Christ the King of Mercy

They say that, Moses, the grandfather of the famous composer Mendelssohn, was not at all attractive. He was short in stature, with rather vulgar features and a large hump, and his hideous appearance attracted attention. On one of his trips to Hamburg, he met a merchant who had a beautiful daughter called Fromet, with whom he instantly fell in love. However, she did not even dare to look at his face, as it was so deformed.

Moses spent a few days in the city, but no matter how much he tried to get closer to the girl, she ran away at the slightest opportunity. When the day arrived for him to leave for his hometown, he decided to gather courage and go to talk to the young woman. It was his last chance. There she was, resplendent and beautiful like an angel, with her gaze fixed on the ground, avoiding looking at him by all means. He was saddened, but decided to open his heart to her:

“Do you believe that people are destined to meet and fall in love?. Yes, she said timidly without looking at his face?. You see: he continued speaking. I believe that God decides the person with whom we will live together. When I was born, my future wife was pointed out to me. However, the Lord said: ‘but your wife will be a hunchback.’ So, I told him: ‘Oh, no, Lord, that would be terrible… give me that hump and she can be beautiful.’

That was the first time that the beautiful Fromet looked up and met Moses’ loving eyes. From then on, they saw each other very often, and months later, they got married. They had six children. Among them, Abraham, father of the famous composer Felix Mendelssohn.

Christ the King

We have just celebrated the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It is hard for us to believe that we were destined to meet and fall in love with such a King. A king disfigured in his passion whom we saw as someone despicable, an object of ridicule, insults, and blows, a man of sorrows, crowned with thorns and enthroned on a cross. However, he took upon himself our ailments and was crushed for our faults, he paid the price for our peace.

The feast of Christ the King is a privileged occasion to let ourselves be looked at through his merciful eyes and let him tell us the price of our lives. It is he who satisfies the longing of our hearts and in whom all treasures are hidden. When the veil is removed from our eyes, we will be filled with the vision of his presence and all peoples will bow before his gaze and pay homage to the King of kings.

Dario Marote SEMD Philippines