The power of a broken heart

By Tom Quiner

Francesco Hayez – Crucifixion with Mary Magdalene kneeling and weeping (detail), c.1827

A Facebook friend from the other side of the world posted this remarkable Good Friday reflection by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen based on Luke 7:36-50. Thanks for sharing this, Karen:

“Mary Magdalene came to the feet of our Lord . . . She did not do what you and I would do. She did not pour out the precious perfume drop by drop as if to indicate by the slowness of the giving the generosity of the gift. She broke the vessel and gave everything, for love knows no limits. Immediately the house was filled with perfume. It was almost as if, after the death of that perfume and the breaking of the bottle, there was a resurrection. Broken things are precious. We eat broken bread because we share in the death of our Lord and his broken life. Broken flowers give perfume. Broken incense is used in adoration. A broken ship saved Paul and many other passengers on the way to Rome. Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.”