Ave Maria Meditations
Morning and night we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and yet what is more self-evident than the fact that this wish is still unrealized? Who would dare assert that God’s kingdom has come? It is not only too manifest that God’s kingdom has not come and that we see no signs whatever of its advent? The world is worse than ever! If only we could see the Son of justice rise. But, oh God, forgive me for venturing to say it, Thy kingdom seems to be going further and further away. Never has Thy Name been so blasphemed nor Thy will treated with such contempt. Never has man been so disobedient. We have not yet enough saints upon earth; send us as many as we need, as many as are necessary to dishearten the enemy.
Yes, our blood too must be poured out. Not perhaps on the battlefield or in the arena, but it must be shed drop by drop in our daily striving after holiness, and for the restoration of humanity in Christ. It must be given drop by drop by the daily sacrifices, often so trivial and yet mysterious, of an existence spent wholly for God. The most faithful of the zealous souls give all to God making a complete sacrifice of their self-love with all its manifold reservations, of their most cherished attachments, of their legitimate pleasures and joys. They give all for the joy of seeing God at last known, loved, and served as He merits. Each of the faithful can by…the measure of his generosity, enter the ranks of those consecrated to reparation.
From the Ideal of Reparation by +Raoul Plus, S. J.
We should all be making reparation for our sins and the sins in the world.
