Quinquagesima Sunday – 'Have mercy on me'
Catholics are called to take up the call throughout Lent: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Quinquagesima Sunday presents itself in the traditional calendar of the Church’s liturgy as the last stop before the fullness and the rigours of Lent. With Ash Wednesday only days away, the season of Lent is imminent, and even though memories of the joy of Christmas are still fresh, Holy Mother Church calls us to begin to meditate upon the passion and death of Christ.
All Her liturgy points towards Calvary, starting from the Gospel for this day in which Christ reminds His apostles of the words of the prophets, foretelling His death and resurrection. The passage, drawn from St. Luke’s Gospel, highlights the importance of faith, while the Epistle points to charity.
In describing to the twelve the details about His passion and death, Christ found that they did not understand Him. Yet later in the passage, Christ heals the blind man who calls out to Him for aid, saying that “thy faith hath made thee whole.”
These words set the tone for Lent every year, and every year some new set of circumstances serves to place them into renewed poignancy. Whether it be the restriction of Church life through various restrictions civil or ecclesial, or the accounts of persecution of many kinds in countries across the world, or yet still the collapse of society after abandoning God.
However, in the spiritual warfare only spiritual weapons will suffice to defeat the enemy, and as many prominent prelates and commentators have warned, the world is in the midst of a severe spiritual battle. Committing to making a good Lent, with whatever penances or extra acts of piety one chooses to do, is one of the best ways of taking an active role in the battle. Just like the apostles, who did not understand the words of Christ even though He was visibly with them, it can be hard - almost impossible, to understand why God is allowing the world to continue in this state. Yet God does not call men to necessarily understand, but to follow Him, by taking up the cross each day.
Thus, in the manner of the blind man, Catholics are called to take up the call throughout Lent: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Redoubling the efforts made in the spiritual life are more important in such times than ever before.
This Lent, as each is, is to be a time of ardent preparation, not just for Easter, but for the trials of the years to come. Often the purpose of Lent is lost, with many allowing the season to pass by without noting the value of such a time. But just as the blind man “cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me,” so too are Catholics called to redouble spiritual endeavours during Lent.
Christ highlighted the strength of the blind man’s faith, and this serves as a guide and a consolation. As a guide, it reaffirms the importance of the virtue of faith. It was through his faith, that the blind man was able to approach God, earnestly desiring His help, and confident that Christ would reward such faith. Going forward into Lent and into the uncertain future, the virtue of faith should be the lifeboat which faithful Catholics cling to, in order to traverse the rough waters of persecution and hardship, in whatever form they present themselves.
But the blind man’s faith also is a consolation, for his faith was rewarded. He placed complete faith in God, and received his sight. “Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he saw and followed Him, glorifying God.” This is a truth which Catholics know well, but which the atheistic forces of the world attempt to hide, in order to fuel the attacks upon the faith. Faith is thus a consolation, knowing that God will not be outdone in generosity and rewards His faithful and devoted servants.
What is the purpose of thus arming oneself for the spiritual battle and deepening the spiritual life, when all around seems to be pointing towards the ineffectiveness of such measures? St. Alphonsus Ligouri, in his sermon for this Sunday, answers by pointing simply to eternity:
“My brethren, it is certain and of faith that there is a hell. After judgment the just shall enjoy the eternal glory of Paradise, and sinners shall be condemned to suffer the everlasting chastisement reserved for them in hell.”
In light of the timely reflection on death which we encounter during Lent – both physical but also spiritual death – the words of St. Alphonsus take on renewed meaning: one must always be concerned with the salvation of his soul, as the chief and only matter of importance. There is no other cause which compares to the matter of saving one’s soul.
Hence all members of the Church are called to examine themselves this Lent, to see if their actions of daily life are conducive to attaining salvation. And in answering this, each must ask whether action will bring them closer to God or to satan.
In times of increasing persecution, faithful Catholics should ask, when their commitment to the faith, to the sanctity of unborn life, and to the rights and dignity of the Church, cause them to be persecuted, threatened or even put to death, (as is already the case in so many countries around the world), what would Christ do? What would the Man of sorrows do, He who died the bloody death on the cross for our salvation?
This Lent is thus an opportunity to examine such questions, and prepare oneself to be able to answer them through one’s actions in the near future.
“Son of David, have mercy on me.”
“In this life, how great soever may be the tribulations which we suffer, there is always some relief or interruption. The damned must remain for ever in a pit of fire, always in torture, always weeping, without ever enjoying a moments repose.”