{"id":24746,"date":"2016-09-12T20:46:46","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T02:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=24746"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:57:39","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:57:39","slug":"where-heaven-touches-earth-pt-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/where-heaven-touches-earth-pt-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Heaven Touches Earth","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

PART IV<\/p>\n

\"img_0134\"Cross atop Mount Tabor<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

DURING <\/strong>Adoration, which followed every daily Mass (and remained perpetual in the various chapels throughout the monastery), the words rose up in my soul:<\/p>\n

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Love to the last drop of blood. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Love, of course, is the fulfillment of all the law. As the Gospel that first day announced:<\/p>\n

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You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. (Matt 22:34-40)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But these words\u00a0to love to the last drop<\/em> were not a mere command to love, but an instruction on how <\/em>to love: to the last drop. <\/em>Soon\u00a0enough, Our Lady would teach me.<\/p>\n

As I peeled my work clothes off from the first day of work, I thanked God again for the gift of a hot shower. Supper and water were a welcome sight as the heat burned off the body’s energy and hydration like a\u00a0puddle in the desert. When I stood up to leave the kitchen, I looked at the dishes in the corner by the sink, and heard again in my heart the words, “Love to the last drop.<\/em>” Immediately, I interiorly understood\u00a0that the Lord\u00a0was asking me not just to serve, but to become the “servant of servants.” To not wait for needs to come to me, but for me to seek out the\u00a0needs of my brothers and sisters, and take care of them. To take, as He commanded, the “last”\u00a0<\/em>place\u00a0and to do everything with great love, leaving nothing undone, half-finished, or wanting. Moreover, I was to love in this way without drawing attention\u00a0to it, complaining, or boasting. I was simply to love<\/em> in this hidden, yet visible way, to the last drop. <\/em><\/p>\n

As the days went on\u00a0and I began to\u00a0look for ways to love in this manner, one thing among others\u00a0became apparent. One\u00a0is that we cannot love in this way with an \"tiles\"idle or slothful heart. We have to be deliberate! Following Jesus, whether it is meeting Him in prayer or meeting Him in my brother, requires a certain recollection and intensity of the heart. It is not a matter of anxious productivity, but rather, an intensity of disposition. To be intentional with what I do, with what I say, with what I don’t do. That my eyes are always wide open, directed solely toward the will of God. Everything is orientated purposely as if I were doing it for Jesus:<\/p>\n

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So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God… Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others,(1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:23)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yes, it is loving, serving, working, and praying from the heart<\/em>. And when we begin to love in this way, to the last drop of one’s blood\u00a0<\/em>so to speak, then something profound begins to happen.\u00a0The flesh, and all its works, that is, selfishness, anger, lust,\u00a0greed, bitterness, etc. begins to die. There is a kenosis<\/em> that begins to happen, an emptying of self, and in its place\u2014through the channels of prayer, the Sacraments, and Adoration\u2014Jesus begins to fill us with Himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One day during Mass, as I looked up at the Crucifix and the open side of Christ, the meaning of “love to the last drop of blood”<\/em> became “alive.” For it was only when Jesus breathed His last and His side was pierced <\/em>that He fully and totally loved us to the last drop of blood. <\/em>Then…<\/p>\n

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The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last<\/em> he said, \u201cTruly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:8-9)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In that last drop of blood, <\/em> the Sacraments sprung from His side and those standing beneath the Cross were showered with a Divine Mercy that changed and converted them. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Matt 24:57<\/span><\/span>