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.

Feast of Mary Magdalene

The readings from mass this morning include a section from the Song of Songs (this translation is from the USCCB books of the bible, and not the daily mass readings):

On my bed at night I sought him* whom my soul loves — I sought him but I did not find him.
“Let me rise then and go about the city,* through the streets and squares;  Let me seek him whom my soul loves.”  I sought him but I did not find him.

The Gospel is from an Easter Passage regarding Mary Magdalene at the tomb:

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.

And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb

and saw two angels in white sitting there,

one at the head and one at the feet

where the Body of Jesus had been.

And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,

and I don’t know where they laid him.”

As noted in an earlier post:

Mary is seeking the Lord, the one whom she loves.

She had gone to the tomb, she was seeking him whom she loved, whom her soul loved.

This is the story of every human heart. God has made us for himself, and our hearts are ever restless, until they rest in God, as St Augustine has written. 

All of philosophy is a reasoned, structured, ordered search for God.  It is a search begun from the human perspective, from the human plain, from below.  But it can never fully reach or find the Truth or God on its' own.  Because eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him.

But:

No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

God, in the person of Jesus, has come into the world, revealing God to man, and also revealing the fullness of man to man.  Or as Pope St John Paul II often quoted from the Second Vatican Council, Christ reveals what it means to be fully human.

Man, without this Divine Revelation, would be unable to satisfy the longing within himself, a longing placed there by his Creator, so that we might seek him (whom our soul loves).  In His great love for us, God has come to us, in the Person of Jesus, and by his passion, death and resurrection, has opened the gate of heaven, so that we might be with him, whom our soul loves, forever.

Jesus, the living bread come down from heaven, the Word of God, the way the truth and the life, the Light of the World, reveals to us how much God loves us, and makes it possible for us to share in the Divine nature, and the life of God.

The Bishops of the Catholic Church, gathered at the Vatican in Council in 1965, promulgated Dei Verbum.  They write much more eloquently, completely and correctly than I ever could and I encourage you to read it, think on it, and meditate on it frequently.

St Nicholas -- 6 Dec 2021: A Reflection

The readings from Mass today include a section from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:

            Here is your God,

                he comes with vindication;

            With divine recompense

                he comes to save you.

The psalm (85) includes:

        Truth shall spring out of the earth,

            and justice shall look down from heaven.

And, the Gospel (from St Luke) contains the question:

Who but God alone can forgive sins?

Jesus, the living bread come down from heaven, the way the truth and the life, who is one with the Father, the Son of Man, has the authority on Earth to forgive sins.

The passage from Isaiah is fulfilled in Christ, because HERE IS OUR GOD, who come to saves us.  The psalm is fulfilled in Christ's resurrection and ascension because he who is the Truth has sprung out of the tomb, out of the Earth.  And He who is our justice has ascended into heaven where he looks down upon heaven and earth.

And even more telling the passage about God is fulfilled that says He speaks and worlds are created.  You see, Jesus says to the paralyzed man "rise, pick up your stretcher and go home."  The Gospel then says:

He stood up immediately before them,

picked up what he had been lying on,

and went home, glorifying God. 

We have seen incredible things today.  Yes who would believe what we have heard?  To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

A new world was created, a paralyzed man rose and walked.

The Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

 In the Office of the Readings for today, 24 June, the non-biblical reading is portion of a sermon by St Augustine where he contrasts Jesus, the word of God, with John, a voice crying in the wilderness:

John was born of a woman too old for childbirth;  Christ was born of a youthful virgin.

Along this line of thought I offer you a poem entitled Voice and Verb:

Children sing tra la tra lay

The meaning lost not found

Empty sounds fill hallowed grounds 

and echo back all day

Passion plays are full of sound

Yet meaning passes on

One, not Juan, a mother's son

From heav'n to earth did bound

Voices carry sound upon

the wind, to distant ears

Welling tears surpassing fears

for hearts so full of song

Verb is keening yet it sears

A heart to mark its' place

Amazing grace, the long embrace

will kiss away your tears

Eschatology or is it "S"chatology

The other day, Monday of the second week of Advent, the readings from Mass included a section from the book of the prophet Isaiah:

                The desert and the parched land will exult;

                the steppe will rejoice and bloom.                

                They will bloom with abundant flowers,

                and rejoice with joyful song.

                The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,

                the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

This, of course, reminded me of my poem "S"chatology, which I posted five (5) years ago today:

                            'S'chatology

                              Sharon, desert spring and bloom
                                 the respite on the walk
                              Smiling rays that fill the room
                                 with laughter and with talk

                              Sing over by the window
                                 She's sure to help you out
                              Speaking softly, voice so low
                                 Too intimate to shout


                               Sitting close with lives entwined
                                  with whispered dreams exchanged
                               Slowly breathing love enshrines
                                  the hearts both scared and pained


                               Sharon's splendor, Carmel's fruit
                                  A wearied, anguished love
                               Softly spoken words take root
                                  Bring mercy from above.

Zacchaeus revisited

Last year I posted a reflection regarding Zacchaeus. On Tuesday of this week, the Gospel reading from Mass was again the story of Zacchaeus.

This prompted me to think again about several things.  

The Gospel reading includes:

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.

Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 

Zacchaeus was a wealthy man.

About 25 years ago, when my daughter was taking CCD in our parish, she told me one day (and I assumed it was because she had been taught this) that rich people can't be saved.

About 15 years ago, I was teaching CCD to 6th graders in my parish, and they said exactly the same thing to me:  Rich people can't be saved.

I told my daughter at the time that she better hope that what she thought wasn't the case because she was 'rich.'

To the 6th graders I took a different approach.  We were using a pamphlet provided by the CCD office dicussing saints.  On the cover of the pamphlet were images of several Saints, including Francis of Assisi, Katherine Drexel among others.

I pointed out that both Francis, and Katherine were extremely wealthy young people, yet the Church had declared them Saints.  I pointed out how Francis had renounced his inheritance, while Katherine had used hers in service of the Church's mission to educate black and indian children.

Zacchaeus was a wealthy man.  But it was to him that Jesus came and spoke:

Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.

He followed up that statement and ended the Gospel passage by saying:

Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.   For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.

The rich are called to salvation too.