Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus this Friday, we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. St John the Evangelist recalls one of the scenes of Jesus’ Passion and Death: while trying to confirm that Jesus has indeed died, instead of breaking His legs, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water…

Blood and water gushing out from Jesus’ Heart through the open wound of His side…

What a seemingly unimportant and unrelated event?

But St John Chrysostom has this to say, “Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning.... That water and blood symbolized Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. From these two Sacraments, the Church is born: from Baptism… and from the Holy Eucharist. Since the symbols of Baptism and the Eucharist flowed from His side, it was from His side that Christ fashioned the Church, as He had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam… As God took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from His side to fashion the Church...”

In the Old Testament, Eve was the spouse of Adam; now in the New Testament, the Holy Church of Christ is the spouse of Jesus (the new Adam). This has great implications [cf. Ep 5: 22-33]:

(1) The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her Author; Christ, her Bridegroom, gave Himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. She is ‘the sinless one made up of sinners.’ [CCC 867]

(2) Just as Adam and Eve became one flesh, Jesus is one and inseparable with the Catholic Church. And in this Church, Jesus calls, chooses, consecrates and commissions men to be priests to stand in the midst of the world as Men after His own Heart. Together with Jesus the Good Shepherd, the priests gather all the believers from all over the world into the one flock and one sheepfold of the Church. The Catholic Church (together with the ordained priests) is the visible sign of Christ’s abiding love in the world today.

Jesus loves us immensely and intensely. His Sacred Heart is always depicted as a flaming heart encircled by thorns – a moving expression of the Heart of our Lord, choked by our sins, yet ablaze with passionate love for you and for me. Out of His infinite love and immeasurable mercy, He gives everything to us – He gives Himself completely to us without reservation; He offers His Body to feed us and His Blood to nourish us; He pours out on us His Holy Spirit; He gives us His Mother; He abides with us always in the Church; and He consecrates priests to shepherd us along the right path… His love has no end, no limit and no boundary.

‘Deus Caritas Est’ (or ‘God is Love’) is the great mystery of our Christian faith. We cannot intellectualize love. We can only experience love in our hearts. Even though we cannot fathom the mind of God, may we learn to trust and touch Jesus’ Heart, and drink deeply His infinite love and immeasurable mercy. Thomas’ faith was restored after touching Jesus’ Heart. As we draw close to the core of Jesus, our hearts of stone too will, slowly but surely, be melted, purified and transformed by His Most Sacred Heart.

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Dear Jesus, make my heart resemble Yours.”