XXX Of the third point about the Blood of Jesus, that is, the usefulness of this Blood when worthily received
XXX
Of the third point about the Blood of Jesus, that is, the usefulness of this Blood when worthily received
B. (3) Having, in the last Meditation, considered two points about receiving our Lord’s Blood, we have now to consider the usefulness or effect of that Blood, as taken by the faithful in the Holy Sacrament. To understand this, we must bear in mind that the Blood of Jesus thus received may be looked at in three lights: 1, as a draught of living water; 2, as the wine of the Spirit; 3, as the most holy mystery of the Church. In the consideration and likeness of each of these three things the Blood of Jesus has a threefold effect.
1. The Blood of Jesus is a draught of living water. Now, a draught of water does three things: a, it moistens what is dry; b, it cools what is inflamed; c, it carries food to the members. So a draught of the Blood of Jesus, as signified by water, has three effects in the faithful soul: a, it moistens and binds together what is dry; b, it cools and quenches what is evilly heated; c, it carries the food of the Word of God to the members, that they may do their work well.
a. The soul is like dry dust through the failing of the springs; but God pours water on the thirsty soul, and streams upon the dry soul. Then the heart, prone to evil in itself, is steeped in the draught of the Blood of Jesus. Its powers are all bound together, nay, glued together, and so it is strengthened for all that is good. On the other hand, the wicked are like dust before the wind; for the temptations of the devil scatter their thoughts, their desires, their words, and their works through many kinds of vices. The people were scattered in Egypt. They sought for stubble, that is, the vanities of the world. But Jesus, by His Blood and His death, gathered together in one all who were scattered in the darkness. He does this by union of heart, by bridling of the tongue, by the discipline of the senses, by the discipline of morals, by the holiness of our lives, and by the love of our brethren. When St. Paul says that we are to be a new paste, as we are unleavened, he means that, being cleansed by Baptism from our guilt, we must be sprinkled by the Blood of Jesus, and so made into a paste bound together by a new life and a good life.
b. When the rock was smitten by Moses the water flowed to quench the thirst of the people. As water quenches a raging flame, so the Blood of Jesus, signified by water, quenches the burning of anger, of avarice, of sinful love, and of sinful desire. St. Augustin says, ‘Write, O Lord Jesus Christ, Thy wounds on my heart in Thy Precious Blood, that I may so read in them Thy sorrow, as to bear all sorrow for Thee; and that I may so read in them Thy love, as to despise all wrong love for Thee.’ Thus it is seen that the Blood of Jesus, like water, quenches evil flames in the soul.
c. Elias went in the strength of his miraculous food to the mount of God, that is Horeb. Drink carries food to the members, and moves them to go or to do; so a draught of the Blood of Jesus carries to the heart the word of God or His commandments, that all the powers of the soul and all the members of the body may live by that word, may be ruled by it, and by it may do good works. The Wise Man says that we have to eat and drink and leave childish things; that is to say, we must eat, for food, the word of God and His commandments, and drink the Blood of Jesus. Then He will bring home that commandment to our heart, our senses, and our members. So by His warning we shall leave all that is bad, and cleave to all that is good.
2. The Blood of Jesus is the wine of the Spirit. Looked at in this light it has three effects: a, it washes; b, it warms; c, it gladdens. It washes away the filth of guilt; it warms hearts with love; and it gladdens them with the sweetness of God.
a. Jesus washes His garments in the blood of the grape. His garments are faithful souls in which He is clothed. We have now fellowship with God, being brought from darkness to light, for the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from our sins.
b. In the sweet Body of Jesus, received in the Sacred Host, we eat the marrow of wheat and drink the grape’s purest blood. That Blood is pure and warm: pure, to take away all stain of sin; warm, to inflame the heart with love. The cellar of wine, spoken of in Scripture, is the Church of God, where is set forth the warm wine of the Blood of Jesus, to kindle our hearts with love for God and for our neighbour.
c. The spiritual meaning of the praise of wine in Scripture is the joy that comes to the soul by the Blood of the Lamb, drunk according to the measure of faith. Jesus is to us a cluster of grapes, when with His Blood we drink in the sweetness of spiritual joy, which gives us forgetfulness of all the sorrow of life.
3. The Blood of Jesus is the most holy mystery of the Church; for it is that holy thing, that secret thing, in which the great power of God is hidden. In this way it has three supernatural effects: a, it routs the devils; b, it draws down grace; c, it keeps us in holiness of life till it brings us to life everlasting.
a. When God saw the blood on the doors of Israel in Egypt He would not suffer the destroyer to enter. So is it with the faithful soul. St. John Chrysostom says, ‘This Blood drives away the devils and keeps them far off.’ As the elephants at Bethzacharam were made to fight by the blood of grapes and mulberries, so Christian souls defeat and crush their spiritual enemies by the Blood of our Lord.
b. We have come to the Blood which speaketh better things than that of Abel; for the blood of Abel calls to God for vengeance, whereas the Blood of Jesus demands grace by right and brings it to us. St. Bernard says, ‘O Blood of Christ, worthy of the highest reverence: on the Altar, our drink; on the Cross, our ransom; in heaven, our advocate with the Father.’
c. This Blood is our eternal life. The philosopher says, ‘Corruption and old age are nothing but littleness of blood. When the body is without it then the body corrupts. Hence many die for want of blood.’ As therefore the life of the body is in the blood, so the preservation of the life of the spirit is in the Blood of Jesus. In that Blood also is our security for being brought to the deathless life of Heaven.
The Voice of the Holy Ghost
(3) About the usefulness of the Blood of Jesus; He that.… drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life. St. John 6:55.
He struck the rock and the waters gushed out, and the stream overflowed. Ps. 77:20.
1. Living water; a. It moistens; I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land. I will pour out My Spirit on thy seed, and My blessing on thy stock; and they shall spring up among the herbs, and as willows beside the running waters. Is. 44:3, 4.
Not so the wicked, not so; but they shall be like the dust which the wind driveth from the face of the earth. Ps. 1:4.
The people were scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather straw. Ex. 5:12.
Being the High-Priest of that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation; and not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God that were dispersed. St. John 11:51, 52.
Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened. 1 Cor. 5:7.
b. It cools what is inflamed; He struck the rock in the wilderness, and gave them to drink as out of the great deep. He brought forth water out of the rock, and made streams run down as rivers. Ps. 77:15, 16.
Water quencheth a flaming fire. Ecclus. 3:33.
c. It brings spiritual food; He (Elias) cast himself down and slept in the shadow of the juniper-tree: and behold an Angel of the Lord touched him and said to him, Arise, and eat. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth-cake and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank and fell asleep again. And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him and said to him, Arise, eat, for thou hast yet a great way to go. And he arose and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to the mount of God, Horeb. 3 Kings 19:5–8.
Come eat My bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. Forsake childishness and live, and walk by the ways of prudence. Prov. 9:5, 6.
2. The wine of the Spirit; Drink ye all of this; for this is My Blood of the new testament. St. Matt. 26:27, 28.
a. It washes; Tying His foal to the vineyard, and His ass, O my son, to the vine; He shall wash His robe in wine, and His garment in the blood of the grape. Gen. 49:11.
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin. 1 St. John 1:7.
If the blood of goats and of oxen and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the Blood of Christ, who, by the Holy Ghost, offered Himself unspotted to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Heb. 9:13, 14.
Blessed are they that wash their robes in the Blood of the Lamb, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates to the city. Apoc. 22:14.
b. It warms; He set him on a high land that he might eat the fruit of the fields, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest stone; butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep, with the fat of rams, and of the rams of the breed of Basan; and goats with the marrow of wheat; and that he might drink the purest blood of the grape. Deut. 32:13, 14.
I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled? St. Luke 12:49.
The Lord hath said it, whose fire is in Sion and His furnace in Jerusalem. Is. 31:9.
He brought me into the cellar of wine; He set charity in order in me. Stay me up with flowers; compass me about with apples, for I languish with love. His left hand is under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me.… My Beloved is mine, and I am His, who feedeth among the lilies. Cantic. 2:4–6, 16.
c. It gladdens; The earth shall be filled with the fruit of Thy works … that wine may cheer the heart of man. Ps. 103:13, 15.
Wine drunken with moderation is the joy of the soul and the heart. Ecclus. 31:36.
A cluster of cyprus my Love is to me in the vineyards of Engaddi. Cantic. 1:13.
King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus; the pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple; the midst he covered with charity for the daughter of Jerusalem. Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. Cantic. 3:9–11.
Give strong drink to them that are sad, and wine to them that are grieved in mind. Let them drink and forget their want, and remember their sorrow no more. Prov. 31:6, 7.
3. The holy mystery of the Church; Jesus, that He might sanctify the people by His own Blood, suffered without the gate. Heb. 13:12.
a. It drives away devils; The blood shall be to you for a sign in the houses where you shall be; and I will see the blood, and will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I shall strike the land of Egypt. Ex. 12:13.
They showed the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries to provoke them to fight. 1 Mac. 6:34.
There was a great battle in heaven; Michael with his Angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his Angels; and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And that great dragon was cast out, the old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast to the earth, and his Angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of the testimony, and they loved not their lives to the death. Apoc. 12:7–11.
b. It impetrates grace; Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, … according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. 1 St. Pet. 1:1, 2.
You are come … to Jesus, the Mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of Blood which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Heb. 12:22, 24.
c. It gives perseverance; He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. St. John 6:55.
The life of all flesh is in the blood. Lev. 17:14.
My Blood is drink indeed. St. John 6:56.
Prayer
O Jesus, Thou art the living Water; be in me, dear Lord, a well of water springing up to everlasting life. O Soul of my Jesus, help me to pray. O most beautiful Soul, most glorious Soul, most majestic Soul, ever to be loved, ever to be reverenced, ever to be adored, in the hypostatic union, with the Eternal Word. Soul once sorrowful to death, now glad with the gladness of the everlasting espousals, enlighten me, strengthen me, help me to pray.
Eternal Father, water in me all that is dry. I am a desert of sand: make me a watered garden, bringing forth flowers of Paradise, and fruits of the tree of life.
Eternal Son, as one like Thee walked with the Three Children in the burning fiery furnace, softening the breath of the flame, and stilling the rage of the fire, so be with me, my Saviour, in this fiery furnace of the world, that its flame may not scorch me, and that not even the breath of its fire may pass upon my raiment. Quench in me by Thy Blood all evil desires and all thoughts of sinful longing.
Eternal Spirit, give me strength and light to work for God. Thou art my strength and my light. To Thee, dear Spirit, I come; be to me even here the beginning of the endless joy. Thou art the beginning and the end.
O Blessed Trinity, lead me, for the food and drink of my soul, to the Altar of Jesus, to Thy Table, O my God.
O Jesus, Thy Blood is the wine of the Spirit; let me be satisfied with the fulness of Thy house. I come, my Lord and my Love, to Thy Altar.
Eternal Father, wash me from my sins in the Blood of Jesus.
Eternal Son, fill me with the fire of Thy Heart.
Eternal Spirit, make me glad with the sweetness of the Soul of Jesus.
O Blessed Trinity, wash my soul in the wine of Heaven, that, being cleansed by the Blood of Jesus from all sin, I may live in newness of life.
O Jesus, Thy Blood is the holy mystery of the Church. I come with love and confidence and much fear to drink it at Thy Table. May it be to me a pledge that I shall one day, by Thy goodness, drink with Thee the new wine in Thy Father’s kingdom.
O Eternal Father, crush all the powers of evil under my feet. Let me walk upon the asp and the basilisk; let me trample under foot the lion and the dragon by the Blood of Thy Son.
O Eternal Son, pour into my soul abundant gifts of grace. Thou didst die for me on the Cross. There Thou didst merit for me the treasures of grace which now Thou givest. Thou didst give me Thyself in shedding of Blood and in dimness of death. Now Thou givest me Thyself in outpouring of gladness and in Thy deathless life. Thou wast dead, and art alive for ever.
O Eternal Spirit, hide me more and more with God. and let there be in me more and more of the mind of Jesus. Touch the lips of my soul and give me a taste for this Bread of God, that I may know the graciousness of my Jesus, and the sweetness of His Blood. The love of God is shed abroad in my heart, for Thou, O Holy Ghost, art given to me. O, lift me up, dear Spirit, from the dust. O, bring me in Thine own good time to the pavement of pure gold as clear as crystal. Fill my soul with Thy dew; fill it with Thy fire. There is no dew like Thine; and there is no fire like Thine. They mingle together in the fruitfulness of the garden of the Spouse. They mingle with the Blood of Jesus, and with the water from His side. O fire of the Holy Ghost, gentle and sweet as dew. O dew of the Holy Ghost, piercing and cleansing as fire. O Holy Ghost, whom I love, lift Thy little one to Thy uncreated Heart.
O Blessed Trinity, show me the hidden things of the Blood of Jesus, the holy mystery of Thy Church. O Blessed Trinity: O Blessed Trinity: O Blessed Trinity.