Via Pedro Marrero –

A Meditation after praying the Divine Office:

As Deitrich Bonhoeffer reminds us, when Christ calls us he bids us die, to ourselves and to the world, and still at rarer times, in true martyrdom of the body for the sake of the Faith.

Some Christians will be crucified spiritually, others, as in the middle-east of our days, quite literally upon a Cross of Spiritual Battles or upon the wood of a roughly hewn beam under the watch of our old enemies, certain followers of a man who set us in opposition 1,400 years ago.

The Way, the Way of a Christian is along the Via Dolorosa towards the Cross.

The Gospel isn’t merely a set of books, as meritorious as their spiritual guidance is, but a profound sacrifice of ourselves through the grace gifted to us by the Persons of Love, as expressed through the Paraclete, the Comforter, who resides in an especially intimate way in the hearts of those called forth to the Altar worthily. The Word of God is dynamic, is alive, brings forth existence itself, is Scripture, Christ, His Church and all who follow the will of the Father. The Word of God is Love, and Love is a Person who invites us to His Presence. The Universe itself owes its existence to this effulgence of Love which could not help but call us forth to participate in this Love – And this is why Christ is King. This gift of the virtue of courage in martyrdom to ourselves and the world for love of God and neighbor for the Advancement of the Kingdom of True Love ( Agape ) is the Gospel, and that we can participate in it through the power of the Comforter is the Good News. That we have been overcome by grace and have become chalices overflowing with grace to bring new life into the world against the Cultures of Death and Darkness, which do not reside in the Truth since Truth is the Person of Love in the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity. The gaze of Love between the Father and the Son, eternally.

FROM TODAY’S OFFICE OF READINGS IN THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS:

From a homily by Pope Paul VI-

“Not to preach the Gospel would be my undoing, for Christ himself sent me as his apostle and witness. The more remote, the more difficult the assignment, the more my love of God spurs me on. I am bound to proclaim that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of him we come to know the God we cannot see. He is the firstborn of all creation; in him all things find their being. Man’s teacher and redeemer, he was born for us, died for us, and for us he rose from the dead.

All things, all history converges in Christ. A man of sorrow and hope, he knows us and loves us. As our friend he stays by us throughout our lives; at the end of time he will come to be our judge; but we also know that he will be the complete fulfilment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity.

I can never cease to speak of Christ for he is our truth and our light; he is the way, the truth and the life. He is our bread, our source of living water who allays our hunger and satisfies our thirst. He is our shepherd, our leader, our ideal, our comforter and our brother.

He is like us but more perfectly human, simple, poor, humble, and yet, while burdened with work, he is more patient. He spoke on our behalf; he worked miracles; and he founded a new kingdom: in it the poor are happy; peace is the foundation of a life in common; where the pure of heart and those who mourn are uplifted and comforted; the hungry find justice; sinners are forgiven; and all discover that they are brothers.

The image I present to you is the image of Jesus Christ. As Christians you share his name; he has already made most of you his own. So once again I repeat his name to you Christians and I proclaim to all men: Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, Lord of the new universe, the great hidden key to human history and the part we play in it. He is the mediator – the bridge, if you will – between heaven and earth. Above all he is the Son of man, more perfect than any man, being also the Son of God, eternal and infinite. He is the son of Mary his mother on earth, more blessed than any woman. She is also our mother in the spiritual communion of the mystical body.

Remember: it is Jesus Christ I preach day in and day out. His name I would see echo and re-echo for all time even to the ends of the earth.”