Words of the Word

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Epiphany of the Lord 2014.

“And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12)

Saint Gregory the Great offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“The return of the magi “by another way” home suggests a spiritual interpretation: As they were advised to take another way, so are we. Our home country is the paradise from which we have fallen. We are forbidden to return to it. When we come to know Jesus, we can return along the way by which he returned. We left our paradise by our pride and disobedience, by overvaluing visible things, by succumbing to the tasting of forbidden fruit. We now can return only by weeping and obedience, rejecting visible things, and by curbing our bodily appetites. So let us, like the magi, return to our home country by another way than the way we left it. Our evil inclination led us away from the joys of paradise. Our turning around in repentance summons us to return by another way. In this way, dearly beloved, we are being awakened to the fear of God. Be vigilant. Set before the eyes of your heart the deceitfulness of your works. Take seriously the severity of the final judgment. Consider how strict a judge is coming. He threatens the impenitent with terror. Yet he still gives them time for repentance. He bears with us. He puts off coming for this reason, that he may find fewer to condemn.” (Forty Gospel Homilies, 10)

O God, Who on this day
revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations
by the guidance of a star,
grant in your mercy
that we, who know you already by faith,
may be brought to behold
the beauty of your sublime glory.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (USA).

“Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.” (John 1:40)

In commenting upon this verse from today’s Mass Readings, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“Andrew, after having stayed with Jesus and after having learned what he did, did not keep the treasure to himself but hurries and races to his brother in order to let him know the good things Jesus has shared with him. But why hasn’t John mentioned what they talked about? How do we know this is why they “stayed with him?” Observe what Andrew says to his brother, “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” You see how, in a short time, he demonstrates not only the persuasiveness of the wise teacher but also his own longing that he had from the beginning. For this word, “we have found,” is the expression of a soul that longs for his presence, looking for his coming from above, and is so ecstatic when what he is looking for happens that he hurries to tell others the good news. This is what brotherly affection, natural friendship, is all about when someone is eager to extend a hand to another when it comes to spiritual matters. Also see how he adds the article, for he does not say “Messiah” but “the Messiah.” They were expecting the Christ who would have nothing in common with the others.” (Homilies on the Gospel of John, 19)

O God, who crowned with the gift of true faith
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s burning zeal to find you,
grant by her intercession and example
that we may always seek you with diligent love
and find you in daily service with sincere faith.
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.

Click here for the text of Pope Paul VI homily at the Canonization Mass of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Click here for an excerpt from some of the Saint’s writings along with a brief biography.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Christmas Weekday: Friday before Epiphany

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

In commenting upon this verse from today’s Mass Readings, Origen of Alexandria writes:

“There are five animals that are offered on the altar, three being land animals and two winged. It seems worthwhile to me to ask why the Savior is said to be a “lamb” by John and none of the rest. But also, in the case of the land animals, since three types of animal are offered according to each species, why did he name the lamb from the species of sheep? Now these are the five animals: a young bull, a sheep, a goat, a turtledove, a pigeon.

And the three types of sheep are a ram, the ewe and the lamb. It is the lamb, however, that we find offered in the perpetual sacrifices. What other perpetual sacrifice can be spiritual to a spiritual being than the Word in his prime, the Word symbolically called “lamb”? But if we examine the declaration about Jesus, who is pointed out by John in the words “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” from the standpoint of the plan of salvation when the Son of God bodily lived among the human race, we will assume that the lamb is none other than his humanity. For he “was led as a sheep to the slaughter and was dumb as a lamb before its shearer,” saying, “I was an innocent lamb being led to be sacrificed.”

This is why in the Apocalypse, too, a little lamb is seen “standing as though slain.” This lamb, indeed, which was slain according to certain secret reasons, has become the expiation of the whole world. According to the Father’s love for humanity, he also submitted to slaughter on behalf of the world, purchasing us with his own blood from him who bought us when we had sold ourselves into sin. He, however, who led this lamb to the sacrifice was God in man, the great high priest, who reveals this through the saying, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, 6)

Cast your kindly light upon your faithful,
Lord, we pray,
and with the splendor of your glory
set their hearts ever aflame,
that they may never cease to acknowledge their Savior
and may truly hold fast to him.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Words of THE WORD. Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

O God,

Who were pleased to give light to Your Church

by the example and teaching

of the Bishops Saints Basil and Gregory,

grant, we pray,

that in humility we may learn Your Truth

and practice it faithfully in charity.

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. Amen

With this Collect the Church commemorates the lives of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Both were very good friends and studied together in Athens long before becoming bishops. Their lives in the Church played out in the middle to late fourth century in the region of Cappadocia (now modern day Turkey), hence they are often referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. However, in the Latin Rite, this commemoration is actually ‘2/3 Cappadocian Feast Day.’ Basil’s younger brother, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, is not reckoned on the Latin Rite calendar … yet (I am holding out hope for this day to eventually include ‘younger brother.’)

Basil, given the title “Great,” brought strong administrative and theological skills to his shepherding ministry as bishop. He is credited with establishing the communal form of monasticism in Eastern Christianity and establishing the first institutional operation of Church charity along with a hospital. Basil saw prayer, charity and healing as imperatives for the pastoral life of the Church because these were essential actions in the life of Jesus. Among Basil’s writings is his famous On the Holy Spirit in which he defends the Personhood and Divinity of Holy Spirit against the teachings and writings of Eunomius and others. Eunomius was a contemporary of Basil (as well as Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa) who vociferously taught and wrote against the distinctiveness of Divine Personhood claiming that ‘God’ is simply known by actions or functions: creating, redeeming and sanctifying and not the Names expressive of oneness, distinctiveness, relationship and Pershonhood: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Eunomius’ teaching so gripped many places that the Baptismal formula morphed to baptism in the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier – an abuse and an error that the Council of Constantinople addressed and rectified in 381.

Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil’s close friend, bears the title “The Theologian” and sometimes also “The Poet.” While definitely more subdued in personality to the impressive and at times larger-than-life Basil, Gregory longed for the solitude of the monastery. He wrote of his own reluctance to accept priestly ordination and with that writing penned numerous pieces on pertinent theological and pastoral questions. 5 of those treatises are known as the “Theological Orations” as they deal with Trinitarian Personhood against the writings of Eunomius.

Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s younger brother, is known as “The Mystic.” Initially very reluctant to embrace Christianity and not blessed with the administrative skills of older brother Basil, Gregory of Nyssa came into his own after Basil’s rather untimely death at the age of 49. Gregory ended up providing theological depth to much of Basil’s initiatives. While early in his episcopal career many thought he was simply ‘completing’ or ‘building on’ Basil’s thought, Gregory soon proved to be a gifted speculative theological thinker who simultaneously sought to make connections with living a spiritual (actually virtuous, as it was termed then) life that disposed one to the ongoing transforming work of the Holy Spirit. He too penned a voluminous work against Eunomius and also numerous works on the spiritual life. Among some of his more famous works are On the Making of Man (a great work on theological anthropology), The Great Catechetical Oration (among the first ‘catechisms’ ever written and used in the Eastern Church well into the 15th century), the Life of Moses, the Homilies on the Song of Songs, Homilies on the Beatitudes, Orations on the Lord’s Prayer, to name only a few all of which offer deep insights into the spiritual life). Indebted to Origen of Alexandria for his pioneering work on biblical interpretation, Gregory wove together both the literal and spiritual senses of Sacred Scripture to express a pastoral and theological approach to life known as epektasis: a continuous being-drawn by the Holy Spirit to live the life of Jesus Christ culminating in eternal life with God the Father.

The Cappadocian Fathers lived in a time of theological passion and a time that was replete with all kinds of theological confusion and heretical movements, some of which were grounded in ‘hurt pride’ and an inability to humbly receive the Church’s teachings. Gregory of Nyssa captured a glimpse of this passion in an introduction to one of his works:

“A city [Constantinople] full of profound theological disputes, everyone talking and preaching in the squares, in the market places, at the crossroads, in the alleyways: old clothes men, money-changers, costermongers: they are all at it. If you ask a man to change a piece of silver, he informs you wherein the Son differs from the Father; and if you ask for the price of a loaf, you are told by the way of reply that the Son is the inferior of the Father; and if you inquire whether the bath is ready, the man solemnly informs you that the Son was made out of nothing! (Oratio de Deitate Filii et Spiritus Sancti (PG XLVI, 557: 20-28)”

The Cappadocians knew proper worship, theology and expressions of the Divine Mystery were indispensable for authentic Christian living. Their preaching, teaching and writing - at times very technical and highly nuanced - were always placed at the service of concrete virtuous living that mirrored Jesus Christ. One of their many theological legacies is that mystery and teachings are not about the abstract or ethereal, rather they are about a way of living. This way of living is about always being drawn-up to contemplate and to live divinely. The saintly Nyssian bishop summed it up well: “Let faith thunder loud and pure in the proclamation of the Most Holy Trinity and may life imitate the fruit of the pomegranate!”

On this day, I express gratitude to one of many mentors: Fr Ambrogio Eszer (Eßer), OP who directed by doctoral studies in the Fathers of the Church and my dissertation on Saint Gregory of Nyssa. Fr. Eszer himself had studied under the great patristic scholar, Fr Irene Hausher and I am grateful for the many conversations in which Fr Eszer ‘handed-on’ the great patristic legacy of the Church.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace, AMEN!

Voices ever ancient, ever new. 2 January 2014: Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

“... the One Who is coming after me, Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:27).”

Saint Ambrose of Milan offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“Moses was not the bride groom, for to him comes the word, “Loose your shoe from off your foot,” that he might give place to his Lord. Nor was Joshua, the son of Nun, the bridegroom, for to him also it was told, saying, “Loose your shoe from off your foot,” lest, by reason of the likeness of his name, he should be thought the spouse of the church. None other is the bridegroom but Christ alone, of whom John said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” They, therefore, loose their shoes, but his shoe cannot be loosed, even as John said, “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” To whom else but the Word of God incarnate can those words apply? “His legs are pillars of marble, set upon bases of gold.” For Christ alone walks in the souls and makes his path in the minds of his saints, in which, as upon bases of gold and foundations of precious stone the heavenly Word has left his footprints ineffaceably impressed.” (On the Christian Faith, 3)

O God,
Who were pleased to give light to your Church
by the example and teaching
of the Bishops Saints Basil and Gregory,
grant, we pray,
that in humility we may learn your truth
and practice it faithfully in charity.
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.

Click here for an overview of the Cappadocian Fathers.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God 2014.

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Mass Readings, Saint Bede the Venerable writes:

“Abiding by the rules of virginal modesty, Mary wished to divulge to no one the secret things which she knew about Christ. She reverently waited for the time and place when he would wish to divulge them. However, though her mouth was silent, in her careful, watchful heart she weighed these secret things. And this is what the Evangelist says, pondering in her heart—indeed, she weighed those acts which she saw in relation to those things which she had read were to be done.

Now she saw that she herself, who had arisen from the stock of Jesse, had conceived God’s Son of the Holy Spirit. She had read in the prophet, “A shoot will sprout from the root of Jesse, and a ‘Nazarene’ will ascend from his root, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” She had read, “And you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, are a little one among the thousands of Judah. Out of you will come forth for me the one who is ruler in Israel, and his coming forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” She saw that she had given birth in Bethlehem to the Ruler of Israel, who was born eternal from the Father, God before the ages. She saw that she had conceived as a virgin, and given birth to a son, and called his name Jesus.

She had read in the prophets, “Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.” She had read, “An ox recognizes its owner and an ass its master’s manger.” She saw the Lord lying in a manger, where an ox and an ass used to come to be nourished. She remembered that it had been said to her by the angel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so the holy one who will be born from you will be called the Son of God.” She had read that the manner of his nativity could be recognized only by the revelation of an angel, in accordance with Isaiah’s saying, “Who will tell of his generation?” She had read, “And you, tower of the flock, misty daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former power shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

She heard that angelic powers, who are daughters of the city on high, had appeared to shepherds in a place which was in former times called “tower of the flock” from the gathering of cattle—and this is one mile to the east of Bethlehem. There, even now, the three tombs of these shepherds are pointed out in a church. She then knew that the Lord had come in the flesh, whose power is one and eternal with the Father, and he would give to his daughter the church the kingdom of the heavenly Jerusalem. Mary was comparing these things which she had read were to occur with those which she recognized as already having occurred. Nevertheless she did not bring these things forth from her mouth but kept them closed up in her heart.” (Homilies on the Gospels, 1)

O God,
Who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary
bestowed on the human race
the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray,
that we may experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy
to receive the author of life,
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas 2013.

“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

In commenting upon this verse from today’s Mass Readings, Origen of Alexandria writes:

“One will discover many different meanings of the expression [“beginning”] even in the Word of God. One meaning involves change that has to do with a way or a length, as revealed in Scripture, “The beginning of the right path is to do justice.” There is also a “beginning” of creation in the statement “In the beginning God made heaven and earth.” But I think what is meant is more clearly stated in Job, “This is the beginning of the Lord’s creation.”

We can also understand what is meant by the beginning of creation in Proverbs: “For God,” [Wisdom] says, “created me the beginning of his ways for his works.” But someone will say with good reason that the God of all things is clearly a beginning too, proposing that the Father is the beginning of the Son, and the Creator is the beginning of the things created and, in general, God is the beginning of the things that exist. And third, that from which something comes, as the underlying matter is thought to be a “beginning” by those who understand matter to be uncreated. In addition to these definitions, that “according to which” something is made, as according to its form, is also a “beginning.” Christ, for instance, is the beginning of those made according to the image of God.

There is also a beginning that pertains to doctrine where the apostle says, “Although, because of the time, you should be teachers, you need for someone to teach you again the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God.” Now there are two kinds of beginning pertaining to doctrine. One involves its nature, and the other its relation to us. We say that in nature Christ is the beginning of doctrine insofar as he is “the wisdom” and “power of God.” But in his relation to us the beginning of doctrine is “the Word became flesh,” that he might dwell among us who are able to receive him only in this way at first.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, 1)

Almighty ever-living God,
Who in the Nativity of Your Son
established the beginning and fulfillment of all religion,
grant, we pray, that we may be numbered
among those who belong to Him,
in Whom is the fullness of human salvation.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas.

“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Mass Readings, Saint Bede the Venerable writes:

“In a mystical sense Anna stands for the church, which in this present world is as it were widowed by the death of her Spouse. Even the number of the years of her widowhood designates the time in which the church, continuing on in the body, sojourns afar from her Lord. Seven times twelve make eighty-four. And seven relates to the full course of this world, which was wrought in seven days. But twelve belongs to the completeness of the apostolic teachings. Whoever, therefore, whether the universal church or anyone of the faithful, devotes the whole course of life to apostolic labors, is praised as serving the Lord for eighty-four years.

The period of seven years during which she lived with her husband is in accord with the time of the Lord’s incarnation. For as I have said, the completeness of time is to be expressed by the number seven. Here because of the special quality of the Lord’s majesty, the simple number of seven years expresses, in sign of its perfection, the time in which he taught while clothed in the flesh. It also favors the mysteries of the church that Anna is interpreted as the Lord’s grace, that she is the daughter of Phanuel, who is called the face of the Lord, and descended from the tribe of Ashur, that is, blessed with children.” (Exposition on the Gospel of Luke, 2)

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that the newness of the Nativity in the flesh
of your Only Begotten Son may set us free,
for ancient servitude holds us bound
beneath the yoke of sin.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Holy Family 2013.

“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.” (Matthew 2:20-21)

In an ancient work known as the Incomplete Work on Matthew, an anonymous ancient Christian writer offers the following insight on these verses from today’s Gospel:

“Do you see why Joseph was not chosen to be the husband of Mary, but her attendant? When she was going to and returning from Egypt, had she not been married, who would have attended her in such great need? For indeed, at first glance, Mary was nourishing a child, and Joseph was looking after her. In point of fact, however, the boy was nourishing his mother, and Joseph was being watched over. … Nor was it the son’s glory to have that mother, but rather it was her blessing to have that son. She herself used to say as much: “Behold, now every generation will call me blessed.” (Homily 2)

O God, who were pleased to give us
the shining example of the Holy Family,
graciously grant that we may imitate them
in practicing the virtues of family life
and in the bonds of charity,
and so, in the joy of your house,
delight one day in eternal rewards.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Feast of the Holy Innocents 2013.

“Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” (Matthew 2:17-18)

In an ancient work known as the Incomplete Work on Matthew, an anonymous ancient Christian writer offers the following insight on these verses from today’s Gospel:

“A voice was heard in Ramah.” Ramah was Saul’s city. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the son of Rachel, whose memorial was near Bethlehem, where these wicked deeds were done. Therefore, since the babies were killed in Bethlehem, where there is a monument to Rachel, this is why Rachel is described as weeping. What he meant by “weeping” is revealed as the tears of the infants; what he meant by “wailing” is shown to be the lamenting of the mothers. For the babies wept because they were separated from their mothers. The mothers wept because they were bereft of their children, as if their insides were being torn from them. And it is possible to see greater grief in the mothers who remained behind than in the dying babies. For the children suffered a single moment of grief, because they had been separated from their mothers, not because they were being led out to death. For they did not yet possess a fear of death. The mothers, however, experienced twofold suffering: in the first place, they saw their own babies being killed; in the second place, they were themselves bereft of their children. For the children, death brought a blessed end to their grief. For the mothers, however, the memory of their babies continually renewed their grief.” (Homily 2)

O God, whom the Holy Innocents confessed
and proclaimed on this day,
not by speaking but by dying,
grant, we pray,
that the faith in you which we confess with our lips
may also speak through our manner of life.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!