Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us.
The Divine Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, “though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-7).
Jesus, fully God, became fully Man to save us from sin. He humbled Himself in a way we can hardly even imagine. As God, He remained omnipotent, but He became meek for our sake. Meekness, though, does not mean being wimpy or passive or tame or boring. Meekness, in the Scriptural sense of the word, means strength under control. It is the result of self-discipline and humility. It arises because of a deliberate choice to follow the path of self-giving love.
Jesus, lover of chastity, have mercy on us.
Chastity gets a back rap in the modern world, for many people view it as repressive or prudish or simply unattainable. Yet none of this is true. Chastity is actually all about conforming our minds, our hearts, and our lives to God’s will for us. With the virtue of chastity, we put our sexuality in its proper place and use it only according to God’s moral law and His plan for our lives.
Jesus loves chastity in us because when we are chaste, we are pure. We are rightly ordered. We put God first and control our passions so that they conform to His design for human beings, and that design allows sex only within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman.
Jesus, our lover, have mercy on us.
Jesus loves us. Perhaps that sounds cliche. Perhaps some people reading this do no truly believe it or at least do not seem to experience it in their lives. But it is perfectly, wonderfully, beautifully true: Jesus loves us. He loves us so much that He died on the cross for us. He would not have had to. One drop of His blood would have been enough to save the world. But He chose to go all the way, to pour out every drop of His blood for us so that no matter how far we run from Him, He will be right there waiting with arms stretched out to embrace us. Now that’s love.
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