Words of the Word

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants…” (Matthew 18:23.)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on these verses from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“If the comparison is to a king like this—and to one who acts like this — of whom must we be speaking if not the Son of God? For he is the king of the heavens. Just as he is wisdom itself and justice and truth, is he not kingship itself? The kingdom does not belong to any of those below, nor a part of those above, but to all those above, whatever is called the heavens. If you are curious about the beatitude “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” you can just as well say “theirs is Christ,” since Christ is the kingdom.

The servants in this case are the dispensers of the word. When he demands an account of the servants, the king also asks those who have borrowed from the servants, whether a hundred measures of grain or a hundred jars of oil or whatever those outside the king’s stewardship have received. For the fellow servant of the unjust steward, according to the parable, will not be found to be the one who owes a hundred measures of grain or a hundred jars of oil, as is clear from the words “How much do you owe my master?” Consider that each good and fitting deed is like a profit and a gain, but each bad one is like a loss. And just as one gain can be a gain of more money and another of less and there is a difference between the more and the less, so in the case of good deeds there is a kind of valuing of greater or lesser gains.

The moment of beginning the reckoning starts with the household of God, as is it written in Ezekiel: “Begin at my sanctuary.” This judgment begins as quickly as the twinkling of an eye. In thinking of the demanding of accounts, let us not forget what we have said before, that these accounts are spiritually conceived. And the moment of demand begins understandably with those who owe the most. This is why the passage does not begin generally with a reckoning of all accounts but a specific one: one was brought to him. Here is the moment. He is beginning to demand an account of one who owed him ten thousand talents! It is as if the servant had lost a vast amount and much had been loaned and entrusted to him but had brought no gain to his master. Rather, he ended up losing a vast sum so as to owe him an incredible debt of talents. Remembering the prophet Zechariah, it may be that he owed so many talents for this reason: he had often sought out the woman hidden in a barrel with a lead cover, whose name is Iniquity.” (Commentary on Matthew, 14.)

Collect

Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of Your mercy,
grant that we may serve You with all our heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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I am a Christian as well as a leader

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his sermon, On Pastors

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

You have often learned that all our hope is in Christ and that he is our true glory and our salvation. You are members of the flock of the Good Shepherd, who watches over Israel and nourishes his people. Yet there are shepherds who want to have the title of shepherd without wanting to fulfill a pastor’s duties; let us then recall what God says to his shepherds through the prophet. You must listen attentively; I must listen with fear and trembling.

The word of the Lord came to me and said: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel and speak to the shepherds of Israel. We just heard this reading a moment ago, my brothers, and I have decided to speak to you on this passage. The Lord will help me to speak the truth if I do not speak on my own authority. For if I speak on my own authority, I will be a shepherd nourishing myself and not the sheep. However, if my words are the Lord’s, then he is nourishing you no matter who speaks. Thus says the Lord God: Shepherds of Israel, who have been nourishing only themselves! Should not the shepherds nourish the sheep? In other words, true shepherds take care of their sheep, not themselves. This is the principle reason why God condemns those shepherds: they took care of themselves rather than their sheep. Who are they who nourish themselves? They are the shepherds the Apostle described when he said: They all seek what is theirs and not what is Christ’s.

I must distinguish carefully between two aspects of the role the Lord has given me, a role that demands a rigorous accountability, a role based on the Lord’s greatness rather than on my own merit. The first aspect is that I am a Christian; the second, that I am a leader. I am a Christian for my own sake, whereas I am a leader for your sake; the fact that I am a Christian is to my own advantage, but I am a leader for your advantage.

Many persons come to God as Christians but not as leaders. Perhaps they travel by an easier road and are less hindered since they bear a lighter burden. In addition to the fact that I am a Christian and must give God an account of my life, I as a leader must give him an account of my stewardship as well.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Releasing from the prison of sin: FORGIVENESS

εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”

“Then Peter approached Jesus and asked Him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive (ἀφήσω, apheso) him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered,
“I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
...
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives (ἀφῆτε, aphete)
your brother from your heart.”

(Matthew 18:21-22. 35)

θεωρέω (theoreo)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)

What does it mean to forgive? It is a question worth pondering if for no other reason than to learn whether or not ‘my meaning’ is ‘in sync’ with the Gospel. This Sunday, Jesus’ sacred words challenge us to sit and wrestle with HIS meaning and approach to forgiveness (in other words, not ‘my’ approach) as He challenged Peter.

Jesus freely imparted the Father’s forgiveness in response to sorrow for sin. He taught His disciples to forgive one another and included it as a petition in the prayer that defines all Christian Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. He even pronounced a prayer of forgiveness from His broken Body engulfed in a pain that words cannot even begin to express as He was dying on the Cross. And just in case none of this has moved us, Jesus concluded today’s parable with one of the Gospels’ most stinging challenge: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother (ἀφῆτε, aphete) from his heart (Matthew 18:35).”

Jesus’ Words certainly cut deep into our minds and hearts. Every time we hear Him say a word about forgiveness our minds vividly present us with the many faces of strained and broken relationships that are still oozing with pain. The pain and hurt often prompt thoughts, if not action, of revenge because ‘he or she is not going to get away with hurting me’ (consider the First Reading from Sirach). Other times the hurts generate anger as we realize we cannot do anything to ‘feel better.’ We have experienced hurts so deep that ‘forgiveness’ (however each of us might describe that action) seems impossible to us at that moment.

ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is the Greek verb that is generally rendered “to forgive” in the majority of English Bible translations. In antiquity, ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) meant “to release” suggesting a prior action that has somehow bound or even imprisoned a person or object (hence the reference to prison in this Sunday's Gospel). Closely related to the meaning of “to release,” is “to leave” and “to leave to another.” While there are a number of other English words that also translate ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), all of the translations suggest some type of movement. This further suggests that ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) ‘permits’ movement since, implicitly, motion has been halted. Secular usage of ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) conveyed a sense of “lifting or releasing a debt owed” - a meaning often woven into biblical Texts such as this Sunday’s Parable and the Lord’s Prayer.

So what does this all have to say to us when it comes to the very difficult action of forgiving another or others? Sin (sin in Hebrew, hatta, means “to miss the mark”) by its very nature is not only evil or disorder, but also an evil or disorder that is chosen. When I sin, I choose to introduce a level of chaos and disorder into life that retards and may even stop any growth or movement in life towards the other, others and Others: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Sin is a choice that results in confining myself, life and relationships to the solitary existence of a prison cell. The greater ‘the sin’ the harder the brakes are applied to life and relational living. Some offenses may even bring all movement to a screeching stop similar to putting a car ‘in park’ and blocking the wheels, not to mention the possibility of lifting the car on jack stands and removing the wheels. Nobody goes anywhere then.

The act of forgiving (ἀφίημι [aphíēmi]) is a power breathed into life that has been stopped dead in its tracks. ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is an act of creation – a mighty act of creation – enabled by the Divine Life of the Holy Trinity within that jump-starts life once again. It does not whitewashing or pretending that the hurt or damage did not occurred. Forgiveness is not about forgetting or having the memory of the hurt eviscerated. Such is impossible as what has occurred is an event in history. The damage occurred in a particular time and a particular place and is real. To ‘pretend’ otherwise is foolish and to equate forgiving with forgetting is dangerous. What forgiveness does, however, is release one from the crippling affect and effect that the memories of painful events have over our life in the present. In the end, forgiveness is Divine Love that calls forth life into existence much the same way reality first came into existence: the response to a Word pronounced by a Loving Creator.

In fairness, what about the hurts that run so deep in life that I will not forgive? Consider: is it a case of ‘not forgiving’ or is it a case that in the present – not excluding the future – I am not there yet? Let’s face it, we have all been hurt by friends and family in such a way that we are bleeding, and bleeding profusely. Not even a tight tourniquet will stop the blood flow! Some wounds take time to stop bleeding before healing can begin. Some injuries to our bodies, for example, have to remain open so that infection may drain before closing a wound or casting a limb. Similarly, some hurts require time prior to the healing word and experience of forgiveness. While waiting, actively seek the Lord’s grace to be able to forgive. This active seeking points us in the proper direction, gets life moving somewhat and gradually helps us to seek the day with Grace to say, “I release you. I forgive you. Let’s move on.” One might not be the other’s BFF (best friend forever) after the incident or incidents, but the freedom experienced does make for a more joy filled living.

Collect

Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of Your mercy,
grant that we may serve You with all our heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

Saturday of the Twenty-third Week
in Ordinary Time

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit…” (Luke 6:43.)

Saint Bede the Venerable comments on this verse from today’s Gospel proclamation:

“Every tree which does not bear fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.” He is referring to human beings as trees and to their works as the fruit. Do you want to know which are the bad trees and what are the bad fruits? The apostle teaches us this. He says, “The works of the flesh are manifest: they are fornication, impurity, self-indulgence, idolatry, sorcery, malice, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, conflict, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and things of this sort.” Do you want to hear whether trees which bring forth fruits such as these belong in the heavenly temple of the eternal King? The apostle continues: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not attain the kingdom of God.” He subsequently lists the fruits of a good tree. He says, “The fruit, however, of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control.

The good man produces good from the good treasure in his heart, and the evil man produces evil from the evil treasure.” The treasure in one’s heart is the intention of the thought, from which the Searcher of hearts judges the outcome.

Christ subsequently adds force to his pronouncement by clearly showing that good speech without the additional attestation of deeds is of no advantage at all. He asks, “And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” To call upon the Lord seems to be the gift of a good treasure, the fruit of a good tree. “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” If anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord resists the Lord’s commands by living perversely, it is evident that the good that the tongue has spoken has not been brought out of the good treasure in his heart. It was not the root of a fig tree but that of a thorn bush that produced the fruit of such a confession — a conscience, that is, bristling with vices, and not one filled with the sweetness of the love of the Lord” (Homilies on the Gospels, 2.)

Collect

O God,
by Whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,
look graciously
upon Your beloved sons and daughters,
that those who believe in Christ
may receive true freedom
and an everlasting inheritance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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You gave us life in the beginning;
give us new life

Saint Athansius of Alexandria

Bishop and Great Easter Father of the Church

An excerpt from his On the Incarnation of the Word, 10.

Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

God, the Word of the all-good Father, did not disregard the human race, his own creation, when it was sinking back into corruption, but rather by the offering of his own body he destroyed the death men had incurred, and by his teaching he corrected their negligence. So he restored by his power all that belongs to man’s estate.

Anyone can find confirmation of this from the Savior’s own disciples who spoke of him, for in their writings one reads: The charity of Christ constrains us as we judge that if one died on behalf of all, then all died; and he died for all in order that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ. And again: We see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone. Then the writer goes on to show why it had to be God the Word and no other who became man: Indeed it was fitting that in bringing many sons to glory, God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make perfect the one who leads them to salvation. By this he means that the task of bringing men back from the corruption into which they had fallen belonged to no other save God the Word who had made them in the beginning. Further, Scripture shows that the Word assumed a body for the purpose of offering it in sacrifice on behalf of other bodies like his own, for the writer continues: Since the children have blood and flesh in common, he likewise shared in them himself so that by his own death he might destroy the one who had power over death, that is, the devil, and might deliver those who all their life long were enslaved by fear of death.

For by the sacrifice of his own body he both put an end to the law that stood against us and made a new beginning of life for us by giving us the hope of resurrection. Hence Paul, the Christbearer, declares: As through a man came death, so through a man has come the resurrection of the dead. For as all died in Adam, so also in Christ all shall be made to live.

No longer, then, do we die as men condemned, but as men being raised even now, we await the general resurrection of all, which God, whose work and gift it is, will reveal at the appointed time.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Friday of the Twenty-third Week
in Ordinary Time

“And he told them a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?…” (Luke 6:39)

Saint Cyril of Alexandria comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“This parable he added as a most necessary attachment to what had been said. The blessed disciples were about to be the initiators and teachers of the world. It was necessary for them therefore to prove themselves possessed of everything piety requires. They must know the pathway of the evangelic mode of life and be workmen ready for every good work. They must be able to bestow upon well-instructed hearers such correct and saving teaching as exactly represents the truth. This they must do, as having already first received their sight and a mind illuminated with the divine light, lest they should be blind leaders of the blind. It is not possible for those enveloped in the darkness of ignorance to guide those who are afflicted in the same way into the knowledge of the truth. Should they attempt it, they will both roll into the ditch of carelessness.

He overthrew the bragging passion of boastfulness, which most give way, that they may not enviously strive to surpass their teachers in honor. He added, “The disciple is not above his teacher.” Even if some make such progress, as to attain to a virtue that rivals that of their teachers, they will range themselves no higher than their level and be their imitators. Paul shall again support us. He says, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (Commentary on Luke, Homuly 29)

Collect

O God,
by Whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,
look graciously upon Your beloved sons and daughters,
that those who believe in Christ
may receive true freedom
and an everlasting inheritance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

As the world recalls the attacks of 11 September 2001, Mass 30, “For the Preservation of Peace and Justice” from Masses for Special Needs and Occasions is most appropriate. The Collects follow here:

O God,
Who have revealed that peacemakers
are to be called Your children, grant, we pray,
that we may work without ceasing
to establish that justice
which alone ensures true and lasting peace.
Through our lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

O God,
Who show a Father’s care for all,
grant, in Your mercy,
that the members of the human race,
to whom you have given a single origin,
may form in peace a single family and
always be united by a fraternal spirit.
Through our lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Christ will forgive no sin without the Church

Blessed Isaac of Stella

Cistercian Monk

An excerpt from his Sermon 11

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

The prerogative of receiving the confession of sin and the power to forgive sin are two things that belong properly to God alone. We must confess our sins to him and look to him for forgiveness. Since only he has the power to forgive sins, it is to him that we must make our confession. But when the Almighty, the Most High, wedded a bride who was weak and of low estate, he made that maid-servant a queen. He took her from her place behind him, at his feet, and enthroned her at his side. She had been born from his side, and therefore he betrothed her to himself. And as all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son because by nature they are one, so also the bridegroom gave all he had to the bride and he shared in all that was hers. He made her one both with himself and with the Father. Praying for his bride, the Son said to the Father: I want them to be one with us, even as you and I are one.

And so the bridegroom is one with the Father and one with the bride. Whatever he found in his bride alien to her own nature he took from her and nailed to his cross when he bore her sins and destroyed them on the tree. He received from her and clothed himself in what was hers by nature and gave her what belonged to him as God. He destroyed what was diabolical, took to himself what was human, and conferred on her what was divine. So all that belonged to the bride was shared in by the bridegroom, and he who had done no wrong and on whose lips was found no deceit could say: Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak. Thus, sharing as he did in the bride’s weakness, the bridegroom made his own her cries of distress, and gave his bride all that was his. Therefore, she too has the prerogative of receiving the confession of sin and the power to forgive sin, which is the reason for the command: Go, show yourself to the priest.

The Church is incapable of forgiving any sin without Christ, and Christ is unwilling to forgive any sin without the Church. The Church cannot forgive the sin of one who has not repented, who has not been touched by Christ; Christ will not forgive the sin of one who despises the Church. What God has joined together, man must not separate. This is a great mystery, but I understand it as referring to Christ and the Church.

Do not destroy the whole Christ by separating head from body, for Christ is not complete without the Church, nor is the Church complete without Christ. The whole and complete Christ is head and body. This is why he said: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the Son of Man whose home is in heaven. He is the only man who can forgive sin.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Thursday of the Twenty-third Week
in Ordinary Time

“To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic…” (Luke 6:29)

Saint Ephrem the Syrian offers the following insight on these verses from today’s Gospel:

“An eye for an eye” is the perfection of justice. “Whoever strikes you on the cheek, turn the other to him” is the consummation of grace. While both continually have their criteria, he proposed them to us through the two successive Testaments. The first Testament had the killing of animals for compensation, because justice did not permit that one should die in place of another. The second Testament was established through the blood of a man, who through his grace gave himself on behalf of all. One therefore was the beginning, and the other the completion. He in whom are both the end and the beginning is perfect. In the case of those who do not understand, the beginning and end are estranged one from the other. In the study of them, however, they are one. Therefore this principle of a blow for a blow has indeed been transformed. If you strive for perfection, whoever strikes you, turn to him the other [cheek].” (Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron, 5.)

Collect

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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If I should forget you Jerusalem

Saint Bruno of Cologne

Priest and Founder of the Order of Carthusians

An excerpt from Discourse on the Psalms

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

How beautiful are your tabernacles! My soul longs to reach the courts of the Lord, the fullness of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the Lord. He then explains why he desires to enter the courts of the Lord.

It is because they are blessed who dwell in your house, the heavenly Jerusalem, Lord, God of the heavenly powers, my King and my God. It is as if he were to say: Who does not long to enter your courts since you are God, the Creator and King and Lord of hosts, and all who dwell in your house are blessed? For him courts and house are the same. When he says blessed, he means that they enjoy as much happiness as can be conceived. Clearly they are blessed because out of their devoted love they will praise you for ever, that is, for all eternity. For they would not offer praise for all eternity unless they were blessed for all eternity.

Now even though we may have faith, hope and love, none of us can attain this state of blessedness by ourselves. Rather, blessed is the man—he alone attains blessedness—whose help is from you in rising to the heights of happiness on which he has set his heart. In other words, he alone can be said to come to true blessedness who, having resolved in his heart to rise to this state of happiness by the many stages of the virtues and good works, receives the help of your grace. No one can rise up by himself as the Lord testified: No one ascends into heaven, of his own power, except the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Thus he contemplates this journey, living as he does in a vale of tears, for this life is lowly and full of tears and sorrow. The life of heaven, by contrast, is called a mountain full of joy.

But since the psalmist said: Blessed is the man whose help comes from you, someone might ask: Does God really help us in this? And the answer is that God does help the blessed. For our lawgiver Christ, who gave us the law, gives now and will continue to give his blessings, the abundant gifts of grace, by which he will bless his own, that is, raise them to beatitude. By these blessings, then, they will rise from strength to strength. One day in the heavenly Zion they will see Christ as the God of gods, as the one who, being God, will deify his own. Or again, those who are to be the new Zion will see in the spirit the God of gods—the Trinity. In other words, then their minds will see God, who cannot be seen in this life. For then God will be all in all.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Memorial of
Saint Peter Claver, Priest

“And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said...” (Luke 6:20.)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“The phrase “lift up your eyes” occurs in many places in Scripture. By this expression, the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts. It invites us to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up. For instance, it is written in Isaiah, “Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?”

The Savior too, when he is about to deliver the Beatitudes, lifts up his eyes to the disciples and says “blessed” are such and such.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John)

Collect

O God,
Who made Saint Peter Claver
a slave of slaves and strengthened him
with wonderful charity and patience
as he came to their help,
grant, through his intercession,
that, seeking the things of Jesus Christ,
we may love our neighbor
in deeds and in truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen