THE OUTSTRETCED AND BLEEDING ARMS

He who was in the bosom of the Father, how was in the embrace of the Mother?..

What shall we call thee,O full of grace?..

for thou hast held in the holy embrace a Son,who is the God of all...

..Thou hast outstretched Thine arms and united all that before was separated...

In thine embrace and arms thou hast held the one who has unsleeping eye...

...Thine hands have made me and formed me...

...Our LADY of the entire world,stretch out thine hands with which thou hast held the creator...

 The outstretched arms....

We behold them nailed on the cross every time we enter the temple,we behold them and we are seized by awe.

They are identical to ours.They have got flesh,bones and nerves [but,You Lord,never become enraged!]  like ours. However, they do not belong to a man, they belong to You Lord,the Son of God who was embodied from love for us. And the marks of the nails,the wounds that the pointed nails made can be seen on them as a "logical" creature of yours stuck them into your hands and nailed them wildly.

Your outstretched divine arms demonstrate, remind, awaken ahead of us the great mystery of your divine economy, of your love, of the before the ages predestined and by the prophets proclaimed mystery  and which was concluded in two stations: in Bethlehem and in Golgotha..The two divine poles where we showed all our malevolence  and you showed all your love.

 

The same divine hands with which you created the world, the universe ;

The same divine hands with which you formed the first man and woman ;

The same divine hands with which you performed miracles ;

The same divine hands with which you blessed the five loaves of bread ;

The same divine hands with which you resurrected the dead ;

The same divine hands with which you healed the sick  ;

The same divine hands with which you delivered to us the Blessed Sacrament ;

The same divine hands with which you calmed the seas ;

The same divine hands with which you saved your disciple , Peter ;

The same divine hands with which you held the radiant soul of YOUR MOST HOLY MOTHER...

 

You outstretched the same arms on the cross like the protoplasts outstretched their arms onto the wood of disobedience.

O  what a great mystery!!!

O  what an infinite humility!!!

O  what a divine condescension!!!

O  what a divine love, depth and wealth and unraveling the divine judgements for our sins.

 

You put on our flesh, You the Bridegroom of the church, the fleshless God. You clothed yourself with the divine flesh of the Most Holy and Virgin , as a garment of a Bridegroom and intermingled the corruptible with the incorruptible, the weak with the powerful in order to save the lost soul , the destroyed man.

The Word became flesh...as the lofty Saint John the Theologian says.

You assumed the human nature like us in all things except the sin in order to make us like you in all things except your divine essence.You had the traits of human nature, you got thirsty and tired, you felt drowsy and slept..since you came and abode in us. Your word becomes Word for those who accept you.

You received our flesh, you were nailed on the cross and redeemed the whole human dough and gave eternal life.

 

The outstretched arms that we see on the cross behind the altar  [and it is inconceivable that an altar can be without a cross, as there is no resurrection without crucifixion  ] proclaim that the voluntary, ultimate and not discounted sacrifice reigns in church.

 

This sacrifice of yours is love and is an offering to the whole human race from Adam to the very end  ,crystal clear, real, bright with no implications or ambiguities, with no obscurities or requisites.

You took on the human nature but without our malevolence and pettiness ,without our sins and passions.With your divine Passions you healed our despised passions and mistakes.Your sacrifice is devoid of oblique purposes and intentions and you just aimed at one thing  : our salvation. Every stage in the way to Golgotha and of all your steps since your incarnation ,is teaching us a heavenly, incomparable, awesome,divine majesty.

You were born...or rather incarnated in a cave, in a manger because there was no place for your humanly protector Joseph the betrothed and your MOST HOLY MOTHER.

There was space for everybody, for Herod and Herodias, for feasts,dances, songs, crimes and revelries but there was no space for You, the great Benefactor and liberator who was coming. We only gave you willingly one space, just Golgotha where we crucified you while you ask for our heart  : My son, give me your heart...

 

Your sacrifice.....was divine vengeance, vengeance of love, planned before the world was created and fulfilled in time and place.

Though you were rich  ,yet for our sakes you became poor [putting on our flesh] so that through your poverty  you could make us rich with the wealth of your grace.

The incarnation and your sacrifice were offered by you,God, the incarnated before the ages Word of one substance with the Father and Holy Spirit. They were offered to us ,the sinners , the petty and steeped in sin.

Only love can offer that.

And when the fullness of time had come ,love took flesh and became incarnate love . The incarnate love became crucified love.And the crucified love became resurrected love.

 

Love should reign in your church.

Your love,the way you taught us about it. The love that sacrifices ,that hurts ,commiserates ,understands ,

offers.

....."..,for God so greatly loved rhe world for us [ and this is surely a proof of love  ] but mostly he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him  shall not perish but have everlasting life....declares your Beloved disciple and friend.

These arms are even now outstretched.

They remind us how much our redemption cost...God sent redemption to humans.

We see the wounds and are in awe of your love and conscience-stricken for our sins.

So ,we understand what you say in the Holy Gospel ..."Come to  me ,all who are weary and burdened ,suffering  ,sorrowful ,underprivileged ,desperate  ,troubled and I will give you rest..."

 

You invite us with the same sweet voice..." I am the good shepherd..."

But ofttimes being tough ,we have ears but..we don't hear ,we have eyes but...we don't see...you speak to deaf ears....we remain unmoved...

We see the wounds and we feel nothing...we do not switch position...we persevere not in the struggle but in the escape from you...

We take not even one step towards you...we turn our backs on you.

Our human weakness beats us.

And you steadily call us and wait for us... " Behold  I stand at the door and knock..."

Till your divine subtle love beats our cruelty...

Your extended divine arms demonstrate and remind your love and the salvation as well...mediator of God and humans ...you intercede for us...

 

The bleeding and extended arms!!!

They radiate the call, the blessing,  the love , the message of your sacrifice on the cross  ,which you willingly and volitionally endured for us in order to bring us back to the real homeland,  to the kingdom of Heaven.

 

We strayed far from you, from the light,  from life,  from the nourishment of the whole world,  from the pleasure  ; we blemished the 'in the image' and lost the ' in the likeness'.

You came to Earth incarnate by the Virgin Mary,  you...the timeless...in time, the one in pure perfection ...in the form of an infant  ,the God among people,  hiding the divinity in humanity  and your omnipotence in the seeming weakness of the infant in order to... defeat the destroyer and deceiver in a way worthy of God .

The transition  from the image to the likeness is accomplished through your divine grace cooperating with our petty effort.

 

You came to the cross,  you the harmless ,

to those sitting in darkness, you the light and the Sun of Justice,

to the captives , you the liberator ,

to death,  you the life and the resurrection for the fallen.

You perpetually outstretch your arms to us ,which you outstretched on the cross. Our conscience is bothering us as we also outstretch our arms ,but we do not remember that : your hands created and formed me...

We outstretch our hands...some get weapons and point them at you because you hide in every man's face and they spill human blood and wipe out the creatures whom you have created with so much love and omniscience.

 

We outstretch our arms not to plead but to destroy,  to be unjust, to hurt, to steal, to disgrace, to beat, to crush, while you reshaped the crushed image without crushing.

 

Your MOST Holy Mother outstretched Her immaculate hands and held you , the one who holds the entire world,  the one who created the entire world and holds everything therein...even now She outstretches the same hands mediating as ...She has... motherly assurance...

 

At times , we  timidly outstretch our arms and supplicate, beg and plead :

forgive our faults, offences, sins, violations and disobediences in any way ,either knowingly or unknowingly ,in thought ,word or deed and make us all worthy to glorify , adore and worship you whatever humanly possible,  turn to you and be regenerated through your divine mysteries and may our heart, which at times is a den of robbers , become a living manger in which the Christ will be reborn.

May our faith,  goodwill and thirst for you become like the Wise Men's three gifts and also lead us to you steadfastly like the star of Bethlehem and not lose our orientation through the intercessions of our All-Holy,Immaculate,Most Blessed and Glorified Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Saint Mary.

Amen , may it be fulfilled.[ December 29, 2023 ] God bless. Father Ap.

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