But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)
Aromatic livesAt the beginning of the preface of each Eucharist, the priest invites all those present to unite themselves in prayer, saying: Pray, my sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father.
The sacrifice we offer is our lives united with the body and blood of Christ. Upon the altar, Christ offers his life in order to give us life. His gives his life as ransom for our faults. He gives his life so that we may have an infusion of divine life that will enable us to overcome sin and its consequences. He gives his life so that the heavenly sustenance may restore us to his image, the image in which we were created and which has been damaged by sin. He gives us his life so that our entire existence may carry the scent of charity which is the scent of the saints. It is the essence impregnated in the loving cross of Jesus from which the fragrance of salvation is dispersed to all those who believe.
How pleasant it is to visit a home and to be greeted at the door by the aromatic smells of food being prepared in the kitchen. It immediately opens our appetite even if we are too far away to distinguish what dish is being prepared. I perceive a similar smell at the end of a weekend Marriage Encounter when I observe the joyful faces of children embracing their parents who in turn are grateful to God for having invited them to the banquet of life through their spouse. What delicious perfume emanates from the joy of Cursillo members who nurtured by the grace of the sacraments generously serve our communities. How the perfumes of humanity transpire from those men and women who by their lives and with their voices proclaim the dignity of each human being without distinction of social class, color, geographic or political frontiers and risk their lives searching for new forms of justice. What a pleasant fragrance exudes from my brother pastors who spend their existence safeguarding the integrity of the flocks entrusted to their care. Their lives release an aromatic incense that God breathes in with joy.
Repugnant smellsPerhaps it’s my imagination, but at times is seems that the news on the television or in the newspaper lets off a nauseating smell. This makes me turn away and peruse the sports section, which is generally accompanied by less contaminated smells.
What foul odor comes from the insatiable greed of millions who live among us in absurd luxury but who cannot add a single day to their existence! What repugnant pestilence is spread by racist fanaticism or pseudo-religious who seek to violently eliminate those who think differently or whose coloring or facial characteristics are different from their own! What evil vapors emanate from unmentionable crimes that go unpunished across each continent! What putrid airs float in our midst from so many forms of terrorism, distorted ideologies! How infested with pornography, prostitution, abuse of minors and slave trafficking of the defenseless is the environment we breathe. What an acrid environment of mistrust and suspicion is created by gossip we disseminate like feathers throw to the wind and disguised as entertainment!
With certain frequency I run into people using face masks for reasons of health. Sometimes I imagine that we will soon be sadly obligated to use gasmasks in order to survive.
The best filter for this contaminated world was given to us by the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, who transforms the plague of our sins into a soft aroma reaching to the ends of the earth.
Mary, the Mystical Rose, the simple village girl from Nazareth, gave us the gift of her faith; the most sublime perfume that has ever come forth from humanity. May her example of docility to the all-powerful make each one of us bearers of that divine fragrance called Jesus.