Today is June 17, Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God
that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part” (2 Cor 8:1-2).
Today, St. Paul boasts of the astonishing generosity of the Macedonian churches. Despite their poverty, they longed to contribute to the needs of others, eager to build up the Church with what little they had. Their affliction didn’t shrink their hearts — it expanded them. Paul celebrates their joyful self-giving as a powerful witness.
As we continue our meditations on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Paul’s reflection leads us to the greatest example of self-emptying love: Christ himself. At the end of today’s reading, Paul exhorts us to imitate Jesus, “who for your sake became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). This is the generous love that flows from the Sacred Heart — a love that gives everything, even to the point of death.
Christ’s total self-gift
Today, the Church in Poland remembers St. Albert Chmielowski, a man of many talents and one great love. Trained as an artist and active in political life, St. Albert underwent a profound conversion after suffering a war injury. He left behind worldly pursuits and devoted himself to the care of the poor, founding a religious congregation to serve them.
One of St. Albert’s most moving contributions is his painting “Ecce Homo,” which portrays Christ as he stands before the crowd, crowned with thorns. In this haunting image, Jesus appears utterly abandoned, yet still offering himself in love. It captures the essence of the Sacred Heart: Christ’s total self-gift for us.
St. Albert once wrote, “Look at Jesus in the Eucharist. Could his love have provided anything more beautiful? If he is bread, let us too become bread.” That’s the challenge for us today: to become bread. Where is God calling me to give of myself? Where in my life do I need to offer more generously, like the Macedonians, like St. Albert, like Christ?
Let us pray,
O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
