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The Sacred Memory that Changes the World

In my heart I hold a memory, a painful memory with infinite promise.  This is a memory I choose to recall for the glory of God every day.  It is the memory of Jesus being crucified for the salvation of souls.

“Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:13

If you choose to remember the Lord’s Passion daily, this memory will change your life.  The power of temptation will leave you and the Holy Spirit will fill your heart as you dedicate your life to Jesus.

I encourage every believer of Christ to stop and pray and remember the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus daily at the time He died for us, 3pm, in your local time zone or a time zone that works for you.  This will not only give glory to God, it will enable you to become the person Jesus wants you to be.  Nothing will separate you from Him.  You are His and He is Yours!

Here is my daily reflection.

On the night before Jesus died He prayed that His people would be one.

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one–I in them and you in me–so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17: 18-23

IMAGINE THE GLORY WE WILL GIVE TO GOD BEING UNITED IN PRAYER AT THE TIME OUR SAVIOUR JESUS DIED FOR US, 3pm (in your local time zone, or another time zone that is convenient for you)!

Jesus is so worthy of every form of honour and praise and as we stop to pray at the time He died for us we have an opportunity to unite as One Body of Christ to reflect deeply on how much Jesus loves us that He would choose to suffer the brutal, agonizing death of crucifixion to save us. We have an opportunity to do one of the most important things we can ever do to help save souls – PRAY AS WE THANK JESUS FOR HIS EVERLASTING LOVE!

St. Bonaventure wrote, “He who desires to go on advancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus. There is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ.” (Source: Meditations on the Passion of Jesus Christ, Saint Alphonsus de Liguouri)

St. Francis of Assisi was seen crying one day and he explained, “I am weeping over the pains and insults of my Divine Master. But what grieves me most is that men for whom He suffered so much never think of the torments He endured.” (Source: Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ)

I have discovered in my own personal life that the Passion of Christ is a sacred key enabling me to understand the greatness of God’s love for every soul on earth. Walking the Way to Calvary has been the single most important thing I have ever done to develop a personal, intimate bond with my Saviour Jesus Christ. I encourage you to do the same and be part of the global prayer movement that unites to pray at the time Jesus died for us, 3pm (in your local time zone)

This is my daily meditation at the Hour of Mercy, 3pm – The Time Jesus died for our salvation:

The Last Supper is completed. Jesus has given His apostles the Sacrament of His Body and Blood and has asked that they do this in memory of Him. He has washed their feet and instructed them to serve and now Jesus and His chosen apostles enter the Mount of Olives singing a hymn. This will be the last time Jesus sings with His friends.

Jesus descends into the dark Garden of Gethsemane. He has asked His apostles, Peter, James and John not to sleep but they have fallen asleep and alone Jesus sees all that He will have to suffer. In anguish, I hear His loud cries to the Eternal Father. “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matthew 26:39

Jesus is truly God and He is truly Man and His humanity cries out for solace while His divinity accepts His most painful mission. I see an angel come from heaven to comfort Jesus and Jesus drenched in perspiration and blood accepts His Father’s will.

The soldiers come to seize Jesus and Jesus asks them:  “Whom are you looking for?” and they reply “Jesus of Nazareth”.  Jesus replies “I am He.” and when they hear his voice they fall backward to the ground.  Just the sound of His divine voice causes them to fall on the ground prostrate.

Jesus is arrested and interrogated and He is brutally tortured. The scourging alone could be enough to kill a man, but Jesus is so strong. Jesus is crowned with thorns and our sins are the thorns causing Jesus so much pain! We are all responsible for every drop of blood that He sheds and yet how many days and years go by without souls saying “I love You” to the Holy One who gave everything to spare His people from the price of Divine Justice.

Following the interrogation of Pontius Pilate, Pilate declares “I find him innocent” Luke 23:14 and he gives the crowds that have gathered the opportunity to release a prisoner for the Jewish feast time of Passover.  Jesus (innocent of any wrong doing) and Barabbas (a murderer) stand in front of the crowds.  Jesus already scourged stands humbly, bloody and weakened by the loss of blood caused by the scourging.  The cruel crowds choose to release the murderer Barabbas and as for Jesus they scream “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Luke 23:21  The same people who rejoiced at Jesus’ miracles are now calling for His death!

I see the Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, stoic and yet sharing spiritually in every pain Her Son endures. Oh what shame and continuous insults! Jesus is pushed to the ground, mocked and forced to carry His own Cross up the Hill to Calvary. I see Him fall. I see His eyes so full of tears and pain yet full of resolve and hope…Jesus is saving the world! He is crushing the devil’s head as it was prophesied in Genesis 3:15. I hear Jesus cry out as He is crucified, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34  I tell Jesus every day I am so sorry to have caused you so much pain!  Just as You forgave Lord, I will strive to forgive.

I see Jesus hanging on the Cross in agony, struggling to breathe. Our Mother Mary stands in front of Him. Her gaze never leaves Him. People in the background are still taunting Him, hurling insults….But we love Him! And with a sword in our hearts, we never take our eyes off Him! He gives us His Mother, honoring the Blessed Virgin in His last moments of life. “Behold your Mother.” John 19:26 The Virgin Mary’s communion with God and with her Son Jesus is eternal and so too is ours if we choose, like Mary, to consent to God’s plan.

How do we bid farewell to the Holy One, Jesus Christ, who is dying on the Cross? We don’t! He promised He would not leave us orphans. He promised He would be with us in the Eucharist and that He would send His Holy Spirit upon us so that He could live in us. He promised He was going to prepare a place for us and that He would be with us always until the end of time.  He promised He would rise again and He did.

This walk has changed my life. I do this every day at 3pm, the time Our Lord Jesus died for us and it has resulted in a relationship of intimacy with Jesus that I cannot describe in words. The Passion of Our LORD Jesus Christ changed my life and it will change the world…one soul at a time…and as each soul enters truly and deeply into the suffering of Our God, we are transformed; we are renewed; we are sanctified. Temptation loses its grip. His wounds are upon our hearts. We become His Bride – the Bride of Christ!