Day 12 - Feb. 24 - Sunday

Keep Sabbath holy.

Is it pleasing to our God

To save lives today?

Most who allow their babies to be aborted are deeply wounded, both by prior experiences and by the terror of the abortion itself.  The baby is often grievously wounded in the process of being killed.

The extended family is wounded by the death of one of its members.  Often when we pray, we see the pain and wounds of those who defend the killing of innocent babies, and pro-lifers often suffer wounds of the heart.

Jesus Christ, too, was deeply wounded in His Passion.  He suffered and died for us to heal our wounds with his own, to pay the price for us.  Jesus thirsts for our healing and salvation.  

Today we can pray the Eleventh Prayer of St. Bridget, first published in 1740:

Oh Jesus!  Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of You, in memory of Your wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Your bones and to the depth of Your being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Your Face justly irritated against me.  Hide me in Your wounds until Your anger and just indignation shall have passed away.  Amen.

Jesus knows what it is to be rejected by one's friends, to be unjustly accused, to be exhausted and in great torment.  Jesus is said to have taught St. Bridget fifteen prayers to honor the wounds of Christ.  Part of the first prayer begins to give us a glimpse of the suffering that Jesus voluntarily submitted to for us:

Remember the sadness and bitterness which You experienced in Your Soul, as You Yourself bore witness saying:  "My soul is sorrowful even unto death."

Remember all the fear, anguish, and pain that You suffered in Your delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, You were betrayed by Judas, Your disciple, arrested by the people of a nation You had chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Your youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

Remember that You were despoiled of Your garments and clothed in those of derision; that Your Face and Eyes were veiled, that You were buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Your hands, and that You were rushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 The opening scene of the movie The Passion of the Christ dramatizes Christ praying in the Garden, the temptation to avoid His Father's will, and the decision that the Father's will would be done.

Christ chose to suffer and die for my sins, and yours. Will you join us in prayer during this day?