possible moment.

“The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.”
Blessed John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, February 1980

 

Worthy is the Lamb….

BEHOLD….Infinite Love, Divine Humility, Perfect Obedience!
How beautiful Jesus is in His Passion and His Death, the Greatest Act of Love the world will ever know.

He did not have to suffer like this, only one drop of His Precious Blood would have been enough to redeem countless worlds. But He chose to shed every drop of His Blood, that we may better know the extravagance of His Love for us.

Behold that Love!

Note: This video contains explicit footage from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

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