REFLECTIONS ON THE HEALING OF A LEPER (Mk 1: 40-45) XII
These past days, we have been walking with the Lord over the roads of Galilee on a missionary journey that took Christ and his apostles to each town and village in the region to preach and heal men in need of salvation. In these two dimensions of the public ministry of Jesus, we see the origin of the proclamation of the Word of God and of the sacraments so that the beneficial and saving action of the Lord is continued throughout history through his Body, which is the Church.
Yesterday we said, along with St. Augustine, "there is no other sacrament but Christ."Jesus is the manifestation of the mystery of God in its fullness and in his sanctifying action. In the Lord, we see God because he himself is God. His humanity, his body, was a channel of grace that healed and sanctified because he was hypostatically linked to the divine Person of the Word. As St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas explain, Christ is, as a man, the way, and as God, truth, and life. His humanity is the way, the path of access to God and conversely, it is the path through which God has chosen to give us all his love.
If Christ is the only sacrament and the Church is his Body, the Church is also and precisely for this reason, sacrament. The word "also" does not mean a second sacrament, but an extension of the original sacrament that is Christ. If in Jesus we see God, in the Church we see the Lord.
The Second Vatican Council, recognizing an expression already present in the Church Fathers, called the Church "the universal sacrament of salvation". God wanted to save man not in isolation, but as a community. The Church is the bearer of salvation to all men. Let me quote the words of Lumen Gentium where it speaks of the sacramentality of the Church. I feel they are very beautiful words and full of light:
“God gathered together as one all those who in faith look upon Jesus as the author of salvation and the source of unity and peace and established them as the Church that for each and all, it may be the visible sacrament of this saving unity. While it transcends all limits of time and confines of race, the Church is destined to extend to all regions of the earth and so enters into the history of mankind. Moving forward through trial and tribulation, the Church is strengthened by the power of God's grace, which was promised to her by the Lord, so that in the weakness of the flesh she may not waver from perfect fidelity, but remain a bride worthy of her Lord, and moved by the Holy Spirit may never cease to renew herself, until through the Cross she arrives at the light which knows no setting. (LG 9)
The Church is a sacrament, with Christ and like Christ and she must make Jesus visible and present in history. Each faithful Christian must walk towards full identification with Jesus Christ, with whom he was united in Baptism, until he can say with St. Paul, "I live, but it is not I, it is Christ who lives in me." (Gal 2:20). Our life must be so holy and must reflect so perfectly that of Jesus, that we must be able to say to our brothers and sisters, "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ." (1 Cor 11:1) For that total identification with the Lord, we need the Word of God and sacramental grace. Neither the Word nor the sacraments are accidental in our Christian vocation. We must listen to Jesus when he speaks to us in his Word and we must let him touch us in his sacraments. Only in this way, we can be totally satisfied. "That day you will understand that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I in you." (Jn 1:20)
We are a sacrament if we reflect Jesus, if in us people can see Christ. If we are a channel of salvation through our union with the Lord. If in us, people see the love of God incarnate. The Church is a sacrament because in her, man finds salvation. A sacrament because she continues the mission of Jesus to preach and heal, and because, when she proclaims the Word of God, she saves. And because, when she celebrates the sacraments, which are effective signs of grace, she saves.
Yes, in the sacraments, we are saved and only then, once saved, can we share salvation with others. Today I want to end with a few words from Pope Francis more than 6 years ago in which he spoke precisely about this: “Every encounter with Christ, who in the Sacraments gives us salvation, invites us to “go” and communicate to others the salvation that we have been able to see, to touch, to encounter and to receive, and which is truly credible because it is love. In this way, the Sacraments spur us to be missionaries, and the Apostolic commitment to carry the Gospel into every setting, including those most hostile, is the most authentic fruit of an assiduous sacramental life, since it is a participation in the saving initiative of God, who desires salvation for all people. The grace of the Sacraments nourishes in us a strong and joyful faith, a faith that knows how to stand in wonder before the “marvels” of God and how to resist the idols of the world. That is why it is important to take Communion, it is important that children be baptized early, that they be confirmed, because the Sacraments are the presence of Jesus Christ in us, a presence that helps us. It is important, when we feel the weight of our sin to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” (Pope Francis, General Audience, Rome, Wednesday November 6, 2013).
May God grant us the understanding of these mysteries and help us to live them. May God grant the Christian people the grace to receive all of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. We ask this of Mary today, on this Passion Saturday, as we prepare to celebrate the central mysteries of our faith this Holy Week.
