Friday, June 30, 2006

Still He said, "I love you"

This past week while praying the rosary and meditating on the sorrowful mysteries, I felt as though God showed me the following. It's a bit difficult to put into words, because it was moreso an understanding or impression I had, than really a description. It's just something to meditate about I think:

With His heart bursting wit
h the greatest of love for you, Jesus approached you. Never before has anyone compared to this kind of love—no relationship, no one has fallen so deeply in love with you as He. Offerring not only His heart, but His very self, He called you close to that beating, living heart and said, "this is for you", but you rejected His gift outright. Not only did you not return His love, but you demanded He be sent to prison. How shattered He was by this rejection and your complete dismissal of His feelings for you. So much so, that He went to the garden and wept. He had little concern for His arrest and imprisonment, but His heart was torn by your words, by the look in your eyes as though you didn't even know Him.
He bore the rejection of the love from all the world. But as you had the guards take Him away, he turned at you and gazed into your eyes and said, "it is alright, know that I still love you."

You falsely accused Him so that He may be punished, as though tearing up that poor man's heart was not enough. He was beaten, whipped, His flesh torn to shreds and His blood spilled as a lamb in the slaughter.
He bore the sufferring and pains of the world. With what little strength He had left, bruised, broken and beaten, he raised His head and gazed softly into your eyes, forgetting the whip you clutched in your hand and He whispered, "I still love you".

Dragging Him aside you found it fitting to mock Him since the flogging had not yet eliminated Him from your life. You spat on Him, and with all your cunning used your tongue not to bless, but to deride, to attack, as a sharpened sword, so quick to lash out the most hurtful of remarks. Into his head and mind you beat those sharp words and thorns as deeply as you could, trying to destroy Him from the inside out. He let out loud cries and moans that could shatter the stars in the sky.
He bore the cruelty of the whole world. Then He clutched His heart, which was bursting at the seams and brimming with love, and He looked at you once again and with softness in His voice He called to you, "precious one, so dear to Me, I still love you"

Then with dead hatred in your heart, you looked back at Him, straight in the face and screamed, "CRUCIFY HIM!" This you shouted repeatedly; demanding a death that is prolonged and drawn out. Handing Him the cross, you shouted at Him, deriding Him—this Man who was already broken, now crushed under the immense weight of the cross. His shoulders splitting, the wood rubbing into His open wounds as he slowly marches uphill toward the condemnation you demanded He serve—to death.
He bore the sins of the whole world, and decided that even though you continued to deny His love and to unleash your cruelty upon Him, He would bear your sins too. He smiled and with what little energy He had left, looked deeply into your eyes and said, "remember that I love you"

Then, unrelenting and unrepentful, you began pounding the nails into His hands and feet, and with each bang of the hammer He cried out "I love you! I love you!" And hanging on the cross, He prayed for you, calling to His Father in heaven, "forgive them, for they know not what they do!" Choking on His own breath, he looked down from the cross and forgave you for all you did, even until death, and with tears in His eyes He finally said, "My precious child, love of my life, My heart is bursting with love that I can no longer contain. My Mercy and my Love are so strong and dying to pour out onto you, that they cannot be held in any more. I forgive you, and I love you so dearly." Then as He gave up His life, His heart which had grown so big with love for you, could no longer be held back, and with blood and water Christ's mercy and love poured out with His very life for you. Never has there been or will there ever be such love and mercy and it is pouring out for you endlessly, regardless of what you may have done or will ever do. You need only accept it, and it will always be waiting for you.

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