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| From 'Jéhovah devient notre père' by Jean-Georges Cornélius. |
The Book of the Prophet Hosea uses the image of a parent, disappointed but totally committed in love to the child to help establish our understanding of intimacy with God.
* [11:4] I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians underlines the impossibility of humanity to comprehend the Love of God apart from the grace freely offered to us.
* [3:14–21] The apostle prays that those he is addressing may, like the rest of the church, deepen their understanding of God’s plan of salvation in Christ. It is a plan that affects the whole universe (Eph 3:15) with the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love in Christ (Eph 3:18) or possibly the universe in all its dimensions. The apostle prays that they may perceive the redemptive love of Christ for them and be completely immersed in the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). The prayer concludes with a doxology to God (Eph 3:20–21).
In the Gospel from John, the Evangelist declares the humanity of Jesus in death that invites us to the community of those to whom Jesus is married in Baptism and Eucharist.
* [19:34–35] John probably emphasizes these verses to show the reality of Jesus’ death, against the docetic heretics. In the blood and water there may also be a symbolic reference to the Eucharist and baptism.Kyle Lierk cites poetry by Manley Hopkins, S.J. and a portrait by Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) to prepare us to consider the response in the prayer that the Church: “Jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like yours”.
Perhaps on this sacred day we all might make a moment or two to meditate over the words of Hopkins or gaze upon Batoni’s painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we do, can we be more kind with our heart as we invite Jesus to perform a bit of an opening-heart surgery on us? If we can allow this to happen, by grace, we can also handle the hearts of all those we encounter throughout our day with the same care and reverence and dignity that now lingers within us.James Hanvey SJ, Master of Campion Hall, University of Oxford, reflects that with Jesus it is always personal. We always have to begin in either response to or refusal of the encounter. We cannot slip or evade the personal relationship that his person requires of us. This is the meaning of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is always a personal, affective, devotional relation with the whole of Jesus, contained in the image of his heart alive with love.
This is a heart that is fully alive. In our hearts the world longs to see the heart of Jesus. In this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has reminded us that this is our gift; to carry the merciful heart of Jesus in our own heart. It is such a heart, overflowing with compassion, that is the dynamic core of our Christian witness and the mission of the Church.Don Schwager quotes Isaac of Nineveh (a Syrian monk, teacher, and bishop), 613-700 A.D., that God gave us what was most precious.
"The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of his creatures has delivered his Son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for it. Not that he was unable to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible to show us his abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near to him by the death of his Son. If he had anything more dear to him, he would have given it to us, in order that by it our race might be his. And out of his great love he did not even choose to urge our freedom by compulsion, though he was able to do so. But his aim was that we should come near to him by the love of our mind. And our Lord obeyed his Father out of love for us." (excerpt from ASCETICAL HOMILY 74.28)The Word Among Us Meditation on Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9 challenges us using an episode from the life of Fr. John Eudes, French priest, to spend some time pondering how we can move beyond loving someone “just enough” in the days ahead.
Friar Jude Winkler connects to the Covenant love shown by Hosea for his unfaithful wife Gomer. Paul declares to the Ephesians that God would become human and die out of love for us, an idea beyond understanding. John the Evangelist ties the death of Jesus to the slaughter of the Passover lambs and the marriage of Jesus to the Church on the cross that is offered to us in Baptism and Eucharist.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes sister Ilia Delio, a scholar of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, about the technology that comes from human creativity and ingenuity.
God rises up at the heart of cosmic evolution through the power of love, which science and technology can facilitate but not surpass. The future of the earth, therefore, lies not in science and technology, but in the spiritual power of world religions and the power of love. We are born out of love, we exist in love, and we are destined for eternal love. . . . It is time to reinvent ourselves in love.The action of Love acting through the Spirit in the hearts of humans creates art and technology to assist in our struggle to accommodate infinite love in our finite existence.
References
(n.d.). CHAPTER 11 The Disappointment of a Parent 1 When Israel was a .... Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hosea/hosea11.htm
(n.d.). Ephesians, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/3
(n.d.). John 19:26-27. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/john19.htm
(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html
(n.d.). Sacred Heart | Thinking Faith: The online journal of the Jesuits in Britain. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/tags/sacred-heart
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). 9th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved June 8, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/
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