Christ died for all



Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his work, The Confessions,  Book 10.

Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The true Mediator was he whom you revealed to humble men in your secret mercy, and whom you sent so they might learn that same humility by following his example. This was the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who intervened between sinful mortals and the immortal Just One, himself mortal like men, and like God, just. Thus, since life and peace are the compensation for righteousness, he could, by a justice united with God, annul the death of sinners now justified, since he willed to share death with them.

Good Father, how you loved us, sparing not your only Son but delivering him up for us sinners! How you loved us, for whose sake he, thinking it no robbery to be equal with you, was made subject to death on the cross. He alone, free among the dead, had the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again. For our sake he became in your sight both victor and victim—victor, indeed, because he was victim. For our sake, too, he became before you both priest and sacrifice—priest, indeed, because he was a sacrifice, changing us from slaves to sons by being your Son and serving us.

Rightly then have I firm hope that you will heal all my infirmities through him who sits at your right hand and intercedes for us. Otherwise I should despair. For great and numerous are these infirmities of mine, great indeed and numerous, but your medicine is mightier. We might have thought your Word remote from any union with man, and so have despaired of ourselves, if he had not become flesh and dwelt among us.

Crushed by my sins and the weight of my misery, I had taken thought in my heart and contemplated flight into the desert. But you stopped me and gave me comfort with the words: Christ died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them.

Behold, Lord, I cast upon you my concern that I may live and I shall meditate on the wonders of your law. You know my ignorance and my weakness; teach me and heal me. Your only Son, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, redeemed me with his blood. Let not arrogant men speak evil of me. For I meditate on my ransom, and I eat it and drink it and try to share it with others; though poor I want to be filled with it in the company of those who eat and are filled and they shall praise the Lord who seek him.

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

 






Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene



“Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.” (Song of Songs 3:4.)

Saint Gregory of Nyssa (part 2 of the background of Saint Gregory of Nyssa is found here) offers the following insight on this verse from today’s First Reading:

“The chamber is indeed the heart that becomes an acceptable dwelling of God when it returns to that state which it had in the beginning made by “her who conceived me.” We would be correct by understanding “mother” as the first cause of our being.” (Homily on the Song of Songs, 6.)

Consider pondering the Lord's Word from the Song of Songs as well as St Gregory of Nyssa's Homilies on the Song of Songs


Collect
O God, Whose Only Begotten Son
entrusted Mary Magdalene before all others
with announcing the great joy of the Resurrection,
grant, we pray,
that through her intercession and example
we may proclaim the living Christ
and come to see Him reigning in Your glory.
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

 



She longed for Christ,
though she thought He had been taken away



Saint Gregory the Great
Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Homily 25

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb, they too believed what Mary had told them. The text then says: The disciples went back home, and it adds: but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb.

We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tells us: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.

At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love. As David says: My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And so also in the Song of Songs the Church says: I was wounded by love; and again: My soul is melted with love.

Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.

Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognized when he calls her “woman”; so he calls her by name, as though he were saying: Recognize me as I recognize you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognizes who is speaking. She immediately calls him rabboni, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching.


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

 

 



Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time



“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:8.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Gospel, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“Note that Jesus does not say: The careless received some seed and lost it, the rich received other seed and choked it, and the superficial received some seed and betrayed it. It is not his intention to rebuke them severely, lest he should cast them into despair. Christ leaves the reproof to the conscience of his hearers. Remember also in the parable of the net that much was gathered in that was unprofitable. But he speaks this parable as if to anoint his disciples and to teach them that they are not to be despondent even though those lost may be more than those who receive the word. It was with this same ease that the Lord himself continued to sow, even he who fully foreknew the outcomes.

But why would it be reasonable to sow among thorns or on rocks or on the pathway? With regard to the seeds and the earth it cannot sound very reasonable. But in the case of human souls and their instructions, it is praiseworthy and greatly to be honored. For the farmer might be laughed at for doing this, since it is impossible for a rock to bear fruit. It is not likely that the path will become anything but a path or the thorns anything but thorns. But with respect to the rational soul, this is not so predictable. For here there is such a thing as the rock changing and becoming rich land. Here it is possible that the wayside might no longer be trampled upon or lie open to all who pass by but that it may become a fertile field. In the case of the soul, the thorns may be destroyed and the seed enjoy full security. For had it been impossible, this sower would not have sown. And if the reversal did not take place in all, this is no fault of the sower but of the souls who are unwilling to be changed. He has done his part. If they betrayed what they received of him, he is blameless, the exhibitor of such love to humanity.

But mark this carefully: there is more than one road to destruction. There are differing ones, and wide apart from one another. For they who are like the wayside are the coarse-minded and indifferent and careless; but those on the rock such as fail from willed weakness only.” (The Gospel of Matthew: Homily, 44.)



Collect
Show favor, O Lord, to Your servants
and mercifully increase the gifts of Your grace,
that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful
in keeping Your commands.
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

 






The kingdom of God is
the peace and joy of the Spirit



Thomas á Kempis
Priest

An excerpt from Imitation of Christ

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary time


Turn to the Lord with your whole heart and leave behind this wretched world. Then your soul shall find rest. For the kingdom of God is the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. If you prepare within your heart a fitting dwelling place, Christ will come to you and console you.

His glory and beauty are within you, and he delights in dwelling there. The Lord frequently visits the heart of man. There he shares with man pleasant conversations; welcome consolation, abundant peace and a wonderful intimacy.

So come, faithful soul. Prepare your heart for your spouse to dwell within you. For he says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and we shall come to him and make our dwelling within him.

Make room for Christ. When you possess Christ you are a rich man, for he is sufficient for you. He himself, shall provide for you and faithfully administer all your cares. You will not have to place your hope in men. Put all your trust in God; let him be both your fear and your love. He will respond on your behalf and will do whatever is in your best interest.

You have here no lasting city. For wherever you find yourself, you will always be a pilgrim from another city. Until you are united intimately with Christ, you will never find your true rest.

Let your thoughts be with the Most High and direct your prayers continually to Christ. If you do not know how to contemplate the glory of heaven, take comfort in the passion of Christ, and dwell willingly in his sacred wounds. Endure with Christ, suffer for him, if you wish to reign with him.

Once you have entered completely into the depths of Jesus, and have a taste of his powerful love, then you will not care about your own convenience or inconvenience. Rather you will rejoice all the more in insults and injuries, for the love of Jesus makes a man scorn his own needs.



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

 

 



Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time



“And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” (Matthew 12:49.)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed during today’s Mass:

“Is it not true that the Virgin Mary did the Father’s will, she who believed in faith, conceived in faith and was chosen so that, through her, salvation could be born for us among humans and was begotten by Christ before Christ was begotten in her? Holy Mary carried out, plainly and clearly, the Father’s will. Therefore it is greater for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than the mother of Christ. Indeed, it is greater and better to have been the disciple of Christ than the mother of Christ. Mary was therefore blessed because, even before she gave birth, she bore the Master in her womb. Mary is holy and Mary is blessed, but the church is greater than the Virgin Mary. And why? Because Mary is a part of the church, a holy limb, an extraordinary limb, an outstanding limb, but she is only a limb of the whole body. If she is but a part of the whole body, greater indeed is the body than a limb. Christ is the head, and Christ is the entire head and body. What shall I say? We have a divine head. We have God as our head.” (Sermon 72)



Collect
O God,
Show favor, O Lord, to Your servants
and mercifully increase the gifts of Your grace,
that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful
in keeping Your commands.
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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You have Christ within you



Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Bishop, Apostolic Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from The Letter to the Magnesians, 6.

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Let us not be insensible of Christ’s loving kindness. For if he had acted as we do, we would have been lost indeed. Therefore let us become his disciples and learn to live in the Christian way; those who are called by any other name are not of God. Cast out the evil leaven that has become old and sour, and replace it with the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. He must be the salt of your lives, so that none of you may become corrupt, since it is by your wholesomeness that you will be judged. It is absurd to profess Christ with the lips and at the same time to practice Judaism; for Christianity did not develop into faith in Judaism, but Judaism into faith in Christianity. It was in this that men of every tongue believed and were brought together unto God.

I do not write this to you, my dear friends, because I have heard that any one of you is thus disaffected, but because, though I am a lesser man than yourselves, I would have you all guard against falling into the snares of false doctrine. Have a firm faith in the reality of the Lord’s birth, and passion and resurrection which took place when Pontius Pilate was procurator. All these deeds were truly and certainly accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope; may none of you ever be turned away from him!

May you be my joy in all things, if I am worthy of it. For although I am in chains, I do not deserve to be compared with any of you who live in freedom. I know that you are not inflated with pride, for you have Jesus Christ within you. And I know that you blush when I praise you, as the scripture says: The just man is his own accuser. Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles so that you may prosper in all your doings both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spirit, so that there may be unity in flesh and spirit.

I have exhorted you only briefly, for I am aware that you are filled with God. Remember me in your prayers, that I may attain to God. And remember the church in Syria, from which I am unworthy to be called. How I need your united prayer and love in God! Remember, then, the Church in Syria, that it may be strengthened through your prayers.

The Ephesians at Smyrna, where I write these lines, send their greetings. They have come together here like yourselves for the glory of God; they have consoled me in every way and so has Polycarp, their bishop. The other churches, too, greet you for the glory of Jesus Christ. Farewell; may you abide in God’s harmony, possessing that undivided spirit which is Jesus Christ.




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

 

 

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time



“Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” (Matthew 12:40.)


Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed during today’s Mass:

“The Savior pointed out that Jonah the prophet, who having been tossed into the sea was caught in the belly of the whale and emerged on the third day, prefigured the Son of Man who would suffer and rise on the third day. The Jewish people were censured in comparison with the Ninevites, for the Ninevites, to whom Jonah the prophet had been sent by way of reproof, placated God’s wrath by repenting and gained his mercy. “And behold,” he said, “something greater than Jonah is here,” the Lord Jesus implying himself. The Ninevites heard the servant and amended their ways; the Jews heard the Lord and not only did they not amend their ways but moreover they killed him.” (Sermon 72)



Collect
Show favor, O Lord, to Your servants
and mercifully increase the gifts of Your grace,
that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful
in keeping Your commands.
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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One prayer, one hope in love and in holy joy



Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Bishop, Apostolic Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Letter to the Magnesians, 6.

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the persons I mentioned, I saw and loved in faith your whole community; and so I urge you to strive to do all things in the harmony of God. The bishop is to preside as God’s representative, the presbyters are to perform the rule of the apostolic council, and the deacons, who are so dear to me, are to be entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before time began and has now at last manifested himself to us. Follow the ways of God, and have respect for one another; let no one judge his neighbor as the world does, but love one another always in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you that could divide you, but live in accord with the bishop and those who are over you as a sign and a pattern of eternal life.

The Lord did nothing either of himself or through his apostles without his Father, with whom he is united; so too, you should undertake nothing without the bishop and the presbyters. Do not attempt to persuade yourselves that what you do on your own account is right and proper, but when you meet together there must be one petition, one prayer, one mind, one hope in love and in holy joy, for Jesus Christ is one and perfect before all else. You must all be quick to come together, as to one temple of God, one altar, to the one Jesus Christ, who came forth from the one Father, while still remaining one with him, and returned to him.

Do not be led astray by false doctrines or by old and idle tales. For if we still live by the law, we admit that we have not received grace. But the holy prophets lived according to Jesus Christ, and that is why they were persecuted. They were inspired by his grace to bring full conviction to an unbelieving world that there is one God, manifested now through Jesus Christ his Son, his Word, who came forth from the Father and was in all things pleasing to the one who sent him.

Those who lived by the ancient customs attained a fresh hope; they no longer observed Saturday, but Sunday, the Lord’s day, for on that day life arose for us through Christ and through his death. Some deny this mystery, but through it we have received our faith and because of it  we persevere, that we may prove to be disciples of our only teacher, Jesus Christ. Even the prophets awaited him as their teacher, since they were his disciples in spirit. That is why Christ, whom they rightly awaited, raised them from the dead when he appeared. How then can we live without him?



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

 

 

The Twelve return to Jesus to experience HIS rest



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

“The apostles gathered together (συνάγονται, sunagontai) with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place (ἔρημον, eremon) and rest (ἀναπαύσασθε, anapausasthe) a while.”
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place (ἔρημον, eremon).
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.”


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

When last we left Jesus’ apostles, He sent them out to “preach repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them (Mark 6:12-13).” In the meantime, the Evangelist Mark recorded a number of events that eventually culminated with the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Even though these episodes are not proclaimed this Sunday, the message of the Baptist’s fidelity and the cost of that fidelity is integral to the apostles’ mission. When the scene shifted back to the apostles, they “gathered together (συνάγονται, sunagontai),” “reported (ἀπήγγειλαν, apeggeilan)” and were led “to a deserted place [to] rest (ἀναπαύσασθε, avapausasthe) a while.”

It would seem only natural for the apostles to report “all they had done and taught.” After all, they were sent out by Jesus Who gave specific instructions regarding attire and the work they were to do. The fact that they gathered – or more precisely, how they gathered is noteworthy here. The Greek verb συνάγω (sunago) can be translated “to gather” as it appears in this Sunday’s proclamation and it can also be translated “to cause to gather.” In this sense, ‘the gathering’ is the result of something (or here, Someone) else enabling the action to happen. “To cause to gather” suggests that Jesus is the One Who gathers the apostles together, an action consistent with the background of His Public Ministry. {crowds moving in haste to be with Jesus} The Greek verb συνάγω (sunago) is part of the root family that includes the Greek noun συναγωγή (synagoge - synagogue). The synagogue is the place where the assembly (Hebrew, qahal) gathered. The qahal is the assembly convoked by God’s word, God’s summoning His people together. The point here is that the initiative lies clearly with God, not humanity. The coming together ‘to report’ or for that matter the coming together to worship is not of human origin. The ‘gathering’ is a response to a word and work that precedes the action and in essence makes the gathering possible. Thus more is afoot with a biblical gathering than meets the eye.


Likewise, Jesus’ word to the apostles to “rest a while” is interesting as well. The Marcan text gives at this point, no indication that the apostles expressed or felt any need for rest. We are not told at this time anything about the physical or mental weariness of the disciples. In fact, it appears from the standpoint of the text that Jesus’ response to their report is “rest a while.” The Evangelist Mark records no questions posed by Jesus to the apostles back-in from mission, only the reporting of the apostles. “Rest” is Jesus’ response to what they said and did on mission. Here again, a Greek verb (ἀναπαύσασθε, anarausasthe) can be translated “rest” as it appears in this Sunday’s proclamation. It may also be translated “to cause to rest.” Similar to the examination of συνάγω (sunago), “rest” is not an initiative of the apostles. Someone else is causing them “to rest.” True, we learn shortly about the “people … in great” coming from all directions and making it impossible for Jesus and the apostles to eat. There is more to the “rest” that Jesus causes than simply responding to weariness, a point that will be become clearer over the next few weeks as the Gospel proclamation shifts to Jesus' teaching about the Gift of Himself in the Most Holy Eucharist. Stay tuned!

The Greek verb “to rest,” ἀναπαύω (anapauo), certainly conveys a commonly understood experience of refreshment or ‘a break from the toil and drudgery of work.’ Relaxing and relief are also common ways of translating ἀναπαύω (anapauo). Yet throughout the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition, ἀναπαύω (anapauo) conveys far more than physical or mental rejuvenation. “Resting” is a way of being, a way of existing in the Divine Presence (cf. Psalm 95). This “resting” is always a gift, not a reality that humanity can effect or cause on his or her own. Much more than mere refreshment or relief from the toil of work, Divine Rest is not only creative in the sense of Genesis, but because of where the “resting” occurs for the apostles, it goes to the core of their identity bound with and to the Person, Jesus. The desert (ἔρημος, eremos) – the place of rest that Jesus gathers His apostles – is not a way of avoiding the crowds and getting some ‘r and r.’ The desert is not a vacation or hiding place. The desert, consonant with Israel’s pivotal experience, is not just a place but an experience whereby God the Father bestows and renews one’s proper identity. Just as Israel became the chosen people of God in the desert and are forever known by that name, so also the desert in Jesus’ life, the life of His Apostles and the life of all His disciples through the ages are drawn to the desert by the Holy Spirit that the Father may bestow and renew one’s identity as a child of God the Father.






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