Take heed lest ye fall

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J.M.J.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Wherefore, he that thinketh himself to stand,

let him take heed lest he fall

(1 Cor. 10.12).

Destruction of the Great Temple and slaughter of "perfidious Jews" (traditional Church Liturgy for Good Friday) in Jerusalem in chastisement for the Synagogue's mocking refusal of the saving design by the Eternal Word (Jn. 1.1) "made flesh" (Jn. 1.1): that "every knee, of those who are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, should bow [before] Him Whom they pierced" (Phil. 2.10; Jn. 19.37).

Pride "goes before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall" (Prov. 16.18); its beginning is "to fall off from God [cf., "Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary"]: because his heart is departed from Him Who made him: for pride is the beginning of all sin: he who holds it shall be filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end" (Ecclus. 10.14-15). How pride blinds us to God's hour of merciful visitation - "The Time of God's Visitation"