This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
The dynamic of Christ’s saving act is awesome, filled with drama, and merits deep meditation and consideration. It is beautiful that we can undertake this reflection in the presence of, and in dialogue with, the very Person who is Protagonist of the act.
Prior to this act, there is a dynamic within the Blessed Trinity of self-outpouring and self-giving that feeds an eternal union, union which is the profound fulfillment of each of the three Persons.
It is said that to God, who is infinite, nothing can ever be added, and this is true.
Yet, upon the incarnation of God, a new ability was in a sense added: Added to the divine self-outpouring was the ability to suffer in that act of self-outpouring.
In one of the most beautiful readings in Scripture, today’s first reading, St. Paul poetically tells us that as a result of this, “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.”
But Jesus didn’t take on this new ability, suffering, for His own exaltation. He took it on for ours. By the power of His saving act, He gives us this same dynamic: By pouring out our lives as He did in obedience to God for others, we attain that same eternal exaltation–in our human flesh, like Jesus–of which St. Paul speaks.
It is a breathless dynamic–one that takes us leagues outside our comfort zone. It is because of the great challenge that this dynamic involves for us that, according to Jesus in the Gospel, many souls decline from it. They find other things to do, other things to focus on. Without great fanfare, they decline the invitation of Jesus.
Contemplation of this reality should cause us sorrow and inspire us to fervent prayer and sacrifice for others, that God will give them absurd, gratuitous amounts of grace and stimulus to reconsider and accept His invitation, from which alone happiness comes.
But also, in a way, it should cause us excitement. The destiny to which God calls us and in fact brings us through Christ’s saving dynamic is not run-of-the-mill. It is a glorious one, one that merits God taking on the new ability to suffer, one that merits the very blood of God Himself.
Ideas for conversation with Jesus: Tell Jesus that you want to hear and follow His call in its fullness. That you don’t want to cheapen it in any way by cutting corners, or by giving in to mediocrity. Ask Him for the courage and strength to see your calling through to its utter fulfillment.
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