Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)
There is a magnificent painting of Christ, the Lamb of God,
hanging in the Prado Museum, Madrid. It
has no human characteristics. Rather the
artist, Francisco de Zurbaran, portrays Christ as an unblemished lamb bound and
ready for slaughter. The painting
reflects the prophecy of Christ in Isaiah which the candace is reading in today’s
first reading.
The court official of the Candace would be interested in
this figure as he too is bound and forced to suffer. Although he is not a poor man, as a eunuch he
cannot worship in the Jewish Temple. Christ,
however, died for all so that eunuchs, Africans and people of all stripes suffer
no inherent impediment to praising God in him.
Of course, the court official accepts Christian baptism.
Like Christ and like this Ethiopian, we are called to
suffer. We may have a painful disease, burdensome
responsibilities, or just periodic trials.
In any case, let us bear them for and with Christ. He endured unmitigated
suffering so that our sins might be forgiven.
He now allows us to contribute to the merit of his suffering as members
of his Body.
No comments:
Post a Comment