Words of the Word

Christ is our head and the wise man keeps his eyes upon him

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Bishop and Father of the Church

An excerpt from Homily on Ecclesiastes, Homily 5

Ordinary Time, Week 7: Monday

We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil. Saint Paul himself and all who have reached the same heights of sanctity had their eyes fixed on Christ, and so have all who live and move and have their being in him.

As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.

The wise man, then, turns his eyes toward the One who is his head, but the fool gropes in darkness. No one who puts his lamp under a bed instead of on a lamp stand will receive any light from it. People are often considered blind and useless when they make the supreme Good their aim and give themselves up to the contemplation of God, but Paul made a boast of this and proclaimed himself a fool for Christ’s sake. The reason he said, We are fools for Christ’s sake was that his mind was free from all earthly preoccupations. It was as though he said, “We are blind to the life here below because our eyes are raised toward the One who is our head.”

And so, without board or lodging, he traveled from place to place, destitute, naked, exhausted by hunger and thirst. When men saw him in captivity, flogged, shipwrecked, led about in chains, they could scarcely help thinking him a pitiable sight. Nevertheless, even while he suffered all this at the hands of men, he always looked toward the One who is his head and he asked: What can separate us from the love of Christ, which is in Jesus? Can affliction or distress? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger or death? In other words, “What can force me to take my eyes from him who is my head and to turn them toward things that are contemptible?”

He bids us follow his example: Seek the things that are above, he says, which is only another way of saying: “Keep your eyes on Christ.”

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

Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

“For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office.” (Acts 1:20.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verses from today’s First Reading:

“Not only does the saying hold true in the time of Judas, but even today. If Judas lost his office of apostle, let priest and bishop be on guard lest they, too, lose their ministry. If an apostle fell, more easily is it possible for a monk to fall. Virtue is not lost, even though man falls and perishes. The Lord continues to lend out his money at interest; if anyone who receives it does not double it, it is taken away and given to another who already has some. The Lord’s money cannot lie idle.” (Homilies on the Psalms, 3.)

Collect

O God, Who assigned Saint Matthias
a place in the college of Apostles,
grant us, through his intercession,
that, rejoicing at how Your
love has been allotted to us,
we may merit to be numbered among the elect.
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.

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

A Blessing for all our Moms

Loving God,
as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over Your Church.
Bless these women that they may be strengthened
as Christian mothers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always with a spirit of profound respect.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

God of our ancestors in faith,
by the covenant made on Mount Sinai,
you taught Your people to strengthen the bonds of family
through faith, honor and love.
Look kindly upon Kathleen,
a mother who sought to bind her children to You.
Bring her one day to our heavenly home
where the saints dwell in blessedness and peace.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Seventh Sunday of Easter

“Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

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

“The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit alike give sanctification, life, light, comfort, and any other similar graces. And let no one attribute the power of sanctification in a special sense to the Spirit when he hears the Savior in the Gospel saying to the Father concerning his disciples, “Father, sanctify them in your name.” So too all the other gifts are produced in those who are worthy alike by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: every grace and power, guidance, life, comfort, the change to immortality, the passage to liberty, and every other boon that exists, which descends to us.” (On the Holy Trinity)

Collect

May your people exult for ever, O God,
in renewed youthfulness of spirit,
so that, rejoicing now
in the restored glory of our adoption,
we may look forward in confident hope
to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection.
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.

The Lord is risen. Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

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

All you need is love ... but what kind of love?

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

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves (ἠγάπησέν) me,
so I also love you (ἠγάπησα).
Remain (μείνατε) in my love (τῇ ἀγάπῃ).
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.””

(John 15:9-10.)

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

Last week’s echo of “remain” still resonates on this Sunday of Easter. That rich verb μένω (meno), translated here and throughout the Johannine Gospel as “to remain” conveys a very engaging activity of building a place to live (μένω (meno) can also be translated as “to abide”). μένω (meno) does not mean to remain in a static state of standing still or passively waiting around for something to happen out-of-the-blue. It rather paints a picture of someone single-mindedly staying on point and working to prepare one’s home to receive a guest. The anticipation of the guest’s arrival and the thoughts of the guest spending time with the host fills everyone with joy. The anticipation of the visit also moves the host to change whatever is needed to make room for the guest.

But what is the source of that joy? What causes one to engage in the active response-work of μένω (meno)? The answer, from the lips of Jesus, simply is to remain “in my love (ἀγάπῃ, agape).” We need to take seriously this entire phrase and not simply the noun “love.” Christian living is a qualified and specified love. Wonderfully, there are probably as many descriptions of love as there are people on planet Earth and some have been enshrined in popular music. A danger, however, lurks in the discussion of love in a Christian cosmology because we might apply our meaning of love onto the Jesus’ teaching. Love then becomes not the God-like ideal for living, but a license that canonizes what I want, when I want it and how I want it; the operative word being “I.”

Jesus’ command, “remain in my love,” begins with approaching the reality of love (ἀγάπῃ, agape) not from the perspective of ‘me, myself and I,’ but from the Person, words and deeds of Jesus. For Jesus not only teaches but lives what (actually WHO) this love is in two exceptionally concrete ways: the first – keeping the Father’s Commandments; the second – laying down His life. What binds these two points together is sacrifice; sacrifice that flows from an act of the will. This is why Christianity contends that love is not first and foremost a feeling, love is not fundeamentally an emotion. Rather love is an act of the will whereby I choose the good of the other. Such an act requires sacrifice on my part which certainly can include emotions and feelings. Yet the absence of an emotion or a feeling is not necessarily the absence of Christian love. This sacrifice is not only in action, but thought and word as well. How often do I have to have the last word? How often have I plotted to get my own way by orchestrating my own agenda? We compound the matter by then stepping back and complimenting ourselves on a ‘professional job,’ an ‘efficient and equitable use of materials and personnel,’ or worse still – I did it all for love when in fact it has been nothing more than a profound act (or acts) of selfishness. Jesus' command to sacrificial love is creative. It summons one to a way of living that is about the essential good (good as used in Genesis) made possible by a free renunciation of self.

Saint Augustine offers a concluding reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel and he tackles a description of Christian love by linking that experience with faith and hope:

“But when he said in this way here, “This is my commandment,” as if there were no other, what are we to think? Is, then, the commandment about that love with which we love one another his only one? Is there not another that is still greater, that we should love God? Or did God in truth give to us such a commandment about love alone that we have no need of searching for others? There are three things at least that the apostle commends when he says, “But now abide faith, hope, charity, these three. But the greatest of these is charity.” And although in charity, that is, in love, the two commandments are contained, yet it is here declared to be the greatest, not the only one. Accordingly, what a host of commandments are given to us about faith, what a multitude about hope! Who is there that could collect them together or suffice to number them? But let us ponder the words of the same apostle: “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” And so, where there is love, what can be lacking? And where it is not, what is there that can possibly be profitable? The devil believes but does not love: no one loves who does not believe. One may, indeed, hope for pardon who does not love, but he hopes in vain. But no one can despair who loves. Therefore, where there is love, there will necessarily be faith and hope. And where there is the love of our neighbor, there also will necessarily be the love of God. For one that does not love God, how does he love his neighbor as himself, seeing that he does not even love himself? Such a person is both impious and iniquitous. And he who loves iniquity clearly does not love but hates his own soul. Let us, therefore, hold fast to this precept of the Lord, to love one another, and then we will be doing all else that is commanded, for we have all else contained in this.” (Tractates on the Gospel of John, 83)

Sixth Sunday of Easter

“This man God raised [on] the third day and granted that he be visible...” (Acts of the Apostles 10:40)

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

“Therefore, since it was necessary that the good Shepherd lay down his life on behalf of the sheep, so that through his own death he might destroy death, the captain of our salvation, by bringing death to pass, becomes a composite in his human nature, both as a priest and a lamb in the ability to receive a share of suffering. For since death is nothing but the dissolution of both soul and body, the one who united himself to both, I mean to both soul and to body, is separated from neither — “incapable of repentance,” as the apostle says, “are the graces of God.” So having distrib uted himself to both body and soul, on the one hand he opens paradise to the thief through his soul, and through his body he establishes the work of destruction. Now this is death’s obliteration, that the destruction annihilated in the lifegiving nature is made impotent, and this, which happens in regard to these [body and soul] becomes a shared benefit and grace of our nature. In this way, he who is in both, through his resurrection fits together all that was separate, he who, according to his power, gives his body to the heart of the earth, as it has been written, while he puts his soul away from himself, saying, on the one hand, to his father, “Into your hands I hand over my spirit,” and on the other, to the thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

So in this way he comes both to be in death and not to be mastered by death. The proof is the operation that worked incorruption with regard to the body and a passing over into paradise with regard to the soul. He demonstrates this who says that “God raised him from the dead.” For not as Lazarus or anyone else of those who have returned to life by the power of another is he brought back to life — so clear is it how the resurrection of the Lord is to be conceived. Rather the Only Begotten himself raises up the person who was mixed together with himself, having both separated the soul from the body and having reunited both, and in this way a common salvation of human nature is effected.” (Against Apollinaris)

Collect

Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion
these days of joy,
which we keep in honor of the risen Lord,
and that what we relive in remembrance
we may always hold to in what we do.
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.

The Lord is risen. Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

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

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Father of the Church

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors...” (Acts of the Apostles 7:51.)

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

“Therefore when he sent the Holy Spirit, he manifested him visibly in two ways, as a dove and as fire; as a dove upon the baptized Lord, as fire upon the assembled disciples. Here we saw a dove upon the Lord; there parted tongues upon the assembled disciples; in the one, simplicity is shown, in the other, fervor. For there are those who are said to be simple, and they are indolent; they are called simple, but they are lazy. Not such a one was Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit. He was simple, because he harmed no one; he was fervent, because he reproached the impious. For he did not keep silence before the Jews; his are those fiery words, “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you have always resisted the Holy Spirit.” Great vehemence! He rages, but as a dove without bile. For, in order that you may know that he raged without bile, they who were ravens, when they heard these words, immediately ran for stones [to use] against the dove. Stephen began to be stoned; and he, who but a little before was raging and boiling spirit, as if he had attacked his enemies, and as if he had assailed them with violence by those fiery and blazing words as you have heard, “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,” so that he who heard these words might think that Stephen, if he were allowed, wished them immediately annihilated — when the rocks were coming on him from their hands, on his knees he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” He adhered to the unity of the dove. For earlier his master, on whom the dove descended, had done that; hanging on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Tractate on the Gospel of John, 6.)

Collect

Almighty, ever-living God,
Who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius
as an outstanding champion
of Your Son’s divinity,
mercifully grant, that,
rejoicing in his teaching and protection,
we may never cease to grow
in knowledge and love of 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. 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

Fifth Sunday of Easter

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.” (John 15:1)

Saint Cyril of Alexandria reflects on this verse from today’s Gospel, writes:

“For it is the function of the vine to nourish the branches, and of the tiller of the soil to tend them. And if we think about this in the right way, we will see that neither the one function if performed apart from the Father, nor the other function if performed apart from the Son or Holy Spirit, could sustain the whole. For everything proceeds from the Father by the Son in the Spirit. And so it is only appropriate now that the Savior called the Father a vinedresser so that no one might think that the Only Begotten is the only one who exercised care over us. This is why he represents God the Father as cooperating with him, calling himself the vine that enlivens his own branches with life and the power to produce, and the Father as the vinedresser, thereby teaching us that providential care over us is a sort of distinct activity of the divine substance.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, 10)

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
constantly accomplish the
Paschal Mystery within us,
that those you were pleased
to make new in Holy Baptism
may, under your protective care, bear much fruit
and come to the joys of life eternal.
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.

The Lord is risen. Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

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

Sheep not only hear, but LISTEN

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

“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead,
and they will hear (ἀκούσουσιν, akousousin) my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

(John 10:16.)

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

The Shepherd stands before us this Sunday teaching rather emphatically what it means to be His disciple. Simply, Jesus pronounces a singular action that is the foundation of discipleship: LISTEN. Courtesy of a number of influences in culture, the American use of English notes a difference between the “act of hearing” and the “act of listening.” Hearing is often understood as a passive operation that may or may not involve attention, focus or consciousness on the part of the hearer. Listening is often understood as an active operation involving not only attention, focus and consciousness but also ‘being present to the person and the moment with one’s being.’ In this distinction, listening requires far more work and energy than hearing. It is not uncommon when 2 (or more) people are trying to iron out differences for one to say, “Darling, you’re not listening to me!” Only for the other to retort, “Sweetheart, I hear every word you are saying!”

Saint Cyril of Alexandria noted: “The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not his. We take the word hear to imply obedience to what has been said. People who hear God are known by him. No one is entirely unknown by God, but to be known in this way is to become part of his family. Therefore, when Christ says, “I know mine,” he means I will receive them and give them a permanent mystical relationship with myself. It might be said that inasmuch as he has become man, he has made all human beings his relatives, since all are members of the same race. We are all united to Christ in a mystical relationship because of his incarnation. Yet those who do not preserve the likeness of his holiness are alienated from him. “My sheep follow me,” says Christ. By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the law, they obey the commands of Christ and guided by his words rise through grace to his own dignity, for they are called “children of God.” When Christ ascends into heaven, they also follow him.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John)

The English translations of the Hebrew and Greek verbs use “to hear” and “to listen” interchangeably and as synonyms. When the Word of God commands one “to hear,” it is understood in the American English sense of “to listen.” This is an important point about the biblical verbs because one can miss the challenge and urgency of God’s Word. Examples of this abound in Sacred Scripture. “In the beginning,” humanity was formed in the Garden by listening exclusively to the voice of the One God Who created them. We know now the consequence of not listening in that early experience of life. Psalm 95 is a classic example, “Oh that you would hear His voice: do not harden your hearts.” Psalm 95 employs the Hebrew verb שָׁמַע (shama) and thereby expresses the necessity of taking Divine Wisdom and Instruction to heart in such a way that one’s thoughts, words and actions express Covenant living. But there is another reason that underscores the proper meaning of “to listen.”

Throughout the pages of the New Testament, building on the Covenant experience of the Old Testament (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, שָׁמַע (shama/shema) “Hear O Israel …”), the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouo) conveys the sense of attention, focus, consciousness and presence to the other. ἀκούω (akouo) also expresses the act of listening to the Word of God in the midst of the event. What this means is crucial for Christian living as it brings that element of “difference” to bear on the situation. Why the Christian is called “to listen” to the other person or persons - AND - fundamentally to listen to God, is that in the exchange of person-to-person, the Word of God breaks into the situation. Think of the difference when Divine Wisdom invades our arguments and is sounded by one who has managed to ‘press our buttons’ in the moment. Shocking, yes - and it makes so much sense when we consider the power of sounding and listening to God’s Word, not my word.

By virtue of Baptism, we are constituted priest, prophet and king. Baptism into the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus enables us to offer sacrifice to the Father (priest), speak on behalf of God (prophet) and have power over sin (king). The listening that Jesus prescribes this Sunday for the ailments of relational living go beyond the necessary attentiveness to the moment and the person. Listening, as far as Jesus is concerned, is the consciousness of the Word flooding the spaces of life with Divine Wisdom, Divine Life and Divine Love.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the Gosepl proclaimed at Mass today:

“So listen to this unity being even more urgently drawn to your attention: “I have other sheep,” he says, “who are not of this fold.” He was talking, you see, to the first sheepfold of the race of Israel according to the flesh. But there were others, of the race of the same Israel according to faith, and they were still outside, they were of the Gentiles, predestined but not yet gathered in. He knew those whom he had predestined. He knew those whom he had come to redeem by shedding his blood. He was able to see them, while they could not yet see him. He knew them, though they did not yet believe in him. “I have,” he said, “other sheep that are not of this fold,” because they are not of the race of Israel according to the flesh. But all the same, they will not be outside this sheepfold, because “I must bring them along too, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd.” (Sermon 138)

A reflection on listening: a vital action for a disciple of Jesus.

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
lead us to a share in the joys of heaven,
so that the humble flock may reach
where the brave Shepherd has gone before.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord is risen. Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

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

Disciples still terrified - Jesus still bringing His Peace

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

“While they were still speaking about this,
He stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled (πτοηθέντες, ptoethentes) and terrified (ἔμφοβοι, emphoboi)
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled (τεταραγμένοι, tetaragmenoi)?
And why do questions (διαλογισμοὶ, dialogismoi) arise in your hearts?
…
Then he opened (διήνοιξεν, dienoizen) their minds to understand (συνιέναι, sunienai) the Scriptures.
(Luke 24:45).”

(Luke 24:35-48)

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

In the end, the disciples really did not grasp Jesus’ teaching about His Resurrection. Even though He prepared them for the Cross and Resurrection, these lessons apparently never connected deeply in the hearts and minds of the disciples. This is evident by their response to the Risen Lord: startled (πτοηθέντες, ptoethentes from πτοέω, ptoeo) and terrified (ἔμφοβοι, emphoboi from φόβος, phobos). πτοέω and φόβος are alarms sparked by a perceived threat to life. Translated here as “startled,” πτοέω is a rather graphic verb indicating that one’s world is coming apart at the seams and collapsing rather quickly. All that a person has used to define existence no longer makes any sense. All of the connections that one has formed unwind and render life uncertain and unsteady as stability crumbles into a pile of ruin. In such a precarious state, one has to decide: stay and fight the threat or flee with the intent of putting great distance between one’s life and the threat. While the noun φόβος is commonly translated “fear,” in antiquity its verb-form was part of a word group that meant “to flee.” Fear, a response to that which is recognized as a threat to life, triggers – often automatically – some action involving fight or flight with a preference for flight.

The Sacred text clearly presents the disciples “startled (πτοέω)” and “terrified (φόβος).” Yet examine Jesus’ question to them. He does not ask why are you “startled (πτοέω)”? He does not ask why are you “terrified (φόβος)”? He asks “Why are you troubled (τεταραγμένοι, tetaragmenoi from ταράσσω tarasso). Jesus knows that something is not right in the lives of the disciples. His question to them - “Why are you troubled?” - is actually a declaration to them that there is no threat to life. In asking - “Why are you troubled?” - Jesus is actually helping His disciples to perceive clearly the state of life. Life is not falling apart. There is no need to fight and definitely no need to flee. There is a need, however, “to understand (συνιέναι, sunienai from συνίημι suniemi).”

Being troubled as expressed by ταράσσω is a common response in many biblical episodes when a Divine or angelic Person visits humanity. Early in Luke, both Zechariah and Mary are “troubled” by Gabriel’s visit and attempt to resolve the situation by asking questions. The disciples in the boat “are troubled” when Jesus comes walking to them on the water in Mark and Matthew. In John, Jesus directs his disciples ‘not to be troubled’ by having faith in Him. In the biblical era, ταράσσω conveyed the image of water being stirred up. As with any aqueous solution, when water is stirred or agitated, all of the particulate matter gets stirred up as well. What appeared to the senses as calm and clear is now a sea of confusion caused by the murky, gritty sediment swirling round and round. No wonder “troubled waters” became such a metaphor when confusion and uncertainty grip life.

Experience has often demonstrated that when clear water becomes cloudy, it will – many times – become clear again when the source of agitation is removed. For the disciples, their confused state requires ‘an opening that will lead to understanding.’ At the heart of “opening” their minds is literally the action of ‘giving birth.’ When Jesus opened (διήνοιξεν, dienoizen from διανοίγω dianoigo) their minds, this was not a casual planting of a thought or opinion. διανοίγω is used sometimes in antiquity to mean birth, particularly the birth of the biblical “first born.” In this sense, διανοίγω brings the struggle of birth imagery to convey the work that is involved in opening the mind. Yet once opened, the groundwork then is paved for an ongoing journey to and of understanding; for the understanding (συνιέναι, sunienai) that Jesus offers the disciples in their “troubled” state is actually “connecting.” Yes, that sounds awkward but the verb συνιέναι literally means “to put together.” These restored and new connections that Jesus makes for them not only transforms the “troubled” state of their lives, but will enable them to go out on mission filled with confidence to witness to Jesus, Risen Savior and thus allow a bit more of Easter joy and life to flood the cosmos with Divine love.

Third Sunday of Easter

“... But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost ...” (Luke 24:37)

Saint Ignatius of Antioch offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“I myself am convinced and believe that he was in the flesh even after the resurrection. When he came to Peter and his friends, he said to them, “Take hold of me. Touch me, and see that I am not a bodiless ghost.” They immediately touched him. They were convinced, clutching his body and his very breath. For this reason, they despised death itself and proved its victors. After the resurrection, he also ate and drank with them as a real human being, although in spirit he was united with the Father.” (Letter to the Smyrnaens, 3.)

Collect

May your people exult for ever, O God,
in renewed youthfulness of spirit,
so that,
rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption,
we may look forward in confident hope
to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30.)

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

“It was not with defiance that the apostles answered them, for they were teachers. And yet who, backed by an entire city and enjoying such grace, would not have spoken and uttered something big? But not these men. For they were not angered, but they pitied and wept over them and looked for a way to free them from their error and anger. No longer did they say to them, “You must judge,” but they declared, “He whom God raised, this man we proclaim.” It is by the will of God that these things are done, he says. They did not say, “Did we not say to you even then, that ‘we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’?” For they do not lust after honor. He repeats the same things: the cross, the resurrection. And they do not say why he was crucified—that it was for our sakes, but they hint at this, though not yet openly, because they wish to frighten them for a while. And yet what kind of rhetoric is this? No rhetoric at all, but always the passion, the resurrection, the ascension and the wherefore. (Homilies On the Acts of the Apostles, 13.)

Collect

O God, who for the salvation of the world
brought about the paschal sacrifice,
be favorable to the supplications of your people,
so that Christ our High Priest,
interceding on our behalf,
may by his likeness to ourselves
bring us reconciliation, and by his equality with you free us from our sins.
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.

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

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!” (Isaiah 7:14.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verses from today’s First Reading:

“By no means will God speak in many and various ways, according to the apostle Paul, nor according to another prophet will he be represented through the hands of the prophets, but he who previously spoke through others will himself say “Here I am.” The bride in the Song of Songs also asked in this regard: “O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth!” For “the Lord of hosts is himself the King of glory.” He will descend to a virginal womb and will enter and exit through the eastern gate that always remains closed, concerning which Gabriel said to the virgin: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the one who will be born to you is holy and will be called the Son of God.” And Proverbs writes, “Wisdom built itself a home.” Thus when it is said, “The Lord himself will give you a sign,” this should refer to something new and marvelous.” (Commentary on Isaiah, 3.)

Collect

O God, Who willed that Your Word
should take on the reality of human flesh
in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray, that we,
who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may merit to become partakers
even in His divine nature.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one 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

Friday in the Octave of Easter

“... then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed.” (Acts of the Apostles 4:10.)

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

“That the Father is said to have raised from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ (the effect of the act being on his flesh, clearly) is not in doubt. He, being the life-creating and active power of the Father, gave life to his own temple, as in “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” What was made alive was not another’s body, nor indeed one belonging to a man among us, but his own, the body of the Word.” (Catena on the Acts of the Apostles, 4.)

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
who gave us the Paschal Mystery
in the covenant you established
for reconciling the human race,
so dispose our minds, we pray,
that what we celebrate
by professing the faith
we may express in deeds.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

The stone rolled back and Jesus is on the loose!

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

“When the sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying (ἔλεγον, elegon) to one another,
“Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?”
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed (ἐξεθαμβήθησαν, exethambethesan).
He said to them, “Do not be amazed (ἐκθαμβεῖσθε, ekthambeisthe)!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
‘He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.’”

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

Questions consume the life of 3 women: “who will roll back the stone for us?” and ‘are we to be amazed, or not amazed?’

No doubt their hearts were heavy, filled with sadness and grief over the tragically savage death of their beloved friend, Jesus. Without enough time to give Him a proper burial, friends now return to offer Him one last loving gesture: the proper preparation of His Sacred body. Yet looming over this task is the reality of a large stone sealing the entrance into the tomb. The text is clear: “they were saying (ἔλεγον, elegon) to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” The verb ἔλεγον (elegon, “saying”) is imperfect tense, meaning that the present action is ongoing. In other words, they kept conversing about the stone blocking entrance to the tomb. They constantly reminded one another that the stone is large. They repeatedly asked one another where help would come to move the stone. They kept talking about these and perhaps other concerns. Yet still they continued trekking to the tomb, not deterred by reasonable obstacles known to them. They trekked because they sought the Person, Jesus.

When the women arrived at the tomb, strange happenings flooded their senses. The stone: rolled back! Drawn into the tomb: a young man clothed in a white robe! The English text proclaims: “they were utterly amazed (ἐξεθαμβήθησαν, exethambethesan)” and then told by the young man clothed in a white robe: “do not be amazed (ἐκθαμβεῖσθε, ekthambeisthe)!” So why are they amazed only to be told not to be amazed? Both the women’s response and the young man’s response are grounded in the Greek root θαμβέω (thambeo). Originally, θαμβέω (thambeo) meant “to be astounded” followed later to mean, “to be astonished at” or “alarmed by.” Notice that both “astonished” and “alarmed” are followed by a preposition, suggesting an external reality is the cause for one to be “astonished” or “alarmed.” This becomes even more interesting when examining the use of θαμβέω (thambeo) in the Sacred Scriptures. While its use in the Old Testament is not as prevalent as in the New Testament, θαμβέω (thambeo) is a response to someone/something seen. A particular sight or sense-expereince causes astonishment or alarm. Yet in the Gospels, θαμβέω (thambeo) suggests sights that are revelatory, sense-experiences that are epiphanies – Divine Showings. In essence, when the ‘young man’ tells the women “do not be amazed,” he counsels them that the sights flooding their senses are not a cause for alarm. What they see about them is an occasion for Divine Revelation – to experience Him Who they seek, to be astonished that Jesus is indeed raised up. With the stone rolled back, the Resurrection is manifested (Eucharistic Prayer II) and, to paraphrase the late Macan scholar Donald Juel, ‘Jesus is on the loose!’ (see Leroy A. Huizenga's Loosing the Lion: Proclaiming the Gospel of Mark and Donald Juel's Master of Surprise)

It is no wonder that this lesson of the 3 women is so vital for the celebration of Easter. Sights, sounds and smells flood our senses this night, the Mother of all Vigils. The many sense-experiences do place us at a crossroads this Night and the 50 days of Easter. Do I/we shrug-off the sights, sounds and smells of this “Night [and Season] truly blessed?” What does the sight and warmth of a blazing fire do to us? Where does the fragrance of billowing incense lead us? What does the sight of a lone candle in a space of darkness say? What do the words of the Exsultet and of the Sacred Scriptures offer us? Does the music of Alleluia penetrate the cynicism and pessimism of our hearts? Is the renewal of Baptismal promises more than words voiced robotically? How does the water of Baptism, the perfume of Confirmation and the bread and wine of the Most Holy Eucharist form us as disciples like the 3 women? Sights, sounds and smells abound in richness tonight and throughout the 50 days of Easter: are they just another thing or do I allow them to be an occasion of Divine Revelation leading me to the One Whom I seek: Jesus of Nazareth, risen and alive, Alleluia!

Jesus’ Passion and Death - the Crucified Son of God

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

“The veil of the sanctuary
was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
"Truly this man was the Son of God!"”

(Mark 15:38-39)

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

The Scrutinies have been celebrated. The Creed and the Lord’s Prayer have been handed-over to the Elect. The faithful have responded in Grace to the Gospel imperatives of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. All is ready for the difficult journey from palm waving, to a Meal that has some twists and turns, to arrest - abandonment - excruciating pain - and death. The Body of Christ is ready for the journey to Calvary. But is each member of the Body ready?

Throughout the Gospels there is a constant tension between Christology and discipleship: Who Jesus is (Christology) and the claim He sounds to follow Him (Discipleship). This is not an invitation to embrace an ideology or a particular philosophical outlook on life. Jesus’ words and deeds, expressions of His very being, are meant to elicit a relationship, a commitment, a bonding with and to Him. As each Gospel unfolds, we are immersed in the drama of fellow human beings saying yes to this relationship, some no and far more remaining lukewarm: no commitment whatsoever, just hanging out on the sidelines like a spectator.

As the Marcan account of the Lord’s Passion seeks its way into our hearts this Sunday, the fidelity of the God-man Jesus stands in sharp contrast to disciples who one-by-one, leave Him alone and abandoned. There are some flickers of hope: an anonymous woman and yes – to a degree – Peter himself, not to mention an anonymous outsider: a Roman centurion. In a loving gesture that speaks to both His death and His messianic Kingship, Jesus is anointed with perfume. She ‘gets it.’ She knows Jesus as Messianic King whose Kingship is born from the dregs of death. Peter, known far and wide for the thrice denial of His friend, does follow Jesus in His Passion, but does so “at a distance” and apparently “at a distance” has an unfortunate limit. But then there is the Centurion – a gentile – who proclaims: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Is this a statement of faith — or — is this the final insult, the final mock hurled at Jesus?

These sacred days known as Holy Week are offered to us as a gift to experience deeply the authentic identity of the Crucified Son of God and our commitment to Him as one of His disciples. To this end, the words of a fourth-century Cappadocian Father are well worth pondering:

“If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up your cross and follow Christ. If you are crucified beside him like one of the thieves, now, like the good thief, acknowledge your God. For your sake, and because of your sin, Christ himself was regarded as a sinner; for his sake, therefore, you must cease to sin. Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself. Derive some benefit from the very shame; purchase salvation with your death. Enter paradise with Jesus, and discover how far you have fallen. Contemplate the glories there, and leave the other scoffing thief to die outside in his blasphemy.

If you are a Joseph of Arimathea, go to the one who ordered his crucifixion, and ask for Christ’s body. Make you own the expiation for the sins of the whole world. If you are a Nicodemus, like the man who worshiped God by night, bring spices and prepare Christ’s body for burial. If you are one of the Marys, or Salome, or Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be the first to see the stone rolled back, and even the angels perhaps, and Jesus himself (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 45).”

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

“The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; Therefore I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7)

Saint Cyril of Alexandria reflects on this verse from today’s First Reading, writes:

“And the Father was Christ’s helper. For he did not allow or concede that his own Son should be completely shamed or overwhelmed. For they were punished, those who sought to take their punishment out on me as those who dare to fight with God. For though being with us, he was the only-begotten Word of God. He put on an identical human likeness, by which reason alone he was believed to be of a nature with us. For every human being is subject to faults and sins, and no one alive is completely blameless. He alone in becoming man retained the divine dignity. And being Word and God, his flesh was able to shoo away destruction. Thus, the Son became a man who was fit to be accepted by the Father. For all that human beings have is Godgiven. For the one God and Father, through him, undid the power of death through his resurrection from the dead. He was the servant of God, who while being human was yet truly the Son of God and the Father. And to hear his voice means no transgression of the law but a confirming of the law through types and shadows discerning the truth which is Christ and the prophecies of him, as Paul notes. His voice is the evangelical and divine preaching that calls us to the redemption that is through faith in Christ. He also calls us to a proper behavior that lives in a way that is, by far, more consistent than the way of the law. The law was given in the shadows. Faith was given in the bright and shining light.” (Commentary on Isaiah, 4)

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
Who as an example of humility
for the human race to follow
caused our Savior to take flesh
and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed
His lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one 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

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

Saint Andrew of Crete

Bishop

An excerpt from his Oration 9: On the Palm Branches

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives. Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation. He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority, and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem. He comes without pomp or ostentation. As the psalmist says: He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.

Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward Jerusalem, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.

In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens—the proof, surely, of his power and godhead—his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.

So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

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

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

“LORD of hosts, you test the just, you see mind and heart, Let me see the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.” (Jeremiah 20:12.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verses from today’s First Reading:

“The Lord alone is able to certify justice, in the same way that he alone sees the interior of a person’s heart. Hence, Jesus knows the thoughts of people not as an acquired skill, as some allege, but because he is God by nature. Such is what the psalmist sings: “No living creature will be justified in your presence.” If none of those living in virtue are justified, how much more true will this be of those who are dead from sin! Even though the just person knows himself to have God as a defender, the impatience of human fragility desires to see right now what it knows to be coming. Jeremiah also entrusted his cause to God, to the one who said elsewhere, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.” But the conscience is happy whose cause is entrusted to the Lord, as the apostle said: “Anything that is visible is light.”” (Six Books on Jeremiah, 4.)

Collect

Pardon the offenses of Your peoples,
we pray, O Lord,
and in your goodness set us free
from the bonds of the sins
we have committed in our weakness.
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.

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

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17:5.)

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

“Many responses are given to Abraham by God, but they are not all delivered to one and the same man. For some are to Abram and some to Abraham; that is, some are expressed after the change of name and others while he was still known by his name given at birth. And first indeed, before the change of name, God delivered to Abraham the oracle that says, “Go out from your country and from your kindred and from your father’s house,” and the rest. But no order is given in this about the covenant of God, no order about circumcision. For it was not possible while he was still Abram and was bearing the name of his physical birth to receive the covenant of God and the mark of circumcision. But when “he went out from his country and his kindred,” then responses of a more sacred kind are delivered to him at this time. First God says to him, “You shall no longer be called Abram, but Abraham shall be your name.” Then at once he received the covenant of God and accepted circumcision as a sign of faith that he could not accept while he was still in his father’s house and in the relationship of flesh and while he was still called Abram.” (Homilies on Genesis, 3.)

Collect

Be near, O Lord, to those who plead before You,
and look kindly on those
who place their hope in Your mercy,
that, cleansed from the stain of their sins,
they may persevere in holy living
and be made full heirs of Your promise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

If anyone has sinned, we have an advocate with the Father

Saint John Fisher

Bishop and Martyr

An excerpt from a Commentary on Psalm 129

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Our high priest is Christ Jesus, our sacrifice is his precious body which he immolated on the altar of the cross for the salvation of all men.

The blood that was poured out for our redemption was not that of goats and calves (as in the old law) but that of the most innocent lamb, Christ Jesus our Savior.

The temple in which our high priest offered sacrifice was not one made by hands but built by the power of God alone. For he shed his blood in the sight of the world, a temple fashioned by the hand of God alone.

This temple, however, has two parts. The first is the earth, which we now inhabit. The second is as yet unknown to us mortals.

Christ offered sacrifice here on earth, when he underwent his most bitter death. Then, clothed in the new garment of immortality, with his own blood he entered into the holy of holies, that is, into heaven. There he also displayed before the throne of the heavenly Father that blood of immeasurable price which he had poured out seven times on behalf of all men subject to sin.

This sacrifice is so pleasing and acceptable to God that as soon as he has seen it he must immediately have pity on us and extend clemency to all who are truly repentant.

Moreover, it is eternal. It is offered not only each year (as with the Jews) but also each day for our consolation, and indeed at every hour and moment as well, so that we may have the strongest reason for comfort. That is why the Apostle adds: He has secured an eternal redemption.

All who have embarked on true contrition and penance for the sins they have committed, and are firmly resolved not to commit sins again for the future but to persevere constantly in that pursuit of virtues which they have now begun, all these become sharers in this holy and eternal sacrifice.

Saint John sets this before us in these words: My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for those of the whole world.

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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