Through the Blood of Christ

I. Through the blood of Christ the New Testament was confirmed. This chalice is the new testament in my blood (I Cor. xi. 25). Testament has a double meaning.
(i) It may mean any kind of agreement or pact.  Now God has twice made an agreement with mankind. In one pact God promised man temporal prosperity and deliverance from temporal losses, and this pact is called the Old Testament. In another pact God promised man spiritual blessings and deliverance from spiritual losses, and this is called the New Testament, I will make a new covenant, saith the Lord, with the house of Israel and with the house of ]uda : not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt : but this shall be the covenant : I will give my law in their bosoms and I will write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people (]er. xxxi. 31-33).
Among the ancients it was customary to pour out the blood of some victim in confirmation of a pact. This Moses did when, taking the blood, he sprinkled it upon the people and he said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you (Exod. xxiv. 8). As the Old Testament or pact was thus confirmed in the figurative blood of oxen, so the New Testament or pact was confirmed in the blood of Christ, shed during his Passion.
(ii) Testament has another more restricted meaning when it signifies the arrangement of an inheritance among the different heirs, i.e., a will.  Testaments, in this sense, are only confirmed by the death of the testator. As St. Paul says, For a testament is of force, after men are dead: otherwise it is as yet of no strength, whilst the testator liveth (Heb. ix. 17). God, in the beginning, made an arrangement of the eternal inheritance we were to receive, but under the figure of temporal goods. This is the Old Testament. But afterwards He made the New Testament, explicitly promising the eternal inheritance, which indeed was confirmed by the blood of the death of Christ. And therefore, Our Lord, speaking of this, says, This chalice is the new testament in my blood (I Cor. xi. 25), as though to say, "By that which is contained in this chalice, the new testament, confirmed in the blood of Christ, is commemorated."
(In I Cor. xii.)

2. There are other things which make the blood of Christ precious. It is :
(i) A cleansing of our sins and uncleanness. Jesus Christ hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Apoc. i. 5).
(ii) Our redemption, Thou hast redeemed us in Thy blood (ibid. v. 9).
(iii) The peacemaker between us and God and his angels, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in the heavens (Coloss. i. 20).
(iv) A draught of life to all who receive it. Drink ye all of this (Matt. xxvi. 27). That they might drink the purest blood of the grape (Deut. xxxii. 14).
(v) The opening of the gate of heaven. Having therefore brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ (Heb. x. 19), that is to say, a continuous prayer for us to God. For His blood daily cries for us to the Father, as again we are told, You are come to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel (ibid. xii. 22-24).  The blood of Abel called for punishment. The blood of Christ calls for pardon.
(vi) Deliverance of the saints from hell. Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.(Zach. ix. n).

(Saint Thomas, Sermon for Passion Sunday.)

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On this feast that commemorates the shedding of our Lord's Blood at Calvary, may He forgive the sins that led to so great a sacrifice.

Pro Vobis et pro Multis Effundetur

On this Feast of the Precious Blood, the words used in the Consecration once again signify the mystical body of Christ, as they did for past generations going back to the Last Supper. Last year and for the preceding 40 years they did not, for most English-speaking Catholics. In the traditional Latin Mass, our Lord's words continued to be used, but in most places the old Mass was suppressed, and a new Mass put in its place, and at the heart of the new Mass, new words of consecration were used that contradicted Sacred Scripture and Tradition.

I suppose the new words were more congenial to a generation that did not care for thoughts of accountability and judgment. At the Last Supper, our Lord prayed for all who accept Him and abide in Him, then or now (John 17). He did not pray for those who will not accept His words. The 1960s generation wanted to make Him say that He blesses all men, regardless of the choices they make. That generation is finally passing, and its error has been corrected. If the old Mass has not been restored to its place of honor, at least our Lord's words are restored, and the prayers of the new Mass have been translated more carefully to offer adoration to Him Who is worthy of all adoration.

From the Roman Catechism:

...Another reason why we call the blood of the Lord the mystery of faith is that human reason is particularly beset with difficulty and embarrassment when faith proposes to our belief that Christ the Lord, the true Son of God, at once God and man, suffered death for us, and this death is designated by the Sacrament of His blood.

Here, therefore, rather than at the consecration of His body, is appropriately commemorated the Passion of our Lord, by the words. which shall be shed for the remission of sins. For the blood, separately consecrated, serves to place before the eyes of all, in a more forcible manner, the Passion of our Lord, His death, and the nature of His sufferings.

The additional words for you and for many, are taken, some from Matthew, some from Luke, but were joined together by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Spirit of God. They serve to declare the fruit and advantage of His Passion. For if we look to its value, we must confess that the Redeemer shed His blood for the salvation of all; but if we look to the fruit which mankind have received from it, we shall easily find that it pertains not unto all, but to many of the human race. When therefore (our Lord) said: For you, He meant either those who were present, or those chosen from among the Jewish people, such as were, with the exception of Judas, the disciples with whom He was speaking. When He added, And for many, He wished to be understood to mean the remainder of the elect from among the Jews or Gentiles.

With reason, therefore, were the words for all not used, as in this place the fruits of the Passion are alone spoken of, and to the elect only did His Passion bring the fruit of salvation. And this is the purport of the Apostle when he says: Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many; and also of the words of our Lord in John: I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me, because they are thine.

Beneath the words of this consecration lie hid many other mysteries, which by frequent meditation and study of sacred things, pastors will find it easy, with the divine assistance, to discover for themselves.

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The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth refined seven times.
Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us: and keep us from this generation for ever.
Psalm 11:7-8

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Precious Blood,
Ocean of Divine Mercy:
Flow upon us!

Precious Blood,
Most pure Offering:
Procure us every Grace!

Precious Blood,
Hope and Refuge of sinners:
Atone for us!

Precious Blood,
Delight of holy souls:
Draw us! Amen.

Water into Wine

On this Sunday we remember the wedding at Cana. This event includes the first recorded miracle of our Lord and the last recorded words of our Lady.

On the third day of his public ministry, Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding. Mary His mother was there too. When they ran short of wine, she spoke with her son, and at her intercession, He turned water into wine. As with the miracles that followed, this was no random magic trick, but was an exercise of Divine power that revealed something of the Divine plan.

Above all, it is a foreshadowing of his last miracle, also a miracle of "good wine", the third cup of the passover meal which He celebrated with His disciples, the cup of redemption that held no ordinary wine, but by God's mercy held the Precious Blood shed for our salvation.

At every Mass, the chalice holds the Precious Blood, a gift freely given, so that we might be unified in Christ, and raised to a greater dignity than we now display, raised so high as to even share in the Divine life and enter heaven at the end of our days.

The miracle of the Mass is a miracle of water and wine, recalling the water and the blood that flowed from our Lord's side at his crucifixion. The priest adds a drop of water to the cup of wine about to be consecrated. Saint Thomas says that the wine signifies Christ's blood, and the water, the people (ST III, q 74, art. 6). In a sense, the water is changed to wine in the cup. It is still present, but it has become one with the wine, and cannot be separated from it. May we be so joined to the True Vine [John 15:5], Christ our Lord, and give forth fruit abundantly. [Galatians 5:22-23, also Romans 1:13 and Colossians 1:6]

In marriage, man and a woman are inseparably joined for life. Choosing a wedding as the setting for His first miracle emphasized the unfailing, self-sacrificing love the Lord has for His chosen bride Israel [Mark 2:19, Ephesians 5:22-33]. His presence at the wedding also sanctioned marriage as a holy and honorable institution.

In the Bible, seven is the number of perfection and covenant, and one less than that is the number of imperfection. Some people note that six empty jars were filled, and consider that a symbol of the imperfection of the old law, and the emptiness it left in God's people, which is filled up beyond all expectations by the new wine of Christ.

However imperfect the materials at hand were, the Lord did not reject them, but worked with them and through them and filled them to the brim with His gift to bring joy to people who needed his help.

At that time, then, Jesus made of water wine, and both then and now He ceases not to change our weak and unstable wills. For there are, yes, there are men who in nothing differ from water, so cold, and weak, and unsettled. But let us bring those of such disposition to the Lord, that He may change their will to the quality of wine, so that they be no longer washy, but have body, and be the cause of gladness in themselves and others. But who can these cold ones be? They are those who give their minds to the fleeting things of this present life...
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 22

To strengthen the association of the wedding on the third day with our Lord's passion, it could be noted that the very next event described in the Gospel of Saint John is the cleansing of the temple, where a three day period is again mentioned, this time explicitly linked to our Lord's death and resurrection.

The positive response of Jesus to our Lady's intercession should increase our confidence that her prayers can help us, too.

Finally, it might be noted that while His disciples' faith was strengthened by His miracle, most of those in attendance at the wedding were not followers of the Lord. But all benefitted, for God loves all, and sends rain for the just and unjust alike [Matthew 5:45].

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4).
(As I was finishing this post, I discovered an excellent series of excerpts on this same subject from Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ, posted by the Happy Catholic: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Isaiah 55:1

The wedding at Cana is one of the new luminous mysteries of the Rosary in the expanded version of the Rosary introduced by Pope John Paul II, and is also one of the meditations in the now rarely prayed Eastern Orthodox rosary.

The True Vine

Today's Gospel: John 15:1-8

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

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And concerning the Eucharist, hold Eucharist thus: First concerning the Cup, "We give thanks to Thee, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David Thy child, which, thou didst make known to us through Jesus Thy Child; to Thee be glory for ever."

Didache, chapter 9

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The Master accordingly, when asked, "Which is the greatest of the commandments? "says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; "³⁷ that no commandment is greater than this (He says), and with exceeding good reason; for it gives command respecting the First and the Greatest, God Himself, our Father, by whom all things were brought into being, and exist, and to whom what is saved returns again. By Him, then, being loved beforehand, and having received existence, it is impious for us to regard ought else older or more excellent; rendering only this small tribute of gratitude for the greatest benefits; and being unable to imagine anything else whatever by way of recompense to God, who needs nothing and is perfect; and gaining immortality by the very exercise of loving the Father to the extent of one's might and power. For the more one loves God, the more he enters within God.

The second in order, and not any less than this, He says, is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"³⁸ consequently God above thyself. And on His interlocutor inquiring, "Who is my neighbour? "³⁹ He did not, in the same way with the Jews, specify the blood-relation, or the fellow-citizen, or the proselyte, or him that had been similarly circumcised, or the man who uses one and the same law. But He introduces one on his way down from the upland region from Jerusalem to Jericho, and represents him stabbed by robbers, cast half-dead on the way, passed by the priest, looked sideways at by the Levite, but pitied by the vilified and excommunicated Samaritan; who did not, like those, pass casually, but came provided with such things as the man in danger required, such as oil, bandages, a beast of burden, money for the inn-keeper, part given now, and part promised. "Which," said He, "of them was neighbour to him that suffered these things? "and on his answering, "He that showed mercy to him," (replied),⁴⁰ Go thou also, therefore, and do likewise, since love buds into well-doing.

In both the commandments, then, He introduces love; but in order distinguishes it. And in the one He assigns to God the first part of love, and allots the second to our neighbour. Who else can it be but the Saviour Himself? or who more than He has pitied us, who by the rulers of darkness were all but put to death with many wounds, fears, lusts, passions, pains, deceits, pleasures? Of these wounds the only physician is Jesus, who cuts out the passions thoroughly by the root,-not as the law does the bare effects, the fruits of evil plants, but applies His axe to the roots of wickedness. He it is that poured wine on our wounded souls (the blood of David's vine), that brought the oil which flows from the compassions of the Father,⁴¹ and bestowed it copiously. He it is that produced the ligatures of health and of salvation that cannot be undone,-Love, Faith, Hope. He it is that subjected angels, and principalities, and powers, for a great reward to serve us. For they also shall be delivered from the vanity of the world through the revelation of the glory of the sons of God. We are therefore to love Him equally with God. And he loves Christ Jesus who does His will and keeps His commandments. "For not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father."⁴² And "Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? "⁴³ "And blessed are ye who see and hear what neither righteous men nor prophets" (have seen or heard),⁴⁴ if ye do what I say.

He then is first who loves Christ; and second, he who loves and cares for those who have believed on Him. For whatever is done to a disciple, the Lord accepts as done to Himself, and reckons the whole as His. "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me to drink: and I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: I was naked and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came to Me. Then shall the righteous answer, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? And when saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, and visited Thee? or in prison, and came to Thee? And the King answering, shall say to them, Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Again, on the opposite side, to those who have not performed these things, "Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these, ye have not done it to Me."⁴⁵ And in another place, "He that receiveth you; receiveth Me; and he that receiveth not you, rejecteth Me."⁴⁶

Such He names children, and sons, and little children, and friends, and little ones here, in reference to their future greatness above. "Despise not," He says, "one of these little ones; for their angels always behold the face of My Father in heaven."⁴⁷ And in another place, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom of heaven."⁴⁸ Similarly also He says that "the least in the kingdom of heaven" that is His own disciple "is greater than John, the greatest among those bern of women."⁴⁹ And again, "He that receiveth a righteous man or a prophet in the name of a righteous man or a prophet, shall receive their reward; and he that giveth to a disciple in the name of a disciple a cup of cold water to drink, shall not lose his reward."⁵⁰ Wherefore this is the only reward that is not lost. And again, "Make to you friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations; "⁵¹ showing that by nature all property which a man possesses in his own power is not his own. And from this unrighteousness it is permitted to work a righteous and saving thing, to refresh some one of those who have an everlasting habitation with the Father.

See then, first, that He has not commanded you to be solicited or to wait to be importuned, but yourself to seek those who are to be benefited and are worthy disciples of the Saviour. Excellent, accordingly, also is the apostle's saying, "For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver; "⁵² who delights in giving, and spares not, sowing so that he may also thus reap, without murmuring, and disputing, and regret, and communicating, which is pure⁵³ beneficence. But better than this is the saying spoken by the Lord in another place, "Give to every one that asketh thee."⁵⁴ For truly such is God's delight in giving. And this saying is above all divinity,⁵⁵ -not to wait to be asked, but to inquire oneself who deserves to receive kindness.

from Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved? by Clement of Alexandria.

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Christ Jesus, source of our unity, have mercy on us.
Christ Jesus, Whose Precious Blood washes away our sins, have mercy on us.
Christ Jesus, life and hope of the world, have mercy on us.

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I saw this drawing on two separate anti-Catholic websites. They may have published it to mock the miracle of transubstantiation, but the drawing itself is a fair allegory of the mystery. For our Lord was crushed for our sins, and the grace of His sacrifice flows throughout the world, particularly through the seven sacraments of His Church.

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But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought our peace was on him;
and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5