#amen to them and their clothing fr

[evrensadwrn]

whoever done the costume design for john wick mfers i love you

[bitchlessdino]

scream your heart out (m)

🔪pairing: fem!reader x seventeen (???) 🔪genre: horror, slasher, smut 🔪tags: DISCLAIMIER!!! MAY NOT SUIT MOST AUDIENCES, Graphic sexual and violent imagery color coded in pink, abrupt changes in text color, features/mentions members (Chan, Seungkwan, Wonwoo, Minghao, Seungcheol, Seokmin, Junhui, Soonyoung, Joshua), established relationships, scream au!seventeen, Hybristophilia, erotophonophilia, homicidophilia, graphic images, mention panic attacks, smoking, mentions disfigurement of faces, severed body parts, knives, guns, threatening phone calls, face masks (horror), knife wielding, blood, gore, death/murder, knife play, bloody handjobs, cum mixing with blood, consensual sex but nonconsensual murder, HONESTLY SOME REALLY FUCKED UP SHIT AND IM SORRY BUT YALL SHOULD BE READING THE WARNINGS, sexual innuendos, kitchen sex, daddy kink, unprotected sex, cream pies, cuck! (??) member, voyeurism, exhibitionism, breeding kink, PLS LET ME KNOW IF IM MISSING ANYTHING PLS 🔪word count: 6.8k 🔪summary: you and your friends get caught up in a classic horror slasher movie, only it's in real life. Now you're off to fend for yourselves in Seungcheol's million dollar home. The question is, did you keep them out, or did you just lock them in? 🔪author note: thank you @multi-kpop-fanfics and @wonwussy for beta reading for me <3. here's some of their notes “I’m scratching my face to not fucking scream” “WELL SHIT BRO WHAT THE FUCK” -Zeta “It definitely does capture that slasher essence” -SJ this was so fun yet mind numbing to write but this is way more extreme than anything I’ve ever written like I lost a lot of sanity writing this. FR one of the most fucked up things I’ve ever written. I hope it was worth it. ENJOY EVERYONE and even tho it came out late HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Ever since the murders over a week ago, everyone in town has been on edge. All including the individuals most closely involved.

You had lost three core members of your eight. 

Joshua, someone you’ve known since grade school who was sliced open from the back before being stabbed 8 times to the point of excessive bleeding. He had just gone out to walk his dog, the poor creature being the only reason they found his body at all. If not for the dog’s bloody paws, and the trail of blood they left behind finding help, Joshua’s cadaver would’ve lost deep in the woods.

And then Chan, your long-time boyfriend, was stabbed fifteen times in the chest. His face was so disfigured from obvious violence and what looked to be burn scars, that he was practically unrecognizable if not for the fact he died in his own home. Police are still looking for his severed arms and legs to this day with no luck.

And finally, Seungkwan, who hadn’t died but lost to the paranoia festering in his blood like a disease. That caused him to take the train to the furthest destination possible to attempt to escape death if at all possible, leaving the rest of you with only the reassuring texts he left in his wake.

All that was left was you, Seokmin, Seungcheol, Minghao, and Wonwoo; the core five.

“Okay, absolutely no one is leaving this house for the time being. Until the psycho is caught behind bars, dead, or whatever the fuck! We’re safe here.”

Seungcheol, the eldest, did just as expected: contacted the rest of you into a personal prison. Luckily, he was loaded. The prison happened to be six thousand square feet of space with countless rooms, amenities, and a housekeeper to boot. From the looks of it, it’s paradise, but it’s definitely a prison.

“Holy shit, you have an indoor basketball court?”

A prison with an indoor basketball court. And a pool apparently.

Seokmin wasted no time to enjoy these features, breaking out of his clothes and cannonballing in his underwear. If you knew any better, Seokmin didn’t even look like he went through any trauma at all. It looked like every other day for him.

“There's a murderer and you’re doing butterfly strokes?” You asked, baffled.

The golden man scoffed, reaching the edge of the pool and resting against it with his forearms. “What am I gonna do? Wallow, crying to my mom, worrying about dying, and not taking advantage of this gorgeous mansion we’re staying in?”

“Thank you, Seokmin,” Seungcheol grinned.

Seokmin winked back at him, “Of course, daddy.”

“How are you both so unserious about all this?”

Wonwoo left a kind hand against your shoulder, looking back at you with warm eyes and a small smile. “They’re grieving. Just in their own way.”

You sighed, crossing your arms. “They’re being ridiculous. We shouldn’t be here. We need to be at the police station or something.”

“You were there when I got the call. The creepy voice said no police or you all die. Remember?”

You shuddered, hands over your sides to relieve your chilled skin. “Of course I do, but we’re sitting ducks here. This isn’t any better. We need protection.”

It was Seungcheol’s turn to scoff then. He strutted in front of you, flaunting his wing span before flexing his arms and then crossing them over his chest. “Well, you have me.”

“And me,” Seokmin joined. “Pure muscle right here.”

“Maybe pure laughing gas, not sure about muscle. We’re actually living in a horror movie right now and you’re all making jokes.”

“Hey,” Wonwoo stroked your head as his soothingly deep voice serenaded you, “Don’t say that. We’ll make it out of here.”

His arms come around you, forearms pressed against your collarbones, and his chin crooked over your shoulder. “You have me too. I would run through that knife before it could get to you.”

You genuinely smile for the first time being there, your hand stroking over his embrace. Wonwoo delicately kissed the temple of your forehead, reminding you what it was like to be constantly adored.

You were grateful for what he had become in your life. Wonwoo had kept you company in your time of need. In the absence of Chan. He had come to your house with whatever he thought you might need, lent you his shoulder that you could cry on, lent his ears so that he could listen, lent his body that you could heal. In more ways than one.

“You’re right. You are.” You turned to face him, wrapping your arms around his body and meeting his eyes framed in specs of hard plastic. “You’re the first person I can sacrifice if we face them head to head.”

He mused at you. “Ooh, now look who’s pulling jokes.”

“Who said I was joking?”

“You two are disgustingly cute,” Minghao commented coming through the back door. “Horror movie rules: they get killed while having sex.”

You punched the new face right in the arm, watching him scurry away to your other friends laughing.

“Not funny, Hao.”

Minghao sneers at you, a jester smile still on his face. “Ease up, princess. Wonwoo, watch your girl.”

“Only because she’s so pretty to look at,” he briefly grinned down at you before directing his attention to Minghao sternly, “but come on. We’re all a little psyched right now. Cool it with the murder talk. Alright?”

Wonwoo pulled you aside into the dining area, ignoring the careless laughter outside. His thumb stroked against your knuckles, lips pressing sweetly against your cheeks. His grin sunk deeper in his cheeks the further he made it past your jaw and then down your neck. He felt your throat vibrate against his lips. “Wonwoo…”

“I can’t have all these guys get you heated like this. That’s my job,” he teased with a rasp.

You slightly pushed him off, your arms swung over his shoulders. “You’re so ridiculous right now.”

“Anything to put that smile on your face.”

His lips reconnected with your neck, nipping at your skin. His humming sent tingles down your spine, and he took your body to press you against the side of the counter. Your hands grasped his baggy shirt, lip close to his ear, fanning your breath against his face. You smiled like a girl in love. Obsessed.  “Daddy…”

“I love it when you call me that,” he mumbled, just as love-struck, if not more. Your giggles brought out the pink on Wonwoo’s ears and cheeks while tightening the groin of his pants. You noticed immediately, cupping it in your palm, and running your finger along the seam. Your eyes skimmed over his taken expression, leaning your full weight into him. “I know there’s something else you really love.”

“Do you now?”

You nodded, your bottom lip caught between your teeth. “But do you really want to do it here? Risk getting caught?”

He leaned into your touch, allowing your fingers to take apart his pants. “Try new things right? Like you always say. Plus you’re scared. Gonna turn that fear into pleasure. Make you feel good, just what my baby deserves.”

“You're so good to me, Daddy,” you moaned.

His hand finds the hem of your shorts, pulling them down to expose yourself to the cold air. He fingered through your panties and slid two digits through your folds. He felt your breath hitch as he squeezed your clit, eliciting your soft whines. “You’re so wet down there, baby.”

“Just waiting for daddy to fuck me where anyone can find us and watch.”

Wonwoo eagerly pulled down his pants, kicking them and yours aside, but not without pocketing your underwear. He lifted you up slightly from the ground, his exposed cock hitting at your hip. “Look what you do to me.”

Your throat went dry at the sight of him, hand aching to wrap your hand around his girth and have him shoved inside you.

He didn’t let you wait a second long, and pushed in slowly inch by inch, burying himself in your pussy until he was nearly balls deep. You grasped his shoulder in a gasp, savoring the fire burning in your stomach. The girth of his cock stretched your molten walls, allowing them to melt all around his cock as he spread your legs. You writhe in his embrace, your limbs closing around his lean and toned build, already blissful from the few seconds of him being inside you.

Wonwoo’s words kissed your lips, flushed your skin, and left a permanent smile on your face. It swelled pride in his chest, better than any physical trophy would have. His hips slowly rolled against yours, letting you adjust to his size. He massaged the flesh of your side through his fingers, mentally reassuring himself you were his and his alone, but his names on your lips became more than proof.

Your hips buckled towards him in heat, matching his pace before the carnal side of him decided to fuck you like an animal. His cock then plunged sharply inside you, and then again, a whimper coming out of your lips. Your hips stuttered the harder he pounded, arching your back, you felt his hand above your ass, pushing you against him.

“Daddy…”

He lost control when it came to you, addicted—religious—the second your body came in contact with his. He loved how your fingers ran through his hair, not caring how his glasses fell off his face in the process. With drool out of the corner of his lips, he could feel the blood rush up to the surface of your skin, making him feel warm at home inside you. Throbbing, he only got harder feeling how perfectly snug you were, pricking his clammy skin with goosebumps as he bottomed out.

“You’re sopping, precious,” he murmured with a sly grin.

He had you begging, flustered, and beautiful. Your hand clasped his face as your other arm looped around his neck, swallowing his lips, anxious and thirsty for his breath. You craved every part of him viscerally. “Cum in me, daddy. Please…”

He scoffed, lips ghosting over yours. “Will you take every bit of daddy’s cum, hmm? Hold my cum inside you.”

You nodded gingerly. “Yes, yes. I promise, daddy. Give it to me please, I want you to spill your cum inside me and make me yours…”

“Hold on to me.”

You obliged, met with the hot stream of his climax, yours quick to follow. He embraced your sides, devouring your lips and muffling your whines. His loads pumped into you in erratic thrusts, fucking his cum back into you and making sure you drained him of every ounce. His fingers dug into your flesh, feeling you just come apart for him, undoing the tension that festered earlier.

But that tension was needed. It was necessary to survive. Everyone let themselves forget the current predicament, basking in the glow of the sunset until dinner time arrived. Despite the housekeeper that supposedly exists, she hadn’t been around since all of you stepped foot in the house, like a ghost presence. Seungcheol scrambled to find her—reminding you of his peculiar obsession with the woman—as he wondered when dinner would be ready since a rise in temperature or a savory scent couldn’t be found in the kitchen.

“That’s strange. She’d be finished with a whole chicken by now,” the homeowner commented, noticeably picking his nails.

“Aww,” Seokmin groaned, “Well, is there anything else to eat?”

“I mean…you can look around.”

You narrowed your eyes at him in disbelief. “This is your house. You don’t know what you have in your own house?”

“You try navigating a five-story home with countless cabinets!”

“Buy a smaller house, you prick!”

“Guys!” Minghao chimed in. “Breathe in…and out. We’ll just find food. Seungcheol, your maid, your house, your search. She’s probably fine.”

Your hands slammed against those pristine marble counters. “We are NOT splitting up right now. This is what the killer wants. She’s probably already dead and we’re fucked.”

Wonwoo came to your side, laying a cool calm over your shoulder, and rubbed your sides. You let yourself melt in his touch, his sweet voice soothing you effectively. 

Seokmin sat up from his stool, “Okay, okay. I will help Seungcheol and you guys stick together.”

“That’s still splitting up!”

“Better than alone.” Seungcheol rebutted. “You guys stay.”

Despite your protests, they went on their search. Your head banged against Wonwoo’s chest, muttering in anguish about how everything was going wrong and that it’d only get worse. Meanwhile, Minghao seemed to regain some of that tension but masked the fear with the bright light of his phone, scrolling through TikTok. You didn’t know what was more annoying, sensation of imminent death possibly behind any door, or the same five songs replaying on Minghao’s feed.

After 15 minutes when they were nowhere to be seen, your patience had run thin. You picked yourself up from Wonwoo’s lap and dusted yourself off. “Fuck this. We’re finding them.”

You felt his hand on your shoulder, a concerned glow in his gaze. “Babe, hey. They’ve got it. Trust them.”

“Wonwoo, you know I can’t do that. Let’s just find them, hmm? Together?”

“Not a bad idea,” Minghao agreed. “Better in groups right? We go together, eliminate us as any potential suspects.”

Your boyfriend sighed, collected your hand, and laced his fingers through yours. “Fine.”

You were all joined together by the hip, making sure you were each other's sights. Through the wider than wingspan hallways, past the ridiculously expensive sculptures, you kept your eyes out for your estranged friends. Silence couldn’t have been more loud in these cavernous spaces, only hearing the gut feelings in your stomachs that’s churned in trepidation. Every step taken was the group closing in on the killer. 

Fortitude meant nothing if the danger was already inside.

Before turning around the corner, Minghao—reluctant to lead the group—crashed into a human-sized obstacle, causing the stumble of your entire party. You all faced a wide-eyed Seungcheol with the missing young housekeeper walking hand in hand with him. Suspicious, but besides the point.

“Holy shit, we said we’d come back!”

“It’s been 20 minutes, Cheol! You guys could’ve been dead for all we know.” You retorted.

“Wait, where’s Seokmin?” Wonwoo asked, noticing he didn’t see him nearby.

“He went ahead. He needed to piss or something and meet up later.”

“You idiot.” Your eyes burned a frustrated rage. “I said don't split up. DON’T SPLIT UP! That’s the number one rule of horror movies. You’re going get us fucking killed. He could be the murderer for all we know.”

Seungcheol scoffed, shaking his head. “Seokmin? No way. He’s the last person to even think to do that.”

“Well, do you see him? No! Probably he’s off someone being Ghostface reject with his stupid little voice modulator and cheap party city costume.”

“I told you—“ Before he could finish, his phone went off in the nick of time. When he pulled it out to saw Seokmin’s caller ID on display and the owner of the device wouldn’t help but smile. “See the bastard is even calling.”

He picked up and put him on speaker, eyeing you cheekily, amped to prove you wrong. “Seok, you little shit. How long does it take to piss, huh? Just say you wanted to take a dump.”

“Oh yeah, I took the shittiest, stinkiest, fattest dump. You could probably smell all the way from the other end of the hall.”

Instead of Seokmin on the other line, all of you were met with the eerie voice that had called you multiple times before. The voice that felt like spiders crawling up your legs. The voice that had you second guess whether you locked the front and the back door. The voice whose owner had killed countless people already. 

Seungcheol held the phone in a vice grip swallowing, fear stilling in his unsteady eyes. “You—Where the fuck is Seokmin, you son of a bitch?”

The morphed voice on the other end laughed, sounding bone chilling as nails against a blackboard. “What’s to say? Why don’t we play a little game to find out?”

“Mother fu—“You grabbed the phone from Seungcheol to answer in his place, cutting the older man off. “Why go through with this?”

“Why, I just want to help you find your beloved friend. All out of the kindness of my heart.”

“If it was all kindness, you could tell us where he is.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Psycho,” Minghao muttered under his breath, eyes wide in shock and fear, as if registering the idea of death for the first time.

“And if we refuse?” Wonwoo interjected.

“Seokmin dies, rock for brains,” Seungcheol gritted.

“Ding, ding, ding. Or should I say, chop, chop, chop, since that’s what'll happen if you get any of my questions wrong.”

You scoffed, coming down the stairs with your friends to follow. “Have at it then, you freak.”

“Hey, hey, play nice. Maybe I’ll get too excited and decide to cut him up early.”

Seungcheol glared at you briefly before taking back the phone, storming down the stairs, and reaching the ground floor. “Ask away, as long as Seokmin is safe.”

“First an easy one. What’s your favorite scary movie, Seungcheol?”

His feet stopped at the end of the couch in his living room, stammering to answer. “What kind of fucking question—uh, The Ring?”

“Don’t lie to your friends, Seungcheol. You know that’s not the answer, that’s just what you say to anyone that asks. Say the real answer.”

“That’s the movie though!” he started to shout, visibly shaking.

“Just say it, Cheol!” Minghao pushed.

“Stop playing around Choi Seungcheol! Just say it,” You joined.

“Fine!” He faced the friends, evidently swallowing his pride as he choked up on his answer. “I never watched a goddamn scary movie! Is that what you want to hear? I get panic attacks every time I hear one in the background, why do you I’m always going off smoking when you guys put one on,” he confessed through his tears.

“Congratulations. Your first right answer. Now was that so hard? Pussy boy?”

“Fuck you,” Seungcheol sputtered, tossing the phone back to you.

“Next question. ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ Leatherface is known for wearing a mask when it was in fact several. How many and what were they in the original movie?”

“Who the fuck would know an answer like that?” Minghao croaked in disbelief.

“Three. A ‘Killing Mask’, an ‘Old Lady Mask’ and a ‘Pretty Woman Mask.’” Wonwoo calmly answers, garnering horrified looks all around. “I wanted to be a filmmaker, remember?”

“Correct. Next question. What Was Freddy Krueger's serial killer nickname before he died?”

“It’s on the tip of my tongue,” you said slightly panicked, “Wonwoo?”

“The Springwood slasher.”

“Wow, Another amazingly correct answer. Hold on to that one, Y/n. He’s a keeper. He’s smart and fucks your brains out to the point of you screaming bloody murder? What a catch.”

You didn’t respond, impatience seething on the tip of your tongue, “Just tell us where this is all going.”

“Patience, sweetheart. Last question. What exact kind of knife does Ghostface use in the Stab movies? Here’s a hint: it’s the same one I’m holding in my hand against Seokmin’s throat. (Help me please...)”

“S-Seok.” Seungcheol gasped.

Seokmin’s voice could barely be heard on the other end, weak and afraid, only staggering breaths audible.

“Wonwoo, please,” Seungcheol begged, tears falling past his neck. “He’s our best friend.”

Wonwoo swallowed, gears visibly creaking in his head, “I know he uses a hunting knife, b-but—“

“Oh…” the voice cooed, “Well, that’s just not enough, is it? Seokminnie, say goodbye to your friends (Please, no…).”

“Seokmin!”

“Wait!” You barged, clutching the phone to the point of it almost bending. “A modified Buck 120. I remember now. It’s coming back to me. Now, let Seokmin go!”

The line went dead and in turn, light cast in the evening darkness of the poolside. All your eyes shot back at the change of light, startled at the sight in front of them. Seokmin was seated in a chair, bruises against his sides, bleeding from the splices on his forearms, and duct tape over his mouth. Yet the most frightening part was his closed eyes.

“Seokmin!”

You all rushed towards him, swinging the porch door in a panic. Seungcheol tried slapping him awake, pleading he’d be alive. “Seokmin please, please, wake up…

The poor victim's eyes start to flicker open, mumbling through the adhesive over his lips.

“Buddy,” Seungcheol ripped the duct tape clean off him, his ear coming up to his friend’s lips. “Speak to me…”

Seokmin’s voice came out in croaks, hardly incoherently, all except, “Be…hind…”

Minghao spat up blood, doubled over as Ghostface was revealed right behind him, and fell right into the pool. You and the housekeeper both let out a blood-curdling scream. The masked intruder wiped off the blood using his black rope, anticipating a lunge towards their next victim. 

“Run,” Wonwoo breathed out. 

He took your hand and ran with it. Taking a second to look back, you see Seungcheol and the housekeeper try to escape similarly before she was tugged right back towards the killer and she was stabbed right in front of him five times, each one faster than the last, having the poor Seungcheol paralyzed and fallen on his knees. The sounds of suffering were loud enough to hear throughout the neighborhood.

Wonwoo dragged you back upstairs, his survival instinct telling him to seek haven high and far up the house. 

“You left them there to die,” You proclaimed.

“He said he could manage it. You’re more important.”

“You actually believe that? Ghostface snuck up on Minghao with neither of us looking!”

“We’re going to have to. Secungcheol can handle himself.”

Finally, he finds the room, closing the door behind him and pushing heavy furniture in front of it for more time to stall. “We’ll be ok for a little bit here. Let’s look for weapons.”

He started rummaging through drawers, looking for anything strap, blunt, heavy, anything worth using. He was red in the face, sweat drenching his entire body. The only thing running through his mind was keeping you, the most important person in his life, safe. 

“Wonwoo, I don’t know if we’re going to find anything. Fuck. I’m so scared right now.”

He recognized the panic in your eyes, the bounce in your step, and the quiver in your voice. “Hey, hey, baby. Look at me.” He grasped your face in his hands, wiping your tears away with his thumb. 

“I’m here, hmm.” He kissed your closed eyes. “You’re alright.”

Then your tempered cheeks. “We’ll get through this.”

The tip of your nose. “I love you like hell.” 

Finally your trembling lips. “I’ll keep you alive.”

“Promise?” You managed to breathe out.

“Scouts honor.”

The banging resonated from outside the locked door, only getting louder and closer every passing second as if teasing you to death. You shook in Wonwoo’s embrace, burying your face in his chest. “I don’t want to die here, baby.”

“You won’t. Not with me.” One arm wrapped around your body, and another had his fingers locked around the base of a lamp, tugging it from the outlet. Pitch darkness joined you, only having to rely on the dim-lit sky through the peek of the windows.

Whomever on the other side cracked through the wood of the door, breaking it piece by piece as it fell to the ground, knocking over the dresser that blocked 

“Shit, shit, shit.” Wonwoo pushed you behind him.

Finally, your barrier came down with a final kick, rendering it useless. Wonwoo let out a battle cry, charging at them with the lamp above his head. He swung his weapon while Ghostface swung theirs, both missing simultaneously. Gritting his teeth, Wonwoo pulled forward, aiming for the head.

They crash against the wall in the process, but not without mutilating the midsection of Wonwoo’s stomach. The visually impaired man fell back to the ground, groaning in agony as he clutched his stomach, while blood trickled through his fingers. “Mother fucker...”

Wonwoo’s vision started to fight against him with the loss of his glasses, dimming images before him, and slowly processing the murderous figure trodding before him. Wonwoo’s determination picked him right back up slowly, picking up his lamp once again, trying to take another move toward the perpetrator. And by pure luck, the lamp crashed against the crown of their head.

Ghostface stumbled back, quick to recover but visibly agitated.  Soon enough, they plunged the full length of the knife right into Wonwoo’s gut, sticking it deep and long before kicking him off of it. Wonwoo lands on the hardwood, blood gushing out of him like a public water fountain. “Fuck, fuck!”

“Wonwoo!” You come by his side, clutching at his wound desperately. “No, no, no.”

The sinister figure approached once more, hand creeping against the edge before he pulled it over and off his head. His eyes stared back at you both maniacally. His grin stretched from both ends freakishly before overtaking in deep chuckles. “Happy to see me?”

“…C-Chan?” Wonwoo managed to gasp.

“Hi, bestie.” His signature smile, once warm and inviting, reflected horrifyingly as if out of a film, one with too much bloodshed and betrayal to imagine. “Well, didn’t think you’d see me again, huh?”

“Chan, what the fuck?” You screeched. 

“You’re supposed to be dead.” Wonwoo voiced panic-stricken. “What, how?”

One foot over the other, Chan carried himself with conviction, ease, and the confidence of a man who slaughtered countless amounts of people. 

“You guys don't know how easy it is to fake my death. I was surprised by how incredibly stupid police officers are. Find a body that’s my height, my build, cut off their hands and arms to not get their fingerprints, singe their skin and face to the point of unrecognition, and plant them in your own home. I’m a fucking genius.”

“S-Seungkwan,” Wonwoo wept, his adam’s apple, “You actually—”

“It was beautiful. Masterful.”

“Why?” Wonwoo stammered. “Your best friend—“

“He was an imbecile. Weak. All bark and no bite. You will never understand how good it felt to stick the knife inside him and watch the blood burst off of him like a sprinkler. Like the knife going in and out of him surged power throughout my entire body. So, I kept doing it. And doing it. And doing it. And doing it. And doing it. And doing it. And doing it. AND DOING IT.”

His smile. That violating smile.

You sobbed, covering Wonwoo’s wound with your hands. “Y-you monster.”

“This was all just fun for you?” Wonwoo bared his teeth. “You get your kicks from lying, deceiving, stabbing your friends? You think you’re some Billy Loomis?”

“Of course I have fun. I had lots of fun. We had so much fucking fun.”

“We?” Wonwoo repeated.

“What the fuck do you mean we?” You asked horrified.

Chan started to chuckle to himself, chest heaving exuberantly before he stood completely still. Dreadfully still. 

“Well, I'm not the one that killed Joshua, am I?”

A million guesses ran through Wonwoo’s brain. None made sense the more he thought about it. “Your Stu Macher? Seokmin…Seungcheol…?”

Your eyes turned to him fearful, before it melted into something else, something familiar. Something terrifying. “No…” your lips drew close to his ear. “Me…” 

Your hands squeezed around his wound, gripping, earning his moans of anguish, screaming at you to stop, before you retrieved the knife hidden behind your boot and drove it into his shoulder. Wonwoo let out the loudest scream he could ever muster, feeling the blade sharply cut his nerve whilst pain shot into his chest. He tapped his heel incessantly on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes, looking at you in disbelief, overcome with hurt.

“And he was a good fuck too until the knife I put through his back made him scream like a little bitch.”

You pulled out the knife from him, seeing how the pain he felt in his body only complimented the suffering pooling in his heart, his mind, his soul. His lips quivered in your direction, sucking in his breath. “Y/n…Why?”

You simply shrugged. “Why does anyone kill these days? They’re bored, daddy. Same reason why things can change in the bedroom, to spice things up. The flavor of life is murder now, darling.”

“You’re killing people.”

You drove the knife one more time into his thigh, savoring his scream of agony. “And we’re more alive than we ever have been,” you said, twisting the knife before pulling it out.

You walked toward Chan, helping him pull off his robe. “And so is our sex life.”

“So, Junhui, Soonyoung…Joshua, and even Seungkwan.” Wonwoo asked, catching his breath.

“Every. single. one,” You chuckled. “Draining their cum out of like having a second puberty until life is literally drained out of their bodies. What a bunch of pussy boys. So obsessed with sex, they didn’t see the knife coming their way.”

Your hand reached for the ottoman and pushed Chan there to be seated, underdressed in the black tank top and black jeans he hid underneath with his momentarily abandoned bloody knife at his side. You unbuckled his pants single-handedly, your knife still in your other hand. “And Chan just gets so fucking hard with all the bloodshed. Like a bloodthirsty animal.”

“You just look so fucking sexy with blood on your hands,” Chan moaned, “Touch me how I like it, baby.”

“Mmh, my pleasure.” Your hand used the blood covering it as a morbid form of lube, closing around the girth of his cock to squeeze and lightly stroking it from base to tip, softly thumbing over the small slit on top. 

His stomach flexed, bucking his hips in your direction as he bit down on his bottom lip, beaming like a child on Christmas. Horny for your touch, Chan couldn’t help but squirm in his seat, warning up to your touch. He was absolutely growing at a rapid pace. “Like that baby, like that.”

“That feel good, daddy? You like how the blood is covering your entire cock? Seokmin’s blood, Minghao’s blood, Seungcheol’s blood? Wonwoo’s blood?”

“Fuck. Yes.”

“You two,” Wonwoo’s shock couldn’t stagger from the scene in front of him, unable to process all this information at once.

“You’re massaging our friends into my cock so good, baby.”

“Yeah?” You traced your fingers over the details of his shaft, your nails prodding at the veins as your hand slowly picked up pace. You rolled him in your fist, letting him rut in your defiled hand as he moaned your name like an animal in heat. “I’m getting so wet watching fuck in my hand covered in blood. You’re just a sick lunatic obsessed with killing your friends and fucking my sweet pussy. I love that about you, Daddy.”

“Fuck,” he screamed, hands gripping the ottoman in restraint, brimming with passion, “Wanna mix Wonwoo’s cum you kept inside you with the blood. Sit that sweet pussy on my cock for me, lover.”

You nodded invitingly, not missing a beat. You never did replace the underwear from before, making it easy to remove your shorts and sliding him inside your warm walls, massaging his length as you rolled your hips against his. You held the knife you still had in a death grip, stabling against the reliability of Chan’s shoulders. You mumble his name pleased, arching your back as you grinded down on his lap. “Your cock feels so good covered in blood, daddy.” 

“Your pussy feels even better knowing how much fun you had stabbing Wonwoo for me.”

“Of course, daddy.” You turned to the body mutilated and defenseless on the ground, grinning as Wonwoo was forced to watch. “That look good, Daddy Wonwoo?” Your ass bounced purposely in Chan’s lap, the jiggle showing off the splatter of blood left from the handjob.

Everything in Wonwoo told him to look away but he couldn’t, like a train wreck or a car crash, he couldn’t part with the mess of a situation he was witnessing. He wasn't sure what this meant for him, mentally nor physically.

“You like watching Chan fuck me, Daddy? His bloody dirty cock fucking me like you did a hour ago, fucking me like a nasty little whore.”

He hissed through his teeth, right the strange feeling surging in his pain-stricken body, “Shut…the fuck up.”

You laughed obnoxiously. “You love it. You love being a little cuck, watching other guys fuck my pussy. As if you hadn’t peeped on me and Chan fucking when he wasn’t ‘dead’.”

“It’s not true, you bitch.” The twitch in his trousers told him otherwise.

“You’re such a liar a dirty, dirty liar like I’m a dirty, dirty fucking whore.” You groaned loudly taking Chan’s cock, bouncing against his lap as you felt him pulse around your walls.

“That’s right baby take my cock.” Chan’s hand came over your bare cheeks, striking them with his full palms while his hips jerked up your body. “Taking the murder fueled, hard fucking cock.”

“Daddy, your cock is making me so fucking wet, stretching my pussy the way you sliced open our friends,” You growled.

“Fuck you’re such a little succubus, baby. Bouncing on my cock, coating yourself in blood. And I’ll kill more and more for you. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Yeah,” You began slowing your pace, drinking in his every word. “You’d do anything for me?”

“I’d kill the entire human population for you.”

That left you smiling from ear to ear, the tension coiling in your stomach. Your chest pressed against his, pushing against his thrusts. “Yeah? Would you cum in me, Daddy? Mix our dirty mess inside me. Let me take your cum, daddy.”

“I’ll let you drain me of every drop, my little psychopath.”

“Cum daddy cum, make me full and breed me with our homicidal baby daddy. Make you a real daddy.”

Chan shuddered, overwhelmed with immense arousal. His hips found life of their own, hammering into you at top speed, and watching the pleasure morph on your face and the staccato rhythm of your breath leave your lips, all while the load threatened to burst out of his sack. “I’m cumming, baby, all for you, ah—“ then it exploded inside you. His cum launched out of his cock like a hose, he painted your wall in milky white, turning pink as it seeped out of you.

“I’m so close, daddy…”

Chan threw his head back to catch his breath, hands possessively finding purchases on your hips. “That’s it, baby. cum for daddy.”

“I’m cuming daddy, I’m—“ You gripped your knife, taking Chan’s abandoned one before plunging both in his head. His smile dropped, a small and weak, “baby” leaving his sweet lips before spitting up blood on your chest and he fell limp. 

You didn’t stop, however, given the fact that your orgasm had just arrived the mere second Chan tasted metal in his mouth. Your moans could’ve been mistaken for anguish if not for the smile on your savage face. “I’m cumming all over your cock, Daddy, fuck! You’re so good to me, you do so much for me. I love you so much. Hitting my spot even in death.”

The wave of climax finally started to fade, unlike your smile, wretched and demonic. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Daddy. I’ll miss you so much.” You kissed deceased Chan’s lips, coming down from him, and fixing his pants before fixing his pants before pulling your shorts back on your body.

“Y/n…what the fuck?”

Watching you pull the knives out of Chan’s head, Wonwoo's expression was a mix of confusion and horror, struggling to back away as you approached him calmly, almost serenely.

“Chan has served his purpose,” You answered plainly as if obvious. “It was his time.”

“You did that, all that, with him, and you MURDER HIM? Your partner in sick, sick psychotic crime?”

“I told you spice was necessary, plus I’ve grown rather fond of you.” You bent down to his level, eyes noticeably just a deep pit of disparity. “I couldn’t let him kill you, so I beat him to it. Good thing too, because that was the best orgasm I’ve ever had.”

Wonwoo whimpered under your touch—well, the knife’s touch—as the tip of it dragged over his jaw, drawing out a shudder. “Y-you’re letting me live?”

Your smile. That damned smile. You and Chan were mere reflections of each other. How had he not seen this sick image sooner?

“As long as it's with me, because you love me right? That’s what you said. You’ll always love me and keep me alive. You promised.”

You pressed the blade against his neck, “You’re cold-blooded. Fucking your dead friend’s girlfriend, leaving your other friends to die to save me, and taking on a mass murderer just for me.” Your other hand caressed over his face. “That’s hard fucking core, baby. I love that so much. You really love and want me. Well, I want you just as bad.”

“Like you wanted Chan?”

You scoffed, using the knife to point at the abandoned soulless body on the ground. “Chan was disposable. He was already fucked up in the brain. I can nurture you, let you prove you’re that you’re mine and only mine. Then I’d have no reason to kill you. Not at all…say you’ll be with me forever.”

“…yes, sweetie. O-of course I will.”

You sighed a breath of relief, your harmless hand coming over to stroke over the stray hairs on his head. “That’s my daddy. My one and only. We can be the finals. Together. Only us—”

“Hello! Wonwoo! Y/n!” Miraculously, Seungcheol found their way to you, barely alive it sounds like.

Rage filled your eyes. “Holy fuck how is he still alive,” you mumbled under your breath. “I’ll take care of him.”

You held the knife to your side, standing by the door and away from its open view. “Cheol! In here! We caught the killer!”

Seungcheol managed to find the defaced door, peeking through the rubble to see a disheveled Wonwoo, panting and close to death. “Wonwoo!”

“Cheol…” Wonwoo grunted. 

“Hang in there, buddy. I’ve got you.”

“To…your…right.”

You glared at Wonwoo, betrayal in your eyes before launching yourself at the hero, who hardly had a scratch on their body. Seungcheol, taking his friend's warning in consideration, built up a wall of defense. His eyes caught you just in time and held up your arms, pinning you against a wall. His eyes finally registered on your face, and his grip on you only tightened. “Y/n, you evil little bitch.”

You chuckled tauntingly, struggling against his weight and strength. “Hi, Cheol. I know you always wanted to stick something in me, mind letting me do it first?”

“You—wow, you’re actually mentally deranged.”

“You don’t like that? Maybe my knife through your skull can change your mind.”

He kicked you in the groin, having you plummet to your knees, cusses streaming out of you like a river. “You pussy. Ass. Bitch.”

���Seungcheol,” Wonwoo groaned, painfully cheering him on.

You managed to kick Seungcheol down in your distress, crawling on top of him to gain leverage. “I know you liked to be topped.”

You held the knife, hands wrapped tightly around the handle before striking. Meanwhile, Seungcheol’s hands were wrapped around your wrists, the tip of the knife tickling his nose. Sweat beaded against his forehead, struggling harder than he thought he would as you smiled still.

“This would be a lot sexier if you let me run my knife inside you, baby.”

“Fuck you and your demented punk ass,” he grunted.

“I would if you’d just FUCKING DIE!”

A gunshot follows soon after and the blood gushed from your neck, pouring from both ends and falling lifelessly against Seungcheol, who let out a shrill scream.

“I found a gun,” Seokmin proclaimed weakly from the door before fainting to the ground.

Seungcheol rolled your body off of him, sick to his stomach. “Sick crazy bitch.”

He looked towards his friend who remained helpless his entire journey before his eyes got caught on the dead body he only realized now. “Is that…”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo whispered.

“And they…”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck, dude.”

Seungcheol went around to pick up Seokmin from the ground, grabbing the gun. Meanwhile, Wonwoo’s eyes lingered over your body, in disbelief it was alive a mere second ago, then he saw something strange, causing his eyes to fly open. “Cheol behind you!”

Another gunshot. Right between your eyes and your body that stood for hardly a second longer than it should’ve—of course with the knife still in your hand—fell right back on the ground.

“They always come back,” Wonwoo quoted.

Seungcheol let out a deep exhale, loosening his grip around the gun. “And aim for the head.”

“Sorry about your house.”

“…sorry about your girlfriend.”

“Me too.”

post reading a/n: always like me to insert chan into anything fr. i have no excuses

Tag: @shiningstar-byulxx @misssugarlips @tommolex @hoeforhao @homerunhansol @goblinvern @dkakapizzaboy @junhui-recs @svtup @buffhoshi @meowmeowminnie @caratochan @lovebot4han @6969lilithcat @camisun93 @emmmui @toruro @jeonride @novalpha @nvmrljk @feat-sun @tinkerbell460 @aaniag @tacosandbitch @smileysuh (felt fucked up not to tag you bc you’re fucked it just like me 💕)

[youremyheaven]

"(Mercurials are unfairly critical of others, have you noticed?) and she frequently took digs at me and was one of those people who make jokes at the expense of others."

on at least 5 separate occasions throughout the years i, with the help of another friend, have had to sit down and explain to my mercurial friend that she has to think before she speaks and how you can't just constantly insult people 💀 she's genuinely one of the most critical people i know, some examples include her walking around every inch of my island in animal crossing and tearing apart everything she saw for like an HOUR. yes it was in a video game, and yes im still salty!! she also would ask to read my creative writing or essays and then annotate it with her criticisms WITHOUT ME ASKING HER TO 😭😭 i remember the first time she graded my short story i wrote for fun an F and i was just staring in utter disbelief

she also would constantly make fun of peoples looks in a joking way (myself included) and when i told her to stop she'd play innocent like it was just a harmless joke, begrudgingly apologize, and do it again like a week later. i've observed this sort of underhanded behaviour in two mercury women so i think they might have a habit of it? i get complimented a lot and yes i'm tooting my own horn here but i am very good looking however she had an OBSESSION with getting unflattering photos of me and then sending them to our friends "as a joke" and then would play the victim when i got mad. like sorry i don't want our whole social circle thinking i look like albino shrek omg

OMG BESTIEEE I FEEL SO SEEN IM GOING TO CRY,, WE SHOULD START A SUPPORT GROUP FR

the biggest reason why i cant stand Mercurial women is how theyre sooo deeply insecure that they'll tear apart others just to feel better about themselves

yearsss ago I got a really cute bag for really cheap and i was talking about it with my Mercurial friend and she said "it looks ugly thats why it was cheap" and she was carrying around a tattered, worn out, faded ass bag lmaooo

another mercurial girl who was average looking criticized practically everybody we knew for being ugly. she wore the shittiest clothes and criticized other people's sense of style

an Ashlesha Moon girl i knew never said one nice thing about me but often praised our other friends for no reason and made them sound like the second coming of Cleopatra,, i called her out on it and she told me "i thought you heard enough from others, i didnt know you were desperate for validation from me as well" 💀💀

THE BACKHANDED COMMENTS u mentioned??? bestieee we're all victims here 😭😭

so between 8th and 10th grade, i was in an extremely abusive homoerotic friendship with an Ashlesha Moon,,, she was always putting me down for no reason. i kinda sing,, i am not a brilliant singer but i have won prizes in school for singing so i know i dont suck as a singer. one time she asked me to sing for her on call and then she was silent and said "its not exactly brilliant but its not horrible i guess" 10 yrs later, i wish i couldve reached out through the phone to smack her face,,, i was in my poet era back then and tbh my poetry was pretty good if i say so myself and this girl??? always accused me of plagiarism,, i took it in my stride bc i was like "ok if u think im THAT good then what do i do" lol.

i could go on but ill stop here ,,, i hope i never meet another mercurial again amen

[pamphletstoinspire]

Meditations of St. Padre Pio – Part 5 (Concluding Meditation)

Padre Pio was at the height of his priestly apostolate with multitudes of pilgrims visiting him, for his Mass, to confess to him, and to ask him for prayers and counsel. He was a master of souls; he directed everyone with penetrating words full of deep meaning. His series of "Meditations" was the first complete text of Padre Pio's thoughts. These texts consists of Padre Pio's meditations upon the fundamental dogmas of the Catholic faith. The Immaculate Conception and the Incarnation of Jesus. He then relives Jesus' agony in the garden of olives. Next he reflects on the human condition, and on our need to turn to God in the passing of our days. These are not conventional texts; they are reflections derived from the contemplation of the absolute Truth. “Mary Immaculate” is a more theological text. The others are more human and simple.

Padre Pio, in the first years of his residence in San Giovanni Rotondo (1918 – 1920), when he was freer from the care of souls, wrote a few meditations for his novices and his spiritual daughters of the Franciscan Third Order. They were the text of his lectures or instructions that he gave weekly as their Spiritual Director. After that, between the years 1925 – 1928, Padre Pio compiled other meditations. Fr. Agostino of San Marco in Lamis affirms it in his "Diary:" The Provincial, Fr. Bernardo of Alpicella, once suggested to Padre Pio to “compile a few meditations for the principal feasts of the year for our seminarians.” When Padre Pio was shown the possibility of publishing these meditations, he said: "I have written these things for myself." But, when it was explained to him that "they would do a lot of good to our souls" he smilingly said: "if it is as you say, bonum est diffu sivum sui (good, by its nature, is destined to be spread).

Meditation - Part 5 - The Agony of Jesus In The Garden - Holy Hour

J. M. J. – D. F. C. Note: The initials J. M. J. – D. F. C. Stands for Jesus, Mary, Joseph – Dominic, Francis, Catherine

The cross is always ready and awaits you at every turn." – Imitation of Christ

(Maxim which appears on the door of Padre Pio's cell No. 1)

O Divine Spirit, enlighten and inflame me as I meditate on the Passion of Jesus. Help me to fathom this mystery of the infinite love and suffering of a God who clothed himself in our human nature and endured suffering, agony and death for love of his creatures. The eternal, immortal God stoops down and humbles himself to the point of enduring the greatest martyrdom, the ignominious death of the Cross, covered with insults, contempt and infamy, in order to save the creature who has offended him and wallowed in the filth of sin. Man takes pleasure in sin and because of his sin his God is saddened, suffers and sweats blood in the most appalling spiritual agony. No, I cannot fathom this boundless ocean of love and sorrow unless your grace sustains me. Let me enter into the deepest recesses of the Heart of Jesus, to read there the essence of his bitter sorrow which reduced him to the point of death there in the Garden. Let me comfort him with my love, forsaken as he is by his Father and by his own. May I be able to join him in order to expiate in union with him.

O most sorrowful Mother Mary, unite me with you that I may follow Jesus and share his sufferings and your own sorrow.

O my dear Guardian Angel, guard my faculties and keep them recollected in my suffering Jesus, so that they may not stray far from him. Amen.

I

At the end of his earthly life, the divine Redeemer, having left us his whole self in the form of food and drink in the Sacrament of Love and having fed his Apostles with his immaculate Flesh, makes his way together with his own to the Garden of Olives, a place well-known to the disciples and to Judas himself. Along the way leading from the Cenacle to the Garden, Jesus instructs his disciples. He makes them ready for the coming separation, for his imminent Passion, and prepares them to suffer calumnies, persecution and even death itself for his sake, showing them how to imitate him, their divine Model.

I shall be with you. Do not be troubled. O disciples, for the divine promise will never fail; of this you will receive proof at this solemn hour.

He is about to enter on his grievous Passion and rather than thinking of himself he is full of concern for them.

Oh, what immense love is contained in that Heart. His countenance is suffused with sadness and love at the same time and his words come from the depths of his Heart. He speaks with deep affection, he encourages and comforts them; he promises to console them and explains the deepest mysteries of his Passion.

O Jesus, I have always been deeply moved by this journey from the Cenacle to the Garden, by the effusion of a love that poured itself out so freely and was merged with your loved ones, by the outpouring of a love that is about to sacrifice itself for others to redeem them from slavery. You have taught us that there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends and you are now about to seal this proof of love with the sacrifice of your own life.

Who can fail to marvel in such a generous oblation?

When they reach the Garden, the divine Master dismisses the disciples and takes with him only three of them, Peter, James, and John, that they may witness his suffering. Would this same trio who saw him transfigured on Tabor between Moses and Elias and acknowledge him as God, would they be strong enough to recognize him now as the Man-God in the midst of mortal agony and sorrow? As they enter the Garden he says to them: Remain here, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Be on your guard, he seems to tell them, because the enemy does not sleep; protect yourselves against him beforehand with the weapon of prayer, so that you may not be led into sin. This is the hour of darkness. With this recommendation he goes apart from them a stone's throw and falls prostrate on the ground.

He is extremely sad: his soul is a prey to indescribable sorrow. The night is far advanced and the air is clear. The moon glows high above, leaving the Garden in semi-shadow. Occasional ominous flashes of light breakthrough the shadows, seeming to herald some serious and sinister events, producing shivers and freezing the blood in one's veins. The light seems tinged with the color of blood. A wind which gives warning of a coming storm stirs the olive trees and with the rustling of the leaves seems to reach one's very bones like a herald of death, going right down into the soul and filling it with mortal sadness.

This is the most dreadful night, the like of which will never again be known.

What a contrast, O Jesus. How beautiful was the night of your birth, when the jubilant angels announced peace and chanted their Gloria. Now it seems to me that they are circling around you at a respectful distance, as if in recognition of the supreme anguish of your soul.

This is the place to which Jesus comes to pray. He deprives his sacrosanct human nature of the strength conferred on it by his divinity and subjects it to indescribable sadness, to extreme weakness, to sorrow and desolation, to mortal anguish. His soul is plunged in this grief as in a boundless sea which at every moment seems about to overwhelm him. There appears before his mind the entire martyrdom of this approaching Passion which, like a torrent overflowing its banks, pours into his Heart to torture, oppress and tear it to pieces. First of all, he sees Judas, the disciple he loves so dearly, who sells him for a few coins, who is at this moment drawing near to the Garden to betray him and hand him over to his enemies. He, the friend and disciple whom only a short while earlier he has fed with his Flesh. Prostrate before him he has washed his feet and clasping them to his Heart has kissed them with all the tenderness of a brother, as if he intended by the power of love to dissuade him from his impious and sacrilegious plan, or at least that when he has committed this crazy crime he may enter into himself and recalling all these proofs of love, repent and be saved. But no, he is lost, and Jesus weeps over his willful loss.

Jesus beholds himself bound by his enemies and dragged through the streets of Jerusalem, through those same streets which a few days earlier he traversed in triumph, acclaimed as the Messiah. He sees himself before the High Priest where he is beaten, declared guilty and deserving of death. He, the Author of life, led from one court to another to appear before judges who condemn him. By his own people whom he has loved and to whom he has given so much he sees himself insulted and ill treated, while with devilish shouts and hisses they clamor for his death, his death on the Cross. He hears their false accusations, sees himself condemned to the most merciless scourging, crowned with thorns, derided, mockingly addressed as King, slapped in the face.

Finally, he beholds himself condemned to the shameful death of the Cross and mounting the hill of Calvary, reduced to extreme weakness from loss of blood, falling to the ground several times beneath the weight of the Cross. Then he sees himself reaching the hilltop where he is stripped and laid upon the Cross, mercilessly crucified and raised up on the Cross in the sight of all, where he hangs by three nails which tear and dislocate veins and bones and flesh. O God! What a long three hours of agonizing torture he endures amid the insults of an insane and merciless throng.

He sees himself with throat and internal organs racked by burning thirst, while this agonizing torture is increased by the taste of vinegar and gall.

He sees himself abandoned by the Father, and witnesses the desolation of his Mother at the foot of the Cross.

Finally, he beholds his ignominious death between two thieves, one of whom recognizes and acknowledges him as God and is saved, while the other blasphemes and insults him and dies in despair.

He sees Longinus approach him and with supreme insolence and contempt rip open his side. Then, like all mortal men, he is subjected to the humiliation of the tomb.

All these things pass before his gaze to torture him and Jesus is seized with terror. This terror takes possession of his divine Heart, holds it fast and lacerates it. He trembles as though in the throes of a very high fever, he is overcome by terror and his soul languishes in deadly sorrow. He, the innocent Lamb, alone, abandoned to the wolves, deprived of all defense. He, the Son of God, the Lamb who has offered himself voluntarily to be sacrificed for the glory of that same Father who abandons him to the fury of the powers of Hell, for the Redemption of the human race. His own disciples have become cowards and desert him, fleeing from him as from the most dangerous of men. He, the Eternal Word of God, becomes the laughingstock of his enemies.

Does he withdraw? No, from the very start he generously embraces all without reserve.

What is this terror and what is its origin? What is this deadly fear? Ah! He has exposed his human nature as a target to receive all the blows of divine Justice injured by sin. In his naked soul he experiences keenly all that he will have to suffer, each single sin that he will have to expiate with its own particular punishment. He falls prostrate because his human nature is a prey to weakness, fear and terror.

He seems to have reached the extreme limit. He lies prostrate, face to the ground, before the Majesty of his Father. That divine countenance, which keeps the angels and saints of heaven in ecstasy in eternal admiration of its beauty, on earth is completely disfigured. My God! My Savior! Are you not the God of heaven and earth, equal in all things to your Father, you who humble yourself to the point of almost losing the likeness of man?

Ah, yes, I understand that it is in order to teach me, proud as I am, that I must be plunged into the depths of the earth if I am to have relations with heaven. It is in order to make reparation and to expiate for my arrogance that you bow down in this way before your Father; it is so draw down on mankind his merciful gaze which has been withdrawn because of man's rebellion against him. Because of your humiliation he forgives the proud creature. It is in order to make peace between earth and heaven that you fall prostrate to the ground as if to bestow on it the kiss of peace. O Jesus, may you be blessed and thanked forever by all men for all the humiliations and abasement by which you have given us God and united us to him in an embrace of holy love.

II

Jesus rises and looks up beseeching and sorrowfully to heaven. He raises his arms and prays. Dear God, how deadly pale is that face! He prays to the Father who seems to turn his gaze elsewhere and appears ready only to strike him with his avenging sword, with all the fury of an offended God. Jesus prays with all the trust of a Son, but he is fully aware of the task that is his. He recognizes that he alone, on behalf of all, is the One who has outraged the divine Majesty. He realizes that it is he alone, by the sacrifice of his life, who can satisfy the divine Justice and reconcile the creature with the Creator. He longs for this and he desires it efficaciously. But his human nature is terrified at the sight of his bitter Passion. It wants to refuse it all, but his soul is prepared for the sacrifice and does battle with all its strength. He feels stricken but he struggles furiously.

O my Jesus, how can we draw strength from you when we see you so exhausted and stricken?

I understand how it is: you have taken upon yourself all our weaknesses. It is in order to bestow your strength on us that you have collapsed like this. It is in order to teach us that we must placed our trust in you alone during life's battles, even when heaven seems closed against us.

In his extreme affliction Jesus cries out to the Father: If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. This is the cry of his human nature which in its affliction has recourse with confidence to heavenly aid. Although he is aware that his plea will not be granted, since this is his own will, he prays. O my Jesus, why do you ask for what you do not want to be granted? The reason is suffering and love.

Here is the great secret. The sorrow that afflicts you leads you to us for help and comfort, but your desire to appease the divine Justice and restore us to God makes you cry out: Not my will, but thine, be done. In face of this prayer, heaven remains hard as stone.

His broken Heart is in need of comfort. The abandonment he experiences, the battle he is bearing all alone seems to drive him to look for someone who will comfort him. Slowly, then, he rises, and almost staggering he moves off in the direction of his disciples in search of comfort. These men who have lived with him for so long, these trusted ones, will be able to understand his interior anguish and the trial he must undergo in order to end it. They will be able to give him a little comfort.

But what a disappointment! He finds them fast asleep and he feels even more fully alone in that boundless spiritual solitude. He draws near to them and calls them. Then turning quietly to Peter he says: Simon, are you asleep? You who protested that you would follow me until death and would give your life for me, are you sleeping? Then turning to the others he adds: So, could you not watch with me one hour? The complaint of the Lamb who has offered himself to be sacrificed, the complaint of a wounded Heart that is suffering intensely, alone and deprived of all comfort.

But he revives as if from a weakness and forgetful of himself and of what he is suffering, full of concern and love for them, he adds: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. It is as if he meant to say: If you have forgotten me so quickly, while I struggle and suffer, watch and pray and least for your own sake. But the disciples, heavy with sleep, hardly notice the voice of Jesus. They barely distinguish him as a shadowy figure, so that they do not observe his face is disfigured by the interior anguish which torments him.

O Jesus, how many generous souls, touched by your cry of grief, have kept you company there in the Garden, sharing your sorrow and your mortal anguish. How many hearts in the course of the centuries have replied generously to your invitation. In this supreme hour, then, may this company of souls bring you some comfort, sharing with you more than your disciples did the sorrow of your Heart and cooperating with you towards their own salvation and the salvation of others. Allow me also to be numbered among them so that I too may bring you a little relief.

III

Jesus has returned to his place of prayer and another picture more dreadful than the previous one is presented to his gaze. All our sins with all their filthiness past in detail before his eyes. He beholds all the wickedness and malice of creatures as they commit these sins. He knows to what an extent these sins injure and outrage the Majesty of God. He sees all the obscenity, the immodesty, the blasphemies which rise up from the lips of creatures, accompanied by the wickedness of their hearts, of those hearts and lips which were made to send up nothing but hymns of praise and blessing to the Creator. He sees the sacrileges by which priests and people are defiled, indifferent to the Sacraments instituted for our salvation as the necessary means for the communication of divine grace, but which have become, instead, the means of sin and condemnation for souls. With this filthy mass of human corruption he has clothed himself and appears before the holiness of his Father, to expiate for each sin by a separate punishment, to render to God all the glory they have denied him, to cleanse that sewer in which men are plunged with contemptuous indifference.

Nothing of all this holds him back. Like a surging sea this mass sweeps down on him, surrounds and overwhelms him. Behold him before his Father, facing all the anger of his divine Justice. He who is the essence of purity, he who is holiness by nature, in contact with sin! In fact it is as if he himself has become a sinner. Who can fathom the disgust he experiences in the depths of his soul? The horror he feels? The nausea, the repugnance he experiences? Since he has taken all these things without exception upon himself, this immense load crushes and overwhelms him, throws him to the ground and leaves him prostrate. Exhausted, he groans beneath the weight of the divine Justice, before his Father who turns on him ready to strike him like an accursed being with his full fury.

He would like to shake off this immense load that is crushing him. He would like to throw off this dreadful weight which makes him shudder. His very purity rejects him as does the angry gaze of his Father who abandons him to these turbid and polluted waters of sin in which he sees him immersed. Everything combines within his soul to induce him to withdraw from this bitter Passion. Nature fights against itself and everything tells him to cast off this filthiness and to refuse this mediation. But the image of Justice unappeased, on the sinners not yet reconciled, prevails in his Heart brimming over with love.

These two forces, these two loves, one holier than the other, fight for victory in the Savior's Heart. Which will prevail? Undoubtedly he wants to grant the victory to outraged Justice. This takes first place and he wants it to triumph. But what is the image he is to show forth? The image of one sullied by all the filthiness of men? Is he, the very substance of holiness, to see himself filthied by sin, even apparently? No, not this. It frightens him, it fills him with fear and terror.

As if seeking the solution to this harsh situation he has recourse to prayer. Prostrate before the Majesty of his Father, he cries out: Father, let this cup pass from me. As if he wanted to say: My Father, I want your glory, I want your Justice to be satisfied in full. I want the family of mankind to be reconciled to you. Must I who am the same holiness as yourself see myself sullied by sin? Ah, no, this is not to be! Let this cup pass from me, then, and you, to whom all things are possible, find some other means in the infinite treasury of your Wisdom. But if you do not want this, then: Not my will, but thine, be done!

IV

This time also the Savior's prayer fails to have affect. He feels he is dying and with great difficulty he interrupts his prayer to go in search of comfort. He feels utterly deprived of strength and he staggers, panting, towards his disciples. Once more he finds them sleeping. This increases his sorrow and he merely arouses them. How confused they must feel. But Jesus says nothing to them this time; he only appears immensely distressed. He keeps to himself all the pain and affliction of that desertion, of that indifference and by his silence he seems to regard with indulgence the weakness of his own.

O Jesus, what suffering I read in your Heart already brimming over with anguish. I see you withdraw from your disciples in such deep grief. Ah! If I could only relieve you and comfort you even to a slight extent. But since I am unable to do anything else, I remain beside you and weep. Aware as I am of your great suffering, may my tears of love for you and of sorrow for my sins mingle with your own and made they rise up to the Father's throne and induce him to have mercy on you and on many souls who are still plunged in the sleep of sin and death.

Jesus returns once more to his place of prayer in great affliction and in a state of collapse. He falls to the ground rather than prostrating himself upon it. A mortal agony seizes him and he prays with greater vehemence than before. The Father keeps his gaze averted, as if this were the most despicable of men.

I seem to hear all the laments of the Savior. Oh! If at least men for whom I am agonizing – he seems to say – and on behalf of whom I am ready to embrace everything, if only they were grateful and were to repay me with love for all the suffering I am enduring for them. If they only realized the high price with which I am about to ransom them from the death of sin so as to give them the true life of God's children. Ah, it is love that rends my Heart, more than the executioners will tear my flesh to pieces. But no, he sees men who are unable to profit from all this because they do not want to. Men will continue to curse this divine Blood and the loss will become more irreparable and unpardonable. Only a few will draw profit from it while the majority will hasten on their way to perdition! In the extreme anguish of his broken Heart, Jesus continues to repeat: Of what use is my blood? And he falls down again, utterly overcome.

But those few induce his divine Heart to remain on the battlefield, to face up to all the suffering and sorrow of his Passion and Death, in order to win for them the palm of victory. He no longer has anywhere to go to find comfort. Heaven is closed against him. Even men on their deathbed, beneath the load of their sins, indifferent and ungrateful, ignore Jesus' love for them. Jesus is in mortal agony, he is torn and tortured by love. His countenance has taken on the pallor of death, his eyes are dimmed, an indefinable sadness invades his whole being. My soul is sorrowful even unto death.

O Jesus, I seem to hear from your lips these words in tones of infinite sorrow! They reveal a profound sadness which wells up from the deepest recesses of your soul!

Fear shakes him and makes him tremble all over as a deadly anguish crushes him. He is nauseated by the evil smell of many sins and intense grief invades his soul: My soul is sorrowful unto death. O Jesus, my generous guarantor, these words of yours go straight to my heart. Oh, if I could only raise you up and comfort you. O Jesus, the contemplation of your great torment makes me weep with you.

Jesus! Jesus! He no longer listens to my cry! Love has made him his own executioner. He has fainted and fallen to the ground and from his face and his whole person blood is flowing to the ground. At first, I see it issuing in great drops from his pores, then these drops unite and the blood flows in streams to the ground. He no longer lies face downwards, but on his left side with outstretched arms, in a deadly collapse, his face and his whole body bathed in Blood, his eyes half-closed and almost lifeless, his mouth half-open, while his breast which previously was heaving is now enfeebled and almost motionless.

Jesus, my adored Jesus! Let me die along with you. Jesus! My contemplative silence, as I remain close to you in your death-throes, is more eloquent. Jesus! Your sufferings pierce my heart and I cast myself down beside you. My tears have dried and I groan along with you, for the cause that has reduced you to such agony and for your intense and infinite love which has brought you to this.

O Divine Blood. You pour spontaneously from the loving Heart of my Jesus; the flood-tide of pain, the extreme anguish, the fierce struggle he endures in driving you out of that Heart to ooze from his pores and stream down to the ground. Allow me to gather you up, O Divine Blood, especially your first drops, for I want to keep you in the chalice of my heart. This is the most convincing proof that nothing but love has forced you from the veins of my Jesus. Through you I want to cleanse myself and to purify every place that is contaminated by sin; I want to offer you to the Father.

This is the Blood of his beloved Son which has descended to the earth in order to purify it; it is the Blood of his Son, the Man-God, which goes up to his throne to placate his Justice which has been outraged by our sins. He is profusely satisfied.

But what am I saying? While the Father's Justice is satisfied; Jesus is not yet satiated with suffering. No, Jesus does not want to arrest at this point the outpouring of his love for men.

Man must be given an infinite proof of his love, he must see to what depths of ignominy this love will bring his Savior. He must recognize that his Redemption has been abundant. Even though the Father's infinite Justice measures the infinite value of his Most Precious Blood and is appeased, man, on the other hand, must have tangible proof that Jesus' love is not weary of suffering for him and does not stop here, but goes on to the extreme agony on the Cross, to the point of his ignominious death upon it.

Perhaps completely spiritual men can assess at least partially the love which brings Jesus to endure quite voluntarily this Agony here in the Garden, but those who are engrossed in material things and whose hopes are centered more on this world than on heaven need to see him agonizing and bleeding to death for them on a Cross, in order that they may be shaken by the sight of that Blood and that heartrending torment.

No, his loving Heart is not yet satisfied. He enters into himself once more and prays again: My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, not my will, but thine, be done.

From now on, Jesus answers the loving cry of his Heart, the cry of the human race which, in order to be redeemed, demands his death. When the Father pronounces his death sentence, heaven and earth want to see him die. Jesus bows his adorable head in acceptance. Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, not my will, but thine, be done.

Now the Father sends an angel, an angelic messenger, to console Jesus. What comfort does God's angel bring to the strong God, the Master of the universe, invincible and omnipotent? Jesus allows himself to be susceptible to suffering. He has taken our weakness upon himself and it is the Man who suffers and agonizes. It is the miracle of his infinite love that makes him sweat Blood and reduces him to agony.

There are two reasons for his prayer to the Father: he prays on his own behalf and on ours. The Father does not hear him for his own sake, but wants him to die for us. I believe the angel, bowed down in reverence before Jesus, before this eternal Beauty now covered with Blood and dust, in deferent homage brings him the consolation of resignation to the divine will, imploring him for the glory of the Father and in the name of sinners to drink the chalice which from all eternity he has offered to drink for men's salvation. He prays in order to teach us once again that when our soul is desolate as his own, it is only through prayer that we should seek comfort from heaven.

He, our strength, will be ready to rescue us because he willed to take our miseries upon himself.

Yes, O Jesus, you have to drink the chalice to the very dregs, for you have now taken upon yourself the most agonizing death. O Jesus, may nothing ever have the power to separate me from you, neither life nor death. Following you during life, passionately attached to you, may it be granted to me to breathe my last with you on Calvary, so that I may ascend to you in glory. May I follow you in trials and persecution so that I may one day be worthy to come to you, to love you in the unveiled glory of heaven, to sing you a hymn of thanksgiving for all you have suffered.

But now Jesus rises to his feet, strong and invincible as a lion in battle. This Jesus who desired with great longing this banquet of Blood – with desire I have desired it – smooths his disheveled hair, wipes the blood from his face and with strong and decided steps makes his way to the exit of the Garden.

Where are you going, O Jesus? Are you not that Jesus whom I saw languishing there, a prey to fear, weariness, dread, prostration, desolation and terror? The same Jesus whom I saw trembling and crushed beneath the immense load of evil which was bearing down upon you?

Where are you going now so readily and resolutely and full of courage? To what are you exposing yourself?

Oh! I hear you say: The weapon of prayer has enabled me to win through and the spirit has overcome the weakness of nature; from prayer I have drawn strength and I am now ready to face up to anything. Follow my example and, when you suffer, deal with heaven just as I have done.

Jesus draws near to the three Apostles who are still sleeping. Emotion, the late hour of the night, the presentiment of some grievous event, of something irreparable that seems to be drawing near, as well as their own weariness, all this has plunged them into sleep, into an oppressive sleep that it seems impossible to shake off and which, even when it is shaken off, comes over them inexplicably again, so much so that Jesus has pity on them and says: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

At the same time he has felt so keenly this desertion by his own that he exclaims: Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? He pauses there. With a great effort, at the sound of his footsteps, they open their eyes. Then Jesus continues: Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.

Jesus beholds everything with his all-seeing eye. He seems to be saying: You who are my friends and disciples are sleeping, but my enemies are on the watch and are busying themselves about my capture. You, Peter, who felt strong enough to follow me even to death, you are sleeping. From the very beginning you showed me signs of your weakness; but do not worry, for I have taken your weakness upon myself and have prayed for you. When you mend your ways, I shall be your strength and you will feed my lambs. You, John, are also sleeping. You who only a few hours ago, in ecstasy by reason of my love for you, counted the beats of this Heart, are you asleep? Rise, let us be going, this is no longer the time for sleep. The enemy is at the gates and the hour of the powers of darkness has come. Yes, let us be going. I am going forth voluntarily to my death. Judas is drawing near to betray me and I go forward with a step that is firm and sure and intend to place no obstacle to the fulfillment of the prophecies. My hour has come, the hour of great mercy for mankind.

In point of fact, there is the sound of approaching footsteps, a reddish glare from lighted torches shows through the trees of the Garden, while Jesus followed by his three disciples goes forward calmly and without flinching.

O Jesus, give me the same strength when in the light of misfortunes my weak nature rebels. Help me to face, as you did, cheerfully and tranquilly, all the sufferings and torments I may encounter in this land of exile. I unite entirely with your merits, your pains, your expiation, your tears, in order that I may cooperate with you in my salvation and flee from sin, which was the only reason for your sweat of Blood and which brought you to your death.

Destroy in me everything that is displeasing to you and with the fire of your love imprint your sufferings on my heart. Bind me so strongly to you, with bonds so tight and so delectable, that I may never more abandon you in your sufferings. Let me rest on your Heart in all the sorrows of life, to draw from it strength and refreshment. Let my soul cherish no other desire than to live by your side in the Garden and to be satiated by the sorrows of your Heart. Let my soul be inebriated by your Blood and be nourished by you on the bread of your sufferings. Amen.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

19th February >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Matthew 25:31-46) for Monday, First Week of Lent: ‘I was a stranger and you made me welcome’.

Monday, First Week of Lent

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 25:31-46 I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”

‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

Gospel (USA) Matthew 25:31-46 Whatever you have done to the very least of my brothers, you have done to me.

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Monday, First Week of Lent

In today’s gospel reading, both groups ask the same question of the Lord, ‘When did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison?’ Both groups receive the same answer from the Lord, ‘In so far as we did this or neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you did it or neglected to do it to me’. Jesus identifies himself very fully with those in greatest need who cross our path in life. When we serve others in their need, we are serving the Lord. When we fail to serve others in their need, we are failing to serve him. Jesus’ coming to his own people over two thousand years ago was so ordinary that many of his contemporaries failed to recognize him for who he was. The people of Nazareth asked, ‘Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?’ The risen Lord’s coming to us today is so ordinary that again we can fail to recognize him, ‘When did we see you?’ We don’t have to go too far t find the Lord. He comes to us in the neighbour, the family member, the friend, the stranger, who needs our help and support. People who give generously of themselves to those whose need is greater than theirs often say that they are not very religious. Yet, they are serving the Lord all the time without realizing it. At Christmas we celebrated the good news that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word, now risen Lord, continues to take flesh and to dwell among us today in those who cross our path every day. A listening ear, a kind word, a prayerful presence, a simple act of kindness, are all ways of serving the Lord, the one before whom all the nations will one day be assembled. The ground of everyday life is holy ground, because it is the place where the Lord comes to us and cries out to us.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, First Week of Lent

There is one place in the gospels where Jesus could have said of himself without hesitation, ‘I was hungry... I was thirsty... I was a stranger... I was naked... I was sick... I was in prison’. That place was Golgotha or Calvary, as Jesus hung upon the cross. On that occasion, the only human support he experienced was from the women who stood by the cross and, according to the fourth gospel, the beloved disciple. This was the hour of his passion and death. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus suggests that he continues to live out his passion in the lives of all those who are hungry, thirsty, who are strangers, who are naked, sick and imprisoned. Jesus is saying that when we are in the presence of a broken, vulnerable human being we are at the foot of the cross. There is a song that is often sung in Holy Week, ‘Where you there when they crucified my Lord?’ In the light of this morning’s gospel reading we would have to answer ‘yes’ to that question. We were there and we are there, whenever someone comes before us in their brokenness, weakness and frailty. It is there we encounter the Lord in a very special way; it is there we serve him or fail to serve him. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ‘Flesh’ suggests the human condition in all its vulnerability and proneness to brokenness. It is there above all that the Lord comes to us and calls out to us.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, First Week of Lent

When God visited his people in the person of Jesus many people did not recognize God present in Jesus. In many ways Jesus seemed too ordinary to be someone through whom God was visiting us. The people of Nazareth said, ‘Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ Then when Jesus was executed by the Romans by crucifixion this confirmed for many people that God could not be visiting us through Jesus. How could God be present in the crucified body of a convicted criminal? Yet, we believe that God was present in Jesus throughout his life, and especially in his death, even though very few recognized it. In the gospel reading Jesus declares that very few will recognize his presence as risen Lord either, especially his presence in the crucified, in those who are in greatest need, whether it is the need for food, drink, clothing, hospitality, health or freedom. At the end of time, people will ask, ‘when did we see you…’. God’s presence in Jesus was not always obvious to Jesus’ contemporaries, and the presence of the risen Lord will not always be obvious to us either. However, in today’s gospel reading Jesus declares that the privileged place of his presence is to be found among the most vulnerable and most dependent, and in serving them we are serving him, whether we realize that or not. This means that many people are serving the Lord in a very personal way, without knowing it, because they are befriending those who rely on others to live a fuller life.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, First Week of Lent

In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus identifies himself with those considered least in the human family, those who are in greatest need. Nothing more is said of those who are in greatest need; nothing is said about whether they believe in Jesus or not or whether they are morally good or not. All that is said of them is that they are very needy; they need food, drink, clothing; they lack a home, health and freedom. How people relate to these groups becomes the criterion of how they relate to Jesus. The surprise expressed by both groups, those who cared for the people in greatest need and those who did not, shows that they had no awareness of who they were really dealing with in responding or failing to respond to those in need. The gospel reading states very strongly that our response or lack of response to basic human needs in others is of ultimate significance. On the cross Jesus himself was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned. As risen Lord he now identifies with all those who are in a similar situation, regardless of who they are, how they have lived or what their background might be.

And/Or

(v) Monday, First Week of Lent

Both groups in this morning’s gospel reading are surprised when they are told that they were actually encountering the Son of Man, the King of kings, in their ordinary daily encounters with the people who crossed their path in life, in particular, the broken, the vulnerable and those in greatest need. Although both groups dealt very differently with those they encountered in life, both asked the same question, ‘When did we see you...?’ The gospel reading suggests that there is always more to our various meetings with people in life than we realize. There is a sacred dimension to all our encounters; in dealing with each other, we are dealing with the Lord. In serving each other, we are serving the Lord. In neglecting to serve each other, we are neglecting to serve the Lord. There is a sacramental quality to all of life, and to all our human encounters. The Lord is really and truly present to us in others, especially in those who are experiencing the cross that Jesus himself experienced. On the cross he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, imprisoned. He identifies himself fully with those who share his cross. The gospel reading suggests that we can find ourselves before the Lord on the cross more often than we might think.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, First Week of Lent

The gospel reading this morning reminds us of how closely Jesus identifies himself with the suffering, those in greatest need. The Lord comes to us in and through the suffering, the weakness, the vulnerability and the frailty of our fellow human beings, regardless of their race, creed or colour. Jesus assures us that when we are dealing with people in their brokenness we are dealing directly with him. Jesus is really and truly present to us in and through each other, especially each other’s suffering and pain. The people in the story Jesus told were surprised to discover that it was the risen Lord they had been serving or neglecting in serving and neglecting the needy who crossed their path. We sometimes make a distinction between the sacred and the secular, but the gospel reading suggests that the secular is the sacred. The ground, on which we stand, day in and day out, is often holy ground, without our realizing it. When we help to carry the burden of another, we are touching and being touched by the Lord. In the brokenness of life, heaven breaks through to earth.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, First Week of Lent

It is striking how many times in the gospels Jesus identifies himself with others, especially with those who would have been considered without status or honour in his culture, such as children. On one occasion he said, ‘whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me’. On another occasion he said to his own disciples, ‘whoever welcomes you, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me’. His disciples, for the most part, would not have been among the powerful and honourable of the time. In this morning’s gospel, Jesus identifies himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. Jesus seems to be saying to us that he comes to us in a special way through the brokenness, vulnerability and lowliness of others. He is also saying that he comes to others through our own brokenness and vulnerability. The two groups in this morning’s gospel reading were assessed very differently but each group asked the same question, ‘When did we see you hungry...’. One group was serving the Lord without realizing it and the other group was neglecting the Lord without realizing it. We often don’t recognize the Lord in the brokenness and suffering of life, whether it is the brokenness and suffering of others or our own. Today’s gospel reading invites us to become more aware of the Lord’s presence in weakness, vulnerability, failure and distress.

And/Or

(viii) Monday, First Week of Lent

During the year of mercy, Pope Francis stressed the importance of the seven corporal works of mercy. Most of those works are mentioned in today’s gospel reading, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless (welcoming the stranger), visiting the sick and imprisoned. All that is missing from the gospel reading is ransoming the captive and burying the dead. The gospel reading shows us faith in action or in the words of Paul, ‘faith working through love’. The real distinctive feature of the gospel reading is Jesus declaring that in serving those who are needy in any of these ways, people are serving him. In some mysterious way, it is the Lord who is needy, it is the Lord who is broken and suffering, in all of these groups. This gives a dimension to the service of others which is not immediately apparent. In serving others in these practical, down to earth ways, we are serving the Lord, whether we are aware of it or not. Because of that, our works of service are of eternal significance. Our failure to take the opportunities to serve the needy also has eternal significance of a different kind, because it is the Lord we are failing. The Jesus whom we meet in the disadvantaged is Emmanuel, God with us. In serving others, it is God we serve. In this way, Jesus brings together the two great commandments of love. In loving the neighbour, especially the broken and needy neighbour, it is God we are loving.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, First Week of Lent

The last line of today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus is well-known to us from the gospels, ‘You must love your neighbour as yourself’. Jesus quotes this verse in response to a question he is asked as to what is the first commandment in the Jewish Law. Having given the first commandment, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength, he then quotes this verse from Leviticus, ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’, and identifies it as the second commandment, thereby giving it a really important standing. We are to show our love of God by loving our neighbour as if they were an extension of ourselves. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus goes further than this second commandment. Jesus declares that not only are we to see our neighbour as an extension of ourselves but we are to see our neighbour as an extension of himself. It is almost as if the first commandment and the second commandment have become one. In loving our neighbour, Jesus declares that we are loving him, and we know from elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel that in loving Jesus we are loving God, because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. Whenever we render loving service to our fellow human beings, especially those in greatest need, we are rendering loving service to Jesus and to God. The opposite is also true. Whenever we neglect to love our neighbour in need, we are neglecting to love the Lord. This is the case whether or not we are aware of it. It is striking that, in the gospel reading, both groups were unaware that they were serving the Lord in love or neglecting to do so. Jesus suggests that there is a great deal more going on in our dealings with each other than we often realize, especially in our dealings with the most vulnerable.

And/Or

(x) Monday, First Week of Lent

It was Saint John of the Cross who said, ‘in the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone’. This is a very succinct commentary on today’s gospel reading. The setting is the coming of the Son of Man at the end of time, and what really matters to this kingly figure is how well we have loved or failed to love, understanding love as practical action on behalf of those in greatest need. Yet, the really striking thing about this gospel reading is that that this kingly figure who has the power to assemble all the nations before him identifies completely with the least powerful in society, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. In serving those in greatest need, people were serving him without realizing it; in failing to serve them, they were failing to serve him without realizing it. We are being reminded that every act of love for another human being brings us directly in touch with the Lord of heaven and earth. When we get into the nitty-gritty of journeying with others in their need, we are really walking on holy ground. In the weakest and most vulnerable we are coming face to face with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today’s gospel reading almost combines in one the two great commandments, love of God and love of neighbour. In loving our broken and suffering neighbour, we are loving the Lord, and, as Saint John of the Cross says, it is such love that will matter most in the Lord’s eyes at the end of time, and at the end of our own earthly lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[riszellira]

Reflection: Dapat

Back in the day, when buying new clothes, children would ask one another: “Bagay ba?” It means, “Does it suit me fine?” For Filipinos who care a little too much about skin tone and color, that question is perfectly legit. One’s choice of apparel, according to this mentality, ought to match one’s body build and total body appearance. And in a culture chock-full of so-called “Maritesses” and “Marisols” (AKA, gossip mongers), who you party with and what you wear in said parties can be matter for Facebook groups and Instagram chatrooms replete with stolen shots and video grabs.

And who says the dynamic duo called Pharisees and scribes were beyond that culture of “let-us-talk-about-the-latest” with regard to the Rabbi from Nazareth?

It was not just “bagay ba?” but also “tama ba?” (Is it right?) The statement came with an ill-concealed accusation: “John’s disciples fast frequently, as do the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours are eating and drinking!” The equivalent of the social media platforms of the time were abuzz with rumors and fake news, occasioned by the scandalous dinner with a tax collector.

The Lord turned the tables against those who capitalized on the question, “Bagay ba?” No right-thinking Jew at that time would think of not joining the partying in honor of newlyweds. “Can you force the members of a wedding party to fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

The Lord was not one to do a shallow compliance to an equally shallow cultural imposition to conform to mere societal expectations. There is something more important than keeping up with cultural norms. There is someone more important who merits a deeper form of relationship—a relationship governed by higher and nobler norms. Those norms go beyond questions answered by “bagay ba?” or “tama ba?” In the final analysis, it is about what is “dapat.” That “ought” (dapat) is really all about a two-way relationship with the real reason for both feasting and fasting: the Lord!

~Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

In your life, do you give more importance to what is culturally acceptable than to what is pleasing in God’s eyes?

May I always have the courage to choose You, Lord, amidst all the options the world offers. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

GOD BLESS!

[momoffdrugs]

11/21/2023. 3:03 AM

lord, there is nothing better than a toe curling, mouth gaping, legs shaking orgasm from your own work and going to lay back down. amen.

i know it’s been a couple days and i’m sorry, i was busy over the weekend and was going to bed early. today is a different day.

i was waitlisted by the school i applied for. i was honestly really bummed. but i guess i will wait an try to apply for the day courses in april?

i went on two dates with this guy, max, i served him on an off day i was covering for someone else. and we met up for drinks two days later. then i invited him out two days later. but he showed up to the club in SWEATS. it pissed me off so bad i was triggered lmfao. like come on now. but we didn’t vibe as well the second time so whatever. it was nice and all i guess that really just turned me off of him. plus his breath stank soooo bad like wtf. he told me that when i offered him gum on our first date that that was the first time he chewed gum in like 11 years… bro i know, i can tell 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 devastating.

but! i hit up my boo in the northern state to tell him i would be back next month and he was like yeeeeszsz girl i can’t wait to cum on your pretty face and asked to fuck me raw like yesssss you can 😍🤭😍😍 he’s SO fucking fine. like hottest guy i’ve ever fucked. my type down to a teeeeeee. plus he’s a nurse at a hospital in the er. like baeeeee i love uuuu. not really but it’s good enough for me on the lowwww. he’s so sexy and got a big dick like yes bitch woof.

and also can i just say i am SOOO glad porn staches are in bc they’ve always been hot to me but NOBODY EVER SAW THE VISION!!!

i got a full body massage today, and it was sooo relaxing. my back is killllling me tho. but i’m back to drinking mostly water!! i’m going back!!! plussss, i am going to get a ymca membership for pookie and i and we gonna do this working out!!

i’m gonna ask boo up north for tips fr. no shame in my game!!!

i want to have a good consistent diet and work out. i want to love how my body looks for once in my life in a healthy way. not in a heroin chic way. although she was cute, she was unsustainable.

hmmm what else. just got new clothes. hope they cute. they are but i haven’t tried them on yet. what elseeeee.

not much else, just going to ALSO try and save money. bought a book specifically to save money.

i have to pee so i guess that’s all for now 💋

[riverdamien]

God!

God!

The Birth of Jesus Luke 2:1-14

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  3 All went to their own towns to be registered.  4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.[a]

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord.  12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,     and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[

-----------------------------------------------

Two days ago I was having breakfast at a "Toast" across the street and in comes a man wrapped in a "tiger skin" blanket, with nothing underneath. The manager tried to rush him out, so I got up and ordered him breakfast and we sat outside.

He introduced himself to me as "God", so for an hour we sat and talked about creation and his love for humanity.

The police arrived and told the manager there was nothing they could do, "People run around in San Francisco naked all the time, he is apparently using drugs, but no threat to anyone."

The comments of people walking by were very negative, many of them had been drinking, and several were smoking marijuana.  There is a mushroom shop in the Haight, and I only know five or six people who are "straight edge", doing no drugs.

We live in a drug culture, yet we criticize and try to run homeless people away when they are 'high'. I see naked men in the Castro all the time, but they are not homeless either, so that is ok.

To me "God", in our photo is a sign, and he is a sign which means a great deal if we truly understand. We do understand it if we do not merely hear these tidings: This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger,” but also have in our hearts the light which appeared with the angels.

He appeared with light when these tidings were first proclaimed to make us realize that it is only those who have the spiritual light in their minds who truly hear. 

This Christmas when you see homeless individuals on the street, in your heart see "God"! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

------------------------------

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

----------------------------

Personally, I would like to wish each one of you a very Merry Christmas!

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you. May the Lord lift up his countenance and give you peace." Amen.

[lorienn-art]

FR Heyy ! C’est presque la rentrée et je voulais absolument terminer et poster ce dessin avant de retourner en cours ! J’ai passé pas mal de temps sur le croquis pour en être finalement satisfaite. A la base, je voulais faire cette illu sur un format A5 mais je me suis dit que ça rendrait mieux sur du A4 (et j’avais raison!). J’ai été inspirée par le One Shot d’Araki Fly High With Gucci ; dans ce OS (pas canon), Jolyne perd sa mère et vient vivre chez la famille de son père en amenant avec elle les vêtements de sa mère, donc je me suis dit que c’était l’occasion de les dessiner toutes les deux avec ces fringues x) Pour les poses, j’ai pris comme références le look n° 18 de la collection Automne/Hiver de Vogue en 2019 ainsi que d’une photo de Kate Moss pour Versace en 1990. Côté technique, j’ai bien entendu utiliser ma fidèle aquarelle pour la colo des perso, et j’ai fait le fond avec mes posca. Ah et je vous ai fait un mini strip bonus ! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

EN Heyy! It’s almost the end of the summer break and I absolutely wanted to finish and to post this drawing before going back to school! I spend a lot of time on the sketch before being eventually satisfied. At first, I wanted to make this illustration on an A5 sheet but I thought that it would look better on an A4 one (and I was right!). I’ve been inspired by Araki’s One Shot Fly High With Gucci; in this (non canon) OS, Jolyne loses her mother and comes to live with her father’s family with the clothes of her mom, so I thought it could be a great occasion to draw them together with these clothes x) For the pose, I took as references the look n°18 of the Autumn/Winter 2019 Vogue collection and also a photo of Kate Moss for Versace in 1990. On the technical aspect, I used of course my loyal watercolour painting for the characters and I did the background with my posca markers. Ah and I made you a little bonus strip!

Bonus:

References:

Vogue Autumn/Winter 2019 collection, look n°18

Kate Moss in 1990 for Versace

Araki’s art for the One Shot Fly High With Gucci (collab with Gucci)

[swanoopdev]

GOSPEL REFLECTIONS

John 6: 22 - 29

Monday, 3rd week of Estertide

St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the church

Liturgical colour: WHITE

Freebies, subsidy, discount, tax free, etc. have become a new political trend in India for the past few years. People too are attracted to such announcements by the government or by those who aspire to form the government. People see and compare the best announcements. People like such leaders to form the government.

This is what we find today in the gospel reading. Jesus had fed five thousand people with multiplication of bread and fish. No one had ever seen such a wonderful person in their life time. If this man (Jesus) would become the king/ruler for them, how wonderful it would be. They need not to struggle or work for their stomach. This is one of the three basic needs of the people in the world; the other two ( clothes and shelter) would gradually be seen by the king himself. How beautiful and lazy life they can have. Hence, they were looking for Jesus and be around him to make him the king. But Jesus points out their motives of searching for him. Jesus goes beyond this basic necessities of the people and instructs them to look for heavenly food i.e. the Holy Eucharist.

PRAYER: Loving Lord, we thank you for your precious and holy body and blood as special gift for each one of us. You have been nourishing us with the Holy Eucharist. Often we take for granted and do not prepare ourselves well to recieve you worthily. Forgive us Lord and help us to make reparations for all our unworthiness and grant us the grace to partake in your holy banquet. Amen.

Fr. Swanoop Dev Choudhury SDB

8376815313

[imagines-mha]

When you wear his clothes

Fandom(s): Haikyuu!!

Characters: Daichi, Oikawa, Kuroo, Bokuto, Terushima, Kita, Futakuchi, Ushijima

🔸 Daaamn if this man ain’t smug as hell

🔸 He wouldn’t seem it, and it’d take a genius to tell- but beneath his cool facade, he’s overflowing with utter pride

🔸 You show up one day to practice to drop off his lunch, clad in one of his comfy t-shirts

🔸 Let's be real, Tanaka and Noya see you way before he does

🔸 And bc ur the captains s/o™️, you get a free pass to becoming the unofficial mom of karasuno

🔸 So yes, they all adore you. And yes, they tease you and Daichi like hell

🔸 “WOAH Y/N!! IS THAT DAICHI’S?!” Noya calls, and all eyes magnetise to your figure

🔸 That’s when a smirk creeps onto your boyfriend’s face and your face starts to heat up bc he is HOT

🔸 “You gotta wear my stuff more often babe,“ he’ll grin after the team finish with their compliments, “seems like everyone here thinks you’re cute as hell too. Pity you’re all mine though-“

🔸 *cue cheesy couple shit that makes half of the team wanna throw up*

🔹 If you wear ANY of his stuff, you can bet he’s gonna put the evidence all over the internet. Yall KNOW he would upload it onto a public billboard if he could

🔹 Because everyone needs to see how cute his little y/n is

🔹 And also- boy likes to boast about his relationship cus he thinks ur a gift from god lol

🔹 He’ll probably still tease you about it tho U CANNOT WIN W THIS MAN

🔹 “Aw y/n are you trying to get even closer to me by wearing my shirt? Did you really miss me THAT much? Gosh you’re so cute when-“

🔹 Just slap him

🔹 Fr tho either tell him to knock it off or feed his ego even more. We all know what choice is gonna take less time lmao

🔹 He’s the boyfriend who encourages you to wear his stuff, but super subtly.

🔹 Leaving hoodies on radiators when it’s cold, t-shirts in convenient places just in case you wanna throw them on…

🔹 He just loves having an s/o who wears his clothes it makes him feel like a cool boyfriend okay

🔹 He’ll post pics with the caption “isn’t my sweet little y/n just adorable in MY hoodie?! 🥰🥰🥰” and u can’t lie it kinda does make you melt

♦️ Go grab the dictionary and look up “teasing little bitch”

♦️ There u go that's how he is. He’ll torture you abt it but we all know he’s so into seeing u wear his stuff.

♦️ Sexually.

♦️ “Wow dontcha have your own jacket to wear? Or are you just trying to show me off again?”

♦️ “And who gave you the free pass to steal all my shirts?”

♦️ He’s just teasing though, y’all know he prays every night for you to wear them cus he thinks you’re fucking precious

♦️ You remind him of a little kitty when his giant hoodies are draped around your shoulders

♦️ It drives him CRAZY

♦️ He’s got hard like 83 times more than he’d like to admit just from the sight of you in his clothes not his finest moments

♦️ With that in mind, wear his clothes for a free pass to the best sex of your life amen

⚫️ Lmao. Simp king.

⚫️ He comes home early from practice to find you rummaging around in the kitchen, one of his hoodies hanging around you

⚫️ And istg he almost has to call an ambulance

⚫️ “Y/N WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WORE MY STUFF WHEN I WASNT HOME ANDJWJDJWDJSH”

⚫️ Openly campaigns for you to wear his clothes

⚫️ Like if advertising his clothes to you was an olympic sport, he’d have won gold at least 6 years in a row by now

⚫️ Ur like “oh i'm coming to practice today” and he’s like “ok wear my hoodie”

⚫️ And BOI when you do. WHEN YOU DO.

⚫️ You’re gonna feel like A BEAUTY QUEEN.

⚫️ “EVERYONE LOOK AT HOW FUCKING ADORABLE Y/N LOOKS IN MY HOODIE. HEAR THAT? MY HOODIE. THE HOODIE THAT IS MINE AND BELONGS TO ME. M-E. NO ONE ELSE.”

⚫️ Bokuto you’re making another scene

⚫️ Its fucking cute though

🟣 Confused.com

🟣 “Y/n… where are all your clothes?”

🟣 God bless him he’s such a sweetie pie. He just doesn’t get the memo you’re doing it bc he has comfy ass clothes and you wanna wear them also he smells nice n u like to boast that ur ushijima’s s/o what about it

🟣 When you tell him this, he just nods for a moment, still clueless as ever

🟣 “I can buy you new clothes if you need them?” USHIJIMA NO

🟣 Somehow he works out that you just wear them cus you wanna, and he is more than okay with that

🟣 Lowkey fills him with pride

🟣 You’ll find he’s more clingy when you’re in his hoodies etc. He’s a big cuddlebug on the worst of days so this just sends him OFF

🟣 Perfect for when u need that extra affection

🟣 Just throw on his hoodie and BAM there you are. Cuddly wakatoshi. Ur welcome

▪️He finds it endearing above anything

▪️ He isn’t one to openly show how blushy something makes him, so his reaction is a narrow display of how his heart is really feeling

▪️ You can still read him like an open book tho and u just KNOW by the sparkle in his eyes that he’s melting at the sight of you

▪️ He’s a busy guy, but meticulous at that. He’ll walk into your home and notice you wearing it immediately

▪️ It makes his chest heat up at the sight of you, and he just has to indulge himself in the situation

▪️ You feel his arms around your waist before anything else, giving you a warm squeeze and a peck to your head

▪️ “You look beautiful y/n”

▪️ You guys always cuddle before bed, and you find he’s holding you just a little closer and tighter when you’re in his hoodie/shirt

▪️ He likes to nuzzle you to his chest and play with your hair- it comforts him

▪️ But if you’re in his t-shirt while he does it?? It’s like the feeling is hyped x100

🔸He’s gonna get turned on by it no cap

🔸Seriously, what else did you expect from him?

🔸 He’s boastful as hell when his sees you in his outfits, and even the idea of it just makes him heat up

🔸 You show up to his house one day in a shirt he left at yours

🔸 You’re met with a sharp whistle, catching you off guard and clearly to compliment how hot you look

🔸 “Didn’t know you were comin’ all dressed up for me baby,”

🔸 You swear every time he calls you baby it makes you swoon

🔸 Like Oikawa, he’s boastful as hell

🔸 Expect 104827 selfies before you leave he treats u like his model its so fuckin cute

🔸This man just likes to show you OFF

🟢 Boy gets a little flustered

🟢 But does he mask it with cockiness? Yes. Yes he does

🟢 “Wow, this for me?” He’ll smirk a bit, dropping his bags on the floor and making his way into the bedroom where you lay

🟢 And then it could go one of two ways my friend.

🟢 Either you act all sub and cute- pouting back, letting him take control of you

🟢 Or you call him out on his faux-smugness, and watch him fall weak to you

🟢 If you chose option 1, he’ll probably take it as an opportunity to further things and fuck you- cus that boy is ALWAYS ready to go if u know what i mean ;))

🟢 If you chose option 2, you get to watch his soft side come out and it's CUTE as hell

🟢 He’ll be like “y/n stoppp let me be cool…”

🟢 Either way he fuckin loves when you wear his clothes. Surprise him in a t shirt and nothing else and he’ll SLAM you into a wall and kiss you til you can’t feel your lips istg

[im-a-gay-frog]

Running

Chapter 5: Say Amen

@blaster-lunaz @rohanisbiggay @erilerichan @fugos-fr-requiem @diavolos-son

"Yo, Pops," Kiera quickly knocked on the door of her father's room, not waiting for a response as she opened the door wide. She smiled widely, a plate of food in her hand from the chess match she had just won. She looked at her father, who looked pale as a ghost, his eyes sunken in and a frown on his face. Her smile faded. Her father never frowned. "Papa?" As she had spoken, her father was sent into a coughing fit, blood spilling over his lips. Kiera dropped the plate and hurried to his side, grabbing some cloth from her pocket and wiping her father's face off.

"Papa, what's wrong?" She asked, clearly worried. She had been adopted by her father when she was 5, two years before the universe reset. She couldn't believe she had lived with this man for 12 years. She felt like she had spent her entire life with him and to see him like this. It was disheartening.

"Find Kotsuki. He'll explain everything. Just go. It's not safe here for you." Her father said before coughing up more blood.

"I'll get help, Papa! Hold on, please! What do you mean it's not safe here?" Kiera gripped her father's hand tightly and started up for help. Her father pulled her back. As she frantically looked at him, she noticed his small smile.

"It's too late for me. Go, my Kiera. Go before it's too late. I love you." He said softly, then, his eyes looking deeply into hers, his grip loosen and his hand dropped from hers. She froze for a second, her eyes welling with tears. She held them back. She couldn't cry now. She had to avenge her father. She had to get out of danger.

She had to find Kotsuki, but to do that, she'd need a team. She'd need a team she could trust. A team that had her back. A team that'd help her find Kotsuki. She grabbed her father's satchel and stuffed some money into it and a couple knives. She threw it over her shoulder and looked down at her father.

With a sad smile, she leaned over and planted a small kiss on his cheek and closed his eyes, tucking him into bed. She began for the door, and with one last look at the man who raised her, her father, she muttered something to herself.

"I love you, Papa."

Then, she was gone with the night.

*

Giselle knew now wasn’t the time to think to her father but she couldn’t help it. Even with the family she had now, her heart ached everytime time she thought of her father. It was an overwhelming pain, a whole in her heart she kept concealed from everyone. There was no need to say what happened in another life when she had changed her identity. They all changed their identities, got new lives so looking back felt pointless. 

“Giselle, what’s on your mind?” Kit asked as they walked. 

“Nothing.” Giselle didn’t turn her head towards him. She had no reason to. It wasn’t like the two had never been alone together before. Before Kit joined the team, she’d sneak out in the middle of the night to discuss the city’s activity during the day so she could lead her team safely town to town. 

“There!” Kit put an arm in front of her and pointed forward. She looked at where he pointed and saw K laying in the sand, passed out. The sun must have gotten to them while they were walking. Giselle sighed, huffing a nervous laugh as she moved around Kit’s arm. She placed an arm under K’s back and knees and picked them up. They barely weighed anything and that was a problem.

“Once we get to that house, we need to find a source of water. Some food would be nice.” Kit said as he walked over to Giselle. Giselle carefully carried K along.

“Yeah. I’ll probably go out searching for Lena after we get everyone settled for the day.” Giselle smiled. She always enjoyed doing stuff with Lena. Lena was a sweet girl with a strange sense of humor. She was good company and her presence was always reassuring. 

[pamphletstoinspire]

First Sunday of Advent - November 27, 2020 by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877

A New ecclesiastical year! A new year of graces! The festivals of the Church are a spiritual tree, which yearly decks itself with new fruits, by the fresh commemoration of past great events and mysteries; a commemoration, which God blesses with special graces for every child of His Church. The Church, on every festival, prays as if the mystery which she commemorates had taken place that very day. In truth, as St. Augustine says, for God there is but one eternal day. But only those children of the Church gather these yearly fruits, who earnestly prepare themselves for the festival; and the more zealous their efforts, the more abundant their harvest. But just because the year commences with Advent, and because on a good beginning depends, in a great measure, the progress of a work, every Catholic should be anxious to celebrate this day, the first Sunday of Advent, in the spirit of the Church, in order to be animated with her spirit the whole year.

For this end I shall consider today with you the words of the Apostle: “The night is past, the day is at hand.” Mary, Mother of the promised Redeemer, give us thy maternal blessing! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

“The night is past, the day is at hand.” These words of the Apostle the Church today makes her own. The effects of sin are exemplified by the properties of the night.

At night one either does not see objects at all, or sees them indistinctly. Thus also man in the state of sin, either does not see things that concern his salvation, or he does not see them clearly.

At night one does not work; and the same happens in the state of sin. The sinner can gain nothing for eternal life, even should he zealously practice external works of devotion.

At night the beasts of the wilderness prowl in quest of their prey. In the sinner’s heart passions are rampant, and seek for their base gratification.

Night brings sleep to man. Not unlike is the effect of sin on the soul. Sleep, as the proverb says, is the brother of death. The man who sleeps, sees not, hears not, eats not, labors not. Were he to remain always in this condition, he would, in a certain sense, be dead. Not very different is the spiritual state of the sinner.

He sees not; he does not recognize, does not perceive the malice and heinousness of sin. On the contrary, he denies the wickedness of the most abominable sins, pretending that they are but natural weaknesses, or he even praises them as virtues. He calls pride, self-respect; avarice, economy; anger, enmity, and revenge, righteous self-defense; impure attachments, harmless love; fraud, prudence. He looks but seldom into his conscience, and excuses himself as best he can to others and to himself, saying, that he is not so bad, that others are still worse, that he yet hopes to be saved, that God is infinite goodness, forgetting that He is also infinite justice.

Regarding his duties as a Christian, he thinks that he has fulfilled them, because in the morning he makes the sign of the cross, says a few prayers in the evening, hears Mass on Sunday, unless an entertainment or some business, even of small importance, calls him elsewhere, goes to confession once a year through human respect, and receives Holy Communion without devotion or thanksgiving, and, perhaps, even without due preparation. This seems to him sufficient. He forgets that it is the duty of every Christian to strive after sanctity; such an aim he leaves to priests and religious, as something not intended for ordinary Christians. He sleeps.

The sinner hears not. Even should the Holy Ghost admonish him by inspirations, the tumult of temporal business and enjoyment makes him deaf to that voice.

He eats not. He partakes not of the bread of life in order to grow in the imitation of Christ, and endeavors not by the practice of virtue to multiply his treasures and merits for heaven. He sleeps, and dreams of a life far different from that in which he is really engaged. He dreams of a life of ease and comfort in this world, and lives without a thought of approaching eternity. It will be well for him if the threat of divine judgment rouses him from his sleep, and if he obeys the call of the Apostle: “Rise, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten thee” (Eph. 5, 14)

As those who sleep dislike to be wakened, so the sinner dislikes all efforts to convert him, or rouse him from the sleep of sin. If he heeds the call of grace and returns, by a sincere conversion, to God, then he suddenly sees and recognizes the evil of his former state. The beauty of virtue reveals itself to him, and he becomes conscious of the necessity of fulfilling all his duties as a Christian. He listens now to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, and makes use of all the sources of grace in order to live like a child of God.

But that this condition may be lasting, and the conversion be a true one–the contrary of which happens only too often–the Apostle calls to us today: ” Cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light! By the expression: “Cast off,” the Apostle clearly points out the reason why so many presumed conversions are only deceptions. The sinner stops when only half way. He renounces for a time, and under certain circumstances, this or that sin; but no sooner, circumstances changing, do temptations regain their former strength, than he is the same sinner as of old. He renounces sin only partly, that is, he sins not so frequently, or for a time not at all. But he does not avoid new occasions of sin with sufficient care. He does not renounce sin entirely. He remains near it; and it is no wonder that we soon see verified in him the words: “And the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.” No; if our conversion is to be genuine, then we must follow the directions of the Apostle, and cast off the works of darkness. We must cast off not only sin, but also every occasion that leads to it, with that resolution of which Christ speaks to us when He says: “If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee;” that is, rather suffer temporal injury, rather sacrifice life itself, than commit sin or remain voluntarily in the occasion of doing evil.

But we must not be satisfied with practicing Christian virtues for a time, for the Apostle says: “Put on the armor of light;” which means that we must always and every-where practise those virtues which are required by our station in life, that we must put them on, so to say, like a robe for our soul. In this manner the works of light become at the same time weapons which help us to conquer as children of the Church militant.

Happy the souls who commence this Advent with an earnest will and renewed resolutions, and fulfill this twofold exhortation of the Apostle. They will gather rich fruits from the approaching festival of the Nativity, and they will continue to increase their store during the year they have so well commenced.

Let us begin the work of renovation at once; let us not put it off till the eve of Christmas, as our sluggish nature may suggest. Before the season of preparation is over, we shall have made considerable progress. God grant it! Amen!

“Brethren, it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep.”–Rom. 13, 11.

Again Advent, the time of grace, has arrived. As the life of nature demands the change of seasons that the earth be clothed anew with flowers and fruits, so also the spiritual life in the world of grace demands the renewed consideration of the mysteries of our redemption, as they are placed before our eyes in the order of salvation. These holy mysteries are imaged in the different periods of the year; and here again is verified the word of Holy Writ in praise of the divine wisdom of tint Creator: Who disposes all thing s sweetly, yet powerfully, and in wonderful harmony. It behooves us to co-operate with these dispositions of divine Providence, as Holy Church, our Mother, teaches us and demands of her children. The wish of the Church in regard to the celebration of Advent, is pointed out to us in today’s Epistle and Gospel. Let us meditate on their meaning that we may awake forever from the sleep of sin and its dreams. I said last year that the state of a sinner is a sleep. I say to you this year: The state of the sinner is a dream.

O Mary, conceived without sin, grant that we may during this Advent cleanse our hearts from every stain of evil! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

St. Paul in today s Epistle, illustrates the state of sin from the qualities of night. How? We considered this last year on the first Sunday of Advent. This year I assert that the life of a man in the state of sin, is a dream. To make this my assertion clear by a memorable example, listen to what happened in Belgium in the reign of Philip the Good.

The king, one day found lying in the street a poor man totally intoxicated. He gave orders to have him carried to the palace, to be clothed in new and splendid garments, and to be laid upon the royal bed. When the man awoke, sobered by his sleep, he could not understand his position, and wondered what had happened. He looked around, rubbed his eyes, and could not make out whether he was awake or dreaming. While in this state of astonishment, the servants and courtiers of the king came to him, and, following their master’s instructions, persuaded him that he was really king, and that his former miserable state had been only an illusion. Highly delighted at what he had heard, he passed the day in royal happiness. At night, after he had relapsed through excessive drink into a state of intoxication, the king had him dressed again in his rags, and laid in the street. When he awoke, he thought that only in his dreams he had enjoyed the pleasure of royalty.

Let us now make the application: Man is in a similar condition when asleep in sin. His life is a dream. Let us draw out the comparison, and we shall recognize and admit the truth of this assertion.

He who dreams believes that he is in a different state from that in which he really is. He thinks that he is awake, yet he is not. He thinks that he sees, and yet he does not see. He thinks that he hears, he even sometimes believes that he listens to music and joyful songs, and yet it is all false. He thinks that he eats and drinks, and he does not. He thinks that he speaks sensibly, and he does not speak at all. He thinks that he walks, and he is in bed. He thinks he is well, and perhaps he is sick, very sick. He thinks he is rich, whilst in truth he is poor. Not unlike is the condition of sinners, of whom it is said in the seventy-fifth Psalm: “They have slept their sleep and have found nothing in their hands.”

The pleasures of this world appear to the sinner as the highest attainable good. They seem to him capable of satisfying the longings of his heart. He thinks that he provides for the present and the future; and yet all is deception, vanity of vanities.

And what causes this deception? I answer: Dreams arise because during sleep our excited imagination is not guided by reason and reality. Imagination not guided by reason and faith, makes the life of the sinner a dream.

The dream varies, however, with the nature of the night in which the sinner sleeps. This night is threefold: The night of unbelief–of misbelieve–and of a dead belief.

The unbeliever sleeps in the night of paganism, and he dreams. The sun of faith has not yet risen for him, or else has set again. Hence his degradation, his deception. Instead of being moved by every object that strikes his senses to glorify the Creator, he worships creatures, he idolizes himself.

The misbeliever dreams in the night with which a false creed has obscured his mind. The sunlight of the infallible doctrine of the Church does not shine for him. He thinks that he belongs to the true Church of Christ, that, though voluntarily misbelieving, he will still be saved. He dreams.

The condition in which a child of the Church lives when he is in sin, also resembles a dream. The world has placed itself between him and the sun of faith, like a moon. If in nature an eclipse were lasting, the sun would lose all his power, all his influence over organic life. In the same manner I say: The sinner though a Catholic, dreams. He thinks that, because he is a Catholic and believes, he is on the right path to heaven; but he does not consider the words which St. James uses: “Thou believest. Thou dost well : the devils also believe and tremble. Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee, by works, my faith” (2, 18). Do you hear, sinner? The faith which your life has dishonored, has become the millstone that draws you still deeper into the abyss of hell.

And how fast is the sleep in which these three kinds of sleepers dream away their lives! Be it the night of unbelief, misbelief, or dead belief, which fills their minds with illusions ; experience teaches how difficult it is to waken them. They like to dream, and resist an awakening. I have met many in my life who slept, and to all appearances dreamed, and it was impossible to rouse them. I called to them as loud as I could, I shook them with all my strength, it was all in vain. I held the light close to their eyes; they smiled in their dream; the light fell on their eyes, but did not open them, and they continued to sleep and to dream.

This is a picture of sinners held captive by the illusions of their state.

Truly it is difficult to convert heathens and unbelievers to the light of faith, if God does not force them, so to say, by a miracle, to recognize the truth. Notwithstanding the numberless miracles which Christ Himself, His apostles, and their followers have wrought in confirmation of the Gospel, entire nations are yet asleep, and after nineteen hundred years almost the half of mankind is still buried in the darkness of unbelief, and dream the strangest dreams.

The same may be said of Jews and heretics. For nineteen hundred years have the former awaited the rising of that Sun which during all these years has sent His beams upon their heads; they still dream of a coming Messiah.

There are heretics who for fifteen hundred years have been separated from the true Church, although every child that believes in Christ must recognize the Catholic Church, because she is the first, as she is the only true Church of Christ. The Lord Himself assures us that: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against her.”

But what shall we say of the blindness of those sinners who are children of the Church? How obstinately they dream in their sleep of sin! What is the cause? St. John answers this question when he says: “Men loved darkness rather than the light” (John 3, 19). Notwithstanding all that is told them and proved to them, they, perhaps, only smile like those who are fast asleep–blink with the eyes of the mind at the light of faith, but do not open them.

May the Lord have pity on them, and give them a love of truth, that they may open the eyes of their mind and save themselves before as the gospel of today threatens the trumpets of the last judgment sound, and they are forced to cry:

Oh, what madness! We have erred, and the light of truth was not within us. Woe to us! The night of despair which now hangs over us is not a dream, it shall last forever!

“Be you like to men who wait for their Lord.”–Luke 12, 36.

Our first parents in Paradise, and through them the entire human race, received the promise of the future Redeemer and Saviour. Four thousand years, however, passed before the Son of God entered the world, in the fullness of time, and accomplished, through His suffering and death, the work of redemption. The world had first to be prepared for His arrival; man had to feel and experience that by himself he is not able to know and serve God, or to regulate his life, as the relation of creature to the Creator demands.

But also in preparation for the second coming of Christ, as Judge of the living and the dead, man ought so to use his time of life, that on the last day he may be able to stand with confidence before the tribunal of his Saviour, and be found worthy to enjoy in His company the fruits of redemption in the kingdom of heaven.

The most necessary preparation for so happy an issue is a longing for His coming, together with solicitude to prepare our hearts for His reception, even in this life.

O Mary, Queen of the prophets, thou who didst unite in thy heart the longing of all the prophets, and who, of all human beings, wast best prepared to receive the Lord, obtain for us grace so to regulate our lives that, when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead, we may be ready! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” Thus complains the Evangelist. Alas! with how much reason! Notwithstanding the immeasurable wretchedness into which sin had precipitated us, and to redeem us from which Christ came upon earth, the words of the Evangelist were literally fulfilled: “And His own received Him not.” Bethlehem closed its doors against Him, at His birth; Jerusalem disowned Him and nailed Him to the cross. The hearts of the children of Israel, whom God had especially elected, and by the voice of the prophets again and again admonished, were, after four thousand years, not prepared to receive Him.

Neither did the heathen welcome with joy and gratitude the message of His coming. Only too soon did they arise with all the rage of persecutors against the Kingdom of Christ,–against His Holy Church.

All the apostles, whom the Lord sent over the entire world to preach the Gospel, suffered martyrdom. St. John, although not actually deprived of life, was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and was saved only by a miracle. Seventeen millions of martyrs shed their blood, before the Romans, as a people, confessed Christ. And how many nations exist, even today, who obstinately refuse to receive the message of salvation!

But, even among those who have had the happiness to become children of the Church through baptism, how many deserve the reproach: “And His own received Him not!” Not to speak of the many people who, by voluntary misbelief, separate themselves from the Church and exclude from their hearts the Lord whom they recognize as their Redeemer; let us particularly think of those who, while to all appearances they belong to the Church, yet, through sin, banish Christ from their hearts.

“The kingdom of God is within you,” says the Lord. Thus it should be. As Christ entered the world for the salvation of all mankind, so likewise He came to save each soul, and He, therefore, demands to be received by each one of us. This, however, is the case only when we remain in the state of sanctifying grace, and when we open our hearts to the inspirations of actual grace, to be enlightened and strengthened, that, in following Christ, we may fulfill the most holy will of God, and thus be saved through Christ.

Again and again the Lord’s voice invites each soul; He watches and knocks at the door of our heart, as Holy Writ teaches, and calls out to us: Open–let me enter into thy heart. Christ Himself says: We will come, the Father and I, and make thy heart our abode. This disposition, this care, this co-operation with the grace of the Lord, made the saints what they were.

But how much in this regard is amiss in those, who, though they call themselves children of Holy Church, banish by mortal sin the Lord from their hearts, and do not open them to the inspirations of grace, but listen only to the spirit of the world? Instead of preparing an abode for Christ, they prepare a dwelling for Satan.

And why is it, that so many, while they do not drive Christ by mortal sin from their hearts, yet do not prepare a worthy habitation for Him? Because they do not meditate earnestly and frequently upon the words of the angel to the apostles, on the day of our Lord’s ascension: “This Jesus shall so come again as you have seen Him going into heaven.”

Scripture mentions a twofold coming of Christ upon the earth. One as Redeemer, which, in the fullness of time, has already taken place; the other at the end of the world, when, as Judge, He will demand of every soul an account of the manner in which the graces of redemption have been employed. Hence we also speak of a twofold Advent. The first commenced in paradise with the promise of the Redeemer, and lasted till the Ascension; the second commenced with that day, and will last for each man in particular until death, when Christ will judge him, and for the whole human race together until the day of final reckoning.

Every one must, therefore, prepare himself in the time of Advent, so that when the Lord comes, he may be awake and ready. Hence the often repeated admonition of Christ and His Apostles: “Be prepared!”

But to know in what this preparation consists, we need only think of what we do when we prepare ourselves for the arrival of an expected guest.

We first consider the person who is to come, his dignity, his importance; he may be a king, an emperor, or, perhaps, even the Pope himself. The second thought is of the relationship in which we stand to him ; whether there are ties of love and friendship between us; whether he is a father, brother, friend, or benefactor from whom we have received all we possess, and to whom we owe the happiness of our life; whether he is a man on whose favor our entire future depends–a man to whom we are accountable, who holds in his hands our life, because he is the Judge who is to pass sentence upon us. How all this may be applied to Christ’s coming, is evident.

Jesus, whom we expect, is the King of kings, the Lord of hosts, to whom all power in heaven and upon earth is given. He is the Father who bestowed upon us the right to be children of God, the Brother who divides with us his heritage of glory, the Friend who gave his life for us, the Benefactor from whom we have every gift of body and soul for time and eternity; it is He who will be our Judge, and who will determine our future lot for all eternity. He who will be the Bridegroom of our souls, if He has dwelt in our hearts during our life here below.

With how much solicitude should we endeavor to employ our lives in such a manner that we may be prepared to receive Him with exultation when He comes!

While expecting some one we love, we carefully remove from our dwelling all that might be displeasing to him, and try to procure all that he likes and does him honor.

Applying this to the Advent of our life, I say: Cleanse your heart, especially in this holy season, from all stain of sin. Fill it with fragrant thoughts of longing love, and adorn it with precious jewels of virtue, in order that you may say with David: “My heart is prepared!” Come, O Jesus my Saviour! Amen! (6)

Adapted from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger

This Sunday, the first of the ecclesiastical year, is called, in the chronicles and charts of the middle ages, Ad te levavi Sunday, from the first words of the Introit (To Thee have I lifted up my soul…); or, Aspiciens a longe, from the first words of the one of the responsories of Matins (Looking from afar, I see the power of God coming…).

The Station is at St. Mary Major’s. The Stations, marked in the Roman Missal for certain days in the year, were formerly processions, in which the whole clergy and people of Rome went to some given church, and there celebrated the Office and Mass. This usage, which dates from the earliest period of the Roman Church, and of which St. Gregory the Great was but the restorer, continued to exist in some measure in later times, though with less solemnity and concourse of the people.

It is under the auspices of Mary—in the splendid basilica which possesses the Crib of Bethlehem, and is therefore called, in ancient documents Sancta Maria ad Praesepe—that the Roman Church recommences, each year, the Sacred Cycle. It would have been impossible to select a place more suitable than this for saluting the approach of the Divine Birth, which is to gladden Heaven and earth, and manifest the sublime portent of a Virgin Mother. Let us go in spirit to this august temple, and unite in the prayers which were, for so long a time, being offered up there, and which we will now explain.

In the night Office, the Church commences the reading of the Book of Isaias, who, of all the Prophets, has the most distinctly and explicitly foretold the Messias; and She continues this same Book until Christmas Day inclusively. Let us strive to enter into the teaching of the holy prophet, and let the eye of our faith affectionately recognize the promised Savior in the descriptions, sometimes consoling and sometimes terrifying, under which Isaias depicts Him.

The first words of the Church, in the still of midnight, are these: Regem venturum Dominum, venite adoremus. Come, let us adore our Lord and King, Who is about to come to us.

This first duty of adoration complied with, let us listen to the oracle of the prophet Isaias, delivered to us by the Holy Church:

The vision of Isaias, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem, in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda. Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised Me. The ox knoweth his Owner, and the ass his Master’s crib: but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children. They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards. For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein; wounds, and bruises, and swelling sores; they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.

These words of the holy prophet, or rather of God Who speaks to us by the prophet, should make a deep impression on the children of the Church, at this opening of the holy period of Advent. Who could hear without trembling this voice of Our Lord, Who is despised and unknown, even at the very time when He is coming to visit His people? Lest men should be terrified at the splendor of His majesty, He divested Himself of it; and far from acknowledging the divine power of Him Who thus humbled Himself out of love for them, these men have refused even to know Him; and the crib where He lay after His birth, had, at first, but two dumb animals to honor or notice it (aside from His Mother and St. Joseph). Do you feel, Christians, how just are the complaints which your God here makes? And how your indifference for all His love is an insult? He calls Heaven and earth to witness; He utters anathema against the sinful nation, His ungrateful children. Let us honestly confess that we, too, have not known the value of our Jesus’ visit to us, and that we have but too faithfully imitated the obduracy of the Jews, who heeded not the bright light when it burst upon their darkness. In vain did the angels sing on that December night; in vain did shepherds receive and welcome the invitation to adore the Babe and know Him; in vain did the Magi come from the East, asking where they were to find the crib of the King that was born. At this last example, the city of Jerusalem was somewhat moved; but the astonishment was only for a moment, and the old indifference soon stifled the good tidings.

Thus it is, O Jesus, that Thou comest unto darkness, and darkness does not comprehend Thee. We beseech Thee, let our darkness comprehend the Light, and desire it. The day will come when Thou wilt disperse the spiritual and voluntary darkness of men by the awful light of Thy justice. Thy glory, O sovereign Judge, will be magnificent on that day, and we love to think upon Thy having it; but during these days of our life on earth, deliver us from Thy wrath. We are one great wound from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head; Thou knowest not where to strike: be then a Savior, O Jesus, in this Advent, for which we are now preparing. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad; come, and raise up this head which shame and vile passions bow down to the earth. Come, and comfort this heart oppressed with sin and fear. We confess it, our wounds are deep and sore; come, Thou good Samaritan, pour in Thy soothing oil and heal them.

The whole world is in expectation of its Redeemer; come, dear Jesus, show Thyself to it by granting it salvation. The Church, Thy Bride, is now commencing another year, and Her first word is to Thee, a word which She speaks in the anxious solicitude of a mother for the safety of her children; She cries out to Thee, saying, “Come!” No, we will go no farther in our journey through the desert of this life without Thee, O Jesus! Time is passing quickly away from us; our day is perhaps far spent, and the shades of our life’s night are fast coming on; arise, O divine Sun of justice. Come! guide our steps and save us from eternal death.

The Epistle is from St. Paul to the Romans, Ch. 13:

Brethren, know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Savior, then, who is coming to us is the clothing which we are to put on over our spiritual nakedness. Here let us admire the goodness of God, Who, remembering that man hid himself after his sin, because he was naked, vouchsafes Himself to become man’s clothing, and to cover with the robe of His Divinity the misery of human nature. Let us, therefore, be on the watch for the day and the hour when He will come to us, and take precautions against the drowsiness which comes of custom and self-indulgence. The light will soon appear; may its first rays be witness of our innocence, or at least of our repentance. If our Savior is coming to put over our sins a covering which is to hide them forever, the least that we, on our part, can do, is to retain no further affection for those sins, else it will be said of us that we refused salvation. The last words of this Epistle are those which caught the eye of St. Augustine, when, after a long resistance to the grace which pressed him to give himself to God, he resolved to obey the voice which said to him: “Tolle, lege; take and read.” They decided his conversion; he immediately resolved to abandon the worldly life he had hitherto led, and to put on Christ Jesus. Let us begin this very day, and imitate this Saint. Let us long for that dear and glorious clothing with which the mercy of our heavenly Father is so soon to cover us; and let us say with the Church these touching words of the Gradual, which we cannot repeat too often during this time of the year:

None of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded, O Lord. Show, O Lord, Thy ways to me: and teach me Thy paths. Alleluia, alleluia. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy: and grant us Thy salvation. Alleluia.

In the Gospel of today, taken from St. Luke, Ch. 21, Holy Church turns Her attention to the Second Coming of Christ:

At that time: Jesus said to His disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea, and of the waves; men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world: for the powers of the heavens shall be moved; and then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption is at hand…

Thou art to come, then, O Jesus, in all the terror of the Last Judgment, and when men least expect Thee. In a few days Thou art coming to us to clothe our misery with the garment of Thy mercy; a garment of glory and immortality to us; but Thou art to come again on a future day, and in such dread majesty that men will wither away with fear. O our Savior! condemn us not on that day of the world’s destruction. Visit us now in Thy love and mercy; we are resolved to prepare our souls. We desire that Thou shouldst come and be born within us, so that when the convulsions of nature warn us of Thy coming to judge us, we may lift up our heads, as Thou biddest Thy faithful disciples do, who, when the rest of men shall tremble at the thunder of Thy judgment, will have confidence in Thee, because they have Thee in their hearts. 

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

30th April >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Homilies / Reflections on John 10:1-10 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A: ‘I am the gate of the sheepfold’.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Gospel (Except USA)

John 10:1-10

I am the gate of the sheepfold.

Jesus said:

   ‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’

   Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.

   So Jesus spoke to them again:

‘I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold. All others who have come are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.’

Gospel (USA)

John 10:1–10

I am the gate for the sheep.

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

   So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Fourth Sunday of Easter

There was a time when gates were an important part of the look of the front of a house in the city or suburbs. Certainly, the houses in the older suburbs of Dublin all have gates, some of them quite ornate. Gates seem to be less common in the more modern estates. It is quite usual just to have an opening in the front wall, for a car to park. In the estate where I lived as a child in Cabra, built in the early 1930s, all the houses had gates. Occasionally when myself and my brothers were children, my parents would tie a cloth around the gate to keep it from being opened, so that we wouldn’t run out on the road. The gate was intended to keep us in.

There are two ways of looking at gates. A locked gate keeps people in and keeps others out. A gate that can be opened, on the other hand, creates an opening in a fence or a hedge that allows people to come in and go out. When Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘I am the gate’, he means it in that second sense. He wants people to go in and out through him. He says in that gospel reading, ‘anyone who enters through me will be safe, he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture’. He wants us to go freely in and out through him. Very often when Jesus uses an image, like that of the gate, he takes it from his observation of life all around him. While walking the hills of Galilee, he would have noticed that before nightfall shepherds gathered their flock and led them through the gate of a sheepfold into the safety of the sheepfold, where they would be protected from wolves and other predators. A sheepfold was an enclosed area with a gate alongside a house. Once in the sheepfold, a gate keeper would keep watch during the night, to protect the sheep from thieves. In the morning, the shepherd would come back, the gate keeper would let him into the sheepfold, and the shepherd would call his own sheep by name and lead them out of the sheepfold to a place of pasture, where they could feed for the day. The gate was the opening to safety at night and to nourishment by day, and it was the shepherd who led the sheep through the gate to safety and to nourishment. The gate was the path to life for the sheep.

When Jesus says of himself, ‘I am the gate’, he is claiming to be the gateway to life for all of us. That is why he goes on to say, ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’. When we hear that saying of Jesus, we think immediately of eternal life, life to the full. Certainly, Jesus did come that we may have life to the full beyond this earthly life, a sharing in his own risen life. However, he also wants to bring us life here and now. His presence can be life giving for us in this time and this place, wherever, however, we happen to find ourselves, just as the shepherd was a life-giving presence for the sheep every day and every night, as he led them through the gate for protection at night and nourishment by day. The Lord who is the gate is also the shepherd who protects and nourishes us each day. In the words of today’s second reading, he is ‘the shepherd and guardian of your souls’. He journeys with us as a shepherd and a guardian to bring life out of our various experiences of death, to heal our brokenness, and, in the words of today’s Responsorial Psalm, ‘to revive my drooping spirit’. Our spirits can droop for all kinds of reasons. We might even struggle to get out of bed some mornings. We had some March snow this year and all the daffodils in my garden began to droop under the weight of the snow on its leaves and flower. We can all be like those drooping daffodils. The Lord journeys with us at such times, as he walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, whose spirits were certainly drooping. If we open ourselves to his presence, as, eventually those two disciples did, the Lord will lift us up. He will breathe new life into us; he will give us strength in our weakness. He has come and he continues to come that we may have life now and beyond this earthly life. In the language of that responsorial psalm, he is there as a shepherd in every valley of darkness to give us comfort

Looking upon the sheepfolds of his day, Jesus identifies with both the gate and the shepherd. We are more used to thinking of Jesus as the shepherd than the gate. Yet, Jesus as the gate has something important to say to us. He is an open gate, not a closed gate. He is not in the business of locking people out. He wants people to go freely in and out through him. As the gate, he calls out to us to keep passing through him to find that fullness of life which alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart.

And/Or

(ii) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 Today is the Day of Prayer for Vocations. Last evening in the Pro-Cathedral, Archbishop Dermot Martin launched the special ‘Year of Vocations’. During this special year focus will be placed on the vocation of all Christians as expressed by witness, love and service and as lived out in the specific call of marriage, ordained priesthood, religious life and the single life. We have a whole year to reflect upon that sense of being called by God. A lot of our lives are lived in response to various calls that are made upon us. Parents are called upon by their children and then, as parents get older, it is the children who often get called upon by their parents. In various ways, calls are made upon our time, upon our gifts, upon our energies. We live our lives in response to calls of various kinds.

 Vocations Sunday reminds us that the more fundamental call we hear in life is the call of the Lord. In the gospel reading this morning we hear of the shepherd who calls his own sheep. Jesus often used images drawn from the life of the people to talk about himself and his message. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to do the shepherd’s work for him. The relationship between the shepherd and his sheep was more immediate than it is today. The Lord points to that relationship to express something of his own relationship to his disciples. As the shepherd calls his sheep one by one, so the Lord calls his followers one by one; he calls them by name; he calls them in a way that respects their individuality and uniqueness. The Lord calls each of us in accordance with our own particular nature. The general call to be the Lord’s disciple is lived out in particular ways. The Lord’s concern is not just with the general, but with the particular, not just with the flock as a whole but with the individuals who make it up. That is the trust of today’s gospel reading. One by one, the Lord calls his own.

 One of the tasks of life is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to me here and now. ‘What is the Lord’s call to me in the particular circumstances of my life here and now?’ Given my very particular circumstances, the particular relationships I have at this time, the particular set of gifts and limitations that I have, what is the Lord asking of me? One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lord’s call to me is, it will always be a call towards life. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full’. The Lord’s particular call to each of us will always be in harmony with that fundamental purpose of the Lord’s coming among us. When the Lord speaks about life to the full there, we might be tempted to think only in terms of eternal life, life beyond death. Yet, the life that the Lord talks about there is not just a future reality, life beyond death; it is also a present reality. Here and now the Lord wants us to know something of that life to the full which is our ultimate destiny. The Lord calls us to a fullness of life now, and hereafter. It was St Irenaeus, one of the early theologians of the church, who said that ‘the glory of God is the human person fully alive’. The Lord’s particular call to each one of us is with a view to our being fully alive. It follows that the Lord will never call us to something that would result in a diminishment of life for ourselves.

What is it that makes us more alive? In Luke’s gospel we find the following saying of Jesus: ‘Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap’. In other words, it is in giving that we receive; it is in giving life that we receive life. The Lord will always be calling us to give of ourselves in some way to others, to give life to others. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. The role of the shepherd was to give life to his flock, to protect them form harm and to lead them to pasture. The Lord spoke of himself as the good shepherd. The Lord calls each of us to be a good shepherd in some shape or form. Each of us has a responsibility for a flock of our own, whether we are married or ordained or a religious or a single person. Each of us is responsible for someone or for some others. The Lord will be calling us to give of ourselves to those we are responsible for, and, thereby, to experience something of that fullness of life the Lord wants for us. Giving of ourselves to those we have some responsibility for will mean attending to ourselves, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. The Lord calls us to attend to ourselves, so that we can give of ourselves to others, so that we can be good shepherds. In the coming ‘year of vocations’, we pray that we would be attentive to that fundamental call of the Lord to each of us.

And/Or

(iii) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 A lot of our lives are lived in response to various calls that are made upon us. Parents are called upon by their children and then, as parents get older, it is the children who often get called upon by their parents. In various ways, calls are made upon our time, upon our gifts, upon our energies. We live our lives in response to calls of all sorts. With the rapid expansion of new means of communication in recent decades we can be made much more aware of these various calls on us.

 Today is Vocations Sunday. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the most fundamental call that come to us in life is the call of the Lord. In the gospel reading this morning Jesus speaks of the shepherd who calls his own sheep one by one and leads them out. He is clearly speaking about himself. Jesus often used images drawn from the life of the people to talk about himself and his message. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to do the shepherd’s work for him. The relationship between the shepherd and his sheep was more immediate than it is today. The Lord points to that relationship to express something of his own relationship to us. As the shepherd calls his sheep one by one, so the Lord calls his followers one by one; he calls us by name; he calls us in a way that respects our individuality and uniqueness. The Lord calls each of us in accordance with our own particular nature. The general call of baptism to be the Lord’s disciple, which is addressed to us all, is then lived out in particular ways in response to the Lord’s very personal, daily call. The Lord’s concern is not just with the community as a whole, but with the individuals who make it up. In the words of today’s gospel reading, one by one, the Lord calls his own.

 One of the tasks of life for each of us as disciples of the Lord is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to me here and now. Given my very particular circumstances, the relationships and commitments I have at this time, the unique set of gifts and limitations that are mine, what is the Lord asking of me? One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lord’s personal call to each one of us is, it will always be a call towards life. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full’. The Lord’s personal call to each of us will always be in harmony with that fundamental purpose of the Lord’s coming among us. When the Lord speaks about life to the full there, we might be inclined to think only in terms of eternal life, life beyond death. Yet, the life that the Lord talks about there is not just a future reality, life beyond death; it is also a present reality. Here and now the Lord wants us to know something of that life to the full which is our ultimate destiny. It was St Irenaeus, one of the early theologians of the church, who said that ‘the glory of God is the human person fully alive’. The Lord’s unique call to each one of us is with a view to our being fully alive. It follows that the Lord will never call us to something that would result in a diminishment of life for ourselves or for others.

What is it that makes us fully alive? Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus says, ‘Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap’. In other words, it is in giving that we receive; it is in giving life to others that we receive life and become fully alive. The very personal call that the Lord addresses to each one of us will always be a call to give of ourselves in some way to others, to give life to others. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. The role of the shepherd was to give life to his flock, to protect them from harm and to lead them to pasture. The Lord spoke of himself as the good shepherd. The Lord calls each of us to be a good shepherd in some shape or form to others. Each of us has some responsibility for some little flock of our own, whether we are married or ordained or a religious or a single person. Each of us is responsible for someone or for some others. The Lord will be calling us to give of ourselves in love to those we are responsible for, and, thereby, to experience something of that fullness of life the Lord wants for us. Our fundamental vocation is to be a loving and caring people, with a mind through which the good Shepherd thinks, a heart through which he loves, a voice through which he speaks and hands through which he works.

And/Or

(iv) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 A lot of our lives are lived in response to various calls that are made upon us. Parents are called upon by their children and then, as parents get older, it is the children who often get called upon by their parents. In various ways, calls are made upon our time, upon our gifts, upon our energies and resources. We live our lives in response to calls of all sorts. The rapid expansion of new means of communication in recent decades can mean that we are on call more often.

 Today is Vocations Sunday. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the most fundamental call that comes to us in life is the call of the Lord. In the gospel reading this morning Jesus speaks of the shepherd who calls his own sheep one by one and leads them out. He is clearly speaking about himself. Jesus often used images drawn from the life of the people to talk about himself and his message. In the world of Jesus, there were no sheepdogs to help the shepherd in his work with the sheep. The relationship between the shepherd and his sheep was more immediate than it is today. The Lord recognizes in that relationship between sheep and shepherd something of his own relationship to us. As the shepherd calls his sheep one by one, so the Lord calls his followers one by one; he calls us by name; he calls us in a way that respects our individuality and uniqueness, in accordance with our own particular nature. The general call of baptism to be the Lord’s disciple, which is addressed to us all, is then lived out in particular ways in response to the Lord’s very personal, daily call to each one of us. The Lord’s concern is not just with the community as a whole, but with the individuals who make it up. In the words of today’s gospel reading, one by one, the Lord calls his own.

 One of the tasks of life for each of us as disciples of the Lord is to try and listen to the particular call that the Lord is addressing to each one of us here and now. Given my very particular circumstances, the relationships and commitments I have at this time, the unique set of gifts and limitations that are mine, what is the Lord asking of me now? One thing we can be sure of is that, whatever the Lord’s personal call to each one of us is, it will always be a call towards life. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full’. The Lord’s personal call to each of us will always be in harmony with that fundamental purpose of his coming among us. To use another image in that gospel reading, he is the gate, the gateway, to a full life. When the Lord speaks about life to the full, we might be inclined to think only in terms of eternal life, life beyond this earthly life. Yet, the life that the Lord talks about there is not just a future reality, life beyond death; it is also a present reality. Here and now the Lord wants us to know something of that life to the full which is our ultimate destiny. It was St Irenaeus, one of the early theologians of the church, who said that ‘the glory of God is the human person fully alive’. The Lord’s unique call to each one of us is with a view to our being fully alive. It follows that the Lord will never call us to something that would result in a diminishment of life for ourselves or for others.

What is it that makes us fully alive? Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus says, ‘Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap’. In other words, it is in giving that we receive; it is in giving life to others that we receive life and become fully alive ourselves. The very personal call that the Lord addresses to each one of us will always be a call to give of ourselves in some way to others, to give life to others by our loving service. In that sense, each of us is called to be a shepherd to others. The role of the shepherd was to give life to his flock, to protect them from harm by taking them to the sheepfold for the night, and then to lead them out of the sheepfold to pasture in the morning. The Lord spoke of himself as the good shepherd. The Lord calls each of us to be a good shepherd in some shape or form to others. Each of us has some responsibility for some little flock of our own, whether our situation on life. The Lord will be calling us to give of ourselves in love to others, so as to experience something of that fullness of life he wants for us. Our fundamental call is to be a loving and caring people, with a mind through which the good Shepherd thinks, a heart through which he loves, a voice through which he speaks and hands through which he works. We thank God for all those who are responding to that call in these days.

And/Or

(v) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 The house I grew up in had a small garden to the front as well as railings and a gate. When myself and my brothers were very small my parents used to tie a cloth around where the gate met the railings so that we could not open the gate. They were fearful that if we rambled out of the garden some harm might come to us. The gate was there to keep us in. That is one of the purposes gates can serve. There is another way of looking at a gate. Gates create an opening through which people can pass in and out. We have gates to the front of the church, but they are rarely closed. Even when the church is closed the front gates tend to be open. Their purpose is not to keep people in or keep people out but to create an opening in the railings for people to come in and go out. Doors are like gates in that they too can be used to keep people in or out, or they can serve the purpose of creating an opening in the building through which people can come in and go out. The door of the church here is open from about 9.00 in the morning to 6.00 or 7.00 in the evening every day of the week. I firmly believe that churches should be open as often and for as long as possible.

 When Jesus says in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘I am the gate’ or ‘I am the door’, he was thinking of the gate or the door as an opening through which people could pass rather than as a barrier which prevented people from passing. Having identified himself as the gate or the door, he immediately goes on to say, ‘anyone who enters through me will be safe; they will go freely in and out'. He envisages people entering and exiting through him, passing through him in one direction or the other. When Jesus spoke of himself as the gate in that sense, he was thinking of the gate of a sheepfold. Sheep went one way through the gate to reach the security of the sheepfold and they went the other way through the gate to reach pasture. The gate gave access to both security and feeding for the sheep. Jesus identifies himself with the gate of the sheepfold because he too gives people access to security and nourishment, what he calls in today’s gospel reading ‘life’, life to the full. Given the way Jesus uses the image of the gate or the door of himself in the gospel reading, it is only right that the gates and the doors of churches should be more often open than closed, at least during daylight hours.

 When I was a child my father used to take me to Dalymount Park to see Bohemians football club play their matches; he was a great fan of ‘Boes’, as they were known, and Dalymount Park was only about fifteen minutes walk from where we lived. When you arrived at the stadium there were a whole array of small gates, turn styles. It didn’t really matter which gate you went through. They all gave access to the football stadium. When Jesus says in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘I am the gate’, he is not really saying ‘I am one gate among many. Pick and choose as you please’. He is not saying, in other words, ‘I am a gate’, but, rather, ‘I am the gate’. He presents himself as the unique gateway to God, and, in virtue of that, the unique gateway to a life that is stronger than death, to a love that is stronger than sin, to a light which is stronger than any darkness. Jesus speaks as the one who gives us a unique access to God. As he says to Philip, in another part of the gospel of John, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’. That is why he calls out to us to pass through him, because he knows himself to be the gateway to all that we long for at the deepest core of our being.

 To enter through Jesus the gate is to respond to his call, the very personal call that he addresses to each one of us. That reflects the other image of Jesus that we find in the gospel reading today, the image of the shepherd who calls his own sheep, one by one, by name, and leads them out. Gates are just there to be passed through; they don’t as a rule call out to us; if we pass through a gate it is because we have decided to do so. However, Jesus as the gate calls out to us because he is also the shepherd who knows each of us personally, by name. Passing through Jesus the gate is always a response to his call; it involves allowing ourselves to be drawn by a love which knows us through and through and loves us without limit. This particular gate is also the good shepherd who has laid down his life for us so that we might have life and have it to the full. Today is Vocations Sunday. It is a day when we strive to be more finely attuned to the voice of the good shepherd who calls us by name to pass through him, the gate which gives us access to the life of God and the God of life.

And/Or

(vi) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 The cross Pope Francis wears around his neck bears the image of the Good Shepherd, bearing the lost sheep upon his shoulders. Above is the Holy Spirit radiating down on this ministry of mercy and compassion. Pope Francis sees himself as a shepherd of his flock, his diocesan flock in Rome and the world-wide flock of the church. On January 6 last, the Pope went to a parish on the outskirts of Rome and he visited a live nativity scene, which had various animals including sheep and lambs. A woman who was part of the nativity scene placed a lamb across Pope Francis’s shoulders. The photograph of the Pope with a lamb draped across his shoulders went around the world in seconds. It was an unexpected moment which expressed an important truth about how the Pope sees his ministry in the church.

 The gospels suggest that Jesus identified himself with the shepherds of his time because in saw in their work an image of his own ministry. Jesus observed how shepherds related to their flock and he recognized something of himself in them. In the gospel reading this morning, he describes a scene that would have been familiar to his contemporaries in Galilee. Sheep are gathered in a sheepfold for protection. The shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate. He then calls his sheep by name and he leads them out of the sheepfold to pasture. He goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice and they trust him.

 This is a powerful image of how Jesus wishes to relate to us. He calls to us as someone who knows us and cares about us. He calls us to lead us a place of pasture, to a place where our deepest hungers and thirsts are satisfied. In the words of the gospel reading, he leads us to a place where we may life and have it to the full. He goes ahead of us towards this place and he calls us to follow him. He doesn’t get behind us and drive us in this direction. Leading and driving are two very different activities. Leading is much more respectful of our freedom, of our humanity. Yes, he desperately wants us to have life and to have it to the full. Yet, he calls out to us to follow him there; he calls us as someone who knows and loves us and desires what is best for us. He wants us to recognize him not as a stranger but as leader who knows us through and through, who can see more clearly and more deeply than we can. He calls and he waits for us to respond to his call.

 Today is vocation Sunday. It is a day when we remind ourselves that we are called. From our baptism we are all called to follow Jesus as his disciples, to take our lead from him. Within that general call which we all share, we each have a particular call that is in keeping with our own unique gifts and limitations, our own distinctive set of experiences. We live out the call to be the Lord’s disciple in a way that is unique to each one of us. We each have to ask ourselves, ‘What does it mean for me to live out my calling to be the Lord’s disciple?’. In his message for Vocations Sunday, Pope Francis says that our response to the Lord’s personal call to us ‘always requires an exodus from oneself in order to centre one’s life on Christ and on his gospel’. It is, he says, ‘an exodus that leads us on a journey of adoration of the Lord and of service to him in our brothers and sisters’. Addressing us all he says, ‘I invite you to listen to and to follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words, which are spirit and life... It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you’.

 I like the Pope’s reference to a ‘communal journey’. In that image Jesus paints in the gospel reading, the shepherd does not lead the sheep to pasture one at a time, but together as a flock. The Lord’s call to each of us is very personal and our response is very personal but it is never a private affair. His call sets us out on a communal journey, a journey with others who are trying to respond to his call. We are very dependent on each other on this communal journey. The more generously any one of us responds to the Lord’s personal call to us, the more everyone else is supported in their efforts to respond to the Lord’s call to them.

And/Or

(vii) Fourth Sunday of Easter

 Gates have become more of a feature of our urban landscape than they used to be. New upmarket housing blocks tend to be gated affairs. A large set of gates prevents all non-residents from entering the enclosure. Certainly, one purpose of a gate is to prevent access to some area. Another purpose of a gate, however, is to provide access to an area. The large gates you find in our rural landscape come to mind. Access to our fields would normally be very difficult, both for people and for animals, because of the abundance of ditches and hedging. A gate creates an opening into an otherwise closed environment. Gates can be understood as both barring the way and opening up a way.

 It is in this latter sense that we have to understand the reference to the gate in this morning’s gospel reading. The sheepfold mentioned in the gospel reading was an enclosed area. The gate of the sheepfold provided access both into and out of the enclosure, enabling the sheep to pass out of the enclosure to green pasture and to come back into the enclosure again for safety and protection. Jesus identifies himself as the gate in this sense. As the gate, all who enter through him will be safe; as the gate, all who exit through him will find pasture. He sums up this two-fold role he has as the gate by affirming, ‘I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full’. This is surely one of the most striking statements of Jesus in all of the gospels. The purpose of all that Jesus said and did - of his life, death and resurrection - is that we might have life, and have it in abundance.

 Just as the gospel reading is clear about why Jesus has come, it is also clear about what we must do. If we are to come into that abundant life that Jesus came to give us, we must do so by passing through him. We are to take Jesus as our gate, going ‘freely in and out’ through him, as the gospel reading puts it. Jesus uses many images of himself in John’s gospel. Many of those images stress what Jesus does for us. As the good shepherd, for example, Jesus lays down his life for us. The image of Jesus as the gate emphasizes more what we must do in response to all that Jesus has done and is doing for us. If Jesus is the gate that leads to abundant life, we have to pass through that gate. No one can do that for us. The gospel reading refers to those who do not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but get in some other way. The presence of a gate does not automatically mean that people will use it. Going through a particular gate is a choice that has to be made. If Jesus is our gate, we must choose to enter through him.

 We are more aware today than in the past that our relationship with Jesus and with his followers is a choice we have to make. There is no longer a strong current flowing in the direction of Jesus and his gospel that will carry us along, whether we really want that or not. Indeed, it could be argued that the current is flowing in the opposite direction. The messages that we are constantly receiving from the culture in which we live are not ones that have been strongly shaped by the values that Jesus embodied in his life, death and resurrection. There are a whole variety of gates opening up to us, beckoning us to pass through. If we are to pass through the gate that is Jesus, we have to consciously choose this gate and exclude other gates. When Peter preached the gospel to the crowd in Jerusalem, their response was to ask Peter, ‘What must we do?’ They understood that the gospel they had heard placed an onus on them to do something, to make choices they had never made before and follow through on those choices. The question ‘What must we do?’ is as valid a question for us today, as it was for the people of Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Every day we try to discern what we need to do to give expression to our desire to take Jesus as our gate.

 Yet, the gospel reading this morning assures us that in trying to answer the question, ‘What must we do?’, we are not thrown back on our own resources alone. We are not left to ourselves in trying to distinguish the gate that is Jesus from the many other gates that that lead us in very different directions. The parable that Jesus tells in the gospel reading makes reference to a shepherd as well as to a gate. In the passage of John’s gospel that follows our gospel reading, Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd. He is both the gate and the shepherd. Our going through the gate is always in response to the call of the shepherd. Indeed, the shepherd leads us through the gate. One by one, according to the gospel reading, the shepherd calls his own and leads them out. The shepherd calls out to each of us individually, by name. Today, vocations Sunday, reminds us that we all have a vocation in that very fundamental sense. His call comes to us in all kinds of ways. Sometimes, we seem to hear that call more loudly than at other times. The very public dying, death, and burial of John Paul II may have been an occasion when many people heard the Lord’s call more clearly. Today, we pray that we would listen more attentively to the call of the good shepherd, so that we may choose Jesus as our gate on our journey through life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[riszellira]

Reflection: Of Hearts and Houses

Worldly wisdom, extravagant clothing, posh dwelling, and a kingdom of unparalleled reputation—what else could the Queen of Sheba ask for? Solomon had it all, and she was mesmerized.

But what the Queen of Sheba overlooked, as we ourselves sometimes do, is what Jesus sees foremost: the heart. For Jesus, “the things that come out from within” are what really matters, not the externals. It is a person’s interior life that speaks most of who he or she is.

I grew up watching episodes of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, often awed by the same things as the Queen of Sheba was. In that show, celebrity life was glorified. Wealth and fame said it all. The Queen of Sheba would have been well-pleased to meet any of those featured in the show.

Ironically, thirty years or so later, I am unable to recall a single person featured in that show, no matter how awed I was back then. On the other hand, I remember people who showed me the goodness of their hearts by simple acts of kindness and love. There was Mrs. Lumabi, my Grade 5 teacher, who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. I remember Ate Carmen, our school guard, who tried to comfort me when I was frightened of being the only student left on campus. I remember an older schoolmate whom I didn’t even know, but who came to my help when kids my age were bullying me. I don’t think the Queen of Sheba would have cared about any of these people, but I think they are the kind who matter to Jesus, the kind who have no big houses but hearts of gold.

Can we pray today to choose, in all things, what really matters?

~Fr. Mark L. Lopez, SJ

Who are the people who showed you their hearts of gold? Thank God for them.

Dear God, may I use my every encounter as an opportunity to show others Your presence in my heart. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

GOD BLESS!

[troybeecham]

Fr. Troy Beecham

Sermon, Proper 27 A, 2020

Matthew 25:1-13 (NRSV)

“Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

A few weeks ago, we read the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. That parable uses difficult language about judgement and the coming of the Kingdom of God, and who would or would not be part of it. The message of Jesus in the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is exactly the same. The truth is that there is a dividing line, there are those who will not be part of the Kingdom of God. For many of his contemporaries, this language sounded appropriate, and some took pleasure in hearing about the just punishment of the wrong-doers, their religious or political enemies. They heard their own prejudices affirmed: all the “bad” people, the “wrong type of people” will be getting their just punishments. I am seeing the same expressions in current political language that the losing side will suffer disenfranchisement now that a new executive team are in power. We today are equally happy when we hear how our enemies are going to “get what’s coming to them”. I am also seeing its conjoined twin: profound sadness and loss, as if any human was going to bring about the Kingdom of God. Both are symptomatic of having our hearts set on hopes based on the powers of this world and our ability to exert power over it.

Last Sunday in the lesson about the coin, we saw how those who used religion to ally themselves with political power did so under the false belief that those with power would give them preferential treatment. We never seem to change. We also saw how those with political power sought to cynically co-opt religion to sanctify their power. Again, we never seem to change. Those two sides were allied against Jesus and his preaching the coming of the Kingdom of God, in which all human power is dissolved into the will of God, because it took human power, their power, out of the equation. We least like to hear that we are unable to save ourselves. The truth is that we turn against each other and devour each other trying to purge the world of all the wrong people who are keeping paradise at bay. “If we can only get rid of them, and give power to the right people, we can create paradise!” is the perennial lie, the original lie from the Garden. Yet it remains the mantra of the human will to power, which is the opposite of giving ourselves over to the will of God in Faith.

I am sadly seeing an unseemly number of religious leaders doing the same right now in America. The unbridled use of messianic language when referring to the presumptive new executives in American federal government, the projection of messianic expectations, the expressions of spiritual fulfillment now that particular candidates have been elected, as if that were equal to the coming promises of the Kingdom of God, is a sad commentary on just how far religion has become aligned with the power of empire. Most disturbingly, I saw someone today compare their elation over the election results with the elation of the Easter Vigil, when Christians gather to proclaim that Christ is Risen from the dead! How can we have so profoundly confused earthly, human power with the Kingdom of God? How is it possible to so utterly replace the Gospel with political ideology? I am aghast that any Christian clergy, or any Christian, could engage in such sacralization of the secular and secularization of the sacred. Such confusion of the sacred is astonishing. This is not the Gospel of Jesus. This is not the sacred mission entrusted to us.

I am also seeing the hypocritical, cynical use of religious language, hymnody, and imagery by holders of political office, of imperial power, and it is equally disturbing, and only surpassed by how deeply religious leaders and people of faith are applauding this play acting which is ultimately intended to replace faith in God with faith in human power to achieve God’s reign without God.”Now that we are in office, we will make America a paradise for all!” You cannot say that America should be ashamed of its history and its use of Christianity as an arm of genocidal colonialism and then celebrate the use of Christian religious language, music, and symbolism as you rejoice in the victory of your new leader.

How have we believed such a lie? Only God is God, and only God will bring about his Kingdom. In the end, this is the question: in whom are you placing your hope? Do you believe a human is going to make the world a better place through political power? Who owns your fealty, your trust? In whom are you placing your faith?

We are all subject to the powers of this world for now, and held captive by human greed and desire for the power to rule over others. The world is hard, and life is difficult. We want someone to make it all better. But life is hard only for this age, only for now. God promises that the age of the world in which we now live, which we must endure with faith, hope, and love, and strive to bring some part of the kingdom of God into being through the Holy Spirit, will come to an end, when God creates a new heaven and earth, a conjoined reality in which there is no evil, suffering, or wickedness. We will finally be free from the spiritual powers of darkness and from our own desires to be gods with the power of life and death over each other in our hands.

The real question for disciples of Jesus is, have we allowed the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives to transform us? Have we welcomed the Son, our Savior Jesus, into our souls so that we might be born again and clothed in the robes of his righteousness? Have we forsworn the powers of this world as having any power to save us? Have we dropped everything to await the Day of the Lord, staying awake during the long night and tending the light of the Faith, ready to follow when God calls for the end of time and the Day of Judgement? Or are we still clothed in the rags of our own busyness, our own righteousness, following the flags of earthly messiahs and filled with the prejudices, hatreds, and loves of this world? Are we still endowing human power with the nature of the sacred? Are we using religion to give sacred veneer to the empire? All of this is empty, void, filled with the powers of this world, and it will perish. What will you be left with, then? There will come a day when we must all stand before the judgment of God. Are you carrying the light of the Gospel, are you prepared to walk in the darkness able to discern the Way, or have you exchanged the Gospel for something that gives no light at all?

In case we have forgotten the source of our hope and the one to whom we owe all our hope and faith, I pray this will help get our hearts reoriented to Lord.

This is our Faith:

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Let the Light of the Faith guide us on the Way.

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.