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TODAY’S WORD…

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God’s love was revealed among us in this way:

God sent His only Son into the world

so that we might live through Him.

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– 1 John 4:9 (NRSV)

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Jesus said,

“No one has greater love than this,

to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

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– John 15:13 (NRSV)

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Jesus said,

“If any want to become my followers,

let them deny themselves

and take up their cross and follow me.

For those who want to save their life will lose it,

and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

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– Matthew 16:24-25 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Next time you pray, hold a Crucifix in your hands.

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When we pray with a Crucifix,

we receive a special invitation from Jesus.

He invites us to reflect on our own life;

He reminds us of the seriousness and consequences of our sins—

consequences which He willingly took on by carrying the cross

and sacrificing Himself on it

…for us.
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When we pray with a Crucifix,

it inspires us to bear our suffering patiently.

If Jesus, as God made-Man, had to suffer in order to enter into His Glory,

then we too should accept suffering.

Adopting such an attitude makes our character more like Jesus’

and it helps detach us from the things of this world

and draws us closer to the Divine.

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The Crucifix also shows us the model of true love.

The Crucifix doesn’t hide the reality that love is sometimes painful,

for true love requires forgiveness.

If Jesus cried out from the Cross,

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”(Lk 23:34),

are we not also invited to do the same, to forgive those who hurt us?
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The Crucifix is a reminder

that it alone is the way of life that brings us ultimate happiness.

We follow Christ on the Cross

in order to get to the resurrected Christ.

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The Crucifix reminds us that the path to resurrection

requires us to love as He loved.

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[*]

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QUOTES…

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“O what inspiration there is in the Crucifix!

Who could find it hard to persevere

at the sight of a God who never commands us to do anything

which He has not first practiced Himself?”

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– St. John Vianney

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“A plain cross has no blood and no nail holes

– it has no trace of suffering –

yet it was the love of a suffering God that saved the world.

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When a cross is plain, we are deprived of seeing this truth

…we are deprived of being reminded

of how much God loves us and how He has proved His love

…we are deprived from the comforts of seeing this

and we may turn in towards ourselves

rather than to our Crucified Lord.”

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– Pope Pius XI

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord and my God, I love You.

Forgive me, Jesus,

and fill my heart with faith, hope and above all, love!

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