Lent. Week 4, Sunday

The prayers, Readings and reflection offered here are for Lent 4. Click here for “Year A Readings” used when the Scrutinies are celebrated for the Elect.

ANTIPHON

Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast (Isaiah 66: 10-11).

COLLECT

O God,
Who through your Word
reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way,
grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith
the Christian people may hasten toward
the solemn celebrations to come.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. (Psalm 34: 9).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled (καταλλάξαντος) us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation (καταλλαγῆς),
namely, God was reconciling (καταλλάσσων the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (καταλλαγῆς).
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled (καταλλάγητε) to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
(II Corinthians 5:17-21).”

REFLECTION

Popularly referred to as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” Jesus’ teaching about His Father’s boundless and limitless mercy is one of Christianity’s signature and defining marks. When examining Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness, this Parable certainly stands front and center, grounded in the often-contentious friction of family inheritance. The Lucan presentation of this Parable, though, does not speak of “forgiveness” per se and for that matter the words “mercy” and “reconciliation,” to name only two, are absent as well. For Luke, the Parable’s genesis lies in Jesus’ action of Table Fellowship: ‘welcoming sinners and eating with them’ that provides all an experience of ‘being found (a very important image in Luke’s Gospel)’ and ‘coming back to life.’ Such is the abundantly rich biblical vocabulary when it comes to sin and God the Father’s desire that none of us be lost and all be saved. But such a rich vocabulary can blur, in the popular perception, the depth of meaning these words convey. One runs the risk of casually lumping all the words together and viewing them as mere synonyms of each other. In light of this, Saint Paul’s words to the Corinthians offer some valuable lessons.

In this Lenten Sunday’s proclamation, Saint Paul speaks some variation of “to reconcile” 5 times in 4 verses, a point that is hard to miss. καταλλάσσω (katallasso) is the Greek verb that is translated “to reconcile.” It is an interesting verb formed by the preposition κατα (kata) and the verb ἀλλάσσω (allasso). Fundamentally, ἀλλάσσω (allasso) means to “effect/cause/put-in-place a difference that is noticeable.” The noticeable change or difference comes about because ‘something’ has been removed. An aspect of a given reality, previously present but now removed, results in a different reality. In terms of the word’s usage in antiquity, the resulting difference is not necessarily a good or an evil but as it evolved in Christian living, it became associated with the ‘removal of sin that made a difference in one’s life.’ In terms of the Christian Scriptures, especially the Letters of Saint Paul, καταλλάσσω (katallasso) marks the “difference” by ‘exchanging one reality for another.’ When applied to and dealing with people, καταλλάσσω (katallasso) very often speaks of ‘exchanging hostility for a different, more proper (friendly) relationship.’ From this context emerges the often used English word “to reconcile” as a meaning for καταλλάσσω (katallasso).

One could argue that καταλλάσσω (katallasso) brings a certain ‘conscious’ activity to the big picture of forgiveness. While certainly affirming the primacy of Grace and the Father’s gracious initiation of any noble endeavor, there is a ‘human’ factor involved in forgiveness. Accepting God the Father’s forgiveness or the forgiveness offered by another person requires the recipient to actively and consciously exchange one reality for another. “I am sorry” is not an act of ‘dumping’ one’s sins in a spiritual landfill and walking away with a sense that ‘I got rid of my sins and offenses.’ A noticeable difference is necessary in life, exchanging 1 ‘state’ or condition for another. Examples of this are clear in the lives of the father’s 2 sons in the parable. The younger son initially exchanged his filial relationship for one of entitlement leading to debauchery. “Coming to his senses (see Anthony Lilles blog on this point),” he exchanged his enslaved condition for what he thought would be that of his father’s hired hands … only to discover that the father would have no part of that since the ring and garments expressed the noticeable difference that he was, is and always will be “son.” Similarly, the elder son exchanged his filial relationship as well and the exchange was not a good one. He viewed himself, not as son, but as one who toiled for his father and in the end expressed his hostility towards his father and ‘that son of yours (in other words, ‘not my brother’).’

One can not help but call to mind the creative word spoken in the Sacramental penitential encounter with Jesus:

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.

God the Father’s work of exchanging the hostility of the fallen world for the re-created world is the power of the Paschal Mystery. As the first sin caused hostility and alienation in the relationship between God and humanity, so the same continues in our “yes” to sin. We harm ourselves when sin is casually dismissed, diluted or rationalized as ‘developmental challenges.’ Sin in the context of this Sunday’s Lenten Word introduces hostility: hostility in our relationship with the Divine Persons, hostility with and towards one another, hostility towards the true self and hostility with all of creation. As the first act of creation exchanged nothingness for reality, chaos for cosmos by the utterance of the effective Divine Word (dabar), the same Loving Father pronounces the same word to each of us that will exchange the condition of sin for that of freedom as son or daughter in the Son. Will I avail myself of that encounter to hear that creative word that will reconcile me to God the Father and one another?

Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions: For the Election of a Pope

Entrance Antiphon (I Samuel 2:35)

I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest,
who shall do according to My heart and mind;
I will establish a lasting house for him
and he shall walk before Me all his days.

Collect

O God, Eternal Shepherd,
Who govern Your flock with unfailing care,
grant in Your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for Your Church
who will please You by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
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.

Prayer Over the Offerings

May Your abundant kindness favor us, O Lord,
that, through the sacred offerings
we reverently bring to You,
we may come to rejoice that a pastor
pleasing to Your majesty
presides over your holy Church.
Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon (John 15:16)

I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit,
says the Lord, fruit that will last.

Prayer after Communion

As we have been renewed, O Lord,
with the supreme Sacrament of salvation,
the Body and Blood of Your only begotten Son,
may the wondrous grace of Your majesty
gladden us with the gift of a shepherd
who will instruct Your people by his virtues
and imbue the minds of the faithful
with the truth of the Gospel.
Through Christ our Lord.

Further prayer, reflection and study:

Isaiah 61: 1-3a “The Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly.”

Ephesians 4: 11-16 “Bringing about the body’s growth, building it up in love.”

Hebrews 5: 1-10 “Christ was acclaimed by God as high priest, in the line of Melchizedek”

Psalm 89 “For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”

John 15: 9-17 “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain”

John 17: 11-23 “As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church

LENT — The Lord’s Day — Week 3: Sunday Pondering Jesus’ victorious Word

The prayers, Readings and reflection offered here are for Lent 3. Click here for “Year A Readings” used when the Scrutinies are celebrated for the Elect. Use this same link for the meaning a reflection on the word metanoia, a word important in today’s Readings.

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

My eyes are always on the Lord, for He rescues my fet from the snare. Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor (Psalm 25: 15-16).

COLLECT

O God,
Author of every mercy and of all goodness,
Who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving
have shown us a remedy for sin,
look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,
that we, who are bowed down by our conscience,
may always be lifted up by your mercy.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

The Lord is kind and merciful. (Psalm 103: 8).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered (πεπόνθασιν) in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent (μετανοῆτε),
you will all perish (ἀπολεῖσθε) as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent (μετανοῆτε),
you will all perish (ἀπολεῖσθε) as they did!”
(Luke 13:1-5).”

REFLECTION

Popularly, they seem to be always joined in some form of question or inquiry: sin and suffering. Many people, faced with the unanswerable question of ‘why suffering,’ inevitably say something to the effect, ‘but s/he (or I) is (am) such a good person. Why would God cause this?’ Jesus Himself acknowledges peoples’ popular perception of suffering and sin in the uniquely Lucan reported events of the falling tower and mixing of sacrificial blood. Is Jesus giving an answer to the age-old question of ‘why bad things happen to good people?’ Yes and no ...

When Jesus asked about the suffering of the Galileans, He seems to imply that ‘things happen’ and does not give any further explanation. πάσχω (páschō) is the Greek verb that is translated into English as “to suffer.” Many biblical and linguistic scholars note that πάσχω originally described an event that happened in such a way so as to make an impression on a person. The event, generally speaking, was rather neutral in its significance and was always external; that is, someone/thing external to a person or community. Whether the event was ‘good’ or ‘bad’ depended on how it was received by the person(s) involved. What πάσχω conveyed was simply something happening to you (individually or communally) and you had no control over the event. The fact that one had no control over the event contributed to the verb’s meaning eventually to include “suffering.”

What is interesting here is that Jesus acknowledges that ‘things happen.’ These happenings in the vast majority of cases are by no means neutral: they cause untold pain, devastation and death. Why? Jesus does not answer that question and in not answering it implies that these types of things can, do and will happen. So why does Jesus call for repentance (μετάνοια, metanoia)? Why jump from “suffering” to “repentance”? Does not such a leap reinforce the stereotype that all suffering is a result of sin?

Consider the parable that closes this Sunday’s proclamation. One aspect of the parable certainly focuses on growth. There is a reasonable expectation that a fig tree, especially after 3 years, will produce good fruit. For some reason, the tree has not produced fruit and is given another year, but only 1 additional year. In other words, the tree’s existence is fixed within the constraints of time. Not only does the farmer contend with the vicissitudes of the earth when it comes to crops and to trees, he does so within the limits of finite existence. Of course the farmer (and all of us!) would relish the thought that every seed planted would yield an abundant harvest. Yet despite our best efforts at care and cultivation there are events beyond our control that will definitely affect and effect the harvest.

So what do the mixed blood and falling tower have to do with μετάνοια (click here for a previous blog entry on μετάνοια)? Those 2 events, which in many respects are analogous for any number of events, point to the finite dimension of life this-side-of-the-grave. While a part of us wants a life and a world of perfection, we lost that “in the beginning” when we decided it was better to listen to something else rather than the life-giving Word of the Creator. More troubling for our lives though is that we want ‘a god (or gods!)’ that is able to wave a wand or sprinkle pixie-dust that magically makes everything better in an instant. Such is ‘a god’ of our creation and projection, not the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. While thoughts desire a self-created Shangri-La, Jesus is clear that we live an existence that is bounded by space and time for the purpose of being ‘in communion with His Father.’ This was and is the plan for each of us from that unique moment “in the beginning.” With the uncertainly of life, each of us exists in a particular place for a particular time to be ‘in communion with God our Father.’ While it is natural and easy to ask ‘why’ when things go wrong, μετάνοια is actually the response to ‘why’ as the ‘things that go wrong’ are a reminder, painful as they are, that our ultimate life and purpose is found within a community and relationship of Divine Persons. Engaging the ‘work’ of μετάνοια enables the false self to be cut away, making room to live freely as sons and daughters in the Son.

Lent, Week 2. Sunday.

ANTIPHON

Of You my heart has spoken: Seek His face. It is Your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not Your face from me. (Psalm 27:8-9).

COLLECT

O God, who have commanded us
to listen to Your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that, with spiritual sight made pure,
we may rejoice to behold Your 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. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord is my light and my salvation. (Psalm 27: 1).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:28-31)”

REFLECTION

In terms of the Lenten journey, the journey to full Sacramental communion, or the entire Christian life – the event of Jesus’ Transfiguration is a moment-of-moments in His Public Ministry. Commentary abounds on this Event from the Fathers of the Church to contemporary interpreters, notably the late Dominican priest, Jean Corbon who penned deep insights in his work, Wellsprings of Worship. Hence today’s ‘words of THE WORD’ will cull a bit more directly from these giants to help all of us in the walk to Calvary with our Master and Savior, Jesus.

Corbon notes that the “Transfiguration is the historical and literary center of the Gospel by reason of its mysterious realism: the humanity of Jesus is the vital place where men become God (this is ‘divinization’ among the Eastern Fathers of the Church) and the apostles could properly see the nature of their Lord (91).” Accordingly, it is not so much a change in or about Jesus; rather the Event is the grace whereby humanity is able, once again, “to see” the glory of God – a power that has been damaged severely by the Fall and subsequent transgressions.

For the evangelist Luke, this ‘restored’ ability “to see” is crucial because in terms of his chronology, Luke situates the Transfiguration among lessons on discipleship and the Passion just prior to Jesus’ declaration to resolutely turn and head towards Jerusalem. Corbon writes: “The reason for the transfiguration can be glimpsed, therefore, in what the evangelists do not say: having finished to instruction preparatory to his own Pasch, Jesus is determined to advance to its accomplishment. With the whole of his being, the whole of his ‘body’, he is committed to the loving will of the Father; he accepts that will without reservation. From now on, everything, up to and including the final struggle at which the same three disciples will be invited to be present, will be an expression of his unconditional ‘Yes’ to the Father’s love (93).” In other words, Peter, James and John behold that Jesus’ glory lie in His total Gift of Himself in doing His Father’s Will. Jesus’ “Yes” is the light of glory transforming the darkness of sin and selfishness.

In many parishes this Sunday, the “Penitential Rite (Scrutiny)” will be celebrated for adults preparing for Full Communion with the Church during the Easter Season. The connection between the proclamation of Jesus’ Transfiguration and this Liturgical Rite is powerful. In the Rite, all are asked to pray that the candidates “will be given a spirit of repentance, a deepened sense of sin and the true freedom of the children of God (RCIA, 468).” The Church’s prayer, prayed over them, asks that they be “Enlightened … clearly seeing their sins and failings” that they “may place all their trust in Your mercy and resist all that is deceitful and harmful (RCIA, 470).”

Thus in the Liturgy “our eyes can be opened so that we may recognize the Lord and be transformed into Him. This, then, is the body of Christ, the sacrament of human salvation and God’s glorification. The liturgy creates in the Church the transfiguration of the ‘whole body’, which is now growing, the transforming union in which men become God (97).”

Lent, Week 1

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

When he calls on Me, I will answer him; I will deliver him and give him glory, I will grant him length of days. (Psalm 91:15-16).

COLLECT

Grant, almighty God,
through the yearly observances of holy Lent,
that we may grow in understanding
of the riches hidden in Christ and
by worthy conduct pursue their effects.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble. (Psalm 91: 15).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Filled with the Holy Spirit,
Jesus returned from the Jordan and
was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted (πειραζόμενος, peirazomenos)
by the devil (διαβόλου, diabolou) (Luke 4:1-2).”

REFLECTION

All sorts of images flood the mind when one hears the word, “devil.” While temptation and sin are words closely associated with ‘the devil,’ it helpful for a moment to put aside Medieval era depictions of ‘the devil’ and examine ‘the devil’ from the perspective of the Scriptures themselves.

διάβολος (diabolos), translated often throughout both Testaments of Scripture as ‘adversary’ or ‘devil,’ is a compound that means “to throw apart.” It is the opposite of παραβολή (parabole), which can be translated as “parable” or “symbol.” All throughout the Scriptures, διάβολος is an active power working ‘intelligently’ (with a plan) to divide and to separate. Often this active power is a person, who ‘connects’ to or with other persons (Divine, human or angelic) to divide and then conquer. The image that many have of the devil being that ‘bad voice’ whispering in the ear to do something bad does not really capture the horror of διάβολος. The popular image of being tempted to do this or to do that, misses the mark that the work of διάβολος is to separate one completely from the Other and others. διάβολος is about derailing life’s plan in a way that makes a train wreck out of life. Worse still in the Gospel account, διάβολος is the attempt to drive a permanent wedge between God the Father and the loving plan of salvation He has for each person. Here the words of Saint Paul must be the believer’s battle armor: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).”

Consider for a moment when this particular event occurs in Jesus’ life. The Gospel pericope proclaimed today begins: “Jesus returned from the Jordan.” In the Lucan chronology, Jesus had been baptized by John and was about to begin the Public Ministry in Galilee. Between those 2 events stands Jesus’ ‘test’ of 40 days in the barren wilderness of the desert. The Greek verb πειράζω (peirazo), translated here ‘tempted,’ has an array of meanings including “to test,” “to scrutinize,” and “to prove.” Why would Jesus have to undergo any form of ‘testing, scrutinizing and proving’? A response (not the answer) to that question lies in 2 other Books of Sacred Scripture: The Book of Job and The Letter to the Hebrews. In Job, διάβολος is a person whose role is to antagonize God. God speaks glowingly of the people who follow His way of living. The Antagonist says that humans only do that because of Divine blessings received in the form of various material goods. Take them away and humanity will curse God. Thus begins the ‘testing of Job.’ Will he separate himself from God by cursing God for what has befallen him?

The Letter to the Hebrews offers another facet to consider. “In the days when He [Jesus] was in the flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, He learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, declared by God high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:7-10).” In His humanity, Jesus lives life always attentive to His Father’s Word. He does not list to another (cf Genesis 3) and certainly dialogues with no one who will derail the Mission He has received from His Father. In His ‘testing,’ Jesus lives in way the Father intended ‘from the beginning.’

The Lenten journey is a journey with Jesus to oneness and wholeness, realizing that each of us has abused many of the elements of creation and in so doing have separated ourselves in varying degrees from our Father’s love. We learn from the catechumens and candidates, many who will be ‘elected’ by the local Bishop in dioceses throughout the world during these early days of Lent. They have listened attentively to The Word that has brought oneness and wholeness to them. They have struggled to separate themselves from elements of the world that preclude a loving relationship with the Divine Persons they will meet in Baptism at the Easter Vigil. For those already baptized, we join in loving solidarity with them – knowing sadly that we have permitted separation from our First Love to infect our very beings with promises for false hopes and joys. With the Word of God and the guarantee of Divine Love, may Lent be the joyful season of Grace that plunges each into deeper union with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Sunday. Time through the Year, Week 5.

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God Who made us, for He is the Lord our God. (Psalm 95: 6-7)

COLLECT

Keep your family safe, O Lord,
with unfailing care, that,
relying solely on the
hope of heavenly grace,
they may be defended
always by your protection.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord. (Psalm 138: 1).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“They cried one to the other, “Holy, holy, holy (קָדֹשׁ, qadosh) is the LORD of hosts (צָבָא tsabaʾ)! All the earth is filled with his glory (כָּבוֹד kabowd)!” At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
(Isaiah 6:3-4).”

REFLECTION

Actions, words, images and thoughts abound when it comes to a discussion of holiness. What exactly is holiness? Many will certainly acknowledge that it is an important element of Christian living. Yet nailing down a meaning that assists the human living of holiness in an authentic way is a bit harder. Christian history is filled with episodes of movements seeking holiness that actually do more harm than good. While we may not welcome a burning ember touched to our lips, Isaiah’s recollection of his call to prophetic ministry is significant in getting on the proper track of holiness.

When the sight of “the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne” unfolds before Isaiah, he cries out in a way similar to praise: holy, holy, holy. For Isaiah, the ‘thrice holy’ (trisagion in Greek and in various Eastern Rite Liturgies) is essentially a proclamation of Who God is and thus who Isaiah is not. “Holy,” as used here in the Isaian Text, translates the Hebrew word קָדֹשׁ (qadosh). Early in the history of the word’s usage, qadosh expressed ‘difference.’ It did not speak fundamentally about moral qualities or goodness in general; aspects of the word we now tend to view synonymously with ‘holiness.’ In Hebrew usage, “difference” gradually expressed cultic and covenant realities. Thus in time, qadosh came to refer to ‘anyone or anything set apart for a particular purpose’ and for Israel ‘a particular purpose’ involved living the covenant and one’s God-given mission.

In Isaiah’s experience of being called, he knows (sees) how different he is from God. God is the LORD of hosts (צָבָא tsabaʾ). tsaba’ is part of a vocabulary of Hebrew military words. In Isaiah’s day, not only did tsaba’ refer to a large group fit for military service, tsaba’ expressed the order, obedience and loyalty that all in the group had to the leader. The mighty power of ‘the hosts’ came not strictly from its massive quantity of individuals, although that certainly helped, but rather from the cohesiveness or the oneness the mass of individuals formed. Gradually tsaba’ included not only the uncountable number of angels ready to battle anyone or anything contrary to the Lord’s covenant or mission but also all of the stars of the nighttime sky. For Isaiah and other prophets, even these ‘heavenly bodies’ obeyed the ‘Creator of the stars of night’ and sang His praises.

Qadosh and tsaba’ – courtesy of Isaiah and the Lord’s call to him – provide sound elements to respond to the Creator’s effective Word summoning all to a life of holiness. The Lord first and foremost initiates holiness. That is our only starting point for a life of holiness. No amount of work or effort, no technique, no amount of spiritual reading, no amount of ‘saying prayers,’ etc … will ever effect (cause) one to be holy. The grace of holiness is pure gift that cannot be earned, only received graciously. As a gift graciously received, holiness is being or existing not primarily doing (although there will be some ‘doing’ in its proper sequence and time). Like Isaiah, holiness is seeing (knowing) the otherness of God and knowing (seeing) that I [and others!] have been called into that relationship. It is then from that perspective of being-in-relationship that any ‘doing’ is done. Thus the disciplines of holy living – prayer, fasting, almsgiving – are all done, not to earn, but to respond to the One Who has been seen (known). This response then ‘sets one apart for mission and praise’ since holiness is never a God-and-me affair. Mission and praise can be confidently done knowing (seeing) the ‘army of one’ is at our sides continuously ‘lest you dash your foot against the stone.’

Sunday. Time through the Year, Week 4.

ANTIPHON

O Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In His presence are majesty and splendor, strength and honor in His holy place. (Psalm 96: 1, 6)

COLLECT

Grant us, Lord our God,
that we may honor you with all our mind,
and love everyone in truth of 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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

I will sing of your salvation. (Psalm 71: 1).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated (קָדַשׁ qadash) you,
a prophet (נָבִיא nabi) to the nations I appointed () you.
(Jeremiah 1:4-5).”

REFLECTION

As the account of Jeremiah’s call is proclaimed this Sunday, it is wise to pose a couple of questions: who is a prophet? What does a prophet do? Popularly, many have an image of a prophet as an otherworldly guru endowed with some magic-seeing power that gives him or her an ability to predict the future as a soothsayer or fortune-teller. Fortunately for us, such is NOT the biblical prophet of Israel and it certainly does not describe the work of Jeremiah.

The biblical prophet lived and worked in a world familiar with prophecy. In the Ancient Near Eastern world practically every king or queen had a guild or a company of prophets. These prophets acted as counselors or advisors on all sorts of matters concerning day-to-day living. At times guilds of prophets contended with each other, jockeying for position and prominence in society. Many times the ‘advice’ proffered was anything but counsel – ‘advice’ amounted to nice-sounding words to secure one’s position with the reigning ruler.

In Israel, like so many other aspects of her life in the Ancient Near Eastern world, prophecy was different. Sure there was a need for counsel and advice, but prophecy had another function vital for living the Covenant. In Israel, the prophet (nabi in Hebrew) was one ‘who spoke on behalf of God.’ The prophet tended to be an individual person, not a guild or a school. Unlike the guild prophets throughout the world of that time, Israel’s nabi were called by God. Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – to name only a few – did not ‘join’ or sign-up to be a nabi. In fact, many of Israel’s nabi resisted and balked when called by God to speak on His behalf. Israel’s nabi also nurtured an intense, intimate relationship with God and even some of their ‘conversations’ with God sound shocking in their apparent audacity (cf. ‘The Confessions’ of Jeremiah) yet they reveal a profound relationship with God and a willingness to serve Him and the people to whom the prophet is sent.

The nabi in Israel was also a person “dedicated” by God for a particular mission. “Dedicated” translates the Hebrew (קָדַשׁ qadash). Qadash is part of a Hebrew word-group that essentially means “set apart” and eventually “set apart for a particular purpose or usage.” As such, the Hebrew root of qadash is the basis for the English word “holy.” The importance of qadash is that this is not a matter of good, better best. Because a person (or object, place) is set apart that person has a particular task of work to accomplish. It does not necessary make her or him any ‘better’ in an objective moral sense.

To accomplish the task or work that one has been “set apart for,” one requires sufficient material and means. Translated here “appoint,” the Hebrew verb נָתַן (natan) has a wide range of meanings in the Prophetic Texts of the Old Testament. The root and derivatives of natan are part of a Hebrew word-group that means “to give as a gift.” The word is used so extensively throughout the Old Testament that there are myriads of meanings associated with natan. With his ‘appointment’ from God as nabi, Jeremiah is given all that is needed to do the work for which he has been set apart. All that Jeremiah received, most especially the Word of God, was given without earning or merit: all was and remains Gift.

As linked with the Gospel episode of Jesus’ proclaiming the Word of God in Nazareth and the people’s response, it is fair to ponder, not only the gift of prophecy, but all gifts given by the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to build-up the Body of Christ, the Church. Through Baptism, Confirmation and the Most Holy Eucharist, all have been “set apart” and “appointed” for particular missions throughout our lives, beginning with the call ‘to be holy.’ A prayer by Blessed John Henry Newman captures this well:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service.
He has committed some work to me
which He has not committed to another.
I have my mission.
I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good; I shall do His work.
I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place,
while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.
Therefore, I will trust Him,
whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him,
in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.
If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.
He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.
He may take away my friends.
He may throw me among strangers.
He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink,
hide my future from me.
Still, He knows what He is about.”

Sunday. Time through the Year, week 3.

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

O Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In His presence are majesty and splendor, strength and honor in His holy place. (Psalm 96: 1, 6)

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
direct our actions according to your good pleasure,
that in the name of your beloved Son
we may abound in good works.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. (John 6:63, Psalm 19).

GOSPEL EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events (πραγμάτων, pragmaton)
that have been fulfilled (πεπληροφορημένων, peplerophoremenon) among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning
and ministers of the word have handed them down (παρέδοσαν, paredosan) to us,
I too have decided,
after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may realize (ἐπιγνῷς, epignos) the certainty of the teachings (κατηχήθης, katechethes)
you have received. (Luke 1:1-4).”

REFLECTION

Admittedly, when one hears the word prologue in the context of the Gospels, many naturally – and properly – recall the Johannine Text: 1:1-18. The verses that open the Gospel according to Saint Luke (1:1-4), like the verses that open the Gospel according to Saint John, do form a necessary ‘first word (pro-logos)’ as the Church begins a sequential proclamation of the Lucan Text on these Sundays in the Season known as “Time through the Year (Ordinary Time).” Today’s study will focus on ‘fulfilled events handed down to realize the certainty of the teachings.’

Saint Luke begins this 4 verse prologue by speaking of “events (πραγμάτων, pragmaton)” “that have been fulfilled (πεπληροφορημένων, peplerophoremenon).” “Events” is the English translation of the Greek πρᾶγμα (pragma). πρᾶγμα (pragma), while not offering an earth-shattering insight to the meaning of a relatively common English word event, it does highlight life’s events in ‘all their facets and dimensions.’ Applied here to the Person and Life of Jesus, πρᾶγμα (pragma) demands embracing reality in its wholeness, not selected episodes that appeal to one’s sensibilities or likes. πρᾶγμα (pragma) is a ‘whole-package’ approach to life that invites continuous examination and reflection in such a way that one may omit nothing from life. It is precisely “the events” - the totality of the life of Jesus - that Luke records as being fulfilled (πληροφορέω, plērophoreō). πληροφορέω (plērophoreō), translated here “have been fulfilled,” is a verb that is formed from two Greek words meaning ‘complete’ and ‘to carry/to wear/to carry a burden.’ The sense of the Greek compound is that the action πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) is an all-encompassing action involving the whole person living life in all its facets. In antiquity, πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) meant a ‘complete wearing of clothes’ in a somewhat idiomatic way that expressed all of life being kept as close to you as your clothes. Later use of the verb πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) included elements of ‘protection,’ ‘assurance’ and ‘confidence’ that would permit one to have sufficient evidence to persuade or convince another of truth. The point here is that while “have been fulfilled” is not an erroneous translation, it does seem to lack the ‘punch’ that πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) in the biblical era expressed. One could argue that translating πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) as “have been fulfilled” conveys a sense of neutrality, a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ attitude whereas πληροφορέω (plērophoreō) is a bit more challenging and active. For Luke, “the events that have been fulfilled” is ‘everything of Jesus presented in a way to convince and assure you’ of the presentation’s truth.

So, what do one do with ‘everything of Jesus presented in a way to convince and assure?’ You hand it down or hand it on, of course! The Greek verb παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi) is an important word as both a verb and noun in the New Testament meaning “to deliver, to hand-down, to hand-on (it is the basis of the word Tradition, which will be studied at a later date).” παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi) is not an inconsequential or passive action of delivery. Think of mail delivery. The letter carrier places mail in an approved box at one’s home or place of business and assumes at some point, someone will retrieve the mail and do something with it. παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), however, expresses action that engages both the deliverer and the deliveree. Using the same example of mail delivery, παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi) expresses the fact that the letter carrier has something specific for you. You are required to receive and sign for the delivery … and sometimes, the deliverer gets to see your response to the received letter or package. For Luke, the ‘delivery’ of ‘everything of Jesus presented in a way to convince and assure’ is, once again, not a neutral, take-it-or-leave-it event. This is truth and the truth presented in such a way specifically for each person that it has a real affect and effect in one’s life. The delivery, in this case a Person, demands ‘Yes, I accept delivery’ or ‘No, I refuse delivery.’ Either way, with παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi) there is no politically correct or comfortable middle ground of picking and choosing.

This leads to Saint Luke’s self-stated purpose for the Narrative that is about to follow: “that you may realize (ἐπιγνῷς, epignos) the certainty (ἀσφάλειαν) of the teachings (κατηχήθης, katechethes) you have received.” “That you may realize” is the English translation of the Greek verb ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginōskō). ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginōskō) is a form of the important biblical verb γινώσκω (ginosko). While this family of Greek verbs is often translated into English by various words ‘to know’ or ‘to realize,’ it is important here to distinguish between ‘types of knowning.’ γινώσκω (ginosko) is certainly about ‘knowing,’ but ‘knowing’ in a way that is experiential. γινώσκω (ginosko) expresses events that touch a person at his or her core, life-defining or life-changing events. γινώσκω (ginosko) is knowledge akin to the ‘wow moments’ of life when connections are made or deep insights flood a person’s entire life. γινώσκω (ginosko) is not amassing individual, isolated factual data and regurgitating them upon request. Knowledge that is grounded in γινώσκω (ginosko) is life altering. For Luke, this experiential knowledge that changes a person is firm, confident and able to form a basis for living life (ἀσφάλειαν, asphaleian) because for Luke, the life-altering event is the Person Jesus, handed-on to each person to live life confidently in Him.

Luke’s ‘first-word (prologue)’ to all who are Theophilus (friend of God) is more than preliminary information. Like the famous Johannine Prologue, the Lucan Prologue expresses the life-changing event of Jesus Christ delivered to each person. While there is much more to consider about this Prologue (which hopefully will be posted throughout the week), the present task is to answer, “Do I accept delivery of the Person Jesus into my life - AND - am I willing to make the changes such delivery entails?”

Sunday. Time through the Year, Week 3. Office of Readings, Second Reading

Office of Readings - Second reading

From the Constitution
On the Sacred Liturgy
Second Vatican Council

Christ is present to His Church

Christ is always present to his Church, especially in the actions of the liturgy. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, in the person of the minister (it is the same Christ who formerly offered himself on the cross that now offers by the ministry of priests) and most of all under the eucharistic species. He is present in the sacraments by his power, in such a way that when someone baptizes, Christ himself baptizes. He is present in his word, for it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Finally, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he himself promised: Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.

Indeed, in this great work which gives perfect glory to God and brings holiness to men, Christ is always joining in partnership with himself his beloved Bride, the Church, which calls upon its Lord and through him gives worship to the eternal Father.

It is therefore right to see the liturgy as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, in which through signs addressed to the senses man’s sanctification is signified and, in a way proper to each of these signs, made effective, and in which public worship is celebrated in its fullness by the mystical body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the head and by his members.

Accordingly, every liturgical celebration, as an activity of Christ the priest and of his body, which is the Church, is a sacred action of a pre-eminent kind. No other action of the Church equals its title to power or its degree of effectiveness.

In the liturgy on earth we are given a foretaste and share in the liturgy of heaven, celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem, the goal of our pilgrimage, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, as minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With the whole company of heaven we sing a hymn of praise to the Lord; as we reverence the memory of the saints, we hope to have some part with them, and to share in their fellowship; we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, who is our life, appears, and we appear with him in glory.

By an apostolic tradition taking its origin from the very day of Christ’s resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every eighth day, the day that is rightly called the Lord’s day. On Sunday the Christian faithful ought to gather together, so that by listening to the word of God and sharing in the Eucharist they may recall the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God who has given them a new birth with a lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Lord’s day is therefore the first and greatest festival, one to be set before the loving devotion of the faithful and impressed upon it, so that it may be also a day of joy and of freedom from work. Other celebrations must not take precedence over it, unless they are truly of the greatest importance, since it is the foundation and the kernel of the whole liturgical year.

Wednesday, Time through the Year, Week 2. Office of Readings excerpt

Office of Readings - Second reading

From the dogmatic constitution
On the Church
Second Vatican Council

See, I will save my people

In his wisdom and goodness the eternal Father created the whole world according to his supremely free and mysterious purpose and decreed that men should be raised up to share in the divine life. When they fell in Adam, he did not abandon them but always kept providing them with aids to salvation, in consideration of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Before the ages the Father already knew all the elect and predestined them to be made into the likeness of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.

God resolved to gather into holy Church all who believe in Christ. The Church, foreshadowed even from the beginning of the world, so marvelously prepared in the history of the people of Israel, established in these last times and revealed by the outpouring of the Holy spirit, will be made perfect in glory at the end of time. Then, as we read in the Fathers of the Church, all the righteous from Adam onward – from Abel, the righteous, to the last of the elect – will be gathered in the universal Church in the presence of the Father.

Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are in their different ways related to God’s people.

In the first place, there is that people which was given the covenants and the promises and from which Christ was born by human descent: the people which is by God’schoice most dear on account of the patriarchs. God never repents of his gifts or his call.

God’s plan of salvation embraces those also who acknowledge the Creator. Among these are especially the Mohammedans; they profess their faith as the faith of Abraham, and with us they worship the one, merciful God who will judge men on the last day.

God himself is not far from thoseothers who seek the unknown God in darkness and shadows, for it is he who gives to all men life and inspiration and all things, and who as Savior desires all men to be saved.

Eternal salvation is open to those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church but seek God with a sincere heart, and under the inspiration of grace try in their lives to do his will, made known to them by the dictates of their conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the aids necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet reached an explicit belief in God, but strive to lead a good life, under the influence of God’s grace.

Whatever goodness and truth is found among them is seen by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel, and as given by him who shines on all men, so that they may at last have life.

Monday, Time through the Year, Week 2. Saint Agnes

Regardless of one’s political preferences, today marks the public celebration of President Obama's inauguration as President of the United States of America. It is fitting that this also be a day of prayer from him and all who hold public office in this land and throughout the world.

SCRIPTURE

“His help is near for those who fear Him and His glory will dwell in our land. Psalm 85” Click for full Psalm.

COLLECT

(This prayer is taken from The Roman Missal, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, #24: For the Head of State or Ruler”)

O God,
to Whom every human power is subject,
grant to Your servant our president Barack Obama
success in the exercise of his high office,
so that,
always revering You and striving to please you,
he may constantly secure and preserve
for the people entrusted to his care
the freedom that comes from civil peace.
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.

It will also be appropriate to pray this day for our Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Pray for all these citizen-leaders that they serve the common good by always reverencing the dignity of the human person and the genuine oneness of the human family.

(This prayer is taken from The Roman Missal, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, #23: For a Governing Assembly”)

O God,
Who arrange all things in wondrous order
and govern in marvelous ways,
look with favor on the assembled,
for whom we now pray,
that they may decide everything
for the well-being and peace of all
and may never turn aside from Your will.
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.

Sunday. Time Through the Year, Week 2. Word of THE WORD

ANTIPHON (click for full Psalm)

“All the earth shall bow down before You, O God,
and shall sing to You,
shall sing to Your Name, O Most High! (Psalm 66 :4)”

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
Who govern all things,
both in heaven and on earth,
mercifully hear the pleading of Your people
and bestow Your peace on our times.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Proclaim His marvelous deeds to all the nations. (Psalm 96: 3).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) shines forth like the dawn
and her victory (יְשׁוּעָה, yshuwʿah) like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication (צֶדֶק, tsedeq),
and all the kings Your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by Your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate,”
but you shall be called “My Delight,”
and your land “Espoused (Isaiah 62:1-4).”

REFLECTION

The Divine word voiced by an unstoppable Isaiah rumbles through the cosmos this Sunday with news that breaks into the fabric of day-to-day tedium announcing an entirely new way of living. “Vindication” and “victory,” as sounded in the translation heard today, offers not only a “new name” but also a new way of covenanting with God as “My Delight,” “My Espoused.” Key to this new way of relating to and with the Lord lies in the Divinely initiated and sustained works of “vindication” and “victory.”

What exactly does Isaiah mean by “vindication?” In our present culture, we tend to view “vindication” as ‘being proved right,’ especially after some ordeal or confrontation. There may even be a hint of revenge or punishment added for good measure that attempts to justify oneself as the person-in-the-right after a contentious argument or hurtful ‘discussion.’ Biblically though, “vindication” translates the Hebrew word צֶדֶק, (tsedeq). Tsedeq is part of a family of Hebrew words formed from the Hebrew root word צָדַק (tsadaq). While conveying a legal aspect of ‘being in the clear,’ ‘being not-guilty,’ the root tsadaq fundamentally has to do with ‘right’ in the sense of ‘right-living,’ ‘right or proper order,’ ‘right, just, or proper relationship.’ In addition to “vindication,” tsadaq and its forms often appear in English biblical translation as “just,” “justice,” “right,” or “righteous.”

Tsadaq, especially when it is applied to people throughout the Scriptures, refers often to living in proper relationship: proper relationship with God, with others, with the true self and all of creation. Used extensively by the Fathers of the Church, tsadaq (the Fathers used the Greek of tsadaq: dikaios) expressed the original harmony that radiated from creation. Original Justice is ‘original tsadaq’ declaring, that since all reality flowed from the hand of the Creator, all reality originally was in right-relationship with the Creator; all creation was tsadaq with the Creator. Far from a contemporary usage and understanding of ‘justice,’ biblical justice is first and foremost about living life relationally as well as each relationship in its proper place, a relationship that ruptured into disorder with the advent of sin.

Yet as Genesis makes clear in that protoevangelical verse (3:15), help is on the way to heal the rupture and disorder humanity caused.
In the translation proclaimed this Sunday, that healing is “victory (יְשׁוּעָה, yshuwʿah).” Yshuwʿah, like so many Hebrew words, is grounded in a root word and in this case it is (יָשַׁע, yashaʿ). Yashaʿ is the Hebrew root from which many of the “salvation” words are derived in Sacred Scripture. While later usage of yashaʿ will include aspects of ‘healing’ and ‘restoration,’ the original usage of yashaʿ is ‘grounded’ in Ancient Near Eastern understanding of ‘land.’ In that world, land was never owned. Purchasing land and receiving legal title or deed to the land is a much later historical development. Initially, land was a gift, a gift that was ‘wide, broad and spacious (yashaʿ).’ How is it that this word yashaʿ, which is all about wide, broad and spacious land, come to mean “victory” or “salvation?” For the ancients, to live on a ‘wide, broad, and spacious land’ meant to have all the necessary resources to live. Land that was ‘wide, broad and spacious’ would have a better chance of access to water, sufficient room to farm and to herd as well as the ability to protect oneself and family. When all of these resources were present, one lived yashaʿ, one lived “victory,” one lived the life of salvation.

Once again, the central event of Christianity and the core message of this Year of Faith rings through these Biblical texts. Yashaʿ, while the root of the words that provide Biblical “victory” and “salvation,” yashaʿ is the Hebrew root for the Divine Name, Jesus! No longer “victory” and “salvation” grounded in land that is wide, broad and spacious, salvation is the right-relationship (tsadaq) with the Divine Person Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God Who walked the land of earth. Being in relationship with Jesus Who blesses one with the Gift of being “My Delight ... My Espoused” is both an event of victory and healing, a living of salvation. Far from a perceived notion of mindless, heartless, obligatory living of a moral code divorced from a Person and laced with images of ‘doing good to earn heaven,’ Christian salvation is about the Person Jesus Who desires to encounter, to befriend and to love us. The ‘moral code,’ those ways of thinking, speaking and acting are rooted in a response to Him as a Person within a relationship of love. One avoids sin and seeks His Face and His Kingdom way of living not because of a whimsical edict, but because of a graced-movement of the heart and intellect that desires the Truth of Divine Love. One lives this “Way” because of love, Divine Love revealed and embodied in a Person, Jesus.

Tuesday, Time through the Year, Week 1.

The Martyrs’ Project

If you think that martyrs are relegated to the pages of ancient history, it is well worth taking a look at the work of Duane Arnold and Michael Bell, along with their conversations with Bishop Christopher Coyne.

The Martyrs’s project website and podcasts.

Monday, Time Through the Year, Week 1

From the letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement I, Pope

The Word of God on high, fountain of wisdom

For his chosen ones scattered throughout the world, we shall make our constant prayer to the Creator of the universe. May he allow none of them to fall away, but preserve them all through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, through whom he called us out of darkness into light, out of ignorance to the knowledge of his glorious name.

Give us grace, Lord, to hope in your Name, to which all creatures owe their being. Open the eyes of our heart to know you alone, the Most High in the highest heavens, the holy One, whose dwelling is in the holy. You abase the arrogance of the proud, frustrate the designs of the godless, exalt the lowly and humble the lofty. You give men wealth and take it away; you slay them, save them and give them new life. Alone the Benefactor of spirits and God of all flesh, your gaze penetrates the depths, you observe the doings of men. Helper of those in peril, Savior of those in despair, you created and still keep watch over all that draws breath. You cause the peoples on the earth to multiply, and from them all choose those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him you have instructed us, sanctified us, honored us.

Lord, we entreat you to help us. Come to the aid of the afflicted, pity the lowly, raise up the fallen, show your face to the needy, heal the sick, convert the wayward, feed the hungry, deliver the captives, support the weak, encourage the fainthearted. Let all nations know that you alone are God; Jesus Christ is your Son, and we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.

Lord, you created the world according to the eternal decree now revealed in your works. Faithful throughout all generations, you are just in judgment, wonderful in power and majesty. You formed your creation with wisdom, established it with prudence. Everything we see proclaims your goodness. You are kind and compassionate, and never fail those who put their trust in you. Forgive us for our failings and for our sins.

Do not hold all the transgressions of your servants against them, but purify us by your truth, and so guide our footsteps that by walking in holiness and justice and simplicity of heart we may do what is good and pleasing in your sight and in the sight of our leaders.

Lord, let the light of your face shine upon us, so that we may enjoy your blessings in peace, protected by your strong hand, and freed from all sin by your outstretched arm; and deliver us from those who hate us unjustly.

Give peace and concord to us and to all mankind, even as you gave it to our ancestors when they devoutly called upon you in faith and truth. Lord, you alone are able to bestow these and even greater benefits upon us. We praise you through Jesus Christ, our high priest and the champion of our souls. Through him be glory and majesty to you now and throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Baptism of the Lord, Feast. Words of THE WORD

ANTIPHON

After the Lord was baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: this is my Beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleaced. (Matthew 3:16-17)

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
Who, when Christ had been baptized
in the River Jordan and
as the Holy Spirit descended upon Him,
solemnly declared Him your beloved Son,
grant that your children by adoption,
reborn of water and the Holy Spirit,
may always be well pleasing to you.
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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

“The Lord will bless his people with peace (Psalm 29: 11).”

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant (עַבְד ʿebed) whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
(Isaiah 42:1-4)”

REFLECTION

Tradition numbers them at four and names them variously as “Songs of the Servant,” “Suffering Servant Songs” or the “Servant Songs,” to cite only three examples. Contained in chapters 42, 49, 50 and 52-53 of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the precise identity of the person (or persons, although servant is singular in these text) is unknown which has given rise to many theories and insights throughout the centuries. While certainly significant within the Jewish experience and Canon of Sacred Scripture, Christian reflection on these prophetic texts have seen deep Christological meaning involving not only Jesus’ Mission but also His self-identity.

Writing in the later part of the fourth century, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus wrote in his Theological Oration: On the Son: “Next is the fact of his being called Servant and serving many well, and that it is a great thing for him to be called the Child of God. For in truth he was in servitude to flesh and to birth and to the conditions of our life with a view to our liberation, and to that of all those whom he has saved, who were in bondage under sin. What greater destiny can befall humanity’s humble state than that it should be intermingled with God and by this intermingling should be deified, and that we should be so visited by the Dayspring from on high, that even that holy thing that should be born should be called the Son of the Highest, and that there should be bestowed on him a name that is above every name? And what else can this be than God? – And that every knee should bow to him that was made of no reputation for us, and that mingled the form of God with the form of a servant, and that “all the house of Israel should know that God has made him both Lord and Christ”? For all this was done by the action of the Begotten and by the good pleasure of him that begat him.”

Once again the richness of the biblical languages contributes to deeper insights of the Sacred Text. No doubt, images and meanings of a servant come to mind. Yet in Isaiah’s day, the root for the word servant (עֶבֶד ʿebed) is derived from עָבַד (ʿabad) which has broad meanings including “to serve,” “to worship (the same verb is used in Exodus when Moses asks Pharaoh to let the people go that they may worship the Lord in the desert),” and “to till the ground (the same verb is used in Genesis 2 to describe the uniqueness of human labor).” While עֶבֶד (ʿebed) does express the reality of ‘being bonded to another’ or ‘working in the service or employ of another person,’ fundamentally עֶבֶד (ʿebed) is about work, and interestingly the ‘work’ of tilling the earth.

On this Feast of our Lord’s Baptism, the first of Isaiah’s “Servant Songs” is most helpful in gaining insight into a primal Gospel question, ‘Who is Jesus?’ While images, perceptions and expectations of a first-century Messiah tended to focus more on a military leader, Jesus’ Self-presentation to the crowds who followed Him was that of a servant in the sense of Isaiah’s usage. His was consistently the life of one ‘bonded to another’ – His heavenly Father. Throughout His ministry, Jesus continuously pointed “the way” to His Father and His Father’s way of living: the Kingdom of God. As Son, faithful to His Father’s Mission, Jesus tilled the soil of the human heart that each may receive the water of the Holy Spirit that washes us clean from sin that our relationship with the Father may deepen and mature. As Son, Jesus faithfully lives a life of worship, dependent upon His Father for everything and giving His Father praise and glory in all that He during His life among us then and now.

The Epiphany of the Lord, Solemnity.

ANTIPHON

Behold, the Lord, the Mighty One, has come;
and kingship is in His grasp, and power and dominion. (Mal 5:1 and 1 Chr 29:12)

COLLECT

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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm)

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. (72: 11).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT (click for all readings)

“Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship (οἰκονομίαν, oikonomian) of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery (μυστήριον, musterion)
was made known (ἐγνωρίσθη egnoristhe) to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:2-6)”

REFLECTION

And now for something completely different … somewhat. The yearly festival of Epiphany seems to generate the same question set year in, year out. Even a quick search in Google or a sampling of any number of blogs devoted to Sacred Scripture will yield questions such as, ‘What exactly was the star’s astronomical position?’ ‘Who are the magi – (a good one as history provides ample evidence for studying this question in at least 4 specific directions [check last year’s blog entry])?’ ‘What happened to the gifts when the travelers from the East left?’ Responses to these and a number of other questions generate a varied intensity and a range of passion that engages some and turns others off. This is why another approach, something somewhat different might help with this Solemnity’s Sacred Texts. The approach is taken from Origen of Alexandria († 254), one of the Christianity’s greatest thinkers and interpreters of Sacred Scripture, who often said, ‘Let Scripture interpret Scripture.’ In other words, from a Liturgical point of view the Church ‘groups’ various texts together to form essentially a singular proclamation of the Word, a Word Who became flesh for the sake of our salvation. When the Sunday Proclamation is approached in this manner, the listener realizes that at the bottom line, the Word is leading me to a deeper knowledge of the Person Jesus (Christology) and the consequent action of how I am to follow Him as a member of His Body willing to be changed (Discipleship). Salvation grounded in and made possible by the Person Jesus Who calls me to follow Him through a life of daily conversion is what the Magi are all about. It is what Isaiah, the Psalms and Saint Paul are all about. How are these connections made? ‘Let Scripture interpret Scripture’ – and this Sunday, let Saint Paul be the guide.

In his Letter to the Christians at Ephesus, Saint Paul speaks of stewardship (οἰκονομίαν, oikonomian), mystery (μυστήριον, musterion) and [making] known (ἐγνωρίσθη egnoristhe). These 3 terms offer guidance into the Person Jesus, how to follow and the gift of Salvation that are vital for anyone attempting to live the life of Jesus Christ.

Among a few ways in which Saint Paul views his life, this section from Ephesians centers on stewardship. Many readers probably have heard the word stewardship and no doubt many have heard it as nothing more than a ruse for increasing Church contributions. Biblically, the English word stewardship translates the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia) which is also the origin of the English word economy. The Greek word οἰκονομία is actually a compound of οἰκος (oikos, meaning “house” or “home”) and νόμος (nomos, meaning “law as in a proper way of living”). In short, οἰκονομία means “household order” or the “good functioning and living of family life.” As all of us know, family living requires order so that the lives of all within the home may mature and flourish. “Home order” essentially requires an approach to life that is relational: knowing and living that I am connected to all in the family and that family life cannot be about “me” nor can family life revolve around the great and almighty “me.” By definition, the “proper way of home living” requires sacrifice, anticipating the needs of one another and prudence (the virtue that helps “me” to stop having to have the last word, even though “I” am right, of course!). From a Pauline perspective, this order is vital because it provides the environment for the “mystery” “to be made known” and for this it is imperative to have a proper understanding of “mystery” from a biblical and theological perspective.

Admittedly, the word mystery gets thrown around quite easily in religious conversation. For many, it almost seems as a ‘catechetical life line’ – when I do not know an answer, mystery not only works but also excuses me from any further work, study and contemplation. Sloth (laziness) wins again! While there certainly is a dimension of mystery that accepts the reality of the unknown, its usage in the Scriptures and in the theological economy (household order) is not first and foremost about the unknown. μυστήριον (mysterion) as used in early Christianity is first and foremost an ‘unfolding of Who is known.’ In other words, μυστήριον (especially as it will be used to speak of Sacraments and the Church) presupposes a connection, a relationship – an encounter with the Person Jesus. He is known through the baptismal gift of Faith; Faith that essentially expresses the relationship Jesus has with a person and all persons. This relationship is meant to unfold (a key word in a proper understanding of μυστήριον), deepen and mature through the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in one’s life and one’s willingness to embrace the daily Cross of ongoing conversion.

But a word of caution is necessary here. When μυστήριον grounds Christian living in the ‘unfolding of Who is known,’ known does not refer to ‘a piece of knowledge.’ Known is not a mindless, rote catechism ‘answer’ to the question “Who is Jesus?” The mystery that “was made known (ἐγνωρίσθη egnoristhe)” is knowledge that is experiential. One knows mystery in the sense of experience; in other words a person experiences mystery. ἐγνωρίσθη (egnoristhe) as Saint Paul uses the verb here, comes from a family of Greek verbs rooted in the verb γινώσκω (ginosko). There are a few Greek verbs that are easily translated into English as “to know.” Many of these verbs convey the sense of ‘acquiring information or knowledge for a particular purpose.’ γινώσκω (ginosko) is in a league all of its own when it comes to ‘knowledge.’ γινώσκω is the knowledge of love. γινώσκω is the experience of other person as person inviting me to live relationally. γινώσκω is an experience of the other that goes to the very core of one’s being and moves one to change, growth and love. Countless episodes in the Gospels alone record disciples ‘coming to know’ Jesus, for example Luke 24:35, “Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” “Was made known” is a life-altering event for the disciples and it is the same verb, γινώσκω.

So where does all of this leave us on the Solemnity of the Epiphany? With our friends, the travelers from the East, Epiphany is not just an annual celebration but also an event – an opportunity and a time for Jesus “to be made known” in our lives. Like the Magi who entered the house, Epiphany summons us to the “House of the Lord” wherein we discover an order, a harmony – a proper way of living that disposes us to encounter the Person Jesus. In the Face of such a person, we drop to our knees, we lie prostrate in adoration, wonder, awe and worship knowing (γινώσκω) the Person before us is our Savior Who desires nothing other that to heal, to save and to love each of us as His Father’s precious little-one. What more can we do that give Him the gift of our lives?

5 January. Saint John Neumann (Feast in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia)

COLLECT

O God,

Who called the Bishop Saint John Neumann,

renowned for his charity and pastoral service,

to shepherd your people in America,

grant by his intercession that,

as we foster the Christian education of youth

and are strengthened by the
witness of brotherly love,

we may constantly increase the
family of your Church.

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.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (click for full Psalm

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. (Psalm 100: 2).

From a letter to Cardinal Barnabo by John Neumann, bishop

I have labored with all my powers to fulfill the duties of my office

Indeed, I have apparently delayed too long in writing to the Holy See the letter promised by the Archbishop of Baltimore in the name of the council. However, this delay was not without reason. For the council was scarcely finished and I was discussing the division of Diocese of Philadelphia and my translation to a new see with one of the Fathers of the council, when the Father intimated to me [that he did not know] whether that could more probably be hoped for, since the Holy See thought that I would resign from the episcopate, or wished to resign. In the same way when the Archbishop of Baltimore informed me of the designation of a coadjutor, he added that in the event that I should persevere in the desire to resign, the Holy See would permit me to give the title of the ecclesiastical property to the same coadjutor.

I was no little disturbed by the fear that I had done something that so displeased the Holy Father that my resignation would appear desirable to him. If this be the case, I am prepared without any hesitation to leave the episcopacy. I have taken this burden out of obedience, and I have labored with all my powers to fulfill the duties of my office, and with God’s help, as I hope, not without fruit. When the care of temporal things weighed upon my mind and it seemed to me that my character was little suited for the very cultured world of Philadelphia, I made known to my fellow bishops during the Baltimore council of 1858 that it seemed opportune to me to request my translation to one or the other see that was to be erected (namely in the City of Pottsville or in Wilmington, North Carolina). But to give up the episcopal career never entered my mind, although I was conscious of my unworthiness and ineptitude; for things had not come to such a pass that I had one or the other reason out of the six for which a bishop could safely ask the Holy Father permission to resign. For a long time I have doubted what should be done….

Although my coadjutor has proposed to me that he would take the new see if it is erected, I have thought it much more opportune and I have asked the Fathers that he be appointed to the See of Philadelphia, since he is much more highly endowed with facility and alacrity concerning the administration of temporal things. Indeed, I am much more accustomed to the country, and will be able to care for the people and faithful living in the mountains, in the coal mines and on the farms, since I would be among them.

If, however, it should be displeasing to His Holiness to divide the diocese, I am, indeed, prepared either to remain in the same condition in which I am at present, or if God so inspires His Holiness to give the whole administration of the diocese to the Most Reverend James Wood, I am equally prepared to resign from the episcopate and to go where I may more securely prepare myself for death and for the account which must be rendered to the Divine Justice.

I desire nothing but to fulfill the wish of the Holy Father whatever it may be.”

With the prayers and intercession of Saint John Neumann, kindly offer a prayer today for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and our current shepherd, Archbishop Charles Chaput.

Saint John Neumann, pray for us!

2 January, Commemoration of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus

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 and Gregory) 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 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 dealt 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 transformation 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 for one of a number of mentors in my life, Fr Ambrogio Eszer, 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!

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

From today’s First Reading

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!