Friday, June 12, 2015

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

(Hosea 11:1.3-4.8-9; Ephesians 3:8-12.14-19; John 19:31-37)

A painting of the dead Jesus by the French impressionist Edouard Manet has an odd look.  At first glance we cannot say why, but after staring at it a bit, we ask, “Why is Jesus’ body wound on the left side?”  Sure enough, after checking against other portrayals of the crucified, we discover that the Jesus’ lance wound is usually drawn on the right side.

It may not matter to some, but the placing of the wound does say something to others about Jesus.  The probable reason why unsophisticated portrayals put the wound on the left side is that they mean to show that Jesus’ heart was wounded.  But, as we heard in the passage today, the gospel does not specify which side of Jesus was wounded.  Nevertheless, it is more often depicted on the right side because the prophet Ezekiel writes that water came down from the right side of the Temple – the same water of life that the evangelist John intends to signify.  An interesting rejoinder is the theory that Jesus’ heart was indeed pierced on the right side because Roman soldiers were taught to deliver a blow to the heart through the right side of their victim since the enemy usually carried his shield on his left arm. Indeed, looking at paintings of the Sacred Heart, we likely see that the right side of his heart is pierced.

The wounded heart assures us that Jesus knows our greatest pain.  Nothing hurts more than being betrayed by someone we love.  The murder of Caesar by Brutus, the treachery against Othello by his lieutenant Iago, and the jolting of the soldier Don José by Carmen in the famous opera create pathos in us because we know the victim is doubly hurt.  The Sacred Heart bleeding from such an injury demonstrates that Jesus does not exempt himself from such suffering.  We readily remember the accounts of Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial.  Now we know that we can seek consolation with him in our darkest moments.  The Sacred Heart tells us that Jesus loves us especially when we are hurting deeply.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, apostle

(Acts 11:21b-26.13:1-3; Matthew 5:20-26)

Perhaps the apostles had not known much about Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus.  If they had, they may not have wanted to change the disciple Joseph’s name to Barnabas.  Like Jesus’ foster-father, Barnabas appears to have been an extraordinarily righteous man. 

Barnabas is the disciple who presented the money obtained from the sale of his property to the disciples for the use of the entire community of Israel.  He also, as today’s first reading shows, leaves Jerusalem to encourage the believers in Antioch.  Then he not only goes out of his way to fetch the former church persecutor Paul from Tarsus but proceeds to accompany the gifted apostle on the first missionary journey.

The apostles gave Joseph the name Barnabas because it means “son of encouragement” which is to say that he supported others in the faith.  It is a virtue in much need of emulation today.  We need to encourage others to trust the Lord in their trials and to give thanks to him in their success.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Corinthians 3:4-11; Matthew 5:17-19)

It is surely a credit to pro-life advocates that they can see in an infinitesimal human embryo a human being.  What gives them confidence, of course, is the knowledge that the embryo has all the life-producing information and dynamism to grow into a vivacious person.  St. Paul displays this same confidence in the incipient Christian movement when he compares it to the illustrious Jewish faith in the first reading today.

Paul acknowledges the inherent superiority of Christianity to Judaism because of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Although the Spirit’s role in Jewish prophecy is to be recognized, its activity in the lives of all Christians is even more essential.  Where Judaism depends on a code of law to keep people in line, Christianity looks to the grace of the Spirit.  Christians also have a written law, the Sermon on the Mount.  But what is quintessential about Christian life is that this law is everywhere activated by the Spirit of love. 

We may see this Spirit at work in many pro-life workers.  Some stand voluntarily on sidewalks in front of abortion clinics day after day.  They are sometimes described as yelling at women about to have an abortion, but this kind of behavior is not the rule.  Rather, their love shines through as they pray for the fetus about to be annihilated and try to persuade the mother that there is help readily available for her as well as her baby.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Corinthians 1:18-22; Matthew 5:13-16)

Former Peace Corps volunteers remember the time they visited an Iban family in upriver Sarawak.  Knowing that the people lacked food supplies, they gave them some canned foods that they brought along.  They were served back to them.  When they asked what the people ate with their rice, they were told “salt.”  They left amazed at how generous these simple people were.  The Ibans seemed like Jesus’ disciples, “the salt of the earth.”

Jesus calls his disciples “salt” because they are to make life savory for others.  They are not to live for themselves but to spread the joy of the gospel.  They engage others in conversation as a means to acknowledge the other’s humanity.  Their goal is not to convert others to Jesus but to love them.  If they lose this saltiness by becoming self-centered and arrogant, they render themselves as unfit for the kingdom of God.

Some of us to our peril might reject the idea of being considered something as common as salt. We would like to think of ourselves at least as sweet as sugar if not as exotic as an oriental spice.  But humility and respect for all wins friends for Jesus and promotes us in God’s eyes.   To be “the salt of the earth” is a worthy aspiration for anyone.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Corinthians 1:1-7; Matthew 5:1-12)

“We’re number one! We’re number one!” college students love to brag when their team wins a game that thrusts it to the top of a football or basketball poll.  Losers are never so cheered.  They take consolation in that they played well, abided by all the rules, and emerge as better people in the much more important sojourn of life. In today’s first reading Paul describes such a consolation for the church at Corinth.

Because Christians in Corinth are a minority, they no doubt suffer the disdain of the powerful.  They also face interior division over beliefs and loyalties.  The letter does not spell out exactly the nature of these problems.  It could be that Jewish-Christian preachers from Palestine were preaching adherence to the Law.  Another possibility is that Greek charismatic preachers were giving divisive interpretations to the gifts of the Spirit.  In any case, Paul reminds his readers that in Christ’s sufferings they as well as he find comfort.  After all, Christ’ humiliating death on the cross led to his resurrection and glory.

None of us likes to suffer.  But we can bear with suffering if it has positive significance.  We will find that significance when we bind ourselves closely to Christ.  In him even the suffering brought about by our own faults redounds for our eternal benefit.  When we suffer, let us turn to the crucifix and offer our pain as an act of solidarity with him.