Devotion

Day 15

Please read through the Day 15 devotional by clicking on the link before continuing...

http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day15print.pdf

It is miraculous to me that this particular devotional comes on the day after Evangelium Vitae's, the Gospel of Life's, Introduction and First Chapter were proclaimed from 5PM to 6:30PM last evening at the Planned Parenthood abortion mill in Indianapolis. In Evangelium Vitae, the Gospel of Life, section 25 we read:
"You have come to the sprinkled blood" (cf. Heb 12: 22, 24): signs of hope and invitation to commitment

25. "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" (Gen 4:10). It is not only the voice of the blood of Abel, the first innocent man to be murdered, which cries to God, the source and defender of life. The blood of every other human being who has been killed since Abel is also a voice raised to the Lord. In an absolutely singular way, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, the voice of the blood of Christ, of whom Abel in his innocence is a prophetic figure, cries out to God: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God ... to the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" (12:22, 24).

The blood of Christ, while it reveals the grandeur of the Father's love, shows how precious man is in God's eyes and how priceless the value of his life. The Apostle Peter reminds us of this: "You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pt 1:18-19). Precisely by contemplating the precious blood of Christ, the sign of his self-giving love (cf. Jn 13:1), the believer learns to recognize and appreciate the almost divine dignity of every human being and can exclaim with ever renewed and grateful wonder: "How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he gained so great a Redeemer' (Exsultet of the Easter Vigil), and if God gave his only Son' in order that man should not perish but have eternal life' (cf. Jn 3:16)!". 20

Furthermore, Christ's blood reveals to man that his greatness, and therefore his vocation, consists in the sincere gift of self. Precisely because it is poured out as the gift of life, the blood of Christ is no longer a sign of death, of definitive separation from the brethren, but the instrument of a communion which is richness of life for all. Whoever in the Sacrament of the Eucharist drinks this blood and abides in Jesus (cf. Jn 6:56) is drawn into the dynamism of his love and gift of life, in order to bring to its fullness the original vocation to love which belongs to everyone (cf. Gen 1:27; 2:18-24).

It is the sprinkled blood. A symbol and prophetic sign of it had been the blood of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, whereby God expressed his will to communicate his own life to men, purifying and consecrating them (cf. Ex 24:8; Lev 17:11). Now all of this is fulfilled and comes true in Christ: his is the sprinkled blood which redeems, purifies and saves; it is the blood of the Mediator of the New Covenant "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26:28). This blood, which flows from the pierced side of Christ on the Cross (cf. Jn 19:34), "speaks more graciously" than the blood of Abel; indeed, it expresses and requires a more radical "justice", and above all it implores mercy, 19 it makes intercession for the brethren before the Father (cf. Heb 7:25), and it is the source of perfect redemption and the gift of new life.

It is from the blood of Christ that all draw the strength to commit themselves to promoting life. It is precisely this blood that is the most powerful source of hope, indeed it is the foundation of the absolute certitude that in God's plan life will be victorious. "And death shall be no more", exclaims the powerful voice which comes from the throne of God in the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:4). And Saint Paul assures us that the present victory over sin is a sign and anticipation of the definitive victory over death, when there "shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory'. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' " (1 Cor 15:54-55)."


While reading the truth to the darkness, with love and the understanding that victory is now, sprinkled with the precious blood of Jesus, the light rain subsided and the darkness could see the futility of its efforts...Hope was present in the grassy area as we stood getting to know one another better.

If you wish, plan to join in this Saturday morning's 7AM to 8:30AM second run through of Evangelium Vitae's, the Gospel of Life's, Introduction and First Chapter. Also, know that Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 & the Conclusion will be proclaimed / read aloud on these same days and times (Tuesdays 5PM to 6:30PM and Saturdays 7AM to 8:30AM) during the next three consecutive weeks following this first week.

God Bless You!

Ron Kramer
Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ