CROWNING WITH THORNS

" So I say to you , there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance . "Before the angels": By...

" Come to me , all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you " (Matthew 11:28, RHE).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity , mildness , faith , modesty ,...

"The Lord bless thee , and keep thee. The Lord shew his face to thee , and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace " (Numbers 6:24-26, RHE).

"Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck. How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy ointments above all aromatical spices. Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense. My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclos

"And rend your hearts , and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God : for He is gracious and merciful , patient and rich in mercy , and ready to repent of the evil " (Joel 2:13, RHE).

"And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind and with thy whole strength . This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself . There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:29-31, RHE).

"And hath made of one, all mankind , to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times and the limits of their habitation. That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us . For in him we live and move and are: as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. Being therefore the offspring of God , we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold or silver or stone,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh. My enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have fallen. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ; that I may dwell

"I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live. In that day you shall know that I am in my Father: and you in me, and I in you " (John 14:18-20, RHE).

"And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee...

"And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. For...

"Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee....

"Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and...

"Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised,...

"As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living...

"he that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none."

"Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are...

"Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8, RHE).

My Jesus, my LOVE, oh how I want to focus my life on You and You alone.