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Archives for June 2019

The Human Heart of God

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pompeo Batoni (1767)

This week is buttressed on either end by two very “incarnational” solemnities: Corpus Christi and The Sacred Heart of Jesus. With the feast of Corpus Christi, we reverence the true, bodily presence of Christ—“God with us”—in the Holy Eucharist, which is the “source and summit” of Catholic Christian life. Similarly, the feast of the Sacred Heart lends itself to contemplation of Jesus’ human heart as the source of life, from which blood and water flowed to cleanse us from all sin. In both celebrations, Christ’s heart is laid bare for sinners and saints alike as a means of intimacy with God and entrance into eternal life.

Scientific study of Eucharistic miracles throughout the ages has confirmed that the Blessed Sacrament is indeed the true flesh of Christ, the myocardium with living blood; this is tangible evidence of the theological truth that “God is with us,” as fully today as during his physical life on earth. The Eucharist is a living reality, not simply a sign of God’s presence; it is truly Jesus who is present, calling each of us into a deep bodily and spiritual union with himself—he who is both fully human and fully divine. Therefore, his heart is a ladder, so to speak, by which mortal man can ascend into the very life of God!

 

Pentecost: The Gift of the Spirit

Pentecost, Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th c.)

Happy Pentecost! This wonderful feast is the birthday of the Church. Today’s readings speak of the role of the Holy Spirit within the Church and in our everyday lives. It is the Spirit that enabled the Apostles to speak of the the wonders of God in many tongues (Acts 2:11). It is the Spirit that enables us to discern God’s will, to listen to God, and to have the courage to respond to that call.

The work of the Spirit is vividly shown in religious life. There are “different forms of service” (1 Co. 12:4), but the same Lord and the same desire: Christ. And so, the Church is enriched with active communities of nurses and teachers, missionaries and social workers, as well as contemplative monastics and hermits, monastics. Different forms, but serving the same Lord and working toward union with God—the goal of religious life. The Spirit is in our midst daily. I can only speak from my own experience: in my few years as a nun I can see the work of the Spirit in our daily lives. It is the Spirit that enables us to “listen with the ear of our hearts” (RB Prologue); to obey without delay (RB 5); to “abandon whatever is at hand and hasten with the greatest speed” to the Divine Office (RB 43).  And the Spirit helps the juniors to honor the seniors, and the seniors to love their juniors (RB 63).  It is with our hearts full of gratitude and joy that we join the Church today in singing: Come, Holy Spirit, come!