DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY: SACRED HEART OF JESUS YEAR B (Jn 19:31-37).

Today’s liturgy focuses on the love that God has for us, symbolized in the heart of his divine Son, Jesus Christ (cf. Collect prayer). In the Old Testament, the prophet Hosea tells us about God’s love for his people: “When Israel was young I loved him” (cf. 1st reading). In the 2nd reading, St. Paul the Apostle wants us to understand that the love of Christ transcends all knowledge,. And in the Gospel we are told how from the heart of Christ, opened by the soldier’s lance, blood and water gushed out, symbolising the sacraments and the Church, so that “drawing near to the open heart of the Savior, everyone can drink with joy from the source of salvation ”(Preface and responsorial psalm).

GOSPEL
Jn 19:31–37
Since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

GOSPEL COMMENTARY FROM THE NAVARRE BIBLE, ST. JOHN (WITH PERMISSION)

31-33 Jesus dies on the Preparation day of the Passover — the Parasceve —that is, the eve, when the paschal lambs were officially sacrificed in the Temple. By stressing this, the evangelist implies that Christ’s sacrifice took the place of the sacrifices of the Old Law and inaugurated the New Alliance in his blood (cf. Heb 9:12).
- The Law of Moses required that the bodies should be taken down before nightfall (Deut 2 1:22-23); this is why Pilate is asked to have their legs broken, to bring on death and allow them to be buried before it gets dark, particularly since the next day is the feast of the Passover.
34 The outflow of blood and water has a natural explanation. Probably the water was an accumulation of liquid in the lungs due to Jesus’ intense sufferings.
- As on other occasions, the historical events narrated in the fourth Gospel are laden with meaning. St Augustine and Christian tradition see the sacraments and the Church itself flowing from Jesus’ open side:
  - “Here was opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true life. . . . Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept. O death, by which the dead come back to life! is there anything purer than this blood, any wound more healing!” (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 120, 2).
- The Second Vatican Council, for its part, teaches: “The Church — that is, the kingdom of Christ — already present in mystery, grows visibly through the power of God in the world. The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus” (Vatican [I, Lumen gentium, 3).
- “Jesus on the cross, with his heart overflowing with love for men, is such an eloquent commentary on the value of people and things that words only get in the way. People, their happiness and their life, are so important that the very Son of God gave himself to redeem and cleanse and raise them up” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 165).
35 St John’s Gospel presents itself as a truthful witness of the events of our Lord’s life and of their spiritual and doctrinal significance. From the words of John the Baptist at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry (1:19) to the final paragraph of the Gospel (2 1:24-25), everything forms part of a testimony to the sublime phenomenon of the Word of Life made Man. Here the evangelist explicitly states that he was an eyewitness (cf. also Jn 20:30-31; 1 Jn 1:1-3).
36 This quotation refers to the precept of the Law that no bone of the paschal lamb should be broken (cf. Ex 12:46): again St John’s Gospel is telling us that Jesus is the true paschal Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29).

VIDEO COMMENTARY

TOPIC: DO YOU LOVE THE PEOPLE WHO REJECT YOU?

The three readings today speak about God’s love for us, choosing us to be His mouthpiece, his hands and feet to declare His love and His truth to the world. He constantly reminds us to be holy in a world that has a diminished sense of sacrifice, care and concern, and love.

It is not easy to love when you are always rejected. Jesus was also rejected many times.

TOPIC: Is your heart humble enough for God
to reveal Himself to you and provide You with His directions?

A great and foolish King complained that the rough ground hurt his feet, so he ordered the whole country to be carpeted with cowhide. The court jester laughed when the King told him of his order. “What an absolute crazy idea, Your Majesty,” he cried. “Why all the needless expense? Just cut out two small pads to protect your feet!” That is what the King did. And that is how the idea of shoes was born.

If we desire for a world free of pain, we must take great pains to change our heart and not the world.

In today’s gospel, Jesus praises the Father for revealing things to the little ones and not to the wise. “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” (Matthew 11:25). Why, you may ask? It is because the wise may be too full of themselves that they don’t leave space for God to insert Himself in.

Oftentimes, we are the creation of our own imagination. When we succeed at something, our heads swell with pride, not realizing that if not for others, and certainly without God’s blessings, we will be nothing. Our pride at being “self-made” is really the fruit of many people who came into our life, again allowed by God, who sacrificed and suffered so that we may be who we are today.

Humility allows us to recognize that our success is like a cup of halu-halo – whose delectable sweetness and yumminess is due to the layering of sweetened beans, fruits, shaved ice drizzled with evaporated milk, and ice cream; in other words, not solely due to one ingredient.

We need the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is pierced by thorns and a cross hanging over it, to remind us to rid ourselves of the selfishness, insecurities, bloated fears, diminishing faith and swelling pride that may envelope us when we feel we are on top of the world and/or crushed under the weight of the world.

He suffered. He offered. We must also acknowledge that we too will and must suffer. Or we have nothing to offer. If our hearts are made to listen to God, it must empty itself first of the pride that seeks to crowd out God’s love. We cannot do it alone. We need the grace of God.

Thus, Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). You want to know what is the secret weapon of St. Padre Pio’s miracles? It starts with the prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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