Corpus Christi Blog

Today is Palm Sunday — our Lenten journey is drawing to a close as we enter Holy Week and look forward to Easter. We have been meditating on how Jesus may have experienced his passion and crucifixion through each of his five senses. God, in his divine nature, does not have, nor does he need senses to experience things around him, so they are unique to Jesus’ human nature and can help us relate personally to him. Hopefully, this has been a fruitful meditation series for you, as you have imagined what it might have been like for your divine Savior to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel just as you do. Now, for Palm Sunday, we’ll do the same, covering all five senses for the single event.

We are nearing the end of our Lenten journey and headed toward Holy Week. We have been reflecting on how Jesus might have experienced his final hours from the Last Supper through his crucifixion, using each of his five senses, thus far covering sight, hearing, taste, and smell. Let's now explore and meditate on what Jesus experienced through his sense of touch. While this is arguably the most effortless sense to imagine, it is still helpful to tune out the other senses and focus on what Jesus was feeling through his entire body on his path to Calvary, even just to begin appreciating what he endured for our salvation.

As we continue our sensory journey through Lent, we come to the fourth Sunday, where we will meditate on what Jesus may have experienced from the Upper Room to Calvary through his sense of smell. Various scents, fragrances, and aromas often evoke and connect us to memory, emotion, and presence. Whether good or bad, how often does a wafting scent instantly transport you to a particular time and place? Tune out the rest of your senses as best as possible as we focus on the scents Jesus may have encountered on his harrowing journey to the cross.

This Lent, we have been reflecting on how Jesus may have experienced his Passion through each of his five senses. He is both human and divine, so, even though he is God, when he humbled himself to share in our humanity, he was able to experience the senses in his body and suffered in them just as we do. So far, we have covered sight and hearing. This week, we'll explore how Jesus may have experienced taste, which is probably not something we think about often, especially in terms of His Passion, so take this opportunity to tune out the other senses and meditate on what he may have tasted in his final hours.

After exploring Jesus’ passion and death through the sense of sight last week, we’ll move on to how he might have experienced those same events through his sense of hearing. As you read through this week’s reflection, try to tune out your other senses as much as possible and focus on the intensity of the sounds involved in Jesus’ redemptive work.

For this year's Lenten reflection series, we will contemplate what Jesus might have experienced during his Passion, from the Last Supper through his crucifixion, focusing on each of his five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

Prior to the Incarnation, God did not have a physical body with which to experience the senses in a way that's unique to humans. Our senses help to inform us of our surroundings, provide information, and help us to make decisions. Through each of our senses, we experience the pleasures and comforts God's creation offers us. Additionally, unlike animals, who respond to stimuli based on instinct, our senses can often be a source of temptation and sin when we let them overpower our reason and will. Further, each of our senses can be a source of suffering for us if they are aggravated or irritated. When one of our senses is compromised, others are heightened to compensate for the loss.

We have now reached the fifth and final week of this Marian series. We covered the four Marian dogmas and will now conclude with the one doctrine the Church teaches regarding our Blessed Mother. If you remember from the first week, doctrine is to be held as true and a matter of our Faith to be believed, but it has not yet been elevated to the level of dogma, which could be for any number of reasons. This doctrine defines Mary's spiritual motherhood over the Body of Christ through her three-fold role of co-redemptrix, mediatrix, and advocate.