4.1 Commitment
STAGE 4: Towards the Likeness of Jesus Christ
JESUS AND HIS HUMANITY
THE CAPTIVATING BEAUTY
COMMITMENT
Aim: To commit ourselves to the humanity of Jesus, that he may transform our own humanity into an instrument of healing.
Reading
Healing power through wounded humanity (Jn 20:19-31): When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you”. After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”. But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord”. But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe”. A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you”. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe”. Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Comment
The humanity of Jesus is the sacrament of God’s love to us and the instrument of our redemption. The same humanity continues to play a crucial role in the life of the believers, even after Jesus’ resurrection. In fact, the Risen Lord doesn’t do anything extraordinary to convince the disciples of his identity; in all simplicity he shows the marks of his wounds. And these wounds are very closely connected to the ministry of forgiveness of sins; in fact Jesus shows his wounds and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them”.
Here, we understand that forgiveness is not linked to some juridical power but to the wounded body of Jesus. It means that to deny forgiveness is to betray that body and those wounds. Not to forgive means to be incapable of reading the story of Jesus’ body. This body speaks of a love lived to the end, and of a Spirit that has permeated such love to the extent of rendering wounds, injuries, and death itself, occasions and channels for more love and graces.
It did not take long for the apostles to translate this new message into action. In Acts 2:42-47 they offer us a clear demonstration on how weakness holds the power of healing. We read: “By the hands of the apostles many wonders and signs were being done” among the people. “By the hands of the apostles”: weak hands that one night had been unable to join in prayer with Jesus. Weak and fragile hands, unable to stay together in moments of danger and risk; weak hands, afraid of the enemies of Jesus, busy covering faces for fear of being recognized as the faces of Jesus’ disciples. Weak hands, not present when needed to hold Jesus’ dead body, after he was removed from the cross. God relies on and trusts these “weak hands” to encounter and touch wounded bodies, sick bodies and restless bodies possessed by impure spirits.
A contemporary monk and writer, Enzo Bianchi, says: “If it is true that as church we are the Body of Christ – his wounded, sored and beaten body – then we are to believe that we, too, are called to become a body that is capable of turning evil inflicted on us into a gift”.
How beautiful is this face of the church! Our vocation is to incarnate mercy, first and foremost, and then to narrate God’s mercy through our humanity, which is capable of manifesting forgiveness and remission of sins.
Personal Reflection and Sharing
After contemplating the humanity of Jesus, what further motivation brings me to commit myself to him?
Do I believe that my own humanity, too, is an instrument of healing? If yes, what kind of healing ministry do I intend to commit myself to? In this regard, how is Mary inspiring and assisting me?
[4-1] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER