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Showing posts with label Precious Blood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Precious Blood. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Just As I Am

"Just As I Am" is by Fernando Ortega off of his latest CD, "Come Down O Love Divine".  Fernando had performed this hymn as a young artist, but this was a new melody and arrangement for this his latest project.  The music and the lyrics are stunning and soul moving.  They also have a similarity to the words St. Therese chose in the longer version of her Offering to Merciful Love.

Fernando dedicated the song to Billy Graham and there is a section in the song when we hear briefly from Billy Graham.  Here are the lyrics:


I waited and waited for God

He turned and He heard me
He lifted me out of the mud
His own hand secured me
The Lord is my strength
I will not be confounded
So I have focused my face like a flint
I'll not be ashamed
Lord I come

Just as I am

Without one plea
But that Your blood
Was shed for me

Take the days that remain in my life

Lord, let me serve You
While there is breath on my lips
I would proclaim You
I long for Your return
I long to see You face to face
I long to join the eternal song
Communion of all the saints

Just as I am

Without one plea
But that Your blood
Was shed for me

From
St. Therese's Offering to Merciful Love (long version)
Since You loved me so much as to give me Your only Son as my Savior and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. I offer them to You with gladness, begging You to look upon me only in the Face of Jesus and in His heart burning with Love. . . . 

After earth's Exile, I hope to go and enjoy You in the Fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for Your Love alone with the one purpose of pleasing You, consoling Your Sacred Heart, and saving souls who will love You eternally.

In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved!

We can only confess that Jesus is Lord (see 1 Corinthians 12:3) or call God, "Abba", Father (see Galatians 4:6) in the Holy Spirit.  Our faith itself, our confession of faith, our realization that Jesus is Lord, and through the shedding of his Precious Blood we have the Holy Spirit to teach us to call out Abba--Our Father, all of it is gift.  Lord, make us truly thankful!

We will show up empty handed just like St. Therese, Great Saint that she is!
We know we have nothing to boast of
that our hope of salvation came from God, Our Father, 
not sparing his only Son, 
and that Son in obedience and love
became incarnate of a woman, 
full of grace, conceived without sin because of God her Savior, 
and this Son, revealed his Father to us,
taught us to pray, Our Father, 
taught us how to love, how to show mercy and compassion, 
how to forgive, he suffered betrayal, humiliation, bodily and soul wrenching torment, 
and then laid his life down for us his friends, 
and every drop of his Precious Blood ran from his pierced side, His Sacred Heart.  Jesus, I do Trust in You.  Jesus I thank you that you thirst for me.  Increase my thirst, increase my love for you.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"  And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."  Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?"  I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  (Revelation 7:9-14)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Day of Lenten Devotion in Mid-Summer

Two Great Solemnities today, both which compel us to not let this day pass without some time meditating and thanking our Dear Lord for his unfathomable love for us.
Sr. Lucia's Vision
June, the traditional month of devotion to the Sacred Heart, and July, the traditional month of devotion to the Precious Blood meet today on Friday, July 1, 2011 with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the Solemnity of the Precious Blood.

Today is great day to assist at Holy Mass or Divine Liturgy, and if that doesn't happen, to find a way to spend an hour in Adoration either before Our Lord's Real Presence in the Monstrance, or in the Tabernacle.

Devotion to Jesus's Sacred Heart and His Precious Blood is way of reminding us to be grateful for all the aspects of Christ's love for us and for mankind that he gave up heavenly glory for 33.5 years to be God with us, that he suffered unimaginable humiliations and cruelty as Redeemer, that he laid down his life for us his friends, that his pierced heart gushed forth every drop of blood and water so that Divine Mercy would be available to us who believe and love him rather than Divine Justice.

When I picked the blog name Inadequate Disciple it was because I feel so inadequate in reaching out to others for Christ.  That I've been blessed with gift of faith and seemingly so little ability to reach others.

Today is a day when the inadequacy realization has to do with how inadequate my words and thoughts and anything I could possibly write here is to express gratitude for Jesus's love for me personally.  St. Augustine wrote, "He loves each one of us as if there were only one."

I pray that everyone reading this will never become so hardened by what they experience or see others suffer in this life that they lose the main truth of their existence:

God loved you into existence, created you to know, love, and serve him, and to live in personal communion with him in this life, and more fully and eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven.


This is your reality and my reality.  Despite what suffering, or loss we see or see others experience in this life, that is the reality, that is the truth.  Do not let our Adversary, his minions, or our secular, apostatic culture steal or distract you from this wonderful life giving, consoling truth.

"Coming from God, going toward God, man lives a fully human life only if he freely lives by his bond with God."  
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 44

Jesus loves me!  Jesus loves you!

May the Holy Spirit stir up our gratitude this day.

Prayer of St. Paul of the Cross in Cardinal Spellman's Prayer Book

O JESUS!  Through Thy burning love for us, Thou didst will to be nailed to the Cross and to shed Thy Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls.  Look upon us, fully trusting in Thy mercy, here gathered together in the remembrance of Thy most powerful Passion and Death.

By Thy grace, purify us from sin; hallow our labor; give unto us all our daily bread; sweeten our sorrows; bless our families; grant unto nations so sorely afflicted, Thy peace, the only true peace, that we, being obedient to Thy commandments, may attain unto heavenly glory.  Amen


LORD!  I give Thee thanks that Thou didst die upon the Cross for my sins.