Christ

Prophet Isaiah fortells

See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him–
so marred was his look beyond human semblance
and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man–
so shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
for those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him,
like a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses.

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The JOY of Divine Mercy Sunday

“When I see that the burden is beyond my strength, I do not consider or analyze it or probe into it, but I run like a child to the heart of Jesus and say only one word to Him: “You can do all things.” And then I keep silent, because I know that Jesus Himself will intervene in the matter, and as for me, instead of tormenting myself, I use that time to love Him.” –Saint Faustina’s Dairy

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Seven final words

Now you may consider the seven words pronounced by Our Lord from the Cross.  Of these, the first was: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’.  The second was addressed to the thief: ‘This day thou shalt be with me in paradise’, in the third to His Most Holy Mother: ‘Woman, behold thy Son’.  The fourth: ‘I thirst’.  The fifth: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’  The sixth: ‘It is consummated’.  The seventh: ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’.

Consider, O my soul, with what charity He, in these words, commends His enemies to the Father, with what mercy He welcomes the thief who recognized Him, with what immense love He recommends His pious mother to the beloved disciple, with what thirsting zeal He witnesses to His longing for the salvation of man, in what sorrowful tones He pronounces His prayer and lays His griefs before the divine Majesty, how to the end He remains in the most perfect submission to the Father, and how finally He recommends His soul to Him, and resigns Himself completely into His most holy keeping.  –St Peter of Alcantara ‘Treatise on Prayer & Meditation’

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