Only the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierce for our transgressions, knows the pain and misery within the human heart, within in our own heart.

Luke 7; 11-17 Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. June 5th, 2016

In Today’s Gospel we hear of the widow of Nain, who had lost hear only Son, and we see the great compassion and mercy of Jesus, in response to her cry. In Jesus, we truly have a God who knows what it is to suffer; to suffer the loss of a loved one, to suffer death, for He alone has entered fully into the human condition. Today as well, along with our Saviors loving response in the Gospel, we hear a call for us to share His compassion and mercy to others, to be His instruments of Divine Mercy for the world.

I am convinced that there is a sound that is unlike any other in the universe. It is sound that is louder than any explosion, louder than any supernova star exploding. It is sound that pierces a man to the very core of his being. Once heard it is a sound that you never forget. And that sound is the sound of mother who weeps over the loss of her child.

Having at one time served on a rural ambulance I have heard that cry. I remember hearing a mother cry over the loss of all four of her young children, and I will never forget her weeping. Having been a priest for over 14years I have too often heard that same weeping, especially in these years that I have been a priest/chaplain at this hospital. Yet, even though I have heard it too often, it is sound that one never gets “use to;” it is a sound that moves one’s heart to feel compassion on a mothers heart, that like the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate heart over the death of her Child, is pierced by a sword.

In Jesus” response to this weeping mother, we learn the meaning of true compassion. Jesus does not, as our Gospel reading says, have “pity” on this poor mother. The translation used in today’s Gospel is, dare I say, not the best one, a better one would be compassion. In Latin “compassion,” means not pity, but rather, “com” –“Passion”—with passion; in others to suffer with, to accompany another in their suffering in their passion. This is not to show them pity, but MERCY!

We are call to response to suffering with the Love and mercy of Christ, to love others, not merely in words, not merely with emotion (which is merely pity), but to love others by merciful deeds. We should love others with merciful deeds even though we may not get “anything” out of it, even thought it may not make us “feel good.” Sadly, too often “good deeds” or done out of vainglory. Truly, we are called to love other with Jesus own Heart alive and beating in us, our heart united to His Sacred Heart.
We are called to care for the bodily needs of those our Lord puts in our way, first out of love for God and then for the sake of the other out of love for God. And so, we are call to care for, to love, even those we don’t like, even our enemies…for we must do good even to those who hate us.

This care for the bodily needs of others is expressed in the Corporal works of Mercy as found in Sacred Scripture and expounded on and explained in the Teachings of the Catholic Church. We are to: Feed the Hungry; Give drink to the Thirsty; Cloth the Naked, Give Shelter to the Homeless; Visit the Imprisoned, Visit and Care for the Sick; and finally, To bury the Dead (by the way to bury the dead in the ground and not keep their ashes, their cremated body in our homes or sprinkle them somewhere).

But our call to reach out to others in need, to do good to others, goes far beyond supplying merely for their material needs. We are to care for their body, yes, but we are called to be even more solicitous for their spiritual needs, for their spiritual poverty and hunger—we, as followers of Jesus, are called to even lay down our life for their spiritual needs.

This primary care, the care for the soul, is expressed in the Spiritual Works of Mercy, which are primary over the corporal works; in fact if we only do the corporal works and ignore the spiritual works we will be judged harshly by Jesus. Many there are who will say to Jesus on the Last day, “but `Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to Thee?' (Mt 25; 35-46)” And Jesus will response to them, “ ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." In other words, these will be those who may have provided for the bodily needs of others, but failed to care for or ignored the care of their eternal soul by carrying out the Spiritual works of mercy. This is why they will be so shocked by Jesus response because they will think, “…but Lord we were good.”

The Spiritual works are, to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish the sinners, comfort the afflicted; forgive offenses; bear wrongs patiently; pray for the living and the death.

Man was not made merely for this world but for the world to come. In the life to come is where man’s true hope lies. This is what is so wrong with our modern materialistic ideologies, which tried to convince us that this world is all there is, and that all we need to do is work for peace and justice, striving to illuminate poverty and suffering this world especially by getting rid of any unjust social structures that stand in our way. Yes, it is true, we need to do what ever we can to prevent suffering, to eliminate poverty and to spread happiness to who ever we can, but despite our best efforts, “the poor we will always have with (cf. Mt 26;11). But this is not to really go about doing the ultimate good to others; in fact striving for this alone deceives man robbing him of his true hope leading him, sooner or later, into the depths of despair. For no matter how hard we try, we will never eliminate poverty in this world, we will never eliminate suffering in this world, and so, we will never eliminate death.

Jesus, in today’s gospel, shows that the true and principal good of others does not consist in any material or worldly good but consist in their union with God, which will lead them one day to total happiness in heaven. This is not a matter of having pity for another but being moved with compassion, being with those who suffer, and rejoicing with those who rejoice, giving them that hope which comes from knowing that they are indeed children of Almighty God and coheirs to Christ and to eternal life, no matter what the situation in this present life may be. This is to show them God's mercy!!!

This leads us to a even greater deception in our world today, not one which tries to convince that this world is all there is, but a deception that tries to convince that everyone goes to heaven, that there is no hell or if there is, no one goes there. This error leads to a loss of missionary spirit in the Church, a loss for concern of another eternal salvation. It sees then suffering only as something to be overcome but not as something to be embraced on a personal level in order to united it with Jesus’ own suffering for the sake of His body the Church (cf. Col. 1;24); and so, for salvation of souls.

In the weeping mother, we are then pointed to another Mother who weeps for her children who are more profoundly dead than the son of this weeping widow in today’s Gospel. This other “Mother” is Holy Mother Church who weeps for her children who are dead to sin, who are “deader” than any bodily corpse. It is this Holy Mother who weeps with great sorrow not only for the loss of their earthly life but also for the loss of their eternal life. She offers to these “poorest of the poor.” the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus. And in Christ’s name, she beckons us to do the same.

While I have never experienced the loss of a child, I have experienced the loss of the spouse. To lose someone we love for a lifetime is harder, harder than anything we will ever experience, but what is to lose someone forever…what does it mean to lose a soul for eternity. I really do believe that if we understood this, even a little, if we were too see heaven and to see hell we would suffer the worst suffering we could on this earth and do it many times over in order to save even our worst enemy.
The Blessed Virgin Mary in her apparitions to the three little of children actually showed these little ones, the youngest of which was just six years old…she showed them hell and souls who were there. St. Lucia, the oldest of the Children said later, “if not that our Lady was with us, I think we would have died of fright.”

The children, especially the youngest-Jacinta, were so profoundly affected by the horrors of hell that they begin to offer up any suffering the could for the salvation of poor souls. They even took on voluntary mortifications like sleeping on the floor or wearing a coarse cord around their waist in order to atone for the sins of poor souls and so earn for them from Jesus and Mary the grace of their conversion.

Only the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierce for our transgressions, knows the pain and misery within the human heart, within in our own heart. It is only in the wounds of His Heart that we can find the solace and refuge we are looking for. Today, at this Holy Mass, Jesus invites us to entered more fully into His most loving and compassionate Heart through a deeper faith in the Holy Eucharist—the Divine Mercy of the Father. The Holy Eucharist is truly His Most Sacred Heart made available for us in the Miracle of the Holy Mass. He offers His entire Heart to us, may we through the Immaculate Heart of Mary offer ours in return, so that in the Spirit, three Hearts may be as one. Then and only then can we become Instruments of God’s Divine Mercy, sharing His compassion with others, bringing them the Love, healing and Salvation of Jesus.