At first glance, both of the readings for mass seem very negative. They are both about men with evil hearts who plot evil against their neighbor for material gain, or against the Lord Jesus because he made the Pharisees look bad in front of others. They couldn’t control him. The Pharisees just didn’t understand the Lord at all, and rather than try to understand him, they decided to kill him instead. These devout, God fearing men, eventually did put the Lord to death.
Now, compare the men in both of these readings to the prophecy Isaiah spoke of at the end of today’s gospel:
“Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
The Spirit in the form of a dove, descended on Jesus during his baptism. Those who are born of the Spirit do not accuse, find fault or judge other people like the Pharisees did. Those who are born of the Spirit of God go to where the person is at, at that moment in time and love them just as they are. That is exactly what Christ did in today’s gospel. The people followed him, so he cured them. He did warn them not to make his whereabouts known though, because he knew the Pharisees were out to get him.
Even knowing the evil that the Pharisees were plotting to take his life, Christ still chose to love, and to heal. This is a powerful example for us to follow as well. A weak person will run and hide and talk bad about those who mean to do them harm. But, that wasn’t Christ’s way. In spite of it all, he loved those he was with, in any and all circumstances of his life. He only withdrew from the Pharisees because it wasn’t quite time for his death, but when it was the right time, Jesus allowed himself to be arrested and crucified.
Jesus never accused anyone either. If he spoke up to the Pharisees, it was because the Pharisees accused him first. At no time in the gospels did Jesus ever accuse anyone, judge anyone, or find fault with anyone, except for those who accused him, judged him, or found fault with him first. The Pharisees were quite good at breaking hearts though. Their fault finding, judgements and incredibly high spiritual standards was a recipe for broken hearts.
Jesus knew that a human being’s soul though, their heart, is a fragile thing. Jesus Christ is the master healer of broken hearts. The damage that other people have inflicted on a person, or they have even inflicted on themselves through their own sin, does not have the last say. No earthly power has the last say. Not even death has the last say. Jesus Christ does.
We human beings can only go through the lower levels of healing by our own steam. We remain a bruised reed, a smoldering wick, inside though. There is always a broken part of us, that is still inside of us, that never heals, until Jesus finally reaches through to that brokenness inside of us, and heals it. He is our greatest advocate and the only physician our soul, our hearts, will ever need.
Daily Mass Readings:
Micah 2: 1-5 / Psalm 10 / Matthew 12: 14-21
