Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
“… [they] begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak”
Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing for a human being to have; boredom is a real drag!
The people in our Gospel today are very enthusiastic. They want to get close to this wonder-worker. The Scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, remarks about this passage: “the readers are left to suspect that such enthusiasm is not true understanding or faith.”
Roland Knox, a British priest, wrote a book entitled “Enthusiasm.” It is a study of various movements in the Church’s history which tore apart her unity. The banner that they carried might have read: “We have it right!” For example, in the early Church the Montanists did not think the Church was strict enough.
About the Jansenists, condemned by the Church in 1728, Knox makes this aside: “’As young men they [Abbe de St. Cyran and Cornelius Jansen] … thought out between them cloudy schemes, as young men will, for the reformation of the Universal Church.’”
It’s healthy that young men have ideals. But like the Jews flocking around Jesus, we all have to make sure that we continually work out our ideals and enthusiasms within the faith of the Church – that faith which is rooted in a rich, deep willing attachment to Christ. Such faith has learned that its guiding star is his humble kenosis – his emptying of self-centeredness for his Father and the salvation of the world.
Sr. Wendy Beckett, in writing to someone, has a beautiful way of putting it:
Am I mistaken in detecting a slight note of despondency? Living as we do in Jesus, with all sorrow, failure, and disappointment primarily just ways of receiving him more deeply, life is infinitely lovely. It may not appear so, but it is. Our happiness, even if happiness of pure faith, is a duty we owe to the sad world where frustra¬tions are not, as are ours, gateways into love.
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections