Reflection -- 25 May 2023

In the Readings from Mass today, the psalm (16) includes the verse:

Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,

nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

This passage is fulfilled in Jesus, who did not abandon us to the nether world, because as we pray in the Apostle's Creed, "He descended into Hell."

He rose from the dead on the third day.  He did not undergo corruption, but rose in his glorified body.  Because Jesus is the Faithful One.

This passage is fulfilled to a lesser extent in Mary, who was assumed, body and soul into heaven, and in several Saints who's mortal remains were incorrupt.

These include St Charles Borromeo, whose incorrupt heart is retained in a monstrance in the Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles in Rome (seen below); 

 

St Raphaela, who died in the 1920s, was canonized in the 1970s, and whose incorrupt body was still observable in Rome in 1996, the entry to the church which housed her incorrupt remains is shown below.

Pope  St Innocent III whose remains are housed in St Peter's Basilica in Rome; and Pope St John XXIII, whose remains are also in St Peter's in Rome.  The remains of Pope St Innocent III are located at the altar shown below in St Peter's Basilica.

Reflection -- 24 May 2023

 The Readings from Mass today include from the psalm (68):

For your temple in Jerusalem let the kings bring you gifts.

This passage of the psalm is fulfilled in Jesus, who is in and of himself God's Temple on earth, the marriage and meeting place of God and man, the hypostatic union.

In Matthews Gospel we read:

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,* behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star* at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

And in Psalm 72 we read:

May the kings of Tarshish and the islands* bring tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.  May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him.

The Magi come to Jerusalem seeking the newborn King of the Jews.  They seek the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

As noted in earlier posts, they are seeking the one whom their souls love.