Read St. Luke xxii. 14-18.
Our blessed Lord, before He suffered, celebrated the Jewish rite which above all the rest foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The paschal lamb was an exact type of Him, the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world.
1. The paschal lamb was the means employed by Almighty God to deliver His people from Egypt. It was the sprinkling of its blood on the posts of the door which caused the avenging angel to pass by and leave the inmates unharmed. So the Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on our souls, in the sacraments and when we make an act of contrition, saves us from the vengeance that would otherwise fall upon us. O Jesus! sprinkle me with one drop of Thy precious Blood, and I shall be free from sin.
2. The paschal lamb had to be drained of the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb of God shed for us the last drop of His precious Blood. He was not satisfied with merely giving His life for us, but He must needs endure all the intense agony, the burning thirst which came of this draining of His whole body for love of us. How can I ever thank Him as I ought?
3. The lamb suffers uncomplainingly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there ; unlike the filthy swine, that grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God. " Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do it." Can I echo these words ?
Source: The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ - Short Meditations for Everyday in Lent,
by Richard F. Clarke, S.J. Imprimatur 1889
Our blessed Lord, before He suffered, celebrated the Jewish rite which above all the rest foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The paschal lamb was an exact type of Him, the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world.
1. The paschal lamb was the means employed by Almighty God to deliver His people from Egypt. It was the sprinkling of its blood on the posts of the door which caused the avenging angel to pass by and leave the inmates unharmed. So the Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on our souls, in the sacraments and when we make an act of contrition, saves us from the vengeance that would otherwise fall upon us. O Jesus! sprinkle me with one drop of Thy precious Blood, and I shall be free from sin.
2. The paschal lamb had to be drained of the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb of God shed for us the last drop of His precious Blood. He was not satisfied with merely giving His life for us, but He must needs endure all the intense agony, the burning thirst which came of this draining of His whole body for love of us. How can I ever thank Him as I ought?
3. The lamb suffers uncomplainingly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there ; unlike the filthy swine, that grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God. " Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do it." Can I echo these words ?
Source: The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ - Short Meditations for Everyday in Lent,
by Richard F. Clarke, S.J. Imprimatur 1889
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