SOMETHING IS BIGGER THAN SOLOMON AND JONAH

Christianity is a personal religion in the sense that believers establish a personal relation with their God. Sanctification is achieved through the union with their Lord. Most believers have no problem relating to Jesus Christ on a personal level. He can be your friend, your elder brother and even your King. However, I think most Christians have difficulty relating to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity. It is because many believers cannot treat the Holy Spirit, though the third divine Person of the Trinity, as a person. Mostly, they treat Him as a power, a divine force.

Now, Jesus treats himself as a thing! That's devastating for many of us because it is immoral to treat a person as a thing, as an object! We condemn pornography and slavery on this ground. However, whenever we read Luke 11:31-32, or Matthew 12:41-42, we feel uncomfortable because Jesus treats himself as a thing! "Something greater than Jonah is here" or "Something greater than Solomon is here." Let me assure you, the original Greek word is neuter, neither masculine nor feminine. It is not a matter of improper translation.
As if words are not damaging enough, Jesus offers himself up as a wafer of unleavened bread! We see and consume this piece of wafer and confess that it is the Body of Christ! During Eucharistic adoration, we kneel before a wafer of unleavened bread and pray to Jesus. The Eucharist is a truly challenging mystery of faith!

In this Jubilee of Mercy, we have a better understanding why Jesus is willing to offer himself up as a thing! Jesus is the personification of the Father's mercy. He is the Son of God, pervading the whole universe. Yet, he debases himself and took up human flesh to be pierced through on the cross. Furthermore, he is willing to take up the substance of unleavened bread for our consumption whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. He does all these to show and pass on to us the Father's mercy. His mercy is unfathomable.

Lord, have mercy on me, a pitiful soul rendered feeble by sins. Amen.