Month of the Precious Blood (Day 15)
July 15, 2025
Day 15
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians.
[Christ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
RESPONSORY
God was pleased to reconcile all things in Christ
– making peace through the blood of his cross.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
– making peace through the blood of his cross.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
– making peace through the blood of his cross.
From “On the Passion of Jesus Christ” by St. Alphonsus Ligouri (+1787)
Does Jesus Christ, perhaps, claim too much in wishing us to give ourselves wholly to him, after he has given to us all his blood and his life, in dying for us upon the cross? The charity of Christ presseth us. Let us hear what St. Francis de Sales says upon these words: "To know that Jesus has loved us unto death, and that the death of the cross, is not this to feel our hearts con- strained by a violence which is the stronger in proportion to its loveliness?" And then he adds, "My Jesus gives himself all to me, and I give myself all to him. On his bosom will I live and die. Neither death nor life shall ever separate me from him." It was for this end, says St. Paul, that Jesus Christ died, that each of us should no longer live to the world nor to himself, but to Him alone who has given himself wholly to us. And Christ died for all, that they who live may not now live to themselves, but unto Him who died for them. He who lives to the world seeks to please the world; he who lives to himself seeks to please himself; but he who lives to Jesus Christ seeks only to please Jesus Christ, and fears only to displease him. His only joy is to see him loved; his only sorrow, to see him despised. This is to live to Jesus Christ; and this is what he claims from each one of us. I repeat, does he claim too much from us, after having given us his blood and his life? Wherefore, then, O my God! do we employ our affections in loving creatures, relatives, friends, the great ones of the world, who have never suffered for us scourges, thorns, or nails, nor shed one drop of blood for us; and not in loving a God, who for love of us came down from heaven and was made man, and has shed all his blood for us in the midst of torments, and finally died of grief upon a cross, in order to win to himself our hearts! Moreover, in order to unite himself more closely to us, he has left himself, after his death, upon our altars, where he makes himself one with us, that we might understand how burning is the love wherewith he loves us? "He has mingled himself with us," exclaims St. John Chrysostom, "that we may be one and the same thing; for this is the desire of those who ardently love." And St. Francis de Sales, speaking of the Holy Communion, adds: "There is no action in which we can think of our Savior as more tender or more loving than this, in which he, as it were, annihilates himself, and reduces himself to food, in order to unite himself to the hearts of his faithful." But how comes it, O Lord! that I, after having been loved by Thee to such an excess, have had the heart to despise you? According to your just reproach, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have despised me. I have dared to turn my back upon you, in order to gratify my senses. You have cast me behind your back. I have dared to drive you from my soul, The wicked have said to God, Depart from us. I have dared to afflict your heart which has loved me so much. And what, then, am I now to do? Ought I to be distrustful of your mercy? I curse the days wherein I have dishonored you. Oh, would that I had died a thousand times, O my Savior, rather than that I had ever offended Thee! O Lamb of God! You have bled to death upon the cross to wash away our sins in your blood. O sinners! What would you not pay on the day of judgment for one drop of the blood of this Lamb? O my Jesus! have pity on me, and pardon me; but you know my weakness; take, then, my will, that it may never more rebel against you. Expel from me all love that is not for you. I choose you alone for my treasure and my only good. You are sufficient for me; and I desire no other good apart from you. The God of my heart, and God is my portion forever.
Musical Selection (John Michael Talbot)
He is the first-born of all creation;
In every way the primacy is His.
Let us give thanks to the Father
For having made you worthy
To share the lot
Of the saints in light.
He rescued us
From the power of darkness
And brought us
Into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
Through Him we have redemption
The forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the invisible God
The first-born of all creatures.
In Him everything in heaven and on earth was created
Things visible and invisible.
All were created through Him;
All were created for Him.
He is before all- else that is
In Him everything continues in being.
It is He who is head of the body the church!
He who is the beginning
The first-born of the dead
So that primacy may be His in everything.
It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in Him
And by means of Him to reconcile everything in His person
Both on earth and in the heavens
Making peace through the blood of His cross.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning
Is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Collect
Risen Christ,
may we who in baptism die to sin,
rise again to new life
and find our place in your living body.
May the new covenant sealed in your blood
bring healing and reconciliation to this wounded world.
Alleluia. You are risen.
We are risen with you.
Praise and glory to the living God. Amen. (Book of Common Worship)