We are redeemed in the Blood of Christ!
We are washed in love.
Sent by the Blood, stained by the Blood,
we are servants of the Blood of Christ.

 

Imagine for a second what it must have been like
as Moses splashed the blood of the covenant with God
on the people of Israel in the desert.

These recently freed slaves,
who probably only owned one or two outfits,
who rarely had a chance to bathe or wash their clothes in the desert,
were quite literally stained by the blood.

And every day the rest of their lives
they would see the stains that reminded them
that they were God’s Chosen People,
that God had made a covenant, a promise,
to always be their God,
to always look after them,
to always bless them.

 

They remembered what God had already done for them,
how God had worked wonders in Egypt
that ultimately led to their freedom.
They remembered how God had saved them again
when Pharaoh’s army nearly had them surrounded
along the shores of the Sea of Reeds,
and how God had led them to safety
as the waters parted and dry land appeared.

 

No wonder they were so willing to cry out,
“All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.”

 

We are redeemed in the Blood of Christ!
We are washed in love.
Sent by the Blood, stained by the Blood,
we are servants of the Blood of Christ.

 

Now imagine what it must have been like for the disciples
to gather in the Upper Room to celebrate Passover with Jesus.

 

There were already rumors flying about that the Romans
and even the Chief Priests were plotting to assassinate the Master.

Imagine the tension in the room
knowing what might await him and them
in the days to come.

 

Imagine what it was like to see the Master so calm,
so at ease with what was going on outside,
while they celebrated the Passover of the Lord inside.

 

As they rejoiced in what God had done for the people of Israel so long ago,
they must have hoped that God would work wonders once again,
and set them free from their Roman oppressors.

 

They must have hoped that the rumors simply weren’t true,
that somehow Jesus would escape their plots,
and restore Israel to its former glory.

 

As they watched what the Master was doing,
as they listened to his words of comfort,
they remembered all the wonders he had done
over the past few years.

 

They remembered all the stories he had told
about the Reign of God.

 

And then they heard his words this night,

“This is my body, which will be given for you…”

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.”

 

The memory of this night would so stain their hearts and minds
that they would do this in his memory
over and over again throughout the rest of their lives.

 

We are redeemed in the Blood of Christ!
We are washed in love.
Sent by the Blood, stained by the Blood,
we are servants of the Blood of Christ.

 

Now it is time to stop imagining.
It is time to start remembering,
remembering what God has done for us.

 

It is time to remember with St. Paul
that we who were once far off
have been brought near by the Blood of Christ.
We who have sinned
have been redeemed in the Precious Blood of Christ.
We’ve been washed in the Blood
and our sins taken away.

 

I don’t know about you,
but I know that God has loved me
and made me who I am today
by Christ’s redeeming grace.

 

When I was a child,
I failed third grade twice.
Many of the people around thought I’d never amount to anything,
and I began to believe their lack of confidence.
I didn’t think I’d be much more than a failure,
until my family moved,
and we met the Sisters and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.
They somehow believed in me
precisely because they believe in the One who shed his Precious Blood for us all.
Their hope in the power of the Blood
gave me hope
and enabled me to do much more than I ever dreamed possible.

 

We are redeemed in the Blood of Christ!
We are washed in love.
Sent by the Blood, stained by the Blood,
we are servants of the Blood of Christ.

 

So, today, I invite you to remember,
to share the hope of the people of Israel in the desert,
the disciples in the Upper Room,
and this failure who has been blessed
by the Precious Blood of Christ.

 

I invite you to give thanks with me this day,
as you take up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
I invite you to remember all that the Lord has done for you
and to pour all of that thankfulness into the chalice of salvation
and to drink deeply of the Blood that has saved us all.

 

We are redeemed in the Blood of Christ!
We are washed in love.
Sent by the Blood, stained by the Blood,
we are servants of the Blood of Christ.