{"id":215,"date":"2018-03-18T04:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?p=215"},"modified":"2018-03-13T20:26:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T00:26:03","slug":"emptying-ourselves-day-12-the-great-hope-love-redeems-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/marian-consecration\/emptying-ourselves-day-12-the-great-hope-love-redeems-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Emptying ourselves Day 12 – The great hope: love redeems us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 12 – The great hope: Love redeems us<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans:<\/p>\n

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. \u2026 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, \u201cFor your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.\u201d No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:28;35-39)<\/em><\/p>\n

From Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s encyclical Saved in Hope (Spe Salvi<\/em>):<\/p>\n

Francis Bacon and those who followed in the intellectual current of modernity that he inspired were wrong to believe that man would be redeemed through science. Such an expectation asks too much of science; this kind of hope is deceptive. Science can contribute greatly to making the world and mankind more human. Yet it can also destroy mankind and the world unless it is steered by forces that lie outside it. On the other hand, we must also acknowledge that modern Christianity, faced with the successes of science in progressively structuring the world, has to a large extent restricted its attention to the individual and his salvation. In so doing it has limited the horizon of its hope and has failed to recognize sufficiently the greatness of its task\u2014even if it has continued to achieve great things in the formation of man and in care for the weak and the suffering.<\/p>\n

It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love. This applies even in terms of this present world. When someone has the experience of a great love in his life, this is a moment of \u201credemption\u201d which gives a new meaning to his life. But soon he will also realize that the love bestowed upon him cannot by itself resolve the question of his life. It is a love that remains fragile. It can be destroyed by death. The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: \u201cneither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Rom 8:38-39). If this absolute love exists, with its absolute certainty, then\u2014only then\u2014is man \u201credeemed\u201d, whatever should happen to him in his particular circumstances. This is what it means to say: Jesus Christ has \u201credeemed\u201d us. Through him we have become certain of God, a God who is not a remote \u201cfirst cause\u201d of the world, because his only-begotten Son has become man and of him everyone can say: \u201cI live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me\u201d (Gal 2:20).<\/p>\n

In this sense it is true that anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph 2:12). Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God\u2014God who has loved us and who continues to love us \u201cto the end,\u201d until all \u201cis accomplished\u201d (cf. Jn 13:1 and 19:30). Whoever is moved by love begins to perceive what \u201clife\u201d really is.<\/p>\n

Reflection:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Do I ask too much of science? Do I place too much hope in medicine and technology? Have I experienced a moment of redemption through a great love in my life? Have I experienced also the fragility of this love? Do I believe in an absolute love that is not threatened by death, namely the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus?<\/p>\n

I can learn the unconditional love of God revealed in Jesus Christ by being pressed up against Him as His twin in the womb of Mary. As much as I face uncertainties in life, I do not face them alone. As much as I struggle with suffering and groan for redemption, I know that I am only going through preparation for birth and Christ is with me and goes before me as the first-born. No baby is stillborn from the womb of Mary.<\/p>\n

Prayers:<\/a><\/p>\n

Veni Sancte Spiritus<\/p>\n

Ave Maris Stella or Sub Tuum Praesidium<\/p>\n

Litany of Penance or Radiating Christ<\/p>\n

Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 12 – The great hope: Love redeems us A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans: We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. \u2026 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[49],"tags":[53,54,12,38,40],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marian-consecration","tag-hope","tag-love","tag-mary","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-prayer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Sirani_Virgin_and_Child.jpg?fit=812%2C996&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bfMR-3t","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4645,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/mercy\/behold-i-make-all-things-new-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":215,"position":0},"title":"Behold I make all things new","author":"monks4christ","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Art by Dino The New Heaven and the New Earth Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mercy"","block_context":{"text":"Mercy","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/mercy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/april7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7880,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/pope-benedict-xvi\/behold-i-make-all-things-new-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":215,"position":1},"title":"Behold I make all things new","author":"monks4christ","date":"April 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The New Heaven and the New Earth Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 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