Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SATURDAY, April 30th Jn. 6: 16-21 Alleluia Verse: “Christ is risen, who made all things; he has shown mercy on all people.”
In this time of the Easter Season which lasts 50 days, let us go deeper in the meaning, purpose and fruits of Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection, and Divine Mercy Sunday.
HEALING OF OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
THE HEALING OF OUR GENEALOGICAL TREE.
ORIGINAL WOUNDS. All of us came into the world as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve and thus inherited their Original Wound, as well as its consequences, with one exception—Mary and her Immaculate Conception and the Virginal Birth of Jesus, the Son of God made man. The rest of us inherited 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, which Saint Thomas Aquinas terms concupiscence.
CAPITAL SINS. Those bad tendencies, defined as the Capital Sins, that remain within our very being until we die. They are the following: Gluttony, Lust, Avarice (Greed), Sloth (Laziness), Envy, Anger, and Pride. With the help of God’s grace and our collaboration, these bad tendencies have to be tamed and the opposite virtues practiced.
WOUNDED HUMANITY. All of humanity, therefore, has this mortal wound stemming from the Original Sin of our first parents. However, compounding 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; our 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 own 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. Over and over again we wound others by our wounded condition.
WOUNDED HEALER. However, if we recognize that we are wounded, if we admit it and sincerely strive to seek healing, then healing can become a reality for us. How? The only solution is to run to Jesus. Only Jesus can truly heal us. Indeed, He alone is the Wounded Healer. Thus the Prophet Isaiah made reference to the coming of Jesus and His mission by saying: “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, crowning with thorns, falling under the weight of the cross, the nails that pierced His hands and feet, His side pierced with the lance—all of these manifested the open and gaping wounds of Jesus—all for love of us.
FINDING REFUGE IN THESE WOUNDS. If we sincerely seek refuge in the wounds of Jesus, then we can experience His healing. Specifically, the healing of our moral and spiritual wounds, that takes place in the context of the Sacraments. In fact, every Sacrament communicates not only grace, but a specific Sacramental grace that differentiates it from the others. The Sacrament of Confession confers moral healing of the wounds that we have contracted due to the evil that we call sin. Whereas the Holy Eucharist confers spiritual nourishment and strength for the journey.
HEALING POWER OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. Each time we approach the Sacrament of Confession with a good disposition, by confessing our sins and receiving Sacramental absolution from the priest, the Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on the cross on Calvary that First Good Friday, washes away our sins. His Precious Blood cleanses us and heals us!
HEALING OUR GENEALOGICAL TREE. Let us take one step further. Recently, much has been written on the healing of our ancestors, our relatives of the past and their gaping wounds of past ages. Fascinating as this topic sounds, with a variety of ways to approach the healing of our genealogical tree, I believe there is truly one most efficacious manner, means or practice that we can undertake to accomplish this. 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 on us in the present and even 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 one 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 for 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 actually 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 the power of Calvary extends to all times and places even until the end of time. How does this happen? Every Sacrifice of the Mass offered today, tomorrow and until the end of time takes us back to Calvary—that First Good Friday as Jesus hung on the cross and poured forth His most Precious Blood for our salvation. 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. The Mass intention can be specified in the following way: Families Lopez and Garcia—healing of past, present and future. Therefore, this intention includes the maternal side and their past, present and future; and it also includes the paternal side and their past, present and future. This intention is all-inclusive. In a real sense it is Catholic—meaning universal! Let us now explain the three time dimensions of past, present and future. (Fear not! God knows which Lopez and Garcia Family you intend!)
HOLY MASS: META-HISTORICAL EVENT. By meta-historical is meant that it transcends all times, places, events and cultures. The power and efficacy of Holy Mass transports back to Calvary (2000 years ago) with these time references. The power of the Mass, with its fruits and effects, reaches back into the past to the very beginning of time. The power of the Mass is actually present, with its fruit and effects, right now in this moment. And the power of the Mass, with its fruits and effects, extends into the future until the very end of time. Can we understand now that it is through the Precious Blood of Jesus shed on Calvary that wounds are truly healed and that wounded wounders can truly become wounded healers!
PAST. By offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—this meta-historical event—the Precious Blood of Jesus can be applied to family members, both maternal and paternal, over past years, decades, and even centuries. In concrete, in the Lopez and Garcia family there are countless members. Maybe due to the Mass or Masses offered in the present, some of these members in the past received the grace of final repentance before they died and were thus saved from hell. Perhaps members were saved, but not ready for Heaven and so were detained in Purgatory. In which case the Mass or Masses offered in the present can serve as a most efficacious means to purify these souls and shorten their time in Purgatory. Not only that, some may even be released from Purgatory now and arrive finally at their Heavenly Home for all eternity! Their healing total and complete!
THE PRESENT. These two families have many direct members as well as blood relatives, such as cousins, aunts and uncles. Now the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the present can serve as a most powerful means to sanctify many, to convert others, and to prevent still others from making egregious moral blunders, serving 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 to devour! Such countless lights, inspirations, insights can flow invisibly but most powerfully to our family members, and all by means of the Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on the cross on Calvary Good Friday, but applied in the present moment!
THE FUTURE. It is God Himself who created time with all of its ramifications. However, God Himself 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 Mass or Masses are offered for the Lopez-Garcia family right now in the present moment, the effects can extend not only into the past, but also into the future. In all truth, the effects of every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can extend way into the future. If you like, a 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!” 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 extension—past, present and future. 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 our present epoch. Finally, how great and powerful God is through His Passion, death and Resurrection, all applied in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when way into distant and future years, this Holy Mass offered now can prevent sin, sanctify souls, and convert the most hardened sinners in our family tree. Let us pray that through Holy Mass, the Precious Blood of Jesus, that we indeed will not be wounded wounders but rather wounded healers in a broken and wounded world.
