Saint Augustine of Hippo by Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510)
Among the themes from the prophet Isaiah 35:1-10 and Matthew 11:2-11 in the Scripture readings for this Sunday is the ministry of healing as part of Messianic hope expressed in the ministry of Jesus. In my homily I touched on the ways that the Christian tradition has extended the work of Jesus throughout the ages and in virtually all parts of the world. Think of the hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and programs for people who are disabled as an extension of the healing hand of Jesus over the centuries. This present reflection develops another challenge of the Gospel for our time.
We very carefully strive to care physically for our five senses, especially sight and hearing. The Hebrew idiom protect “the pupil of the eye” (mistranslated by the phrase “the apple of the eye”) expresses how God protects his people from danger (see Zachariah 2:8, Revised Standard Version; 2:12 New American Bible).
The urgent moral and spiritual challenge to which I draw attention is to examine the way we use our senses, especially sight and hearing. These instruments of all that we learn should be guarded so that we avoid the near occasions of sin. I’m sure that parents are guiding their children in regard to the discipline that must be exercised so that their eyes and ears are not overwhelmed through exploitation by wicked merchants of immorality. It seems that great advances in communication over recent years are being exploited much more rapidly than legal measures are enacted to preserve children from influences that attack our human dignity and that of the most vulnerable among us. Parenthood has always been challenging, but now we need to be even more alert to dangers that may intrude surreptitiously into our homes or other places where children have access to the internet. May the Holy Family protect us!
As part of a beautiful prayer, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) placed the five senses in the context of the way God brought him to faith:
You were with me, but I was not with you…You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for
you. I have tasted you; now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burn for your peace. (Confessions, Book VII. 10.27)