NINETEENTH MEDITATION FOR LENT
Then cried they all again, saying: "Not this man, but Barabbas." (John 18:40)
Where could this intense hatred come from, and what could have rendered Jesus Christ so odious? What sick person was ever presented to Him that He refused to heal, or what person in misfortune ever appealed to Him and was refused consolation? This rage and fury of the Jews certainly astonishes us, and certainly grieved the Heart of Jesus Christ. But, my Savior, are there not people today who have a like hatred against the most august and most lovable of all the Sacraments? How many heretics are there not who, refusing to recognize Thee in this Sacrament of Thy love, cry out against Thee every day: "Not this Man!" How many bad Catholics who, either refusing to receive Thee in Holy Communion, or receiving Thee unworthily cry out: "Not this Man!" Finally, how many people who pass for pious, but who, by their forgetfulness and indifference, and by their negligence in visiting Thee in this adorable Sacrament, show only too clearly that they do not want Thee! Have I ever been among this number?
[From 'The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus' by Fr. John Croiset, SJ]
Where could this intense hatred come from, and what could have rendered Jesus Christ so odious? What sick person was ever presented to Him that He refused to heal, or what person in misfortune ever appealed to Him and was refused consolation? This rage and fury of the Jews certainly astonishes us, and certainly grieved the Heart of Jesus Christ. But, my Savior, are there not people today who have a like hatred against the most august and most lovable of all the Sacraments? How many heretics are there not who, refusing to recognize Thee in this Sacrament of Thy love, cry out against Thee every day: "Not this Man!" How many bad Catholics who, either refusing to receive Thee in Holy Communion, or receiving Thee unworthily cry out: "Not this Man!" Finally, how many people who pass for pious, but who, by their forgetfulness and indifference, and by their negligence in visiting Thee in this adorable Sacrament, show only too clearly that they do not want Thee! Have I ever been among this number?
[From 'The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus' by Fr. John Croiset, SJ]
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