Saturday, June 09, 2012
The Crucifixion of Jesus
Dear Friends,
A reading from the Gospel of St. John (19:16b-30):
So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.'” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled that says: “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” This is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
(Below you will find the message of Our Blessed Mother given to Father Melvin. Our Lady spoke to him these words.)
“I love you, My son Melvin and all My sons and daughters spread all over the world. While Jesus was on the cross, just before He died He gave Me to you all to be your Mother. Indeed you have a Mother in heaven who cares for you and who prays for you every day. This happened after I had suffered atrociously at the foot of My Son’s cross. I saw Him suffering terribly and bleeding from every part of His body. They had flogged Him and placed a crown of thorns on His head, and at Golgotha He was nailed to the cross with nails going through His hands and feet. Blood was pouring from all these great wounds. My children, Jesus suffered this horrible death for you. He offered Himself in sacrifice to His Father in heaven for your salvation. I was united to Him in His suffering and in fact I went through a martyrdom seeing Him in such terrible pain. You see now how evil sin is that it caused the Son of God such suffering. I call on you all to avoid sin at all cost and to follow Your Savior every day. Open your hearts to receive all the gifts and graces He won for you on the cross. I love you and I pray for you every day.”
Father Melvin