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Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary-
Homilies |
"Through Things
Simple and Humble, God Comes to Us"
Homily for the
4th Sunday of Lent
Fr. Jonathan L. Reardon
3 April 2011
Year A
It must have been an amazing experience for this blind man to
have met Jesus and be healed by Him. Yet, who would have thought
that a paste of clay – made with spit – applied to one’s eyes
and then washing it away in ordinary water would restore this
man’s sight? Here, Jesus used ordinary elements of nature to
convey His healing power. He gave the gift of sight by using
matter. The blind man could feel the paste of clay on his eyes,
he could hear Jesus, and he felt the water washing off the clay
– and then he could see. In the first reading, God worked in a
similar way. Samuel, under instructions from God, anointed David
with oil and when he did so the Spirit of the Lord came mightily
upon David from that day forward. The readings of today show how
God’s power and healing were conveyed through elements of nature
applied to the body.
During the course of this Season of Lent, I have been talking
about changes that have been made in the language of the Mass
and how to understand the changes we must first better
understand the Mass itself – the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in
which there are three specific elements – food, presence and
sacrifice. Here we see, once again, how Jesus conveys His power
through the use of simple bread and simple wine.
There is still
one more aspect of the Eucharist yet to be discussed – that is
the Eucharist as a sacrifice. Here, we have come upon the great
mystery – the paradox – of the Eucharist in that it is both the
remembering of a past event and making present that same event,
which is none other than Christ’s saving sacrifice on the Cross.
It is to this climatic point that all of Christ’s life on earth
is directed. He revealed to His disciples His desire to give His
life for us – leaving us with a testimony of the true meaning of
love – total self-giving. In this sacred context, a sacrifice is
to offer something to God to honor Him, to thank Him, to gain
communion with Him and to make atonement for our sins. Since
Jesus is both God and Man, His sacrifice achieves these aspects
of the nature of a sacrifice in the most perfect way, has an
eternal significance and gains mercy for the entire world. Jesus
confirmed this when He gave us the Eucharist as food at the Last
Supper, saying: “do this in memory of me” and then offered
Himself on the altar of the Cross. It is this very sacrifice
that is remembered and yet at the same time made present to us
on this altar. By His grace, He makes this mystery a reality
through the prayers, gestures and rites of the Mass – which are
carried out through His minister, the priest, who is called
“alter Christus,” another Christ.
At this mid-point in our Lenten journey the Church invites us
to rejoice. Today is known as Laetare Sunday and we where the
rose vestment as sign of our joy. Why are we called to rejoice?
Because we are that much closer to Easter – that much closer to
celebrating the sacred event of Christ’s saving sacrifice on the
Cross. We are reminded, then, that joy is completely compatible
with sacrifice and penance – these acts of self-denial are not
performed in sadness but rather are meant to increase our love
and joy for Christ.
For it is in this saving action that we find our full
identification with Him – giving deep meaning and value to all
of our own personal sacrifices and acts of penance and where we
find the source of our true happiness and joy. By refusing to
perform acts of penance and self-denial, by holding on to things
that do not matter leads to a spiritual and moral blindness that
distances ourselves from Christ. Only by carrying out and
uniting our sufferings and penances to His cross do we find the
strength and support to carry our own. It is through the mystery
of the sacrifice of Jesus – remembered and made present on this
altar – that way we are given that spiritual vision for which we
all long – the light, as St. Paul reminds us, that exposes that
which lies in the darkness, the ability to see clearly the path
that leads to God and the way of life that is pleasing to Him.
This is not the same as the restoration of physical sight – this
is an interior vision of faith, a light that shines within our
hearts, minds and souls.
This is what we experience here, at Mass, if we but open our
hearts to God’s grace, lose our fear of sacrifice and banish
from our minds and hearts the fear of drawing closer to Him
because it is too challenging or too difficult. Then, through
our prayerful participation in this saving sacrifice, through
our acceptance of the cross, through our small acts of penance,
our hearts will be opened to His grace and we will see that in
this, the Holy Sacrifice of Mass, the Eucharist, this is the
gift that God gives to unite us to His heart.
It may
all seem too good to be true, it may all seem too simple – but
that is precisely how God works, in simple ways. He uses those
elements of nature that are most familiar to us (water, oil,
bread, wine) in order to speak to us, to convey His message, to
show us His power and majesty, to draw us closer to Him, to heal
and forgive – and there is no greater way than through the
mystery of the Eucharist, given to us in the simple elements of
bread and wine – transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity of Jesus Christ.
