Rend your hearts.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan river. 

"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:9-11).

God the Father and God the Holy Spirit witness to the divinity of Jesus as the Son of God in front of John the Baptist, the disciples and the crowds.  God witnesses to the truth of who Jesus is declares His love for Jesus by rending His garment.  "The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent" (Psalm 104:2).   Likewise, Jesus is the Word made Flesh who pitched His tent among us (Jn. 1:14). 

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the identity of Jesus as God's Son is witnessed to over and over by His signs and wonders, the demons He casts out whom He commands to be silent about it, and the storms and the waves which obey His command.  This all culminates with Jesus' trial, death on the cross and resurrection.

Jesus is asked by the high priest if  he is God's Son, the Christ.

"And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the Right Hand of Power and coming with the clouds of Heaven.” Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death"  (Mk 14:62-64).

The high priest rends his garments in witness against Jesus and in an outward sign of repentance and distancing himself from what he considers to be blasphemy.   Earlier we saw God rend His garment of the sky in witness to the truth of Jesus' identity and a loving embrace of the Spirit, drawing His Son close to Him.

The flesh of Jesus is rent by the nails and the spear on the cross.  The tent which he pitched among us, the garment of His flesh and His heart are torn.  He offers Himself as a perfect sin offering wholly acceptable to God on our behalf.  Once again the Shekinah glory of God witnesses to Jesus as being God's Son and our Messiah by rending the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the temple from bottom to top as God's presence departs with the giving up of Jesus' life (Mk. 15:38).  The earth and the sun and the moon give witness as there is darkness across the land at 3:00 in the afternoon.  "I clothe heaven with darkness and make its covering like sackcloth (Is. 50:3).  Giving human voice to the cosmic statement, the centurion declares, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mk.15:33,38).

"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity" (Joel 2:13).

The Father rends His heart to reveal His love for Jesus, His beloved Son.  Jesus rends His heart on the cross to reveal His love for us, His brothers and sisters.  We are made God's beloved children by the power of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of baptism.

When we witness to Jesus as being God's Son and our Savior we are to not just make external ritualistic signs.  We are to have a true conversion of heart and repent in His Holy presence which dwells among us.  If we can rend from ourselves those things which are not of God and return to Jesus with all our hearts, we will wash our garments in the blood of the Lamb and be saved.  We take up our cross and follow after Him each day until the day we join Him in death rending this body from our souls and are raised up on the last day.

The interpretation of the Four Living Creatures as the Four Evangelists is an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church.  The most common interpretation today is the one promulgated by Pope St. Gregory the Great from the sixth century.  However, St Irenaeus, writing in the second century has a different take.

I quote next from the Suburbanbanshee blog quoting Gregory's sermon on Ezekiel.

"For behold, it is said, “And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all four; and the face of an ox, on the left side of all four; and the face of an eagle on top of all four.” [Ezek. 1:10]

"‘For that these four winged living creatures would designate the four holy Evangelists, the’ beginnings ‘of each one of the Evangelic books testify. For because he began with [Christ's] human begetting, Matthew by right [is signified] by the human. Because of the crying in the desert, Mark is rightly designated by the lion. Because he commenced with sacrifice, Luke is well signified by the calf. Truly, because he began with the Divinity of the Word, John was fittingly signified by the eagle — he who stretched [upward], saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” [John 1:1] while… in the same substance of Divinity; as if he fixed his eyes on the Sun in the manner of an eagle."

Irenaeus in his work Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 11, No. 8) offers an alternative (more ancient) viewpoint.

The first living creature was like a lion, Revelation 4:7 symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,— an evident description of His advent as a human being; the fourth was like a flying eagle, pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church. And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ Jesus is seated. For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 Also, all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, for such is His person. But that according to Luke, taking up [His] priestly character, commenced with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated for the finding again of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates His generation as a man, saying, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham; and also, The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. This, then, is the Gospel of His humanity; for which reason it is, too, that [the character of] a humble and meek man is kept up through the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, commences with [a reference to] the prophetical spirit coming down from on high to men, saying, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Esaias the prophet,— pointing to the winged aspect of the Gospel; and on this account he made a compendious and cursory narrative, for such is the prophetical character. And the Word of God Himself used to converse with the ante-Mosaic patriarchs, in accordance with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law he instituted a sacerdotal and liturgical service. Afterwards, being made man for us, He sent the gift of the celestial Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings. Such, then, as was the course followed by the Son of God, so was also the form of the living creatures; and such as was the form of the living creatures, so was also the character of the Gospel.

	IRENAEUS	GREGORY
MATTHEW	Face of a Man	Face of a Man (human)
MARK	Eagle	Lion
LUKE	Calf (Ox)	Calf (Ox)
JOHN	Lion	Eagle

He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head (Ps 110:7).
He is the image of the Unseen God (Col. 1:15).
...

He who has seen Me has seen the Father (Jn. 14:9).
Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (Jn. 4:13-14)>
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work (Jn. 4:34).
The altar cloth by Eguerrand Quarton pictured below entitled "The Coronation of the Virgin" shows God the Son as the Image of God the Father. I imagine that in Psalm 110 that Jesus the King crouches down and drinks directly from the stream by the wayside and in flowing, living water He drinks from, He sees the Father as His Reflection. In that Living Water of the Love of the Holy Spirit Who flows between the Father and the Son, the Son drinks deeply and sees Himself as the Image of the Father and He knows fully Who He Is (where He is from and Who is returning to)and therefore He holds up His head. In Eternity, God the Son completely pours Himself out to God the Father; reciprocating all the Love He has received. In our time, Jesus emptied Himself, became Man, died for our sins by pouring out His blood as our sin offering once for all, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Father lifting up the Head of all human beings who will humble themselves as he did and follow Him. We are one body with Him and will follow Him to our heavenly home crying out in the Love of the Holy Spirit "Abba Father" for all Eternity partaking in the very nature of the Trinity (Rom. 8:15, 2 Pet. 1:4).

He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head (Ps 110:7).
He is the image of the Unseen God (Col. 1:15).
...

He who has seen Me has seen the Father (Jn. 14:9).
Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (Jn. 4:13-14)>
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work (Jn. 4:34).
The altar cloth by Eguerrand Quarton pictured below entitled "The Coronation of the Virgin" shows God the Son as the Image of God the Father. I imagine that in Psalm 110 that Jesus the King crouches down and drinks directly from the stream by the wayside and in flowing, living water He drinks from, He sees the Father as His Reflection. In that Living Water of the Love of the Holy Spirit Who flows between the Father and the Son, the Son drinks deeply and sees Himself as the Image of the Father and He knows fully Who He Is (where He is from and Who is returning to)and therefore He holds up His head. In Eternity, God the Son completely pours Himself out to God the Father; reciprocating all the Love He has received. In our time, Jesus emptied Himself, became Man, died for our sins by pouring out His blood as our sin offering once for all, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Father lifting up the Head of all human beings who will humble themselves as he did and follow Him. We are one body with Him and will follow Him to our heavenly home crying out in the Love of the Holy Spirit "Abba Father" for all Eternity partaking in the very nature of the Trinity (Rom. 8:15, 2 Pet. 1:4).

 

Jesus riding from Genesis to Revelation

Jesus riding from Genesis to Revelation.
He tethers his donkey to the vine, his donkey’s foal to the choicest stem. In wine he washes his garments, his robe in the blood of grapes (Gen 49:11).
So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites* went down, and mounting Solomon on King David’s mule, escorted him to Gihon. Then Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the ram’s horn ...and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” Then all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing so much the earth split with their shouting (1 Kings 1:38-40).

Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king* is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem;The warrior’s bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River* to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9-10).
They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and Jesus sat upon them. The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna* to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken* and asked, “Who is this?” And the crowds replied, “This is Jesus the prophet,* from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Mt. 21:1-11).
Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness. His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name* inscribed that no one knows except himself. He wore a cloak that had been dipped in* blood, and his name was called the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press* the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty. He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Rev. 19:11-16).

St. Simon of Cyrene

Saint Simon of Cyrene was forced into service to help Jesus carry His Cross to the top of Golgotha. The movie "The Passion of the Christ", shows the conversion of heart of a Simon who at first resists the Romans and is resentful of having to help a less than human looking criminal carry an instrument of torture and death.  Simon later learns to have compassion for an innocent man who is falling under a heavy burden and Simon helps Jesus get back up and fulfill His mission. 

Jesus promised a Paraclete, one who walks along side of us to aid us in His absence.  Simon of Cyrene was converted by the Holy Spirit from someone who didn't want to be involved to someone who served another in great need.  Jesus becomes incarnate in us by the Holy Spirit and we are empowered to serve our brother or sister in need.  It may not be anything as dramatic as carrying a heavy wooden cross.  It may just be doing the dishes without complaining or being asked.  It may be sitting down with a teen ager helping them do homework they don't want to do.  It may just be reading stories to a two year old when your tired or listening to your spouse without interrupting.

I pray through the intercession of St Simon of Cyrene that I receive the grace to carry my own cross and am able to help others carry theirs.  I further invoke God the Holy Spirit to come down upon me and my house and give us this grace a hundred fold.  Walk with us O Spirit of God that we too might walk with those in need of faith, hope, love and peace.  Amen.

Heart of Jesus

Plant the Standard of Your Cross in my heart. 

Declare war on every wicked thing from within and without.

Set my heart ablaze with the Fire of Divine Love You came to send on the earth.

Plant a hedge of thorns around my heart and protect me.

Make my heart like unto Thine.

Prayer for Clay

Heavenly Father,

You are the potter, I am the clay.

Form me by your Word this day.

Breathe into me your Holy Spirit,

That I may go forth recreated

To renew the face of the earth.

Amen.