In the Advent Season one of the Gospel Readings is the long list of the Genealogical Origin of Jesus, in the three sets of 14 names. Daunted by the long list and befuddled as to how to preach a homily on this long list of names, this thought occurred to me: the healing of our own Genealogical Tree.
ORIGINAL WOUNDS. All of us who come into the world as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve inherit the Original Wound as well as its consequences. With the exception of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the Virginal Birth of Jesus, we all inherit Original Sin and its consequences at the very moment of our conception. True! Baptism washes away the stain of Original Sin, but not the consequences that Saint Thomas Aquinas terms concupiscence.
CAPITAL SINS. Those bad tendencies that are defined as the Capital Sins remain within our very being until we die. These are the following: Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Envy, Anger, and Pride. With the help of God’s grace and our collaboration with His grace, these bad tendencies have to be tamed and the opposite virtues must be practiced.
WOUNDED HUMANITY. All of humanity, therefore, has this mortal wound stemming from the Original Sin. However, to compound the state of our wounded human nature is our own moral culpability that flows from our own personal sins. Original Sin wounds from the start; personal and actual sins aggravate the state of our wounded condition.
WALKING WOUNDED HUMANITY. We live in a world walking side by side with a walking wounded humanity and we add our own quota to this wounded and broken world.
WOUNDED WOUNDER OR WOUNDED HEALER. Taking into account our woundedness there are two possibilities or options. Either we are wounded wounders or we become wounded healers. If we do not come to terms with our wounded condition, then our woundedness grows, festers, and spreads like a disease, like a moral pandemic. And we wound others by our wounded condition.
WOUNDED HEALER. However, if we recognize that we are wounded, if we admit it and we strive to seek healing, then being a Wounded Healer can become a reality. How? The only solution is to run to Jesus. Only Jesus can truly heal us. Indeed, He alone is the Wounded Healer. The Prophet Isaiah made reference to the coming of Jesus and His mission when he said: “By His wounds we are healed.” (Is 53:5)
JESUS’ PASSION: HIS WOUNDS AND OUR HEALING. In His Passion, Jesus was wounded for our sake. His scourging at the Pillar, His crowning with thorns, His falling under the weight of the cross, the nails that pierced His hands and feet, His side that was pierced with the lance—all of these manifest the open and gaping wounds of Jesus.
FINDING REFUGE IN THESE WOUNDS. If we sincerely seek refuge in the wounds of Jesus then we can experience His healing. Most specifically, the healing of our moral wounds can take place in the context of the Sacraments, and most especially in the Sacrament of Confession. In fact, every Sacrament communicates not only grace but a specific Sacramental grace that differentiates it from the others. The Holy Eucharist confers nourishment and spiritual strength. The Sacrament of Confession confers moral healing of the wounds that we have contracted due to moral evil that we call sin.
BLOOD OF CHRIST—HEALING POWER. Every time we approach the Sacrament of Confession with a good disposition, then with the confession of our sins and Sacramental absolution, the Precious Blood of Jesus that poured forth from the cross on Calvary that first Good Friday washes away our sins. Jesus’ Precious Blood cleanses us and heals us.
HEALING OUR GENEALOGICAL TREE. Recently, much has been written on the healing of our ancestors, our relatives of the past, the gaping wounds of past ages. Fascinating as this topic sounds and the variety of ways to approach the healing of our genealogical tree, I believe there is truly a most efficacious manner, means or practice that we can undertake. Indeed, going all the way back to our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, there are many wounds, gaping wounds, unhealed wounds of the past that have repercussions in the present and that can extend way into the future.
THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS AND UNIVERSAL HEALING. Of all of the possible remedies for healing wounded humanity—past, present and future, there is an all- powerful means that we have at our disposal: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
MOST POWERFUL OF ALL PRAYERS. Of all the prayers that can be offered in the past, present and future, there is no more powerful and efficacious prayer than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is truly OPUS DEI—the great work of God Himself. It is God offering Himself to God: Jesus (Second Person of the Trinity) offers Himself into the hands of His Heavenly Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of humanity.
CALVARY: THE MASS TRANSCENDING ALL TIMES AND PLACES. Even though it is true that Jesus died on Calvary on Good Friday more than two thousand years ago, the presence and power of Calvary extends to all times and places—past, present, and future even until the end of time! How does this take place? Every Sacrifice of the Mass today, tomorrow, and until the end of time takes us back to Calvary. That First Good Friday as Jesus hung on the cross, He poured forth His most Precious Blood. That same Blood that Jesus shed willingly and most abundantly becomes present in every Mass. And it is through the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world that the purification of our sins and salvation becomes a reality!
OFFERING THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS TO HEAL OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. Now to the point of our topic: OFFER MASS FOR HEALING! Have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for your family, and the two different lines if you are married: the husband and his family of the past; the wife and her family of the past.
THE INTENTIONS. By way of example, that Mass intention can be specified in the following way: Families Lopez and Garcia—healing of the past, present and future. Therefore, this intention includes the paternal side (Lopez) and their past, present and future; and the maternal side (Garcia) and their past, present and future. This intention is universal, all-inclusive. In a real sense it is Catholic which means universal! Let us now explain the three time dimensions of past, present and future.
HOLY MASS: META-HISTORICAL EVENT. By meta-historical is meant that it transcends all times, places, events and cultures—that it encapsulates the entire past, present and future. The power and efficacy of EVERY HOLY MASS transports back to Calvary 2000 years ago and is actually present with its fruit and effects right now, but also its power extends into the past and into the future until the end of time. It is through the Precious Blood of Jesus shed on Calvary that wounds are truly healed and wounded wounders can indeed become wounded healers!
THE PAST. By the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—this meta-historical event that transcends time—the Precious Blood of Jesus can be applied to family members, both maternal and paternal over years, decades and even centuries in the past. In concrete, in the Lopez and Garcia family there are countless numbers who have passed away. Many of these members were not ready to have direct access to Heaven, and may still be detained in Purgatory. Therefore, this Mass offered in the present can serve as a most efficacious means to help purify these souls detained in Purgatory; and some may actually be released from Purgatory and arrive finally at their Heavenly Home for all eternity! Their healing total and complete!
THE PRESENT. These two families have immediate family members, as well as other blood relatives, such as cousins and aunts and uncles. Now the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered on their behalf can serve in the present as a most powerful means to sanctify many, convert others, prevent still others from making egregious moral blunders, and can serve as a shield against the wily but persistent attacks of the enemy—the devil who is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour! Also, countless lights, inspirations, insights can flow invisibly but most powerfully to these family members, and all by means of the Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on the cross on Calvary on Good Friday but applied in the present moment in Holy Mass!
THE FUTURE. It is God Himself who created time with all of its ramifications. However, God is not confined to time and space as we the living experience it. In a real sense God lives in the eternal present! This being the case, even though the Mass is being offered for the Lopez-Garcia family right now in the present moment, its effects can extend into the future. In all truth, the effects of every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can extend into the future, way into the future. If you like, this Mass offered right now can extend in its power and efficacy until the very end of time and into eternity. How might this be the case? Say a family member of the Garcia-Lopez clan living in the year 2500 is on his deathbed after living an immoral, sinful life for many years. Shortly before he expires, he receives a light, an insight, an inspiration to repent and turn his heart back to God. His last words before giving up his spirit are: “Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner” or “Jesus, I trust in your mercy” or simply, “Jesus, save me”! Or other words similar to these. These words are not only expressed with his lips but deeply intended in his heart. He is saved! What is fascinating is the following: the Mass offered close to five hundred years earlier by a family member in the Garcia-Lopez clan was the means by which on his deathbed, this hardened sinner received the grace of final conversion!
In conclusion, all of us can tap into this source of infinite value: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Even one Mass offered for our family members can have universal repercussions. The Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on Calvary but applied in every Mass has a universal and timeless extension. Holy Mass can purify our deceased relatives who perhaps lived hundreds of years in the past. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can serve to convert, sanctify, and save family members living in the present epoch. Finally, far into distant and future years, Holy Mass can prevent sin, sanctify souls, and convert the most hardened sinners of our family. How great and powerful is God through Jesus’ Passion, death and Resurrection, all applied in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Let us pray that through Holy Mass and the Precious Blood of Jesus, we indeed will not be wounded wounders but rather wounded healers in a broken and wounded world!
