Day 64 – 1.5 hours               375.5 to go

One of the first things I will ask Jesus if I make it to heaven is, “what were You drawing in the sand when the Pharisees brought before You the adulterous woman.”  There are some who say that He was writing the sins of the accusers; but we don’t know for sure.  He could have been writing a prayer.  He could have been writing some instruction to the woman.  He could have just been doodling as He processed in His mind the nature of the mounting opposition to His teaching of repentance.  Maybe He was just teaching us to think before we speak or take action. – I know this; I must be careful not to judge, for I am a most grievous sinner & at times of my life would have deserved to be stoned for my sins.  I hope and pray those times will never be repeated again!!!

Speaking of stoning, the chapter in DI was about the Jews wanting to kill Jesus after He told them; “”If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, be He sent Me.”-Jn 8:42 - As we begin Passiontide, we are instructed to remember and contemplate the sorrows of Jesus.  The chapter went on toremind us that we must share in His suffering; “let us see how much Jesus has loved us and how much we ought to love Him in return; let us learn that, if we wish to follow Him, we, too, must suffer and bear the Cross with Him and after Him.”  It continued with a message of hope; “At the same time, let us open our heart to a lively hope; for our salvation is in the Passion of Jesus.”  The prayer at the end of the chapter contained quite a challenge: “I run to Your Cross, O Christ - to suffering, scorn, and poverty; with all my strength I desire to be transformed in You, O suffering God-Man, who loved me so much that You endured a horrible, shameful death for the sole purpose of saving me, and to give me an example, so that I would be able to endure adversity for love of You.” - I have started to walk in that path but am a long way from running.  Please pray that I can pick up the pace.  The theme of suffering will continue tomorrow when the chapter is The Value of Suffering.  This could be a tough one!!!!

There was quite the challenge in the OOR second reading by Saint Athanasius: “True joy, genuine festival, means the casting out of wickedness.  To achieve this, one must live a life of perfect goodness and, in the serenity of the fear of God, practice contemplation in one’s heart.  This was the way of the saints, who in their lifetime and at every state of life rejoiced as at a feast…He went on to ask these questions: “When we celebrate the feast in our own day, what path are we to take?  As we draw near to this feast, who is to be our guide?  Athanasius ends his letter with the answer: “We too must follow the Lord, and we must keep his feast by deeds rather than words.”  Boy, do I have lots of work to do!!!!

My chaplet was for the people of Haiti & Chile and my rosary was for vocations

Peace


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