Christ on the cross is the Christian East. When He says, “This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood that is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins,” He uses the same word for the pouring out of sacrificial blood in the tabernacle and covenant sacrifices. To eat and drink the blood of those sacrifices would have been to drink unto death, so God enacted a protective prohibition against such.

But when Jesus came, He came to give us life (Joh 10:10); He is LIFE (Joh 11:25). Jesus made eating His flesh and drinking His blood the whole point of the New Covenant, because His sacrificial, resurrected, eternal life is literally and uniquely present there. “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” (Joh 6:54).

Welcome Jennifer R, Bethany, and Roland, Bible Study Evangelista's newest friends of the show! Thank you for loving and lifting me :)

LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary's own practice: lectio without the Latin.

L - Listen (Receive the Word.)

O - Observe (Choose one or more of the following personality approaches to connect the passage to your life and recent events.)

F | Franciscan - Cradle a crucifix in your hand; touch His five wounds; pray a thanksgiving prayer on each one.

I | Ignatian - Imagine you are offering an animal sacrifice at the tabernacle. What can you see around you as you lead your goat to the priest at the altar? As you lay your hand on its head and confess your sins over it, what else can you hear? What do you smell? How do you feel just before you cut its throat with your knife and bleed its blood into the pan? What are your thoughts as the priest pours the blood out around the base of the altar?

A | Augustinian - How does this week's show make you understand and appreciate the Eucharist more? How is Jesus' gift of His Body and Blood meant to help you be more broken and spilled out for others?

T | Thomistic - Make a list of anything new you learned about Old Testament sacrifices, and see if you can connect them to Jesus' sacrifice.

V - Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)

Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O - Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word journal. Or get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.

E - Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds, hide me.
Separated from Thee let me never be.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me.
To come to Thee, bid me,
That I may praise Thee in the company
Of Thy Saints, for all eternity.
+ Amen.

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*LOVE the Word™ exercises are offered according to FIAT: the four personalities, or "prayer forms," explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Franciscan, Ignatian, Augustinian, and Thomistic: FIAT! These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
Notes and References
“For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul by reason of the life” (Lev. 17:11).
Directly inside the tabernacle courtyard gate was the first facility, a gigantic BBQ-grill-like structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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