Canisius College Catholic Studies Program

On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the Last Supper, where Jesus first uttered those immortal words: "This is my body. ... This is my blood." Why, though, would he make such a claim? This reflection by Dr. Steve Chanderbhan considers why it is Jesus makes this bold proclamation - one that reaches to the roots of who Jesus was and is, and what this means for us who follow Him.

“For My Flesh is True Food”: Tradition, Fulfillment, and the Words of Institution On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the Last Supper, where Jesus first uttered those immortal words: "This is my body. ... This is my blood." Why, though, would he make such a claim? This reflection considers why it is Jesus makes this bold proclamation - one that reaches to the roots of who Jesus was....

What to do when Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day coincide? Check out this reflection by Steve Chanderbhan:

Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day: A Match Made for Heaven Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day this year. Are they an impossibly odd couple? Or is there something they share so that, different as they are, we can celebrate both and each could learn something from the other?

(Also at https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRL-AkrOtu/)

In 1899, in his encyclical Annum Sacrum, Pope Leo XIII declared the month of June as the Month of the Sacred Heart. Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had existed for centuries before, most notably expressed in the mystical visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (17th C.) and Sr. Mary of the Divine Heart (19th C.). Devotion to the Sacred Heart focuses on the love of God for all humans, culminating in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life. It focuses believers on all the offenses to God that pierce and wound that heart, which still beats with love and mercy for all, and calls upon us all to repent and to love more like Him.

One of Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions indicated the desire that the Jesuits in particular be consecrated to the Sacred Heart in a special manner and that they should practice faithfully the love and mercy of the Sacred Heart in their lives and their apostolic works.

Painting: Anonymous. "El Sagrado Corazón de Jesus." Oil on tin. Mexico, 19th Century. New Mexico State University Art Collection. See: https://wordpress.nmsu.edu/ezarur/sacred-heart-of-jesus/.

“Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State … above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.“
- Pope Pius XI, “Mit brennender Sorge,” par. 8 (issued March 14, 1937)

Painting: “Pope Pius XI” by Serge Ivanoff (1937), oil on canvas. Available at: https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/ivanoff/pope-pius-xi-1937-oil-on-canvas/oil-on-canvas/asset/206310

(Also available at: https://www.instagram.com/canisiuscatholicstudies/)
On April 27, the Society of Jesus celebrates the Memorial of St. Peter Canisius. (The Roman Catholic Church in general celebrates his memorial on December 21.)

Born in Holland, he is regarded as he second apostle to Germany (after St. Boniface). Through his tireless work and devotion, it is said that he is largely responsible for the re-growth of Catholicism in that land in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. He became famed for the Catechisms he wrote, as well as his Summary of Christian Doctrine, in addition to his copious sermons and other writings, exhorting all (especially the clergy themselves) to reform their lives more closely to Christ and the teachings of the Church. His work on the theology of the Virgin Mary is also noteworthy; in fact, it is thanks to Peter Canisius that the "Hail Mary" prayer includes the words, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners."

The picture is from a painting of Peter Canisius located in the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Dillingen an der Donau in Bavaria, a town in which there was a College where Peter Canisius helped to organize the Jesuits who were charged to teach there. Available at: https://katakombe.org/gallery/image/st-peter-canisius.9p6fF.

(Also featured on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/canisiuscatholicstudies/.)

Today, the Church commemorates the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Early historians record him as living from 12-68 AD and being associated with St. Peter in the early travels of the church.

Mark's gospel is the shortest, not featuring a narrative of the birth of Jesus but, rather, starting at His Baptism. There is also a widely held view among theologians that Mark's is the first Gospel written in full, though many scholars also reject the notion that Mark himself is the author based on accounts of who mark is and how the gospel's attribution with this person came about; though, this is disputed.

The symbol most commonly associated with St. Mark is the winged lion, an allusion to his description of St. John the Baptist as "a voice of one crying out in the desert." (Mk 1:3). This traditional symbol is featured in artistic renderings of St. Mark (including the painting above), and notably at the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice.

This painting is entitled "Saint Mark" by Valentin de Boulogne, a French painter who lived from 1591–1632. It is oil on canvas, measures 47 1/4" × 57 1/2",and was likely painted between 1624–26. It is currently on loan to (but not displayed at) the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/663775.

In the Roman Catholic Church, today is Good Friday. St. Peter Canisius writes the following about the sufferings of Christ and Mary, His mother, on that day and some of its meaning for us: "What Christ says of all the elect — "In the world, you will only find tribulation" — applies to Mary as well as to the rest of us. ... For Son and mother alike, the way to glory lay through the cross. The more closely the mother shared the sufferings of her crucified Son, the greater would her happiness be when afterwards she came to share his kingdom. After all, the practice of true charity does require us to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with the mourner. ... Christ would not have us to be unfeeling, insensitive, devoid of all human sympathy: he likes us to be mild, compassionate and approachable, as he is himself—and no wonder, as he was born of that gentlest of creatures, the Virgin. He wants us to promote the good of others with all our hearts and rejoice when they gain an advantage; he would have us mourn their misfortunes as though they were our own."

(St. Peter Canisius, De Maria Virgine ... I.IV. c. XXV. Found at: http://latinhymns.blogspot.com/2020/09/st-peter-canisiusis-life-of-sorrow-of.html.)

The image of the Crucifixion is from Augsburg, a city where St. Peter Canisius preached for several years of his life. This print existed when he was there.

Erhard Ratdolt (printer), German 15th Century (Augsburg) "Christ on the Cross with the Virgin and Saint John," 1491. Color woodcut printed in black, red, blue, brown, olive, and yellow, and hand‐colored in blue, pinkish‐beige, and some touches of red; on vellum. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Lt. Col. and Mrs. William K. Konze. Available at: https://blantonmuseum.org/exhibition/imperial-augsburg-renaissance-prints-and-drawings-1475-1540/.

Check out the Catholic Studies Instagram Page at !

The Gospel for Daily Mass today (Lk 11:14-23) features Jesus casting out a demon from a man that was mute. The following drawing depicting a similar scene is from the Hitda Codex (originally from Cologne, Germany). It is dated to ca. 1000-1025 A.D. It may be found today at the University and State Library (Landesbibliothek) in Darmstadt, Germany (MS 1640, fol. 76.)

Available at: http://imaginemdei.blogspot.com/2018/01/illustrating-miracles-jesus-heals.html

The Gospel for Daily Mass today (Lk 11:14-23) features Jesus casting out a demon from a man that was mute. The following drawing depicting a similar scene is from the Hitda Codex (originally from Cologne, Germany). It is dated to ca. 1000-1025 A.D. It may be found today at the University and State Library (Landesbibliothek) in Darmstadt, Germany (MS 1640, fol. 76.) Available at: http://imaginemdei.blogspot.com/2018/01/illustrating-miracles-jesus-heals.html #lent #catholic #christianart #catholicart #hitdacodex #darmstadt #landesbibliothek #jesuscastsoutdemons

A Reflection on Today's First Reading
by Dr. Stephen Chanderbhan

How often is it that pride prevents us from taking our moral or spiritual medicine, when we wish we could just throw money at a problem and make it go away? How often would we rather stay miserable but comfortable, rather than engage in the hard and sometimes uncertain work of healing and growth? How often are we tempted to craft a narrative to bend reality to our will, rather than to accept what is true, even if inconvenient, and change accordingly?

All too often - at least at first - for Naaman the Syrian in the first reading (2 Kgs 5:1-15ab). He is a l***r, but is eventually cured upon washing in the Jordan River, as Elisha the prophet says he must do to be healed. Initially, the reading reports, Naaman refuses to do so.

Upon arriving, I can imagine Naaman saying to Elisha, "I am important and impressive. I have a bunch of money from my King to pay for your services. Touch me, cure me, and let's get this over with." At first, Naaman offers nothing from himself - his substance - to Elisha, the man of God, and expects a miraculous cure. He seems to think he can throw money (and it's not even his own money) at his problem.

When told to wash in the Jordan, Naaman is indignant. Apparently, the man of God says he can't just throw money at this problem. Naaman has to be inconvenienced to humble himself and it is this cost that is too high. He seems to say, to paraphrase again, "I'm not doing *that*. Better to be a rich l***r at home than to wash in the Jordan!"

Eventually, Naaman sees sense and listens to Elisha's words. I can imagine Elisha saying to him, "That wasn't so bad was it? And no - I don't want the money - not even as a gift. Don't make it seem like this money was worth anything in this interaction." Rather, through Elisha, God asks Naaman to rend his heart, not his garment. To love God from his substance, not his surplus, that God may heal him. To be humble before the Truth rather than to craft and live in his own comfortable, yet miserable, "truth."

This Lent, may we find grace to be willing to take our moral and spiritual medicine, to give God what He wants, not just what we're comfortable with parting with, that we may be healed, and to be humble servants to the Truth rather than to fashion ourselves according to our own values in narratives of our own contrivance.

Plaque from an altar retable showing the cleansing of Naaman, made in the Meuse Valley, ca. 1150–60. Gilt bronze and champlevé enamel, 10 × 10 cm. British Museum, London. Available at: https://artandtheology.org/tag/jordan-river/

Check out the Canisius College Catholic Studies Program Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canisiuscatholicstudies/

In the Gospel for Daily Mass today (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46), Jesus references Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes."

This painting is entitled "The Stone Rejected by the Builder." It was painted in 2017 by Ronald Raab, CSC, pastor of a Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs, CO. You may find it here: https://ronaldraab.com/2017/06/05/the-stone-rejected-by-the-builder/

Fr. Raab's website features other reflections and artworks as well.

In the Gospel for Daily Mass today (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46), Jesus references Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes." This painting is entitled "The Stone Rejected by the Builder." It was painted in 2017 by Ronald Raab, CSC, pastor of a Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs, CO. You may find it here: https://ronaldraab.com/2017/06/05/the-stone-rejected-by-the-builder/ Fr. Raab's website features other reflections and artworks as well. @usccb #lent #thestonerejected