21 March 2013 5th Week of Lent -- Thursday Jesus insulted at the court of Herod Herod had put St John Baptist to death. He wanted the Saviour of the world of whom he had heard so much, to work a miracle before him, not that he might be converted; but simply to gratify his vanity and curiosity. God does not grant extraordinary graces to such men; but reserves them for the humble, who deem themselves unworthy of them. He delights to pour them on those who are emptied of self, dead to self-love, seeking only his greater glory. These souls ask for extraordinary graces or miracles only that they may serve him better, or gain others to his service. Why do we receive so few extraordinary graces? We probably lack these dispositions or made little progress in them despite many years in our state in life. Wonderful indeed was the silence and passiveness of our Lord before Herod. He was accused of great crimes; but he could have confounded them in a few words, and turned the tide in his favor. Yet he held his peace. He went there to receive a sentence for life or death. Had Jesus worked a miracle as Herod desired, he would have found protection; but he did not. Herod and his court regarded the calm silence of our Lord as helplessness and stupidity; and treated it as such. Jesus kept silence to punish Herod’s pride and to teach us to mortify ours. Pride is our greatest trial: it makes us desire esteem, notice, praise, and applause, especially from the powerful. Have we fought steadfastly against this unruly passion of pride? Let us contemplate Jesus, the King of Glory, the eternal Wisdom; standing before Herod, insulted by the coarse and stupid mob. Let us, in spirit, follow him wearing the fool’s robe through the streets of Jerusalem. The immense crowd which the Paschal feast had brought into the city jeering at him. When we contemplate Jesus Christ as the living model of perfection, it should kindle in our hearts an ardent desire to imitate him, and willingly serve him. To be ready for his love, to be despised, insulted, reviled, and even considered a fool despite our innocence. This is the ‘foolishness of the Cross’. Many of God’s servants have travelled by this road. Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp131-3 On Making Disciples Jesus Christ said: “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20) Since then, there has been ceaseless organizational or communal response from those who believe and are baptized. In the “Acts of the Apostles” we read: “Those who accepted his message devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life ...” (2:41-2) Here we already see the Church’s communitarian nature. ... “This is how all men will know you for my disciples: your love for one another.” (Jn 13:35) The communal dimension of your Christian vocation was strongly emphasized by the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. Every liturgical act is an act of the entire Body of Christ ... and every Mass is an act of Christ in his Body. Every good deed done by a member is to the advantage of all the members together, and every sin is not only an offense against God but is also a wound inflicted on Christ’s Body ... Clearly, it is not even thinkable that a Christian should live solely for himself. A Christian who has not learned to see and love Christ in his neighbor is not fully Christian. We are our brothers’ keepers; bound to each other by the bond of love ... This communal or organizational nature of our vocation ought to be directed toward the universal Church. We are a local Church instituted by Christ the Lord only to the degree in which we are part of the universal Church. Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, p56 Who Is My Neighbor? Do you remember? Was it not with the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus answered a question put by a doctor of the Law? The doctor had just quoted the Law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Lk 10:27) ‘The Good Samaritan is Christ.’ It is he who comes to us first, making us his neighbor, to succor us, heal us, save us. But if there be still some distance between God and us, that depends only on us, on the obstacles which we put up against such rapprochement. The sin in our hearts, the injustices we commit, the hatred and divisions which we nourish -- all these things cause us not to love God yet with all our souls, with all our strength. The season of lent is the privileged time for ‘purification’ and ‘penitence’, for letting the Lord make us his neighbor and save us with his love. The second commandment is like the first (cf Mt 22:39) and forms one whole with it. We must love others with the same love which God pours into our hearts and with which he himself loves us. Here, too, what obstacles stand in the way of making the other our neighbor: we do not love God and our brethren enough. Why still so many difficulties, raised against leaving the important but insufficient stage of reflections, declarations and professions, to become emigrants with emigrants, refugees with refugees, poor with those lacking everything? Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp146-7 Our Lady -- “Love of our Lady is proof of a good spirit, in works and in individuals. Don’t trust the undertaking that lacks this characteristic.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 505) “Before, by yourself, you couldn’t. Now, you’ve turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy!” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 513) • Our Lady of Bruges, in Flanders, where a lock of the Blessed Virgin’s hair is exhibited, given by a Syrian bishop, named Moses.—(Hugo Farcitus, lib. i., Miracnl. B. Virg.) “Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar (http://www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Our Lady of Bruges. Flanders. 1150. Relic of Mary's hair. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm) • Our Lady of Bruges, Flanders (1150), where a lock of Our Lady’s hair is preserved. (http://www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html) • Our Lady of Bruges (Flanders). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)