241 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year After Holy Communion 1. “that [H]e gave [H]is only-begotten Son” (Jn 3:16). Consider that you have consumed today the same living Lord who died for the salvation of the world. O you, the redeemed and wonderfully beloved by God, to whom the Redeemer offered Himself as food! He gave His Body for nourishment, and His Blood for refreshment! Consider, therefore, what great thanks you are going to give to this all-good God for this vivification and Communion, since love certainly has the right to draw from you immense thanks [f.59r] for redemption. Oh, if you would gaze at Him with the eyes of your soul, as the heavenly spirits do, you would surely acknowledge and wonder that such a great Lord has entered the abode of your soul today. What more do you need? You have received God: the One who created you; the One whom the VirginMary bore; the One whom the Jews, His beloved people, crucified; whom hell dreaded when He descended into it; who was greeted by the Holy Mother and His disciples with extraordinary joy upon His Resurrection from the dead; whom, finally, the whole heavenly host went out to meet, and, withdrawing Him from the eyes of men, carried up to the throne in the clouds, at the right hand of the Father. From there, 15 days later, He sent to His faithful the Holy Spirit:101 Consoler, Teacher, and Witness to Truth. Undoubtedly, this God whom you received will be your Judge one day. Be afraid if you received Him unworthily; be on your guard should you treat unworthily the One whom you have received. Above all, however, take special care to repay so great a love with an equal love, or at least with such love as your iniquity permits, both for the eternal Father who gave the Son to be slain for you, and for the eternal Son who offered to die for your salvation and life. 2. “but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). Consider that God is not the cause of any soul’s condemnation. This is clear from His own words, as well as from the testimony 101 There is inaccuracy here, because the sending of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost, which was only 10 days after the Ascension, not 15.
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