Words of the Word

It is good for us to be here

Abbot

An excerpt from his Sermon on the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven. It was as if he said to them: “As time goes by you may be in danger of losing your faith. To save you from this I tell you now that some standing here listening to me will not taste death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Father.” Moreover, in order to assure us that Christ could command such power when he wished, the evangelist continues: Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. There, before their eyes, he was transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Then the disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear, and they were talking to Jesus.

These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here. Let us listen, then, to the sacred voice of God so compellingly calling us from on high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the Lord’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries, so far beyond our capacity to express. Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven, and—I speak boldly—it is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness, making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of.

Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here.

It is indeed good to be here, as you have said, Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever. What greater happiness or higher honor could we have than to be with God, to be made like him and to live in his light?

Therefore, since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into his divine image, we also should cry out with joy: It is good for us to be here—here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen. For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up his abode together with the Father, saying as he enters: Today salvation has come to this house. With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of his eternal blessings, and there where they are stored up for us in him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the first fruits and the whole of the world to come.

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 Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.” (Matthew 16:20)

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

”What he intended when he forbade them to publicly declare him Christ is clarified in part by “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders” and the following thoughts. At the right time and in the right way, he proclaimed to those who knew that Jesus was Christ, Son of the living God (the Father had revealed this to them), that rather than believing in Jesus Christ already crucified, they should believe in Jesus Christ soon to be crucified. So also, instead of believing in Jesus Christ already risen from the dead, they should believe in “Jesus Christ soon to be raised from the dead.”

“Having put off from himself the principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross.” If anyone is ashamed of the cross of Christ, he is ashamed of the agency by which these powers were defeated. The one who both believes and is assured of these things should, more appropriately, glory in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through that cross, when Christ was crucified, the principalities (among them, I think, was also the prince of this world) were publicly humiliated and paraded before the eyes of the believing world.” (Commentary on Matthew, 12)

Collect

Draw near to Your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in You
as their Creator and guide,
You may restore what You have created
and keep safe what You have restored.
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

Love is as strong as death

Baldwin of Canterbury

Archbishop

An excerpt from
A Treatise

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Death is strong, for it can rob us of the gift of life. Love too is strong, for it can restore us to a better life. Death is strong, for it can strip us of this robe of flesh. Love too is strong, for it can take death’s spoils away and give them back to us.

Death is strong, for no man can withstand it. Love too is strong, for it can conquer death itself, soothe its sting, calm its violence, and bring its victory to naught. The time will come when death is reviled and taunted: O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?

Love is as strong as death because Christ’s love is the very death of death. Hence it is said: I will be your death, O death! I will be your sting, O hell! Our love for Christ is also as strong as death, because it is itself a kind of death: destroying the old life, rooting out vice, and laying aside dead works.

Our love for Christ is a return, though very unequal, for his love of us, and it is a likeness modeled on his. For he first loved us and, through the example of love he gave us, he became a seal upon us by which we are made like him. We lay aside the likeness of the earthly man and put on the likeness of the heavenly man; we love him as he has loved us. For in this matter he has left us an example so that we might follow in his steps.

That is why he says: Set me as a seal upon your heart. It is as if he were saying: “Love me as I love you. Keep me in your mind and memory, in your desires and yearnings, in your groans and sobs. Remember, man, the kind of being I made you; how far I set you above other creatures; the dignity I conferred upon you; the glory and honor with which I crowned you; how I made you only a little less than the angels and set all things under your feet. Remember not only how much I have done for you but all the hardship and shame I have suffered for you. Yet look and see: Do you not wrong me? Do you not fail to love me? Who loves you as I do? Who created and redeemed you but I?

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 John Vianney, Priest

“Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.” (Matthew 16:20)

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

Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
Who made the Priest Saint John Vianney
wonderful in his pastoral zeal,
grant, we pray,
that through his intercession and example
we may in charity win brothers and sisters for Christ
and attain with them eternal glory.
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 glorious duty of man: to pray and to love

Saint John Mary Vianney

Priest

An excerpt from Catechesis on Prayer

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest

My little children, reflect on these words: the Christian’s treasure is not on earth but in heaven. Our thoughts, then, ought to be directed to where our treasure is. This is the glorious duty of man: to pray and to love. If you pray and love, that is where a man’s happiness lies.

Prayer is nothing else but union with God. When one has a heart that is pure and united with God, he is given a kind of serenity and sweetness that makes him ecstatic, a light that surrounds him with marvelous brightness. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can ever pull apart. This union of God with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding.

We had become unworthy to pray, but God in his goodness allowed us to speak with him. Our prayer is incense that gives him the greatest pleasure.

My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the soul and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.

Prayer also makes time pass very quickly and with such great delight that one does not notice its length. Listen: Once when I was a purveyor in Bresse and most of my companions were ill, I had to make a long journey. I prayed to the good God, and, believe me, the time did not seem long.

Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. There is no division in their hearts. O, how I love these noble souls! Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Colette used to see our Lord and talk to him just as we talk to one another.

How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. And still worse, there are some who seem to speak to God like this: “I will only say a couple of things to you, and then I will be rid of you.” I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart.

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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Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash [their] hands when they eat a meal.” (Matthew 15:2.)

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

“Now consider with me how they are convicted even by the very act of asking the question. For they do not say, “Why do they transgress the law of Moses?” Instead they say, “Why do they transgress the tradition of the elders?” From this it is clear that the priests were instituting many new practices, even though Moses with great fear and with dreadful words had commanded that one should neither add nor take away anything. For he says, “Do not add to this word that I am commanding you today, and do not take away from it.” But this did not at all stop them from instituting new practices. The issue here provides an example: eating with unwashed hands, which they thought unlawful. They focused inordinately on the outward rites of washing cups and things made of bronze and the rules for washing themselves. By this time they should have been released from needless observances. God’s timing had moved forward to that point. But just at that point they bound people up with many more observances. Why did they turn things upside down? Because they were afraid that someone might take away their power. They wanted others to be more afraid of them. They themselves had become the lawgivers. The issue of transgressing the traditions of the elders had gotten so inverted that they were insisting that their own commandments be kept even if God’s commandment was violated. They exercised so much obsessive control that the issue finally became a matter of formal legal accusation. But the indictment would instead fall against them in two ways. They themselves were instituting new practices and were devising punishments in regard to their own observances while placing no value on those instituted by God. ” (The Gospel of Matthew: Homily, 51.)

Collect

Draw near to Your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in
You as their Creator and guide,
You may restore what You have created
and keep safe what You have restored.
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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The new creation

Saint Barnabas

Apostolic Father of the Church

An excerpt from Letter of Barnabas, (Chapter 5)

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Lord was willing to hand over his body for destruction so that by the shedding of his blood we might be made holy through the remission of our sins. According to Scripture this refers to both Israel and us. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised by our iniquities; by his wounds we are healed. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb that is dumb before its shearer. What a debt of gratitude, then, do we owe to the Lord for letting us see the meaning of the past, for instructing us about the present and not leaving us in ignorance about the future. In the words of Scripture: Not unjustly are nets spread for birds. This means that a man is justly condemned if, knowing the right way, he heads into the way of darkness.

The Lord was ready to undergo suffering for our souls’ sake, even though he is Lord of the whole earth, the one to whom God said at the foundation of the world: Let us make man in our own image and likeness. But, in that case, my brothers, how could he allow himself to suffer at the hands of men? This is the explanation. The prophets inspired by his grace foretold what he would do; he allowed himself to suffer because he had to be seen in the flesh, in order that he might destroy the power of death and manifest the resurrection from the dead. In this way he would carry out the promises that had been made to our forefathers, and while still on earth prepare for himself a new people; he would also show that, after the resurrection, he was to be our judge. Furthermore, by teaching Israel and working such great signs and wonders, he proclaimed the good news and showed the depths of his love for that people.

Having thus renewed us by forgiving our sins, he refashioned us; he gave us the souls of children, as though we had been born anew. For it is to us that Scripture refers when the Father says to the Son: Let us make man according to our own image and likeness; and let him rule over the beasts on the earth and the birds in the air and the fish in the sea. The Lord saw the beauty of our fashioning and added: Increase and multiply and fill the earth.

All this God said to his Son. But let me now point out to you how he also speaks to us. It is indeed a second act of creation that the Lord has performed in these last days; that is why he says: Behold, I am making the last things like the first. It was this that the prophet had in mind when he said: Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it. It is true, you see, that we have been completely remade. This is what God means by the words of another prophet: Behold, says the Lord, I will take the stony hearts out of this people, that is, the people whom the Spirit of the Lord foreknew, and put hearts of flesh into them. For he willed to appear in the flesh and live among us.

And so, my brothers, the dwelling place of our hearts is a temple sacred to the Lord. Again, the Lord says: Let me give thanks to you in the assembly of the people. So it is we whom he has led into a fertile land.

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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Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water…” (Matthew 14:28.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on these verses from today’s Gospel Proclamation:

“Peter is found to be of ardent faith at all times. When the disciples are asked who people say that Jesus is, Peter declares him to be the Son of God. Though mistaken in wanting to follow Christ to his Passion, he is not mistaken in his affection. He does not desire the death of him who a short time before he declared to be the Son of God. Peter is among the first to go up the mountain with the Savior and is the only one to follow him in his Passion. With bitter tears he immediately washes away the sin of denial that sprang up from fear. After the Passion when they were fishing in Lake Gennesaret, the Lord was standing on the beach, while the others were slowly sailing in the boat. He hesitated not for a moment. He put on his overgarment and plunged into the sea. And now, with the same ardor of faith he always had, the other apostles gazing in awe, he believes that he can do by the will of the Master what the latter could do by nature. “Bid me come to you on the water.” Just say the word, and immediately the waves will become solid. The body which of itself is heavy will become light.” (Commentary on Matthew, 2.)

Collect

Draw near to Your servants, O Lord, and
answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in You
as their Creator and Guide,
You may restore what You have created and
keep safe what You have restored.
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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The new law of our Lord

Saint Barnabas

Apostolic Father of the Church

An excerpt from Letter of Barnabas, Chapter 2

Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

God has abolished the sacrifices of the old law so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which does not bind by slavish compulsion, might have an offering not made by man. On another occasion he says to them: When I brought your forefathers out of Egypt, I gave them no commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. I said not a word about them. What I did command was this: Do not contrive any evil against one another, and do not love perjury.

We are not stupid; surely we ought to understand our Father’s kindly purpose in this. He does not want us to go astray as they did, nor to ask how we are to approach him. Here is what he says to us: The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken heart; the fragrance pleasing to the Lord is a soul that gives glory to its Maker. You see, my brothers, we must carefully seek after our own salvation; otherwise, one who is bent on deceiving us will insinuate himself and turn us aside from the path that leads to life.

God spoke of this once again when he said to them: On such a day you are keeping a fast that will not carry your cry to heaven. Is it that sort of fast that I require, a day of mortification like that? But to us he says: Is it not this that I demand of you as a fast—loose the fetters of injustice, untie the knots of all contracts that involve extortion, set free those who have been crushed, tear up every unjust agreement. Share your food with the starving; when you meet a naked man, give him clothing; welcome the homeless into your house.

Accordingly, we must flee from all vanity and show an utter hatred for the deeds of the evil way. Do not turn inward and live only for yourselves as though already assured of salvation; join together rather and seek the common good. For, as Scripture says: Shame on those who are wise in their own judgment and think themselves clever. Rather, let us become spiritual; let us be a perfect dwelling place for God. As far as we can, we should dwell upon the fear of God and strive to keep his commandments, finding our delight in his observances. The Lord will judge the world without respect to persons; everyone will receive his just deserts; if he has been good, his good works will go before him; if wicked, the wages of sin will lie in wait for him. We must never relax our efforts as though our calling were already realized. Never let us fall asleep in a state of sin, lest the prince of wickedness gain power over us and snatch us away from the kingdom of the Lord.

My brothers, grasp this further point: You see the Israelites rejected, even after the many signs and wonders worked among them; let us then see to it that we are not found among those of whom Scripture says: Many are called, but few are chosen.

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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Who is the actual searcher? Who is actually found?

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

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus
nor His disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum
looking (ζητοῦντες, zetountes) for Jesus.
And when they found Him
across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking (ζητεῖτέ, zeteite)
for Me not because you saw signs (σημεῖα, semeia)
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” (John 6:24-26)

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

When we left the crowd last week, Jesus fed them with meager portions of food that were transformed into an abundance when He “took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them.” As the episode unfolded, the crowd’s intention was to find Jesus because of the “signs” He was performing for the sick. Jesus’ intention, however, was not to be the object of their search but mercifully to feed them. (see Mark 6:34, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time). While the crowd sang His praises as a prophet, Jesus seemingly rejected such and withdrew to the solitude of the mountain. Shortly thereafter He walked on water to Capernaum (John 6:15-23) thus setting the stage for the next event in the Bread of Life discourse. While subtle, it is apparent that the crowd was on one page, Jesus was on another. The crowd intended one course of action, Jesus intended a different one.

The Gospel proclamation this Sunday opens with the crowd frantically searching for Jesus by getting into boats when they realize Jesus moved on from the place of the Feeding. When the crowds ‘find’ Jesus, He confronts them: “you are looking (ζητεῖτέ, zeteite) for Me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

As far as Jesus is concerned, the Feeding is a σημεῖα (semeia, “sign”) and in view of a sign one must decide a particular course of action. (recall last week’s discussion of σημεῖα) One might argue that the crowd chose a course of action: they searched for Jesus. But were they really looking for Him? Jesus declared that the crowd was not looking for Him, but for the food He provided. Understandably, one can see where the crowd is on the matter of this abundant food. Life in general and the economy specifically were very difficult in first-century Galilee. While some made a good living on the sea, others did not know when or where they would eat next. But as far as Jesus is concerned, the sign of the Feeding requires a particular decision and the decision has little to do with having a full stomach. Once again, the crowd is on one page, Jesus is on another.

The point is underscored further by the use of the Greek verb ζητεω (zeteo). ζητεω, translated in this Sunday’s text as “to seek,” implies more than just looking around for something lost. In contemporary usage, ‘searching’ is practically synonymous with ‘googling’ and tends to be about pieces of data or information. In antiquity, ζητεω (zeteo) was used in reference to people being lost or found — a sense of being lost or found in the living of life, having or loosing a sense of purpose, destiny or direction in life. ζητεω (zeteo) does not necessarily refer to a physical loss or find when referencing people, it speaks more about the connection, the relationship, the link people have with one another and how those connections, links and relationship can be lost and hopefully found.

But even more noteworthy, ζητεω (zeteo) involves searching for the other, on the other’s terms! Yes, this sounds circular and confusing, after all how can you search, guided by the other’s terms, when you are not connected to the other person? Enter Jesus and the signs He performs. When the crowd initially searched for Him, they sought One Who brought a physical cure to a sick man. The crowd saw this chronically suffering man and what Jesus did for him and therefore concluded Jesus is a Healer. For Jesus, however, not so fast. Was the man restored to health? Yes. Is Jesus a healer? Yes. Does healing describe the totality of Who Jesus is? No - and this is the point of the sign. Jesus intends the sign to draw people into communion (in the Gospel according to Saint John communing is the act of believing) with Him. Such believing, though, must happen on Jesus’ terms.

Saint Augustine commented: “It is as if he said, “You seek me to satisfy the flesh, not the Spirit.” How many seek Jesus for no other objective than to get some kind of temporal benefit! One has a business that has run into problems, and he seeks the intercession of the clergy; another is oppressed by someone more powerful than himself, and he flies to the church. Another desires intervention with someone over whom he has little influence. One person wants this, and another person wants that. The church is filled with these kinds of people! Jesus is scarcely sought after for his own sake. Here too he says, you seek me for something else; seek me for my own sake. He insinuates the truth that He Himself is that food “that endures to eternal life.”” (Tractates on the Gospel of John)

Certainly there is much that speaks this Sunday to the heart of living as Jesus’ disciple. At the very heart of discipleship is the encounter with the Person, Jesus Christ. That encounter initially requires 2 response actions: metanoia (the ongoing, daily conversion of heart, mind and body from selfishness to selflessness as lived by Jesus) and believing that Who Jesus is as well as what He says and does is THE only way to live life. In so doing, life unfolds in the mode of response — acting based on the fact that “I” do not search for Jesus. “I” let myself be found by Jesus on His terms and then respond by living life marked by daily conversion and believing. Such an approach to living lessens the possibility of creating a ‘comfortable Jesus’ that is synonymous with mere niceness. Being found by Jesus and responding properly displaces ‘me-centered entitlement’ and opens the horizons of a Divinely animated and abundant life to which I can only respond: ‘thank you — and — how may I serve sacrificially and joyfully in Your Name?’