Veronica's veil

In recent years, many Catholics have become increasingly aware of the Church's humanness. The Church, as being fully divine and fully human, certainly has its times when the divinity is obscured by the humanity as seen in its flaws and weaknesses.

Christ himself, being fully divine and fully human, also demonstrated these times of outward weakness and frailty. When Christ took on human form, sharing fully in our humanity as one person with two natures, he allowed himself to be subjected to the weaknesses. He felt fear and sorrow, grief and pain, joy and anger, humiliation and temptation toward pride. All of these emotions he felt deeply without falling into sin.

Jesus demonstrated for us the perfection of humanity. He taught us to pray to our Father in heaven. He welcomed children. He forgave sinners. He reached out to the outcasts, and he challenged all of us to dedicate our lives to serving God more fully, not just in an outward manner, but in a deep, transformative union with the Blessed Trinity as actualized in the sacramental life.

He was also betrayed. And beaten. And scourged. And mocked. And hated.

On his way to his death, he struggled to walk underneath the weight of the beam that was to hold him for his last breath. His humanity certainly obscured his divinity at that moment, hiding beneath the blood and sweat of the flesh.

A woman named Veronica, overwhelmed by her sorrow at his frailty, removed her own veil to uncover the glorious face that was masked by the physical horrors of torture. Perhaps she paused a moment to consider the danger of such a bold act. Perhaps she experienced a grace to act without thinking of the consequences. Either way, she was not deterred by his grotesque disfigurement or by fears of guilt by association.

When our Church is disfigured by sin and corruption, I wonder if our first reaction is to consider the radiant face of Christ that hides beneath, or to retreat out of repulsion and the shock that our Lord could subject himself to such horrors and scandal.

Christ rewarded Veronica's brave act that encompassed faith, hope, and love with a miraculous imprint of his suffering face, because it was her veil that revealed the face of divinity in the midst of his passion.

Let us remember Veronica's veil when we are grieved by human frailty within the Body of Christ, the Church. It is in the midst of this passion that we need to recall the beautiful face of our Lord bloodied by our sins.

The correct response to scandal

Christ entrusted the leadership of His Body, the Church, to humans. With human freedom, a much greater opportunity for glorifying God is possible. The Church, made up of humans, gives great glory to Christ when all Her members are acting in a communion of holiness. Unfortunately, in order for us to freely choose, the obvious consequence is that some members of Christ's body will reject the graces that are lavished upon us. In other words, human failure is an unfortunate reality of human free will.

The most natural reaction to witnessing grave moral failings within the Church is to feel hurt or betrayal, maybe even anger. But we must ask ourselves...to whom is our anger directed? Are we angry at Holy Mother Church whom Christ has given to us as the way of salvation, or are we hurt and saddened by one particular person or group who has become enslaved by the snares of sin? Seeing things as Christ sees them helps us to achieve this clarity.

It is the difference between Martin Luther's revolt out of hatred and suspicion and St. Charles Borromeo's faithful implementation of the great reforms of the Council of Trent. One leaves a bloody mess, while another applies the salve of Christ.