For you, my dearest soul, did I suffer all these things, out of the great love I have for you.

What defense shall we have when our Christ shows us His pierced hands or His speared side or His immaculate head pricked by the thorns or His dry lips embittered by the vinegar and gall, and says, “For you, my dearest soul, did I suffer all these things, out of the great love I have for you. Now show me your marks of love for Me, which will be like balsam on My wounds”. Then, my children, what shall we show? Our ingratitude, our negligence, our ego, our disobedience, and the multitude of our other passions? And then, instead of balsam, we shall put poison in the wounds of His love! So then, onwards! Let us compel ourselves. From now on let us be careful to put balsam on His wounds and be called His true, beloved children.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona