Words of the Word

The capture of Jericho

Origen of Alexandria

Priest, Ancient Christian Writer and Martyr

An excerpt from his Homily on Joshua

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Once Jericho was surrounded it had to be stormed. How then was Jericho stormed? No sword was drawn against it, no battering ram was aimed at it, no javelins were hurled. The priests merely sounded their trumpets, and the walls of Jericho collapsed.

In the Scriptures Jericho is often represented as an image of the world. There can be no doubt that the man whom the Gospel describes as going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and falling into the hands of brigands is an image of Adam being driven out of paradise into the exile of this world. Likewise the blind men in Jericho, to whom Jesus came to give sight, signified the people in this world who were blinded by ignorance, to whom the son of God came.

Jericho will fall, then; this world will perish. Indeed in the sacred books the end of the world was proclaimed long ago. How will the world be brought to an end, and by what means will it be destroyed? The answer of Scripture is: By the sound of trumpets. If you ask what trumpets, then let Paul reveal the secret. Listen to what he says: The trumpet will sound, and the dead who are in Christ will rise incorruptible. The voice of the archangel and the trumpets of God will give the signal, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Then the Lord Jesus will conquer Jericho with trumpets and destroy it, saving only the harlot and her household.

Jesus our Lord will come says Paul, and he will come with the sound of trumpets. He will save only the woman who received his spies, that is, his apostles, in faith and obedience, and hid them on the roof of her house; and he will join this harlot to the house of Israel. But let us not bring up her past sins again or impute them to her. She was a harlot once, but now she is joined to Christ, chaste virgin to one chaste husband. Listen to what the Apostle say of her: He has determined to present you to Christ as a chaste virgin to her one and only husband. Indeed, Paul himself had been born of her: Misled by our folly and disbelief, he said, we too were once slaves to our passions and to pleasures of every kind.

If you wish to learn more fully about how this harlot ceased to be a harlot then listen to Paul once again: And such were you also, but you have been cleansed and made holy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. To assure her escape when Jericho was destroyed, the harlot was given that most effective symbol of salvation, the scarlet cord. For it is by the blood of Christ that the entire Church is saved, in the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom belongs glory and dominion 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

Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:18)

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

”But the “one dot” is not only the iota of the Greeks but also that which among the Hebrews is called the yod. And the “one iota” or “one dot” can symbolically be said to be Jesus, since the beginning of his name is written not only by Greeks with an iota but also by Hebrews with a yod. So Jesus will be the one dot, the Word of God in the law which does not pass from the law until all is accomplished. But the iota might also be (as he himself says) the Ten Commandments of the law, for everything else passes away, but these do not pass away. But neither does Jesus pass away; if he “falls to the ground” he does so willingly, in order to bear much fruit. Again, the “one iota” or “one dot” has mastery over things both in heaven and on earth.” (Fragment, 99)

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
Who gave Saint Anthony of Padua
to your people
as an outstanding preacher
and an intercessor in their need,
grant that, with his assistance,
as we follow the teachings
of the Christian life,
we may know Your help in every trial.
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

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9.)

Saint Ephrem the Syrian offers the following insight on this verse from today’s First Reading:

““Where are you, Adam?” Are you trapped in the imagined godlikeness that the serpent falsely promised you? Or are you prepared for the death that I, the Lord, decreed for you? Would that you had considered the fruits! Suppose, Adam, that instead of a serpent who might be the most despicable creature of all, an angel or a god had come to you? Would you have despised the commandment of him who gave you all these things, heeding instead the counsel of one who had not yet done you any good? Would you then have considered evil the very One who formed you out of nothing? Would you despise the One who made you a second god over creation? Would you dare instead to consider good the very fallen one who gave you only a verbal promise of some good? If another god were to come to you in power, should you not have rejected his advice? How much more then in the case of a serpent who came to you with no power, with no wondrous deeds but with only the empty word that it spoke to you?” (Commentary on Genesis, 2.)

Collect

O God,
from Whom all good things come,
grant that we,
who call on You in our need,
may at Your prompting discern what is right,
and by Your guidance do it.
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

I wish you to please God, and not men

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Bishop, Apostolic Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Letter to the Romans

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ignatius, called Theophorus, to the church which has found mercy in the generosity of the Father on high and of Jesus Christ, his only Son; to the church which is loved and enlightened by the Father, who wills all that exists in accordance with the love of Jesus Christ our God; to the Church which rules over the land of the Romans, a church worthy of God, worthy of honor and of praise, worthy to be called blessed, worthy to receive the answer to its prayer, pure, and preeminent in love among Christian communities, observing the law of Christ and bearing the Father’s name; I greet this church in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the Father. To those who were in union, body and soul, with his every command, and filled inalienably with the grace of God, and cleansed wholly from all foreign stain, I wish every blameless joy in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through my prayers I have been granted the favor of seeing you, my holy brothers, face to face, as indeed I have constantly asked. I now hope to embrace you as a prisoner in Christ Jesus, provided that it is God’s will for me to be found worthy to the end. For a good start has been made, if only I may gain the grace to secure my prize without hindrance. For I fear that your love may harm me. It is easy for you to do as you wish, but hard for me to attain to God if you should not allow me to be martyred.

I wish you to please God and not men—as indeed you are doing. I shall never again have such an opportunity to get to God, nor will you, if you keep silent, ever have the credit for a greater achievement. If you keep silent about me, I become a word of God; but if you love me in the flesh, I become a meaningless cry. Grant me no more than to be made a sacrifice to God while there is still an altar at hand. Thus you may form a choir of love and sing praise to the Father in Christ Jesus for so graciously summoning the bishop of Syria from the sun’s rising to come to the place of its setting. It is a fine thing for me to set with the sun, leaving the world and going to God, that I may rise in him.

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

At ease in the company of the humble and great

Bishop

An excerpt from The Life of Saint Norbert

Memorial of Saint Norbert, Bishop and Founder of the Premonstratensian Order

Norbert is deservedly numbered by historians among those who made an effective contribution to the reform movement under Pope Gregory VII. He established a clergy dedicated to the ideals of the Gospel and the apostolic Church. They were chaste and poor. They wore “the clothing and the symbols of the new man; that is to say, they wore the religious habit and exhibited the dignity proper to the priesthood.” Norbert asked them “to live according to the norms of the Scriptures with Christ as their model.” They were “to be clean in all matters pertaining to the altar and divine worship, to correct their faults and failings in their chapter meeting, and to care for and give shelter to the poor.”

The priests lived in community, where they continued the work of the apostles. Inspired by the practice of the early Church, Norbert exhorted the faithful to join the monastic life in some capacity. So many men and women responded to the invitation that many asserted that no man since the apostles themselves had inspired so many to embrace the monastic life.

When Norbert was appointed an archbishop, he urged his brothers to carry the faith to the lands of the Wends. In his own diocese he tried unsuccessfully to convince the clergy of the need for reform and was confronted with noisy protests both in the street and in the church.

One of the principal goals of Norbert’s life was to foster harmony between the Apostolic See and the German empire. At the same time he wanted to maintain Rome’s freedom in the matter of ecclesiastical appointments. Apparently his efforts were so successful that Pope Innocent II thanked him profusely in a letter in which he called him a “devoted son,” and Lothair made him chancellor of the realm.

Norbert did all these things with a steadfast faith: “Faith was the outstanding virtue of Norbert’s life, as charity had been the hallmark of Bernard of Clairvaux’.” Affable and charming, amiable to one and all, “he was at ease in the company of the humble and the great alike.” Finally, he was a most eloquent preacher; after long meditation “he would preach the word of God” and with his fiery eloquence purged vices, refined virtues and filled souls of good will with the warmth of wisdom.” He spent many hours in contemplation of the divine mysteries and fearlessly spread the spiritual insights which were the fruit of his meditation.

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

Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

“... may grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord....” (2 Peter 1:2-7.)

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

“There is nothing to equal this, which is why we pray and seek after the angel of peace. Everywhere we pray for peace in the churches—in the prayers, in the supplications and in the sermons. And the Guardian of the church gives it to us not once or twice but many times over: “Peace be unto you.” Why? Because peace is the mother of all good things and the foundation of our joy. For this reason Christ taught his disciples that when they entered people’s houses they were to say: “Peace be unto you.” Without peace everything else is useless.” (Catena)

Collect

O God, Whose providence never fails in its design, keep from us, we humbly beseech You, all that might harm us and grant all that works for our good.
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 reason for all disturbance is that no one finds fault with himself

Saint Dorotheus of Gaza

Abbot

An excerpt from On the Accussatin of Oneself

Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Let us examine, my brothers, how it happens that many times a person hears something unpleasant and goes away untroubled, as if he had not heard it; and yet on some occasions he is disturbed and troubled as soon as he hears such words. What is the cause of this inconsistency? Is there one reason for it or many? I recognize a number of them, and one in particular is the source of all the others. As someone has put it: Occasionally this results from the condition in which the person happens to be.

If a person is engaged in prayer or contemplation, he can easily take a rebuke from his brother and be unmoved by it. On other occasions affection toward a brother is a strong reason; love bears all things with the utmost patience. Another reason may be contempt; if a person despises the one who is trying to trouble him and acts as if he is the vilest of all creatures and considers it beneath his dignity even to look at him, or to answer him, or to mention the affront and insults to anyone else, he will not be moved by his words.

The result of this is, as I have said, that no one is disturbed or troubled if he scorns and disregards what is said. But on the other hand, it is also possible that a person will be disturbed and troubled by his brother’s words, either because he is not in a good frame of mind, or because he hates his brother. There are a great number of other reasons as well. Yet the reason for all disturbance, if we look to its roots, it that no one finds fault with himself.

This is the source of all annoyance and distress. This is why we sometimes have no rest. We must not be surprised when we are rebuked by holy men. We have no other path to peace but this.

We have seen that this is true in many cases, and, in our laziness and desire for rest, we hope or believe that we have entered upon a straight path when we are impatient with everyone, and yet cannot bear to blame ourselves.

This is the way we are. It does not matter how many virtues a man may have, even if they are beyond number and limit. If he has turned from the path of self-accusation, he will never find peace. He will always be troubled himself, or else he will be a source of trouble for others and all his labors will be wasted.

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

An Eucharistic Examen based on Ave Verum Corpus

Where do we begin on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ? Is there anything we can comprehend about Jesus’ complete gift of Himself to us? Deep, mind-spinning questions often flood our minds when we ponder the Mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood even momentarily. We get ‘stuck’ on questions such as “How can this be (remember somebody else early in Luke's Gospel asking this question)?” How can can I comprehend and explain transubstantiation? If this is true, why do so few participate in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist? Since the Holy Eucharist is a mystery and therefore I will never understand completely, why waste time talking and reading about this?

The questions are not necessarily bad or wrong, just misdirected. Theological questions are good provided they keep us responding to the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit with lives that give evidence of charity and service. The difficulty is that many of our questions want ‘to figure things out’ and once we ‘think’ we have figured things out, we stop searching for meaning because we think we have mastered the mystery of the unknown.

Wonderfully, Church’s rich heritage of liturgical music offers us an insight from the experience of worship and devotion. Our repertoire of sacred chant and music stirs the mind and heart, creating an environment ready to receive and to cooperate with the abundance of life and love the Holy Spirit showers upon us daily. Take, for example, the hymn Ave verum corpus. Even though historians debate the author, (some say Saint Thomas Aquinas, others Pope Innocent III, IV or perhaps even V), the text offers some points for reflections appropriate for today’s Solemnity.

“Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine,” - Hail, true body born of the Virgin Mary: Jesus is a real Person, period. He is not a myth. He is not a fictitious person of an imaginary story. Even before pondering His Presence in the Most Holy Eucharist, we have to ask ourselves, ‘do I (and we as a community of faith) believe that Jesus Christ is a real Divine Person Who once lived among us at a particular time and in a particular place with both divine and human natures (the Mystery of the Incarnation)?’ Do I believe this Person preached and lived a new way of life called the Kingdom of God that called one to daily conversion and belief? Do I adore and worship Him as the God-man, the High Priest Who, in the words from Hebrews “cleanses our consciences from dead works to worship the living God?” Do I live Sunday as the Lord’s Day? Do my actions and attitudes at Mass give evidence that I am in the presence of the Living Lord of life? Do I arrive early enough to prepare for Mass - and - do I stay after Mass for a few moments of thanksgiving?

“Vere passum immolatum in Cruce pro homine,” - Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man: Jesus’ message of Kingdom living cost Him His human life as an innocent victim. His life among us was eminently self-less. Do I (and we as a community of faith) live sacrificially or is life on my terms? Do I project and live an attitude of entitlement? Do I charitably serve the needs of others as Jesus did in His ministry?

“Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine,” - Whose pierced side overflowed with water and blood: Even in death, Jesus gives life and blesses us with His Presence: water (the Gift of Baptism) and blood (the Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist). How often have I considered the ‘price’ Jesus paid for our salvation? Do I recognize and reverence His Presence sacramentally and in the people around me by avoiding gossip, slander, lies, character assassination and being a busybody, prying into everyone else’s business except my own?

“Esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.” - Be for us a foretaste in the test of death: Jesus teaches with His life that there is more to life than what we see around us. The goodness of life in the here-and-now is temporary. We live fully in the present knowing that our lives are being drawn to an eternity of life and love, or as Hebrews states, “the promised eternal inheritance.” Hence, do I live with a view towards the eternity of life with Father, Son and Holy Spirit – OR – do “I want it all, and I want it now?” Do I assist others in helping them to live Jesus’ life? Am I a source of encouragement that builds up the Body of Christ in unity or do I harm the Body of Christ through my negativity, pessimism, divisiveness and taking delight in the errors or misfortunate of others?

In the end, this Solemn Day reminds us that the Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist, similar to last week's celebration of the Most Holy Trinity, is not a thing to be figured out, but a Person Who calls us as His Body to be in communion with Him as we joyfully, charitably and selflessly serve His Father in the power of the Holy Spirit and one another.

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 Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

“While they were eating, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My Body.”” (Mark 14:22)

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

“That bread which God the Word confesses to be his own body is the Word that nourishes souls, the Word proceeding from God, the very bread that comes from the living bread which is set out upon our table of which was written: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” That drink which God the Word confesses to be his blood is the Word that gives refreshment and exhilarates the heart. This drink is the fruit of the true vine, the blood of that grape cast in the winepress of the passion. So also the bread is the word of Christ made from that corn which, falling onto the good ground, brought forth much fruit. He was not speaking of the visible bread alone which he was holding in his hands as he called it his body. It is the word in the mystery of which that bread was to be broken. Nor did he call that visible drink as such his blood, but the word in the mystery of which that drink was to be poured out. For to what else could the body and blood of the Lord refer other than the atoning Word that nourishes and gladdens the heart? Why did he not say, “This is my bread of the New Testament” just as he said, “This is my blood of the New Testament?” Because the bread is the word of righteousness, by the eating of which souls are nourished. The drink is the word of knowledge of Christ according to the mystery of his birth and passion.” (Commentary Matthew, 85)

Collect

O God,
Who in this wonderful Sacrament
have left us a memorial of Your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries
of your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of your redemption.
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

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“... save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 23.)

Saint Maximus, Confessor offers the following insight on these verses from today’s First Reading proclamation:

“What is meant by “a cloak stained by corrupted flesh”? This is said of those who have a life stained by the lusts of the flesh. We all have clothes which bear the marks of our life, whether we are righteous or not. The person who has a clean cloak is one who leads a pure life, whereas the one who has a soiled one has got mixed up with evil deeds. Or a cloak may be soiled by the flesh if the latter is formed in its conscience by the memory of those evil deeds which spring from the flesh and which still work on the soul. Just as the Spirit can make a cloak for the soul out of the virtues which come from the principle of incorruptibility, so by analogy the flesh can produce an unclean and soiled cloak from the lusts which belong to it.” (Catena)

Collect

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of the world
may be directed by your peaceful rule
and that your Church may rejoice,
untroubled in her devotion.
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

Job was a type of Christ

Saint Zeno of Verona

(Bishop)

An excerpt from Sermon 15

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Is Job a type of Christ? If I am right, he is, and the comparison will reveal the truth of my claim. But while Job was called a just man by God, God himself is the fountain of justice from whom all the saints drink. See what Scripture says: The sun of justice will arise for you. Job was called truthful, but the Lord is, as he says in the Gospel, the way, the truth and the life. And while Job was rich, the Lord is far richer, for the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it; the world and all who dwell in it. All rich men are his servants, and the whole world and all of nature as well.

But we may compare Job and Christ in many ways. As Job was tempted by the devil three times, so too Christ was tempted three times. The Lord set aside his riches out of love for us and chose poverty so that we might become rich, while Job lost all that he possessed. A violent wind killed Job’s sons, while the sons of God, the prophets, were killed by the fury of the Pharisees. Job became ulcerated and disfigured, while the Lord, by becoming man, took on the defilement of the sins committed by all mankind. The wife of Job tempted him to sin, much as the synagogue tried to force the Lord to yield to corrupt leadership. Thus he was insulted by the priests, the servants of his altar, as Job was insulted by his friends. And as Job sat on a dunghill of worms, so all the evil of the world is really a dunghill which became the Lord’s dwelling place, while men that abound in every sort of crime and base desire are really worms.

The restoration of health and riches to Job prefigures the resurrection, which gives health and eternal life to those who believe in Christ. Regaining lordship over all the world, Christ says: All things have been given to me by my Father. And just as Job fathered other sons, so too did Christ, for the apostles, the sons of the Lord, succeeded the prophets.

Job died happily and in peace, but there is no death for the Lord. He is praised for ever, just as he was before time began, and as he always will be as time continues and moves into eternity.

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

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“Concerning this salvation, prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and investigated it... ” (1 Peter 1:10.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s First Reading, Didymus the Blind writes:

“Some say that the promises and the salvation of the saints who lived before the coming of the Savior was inferior to those given to people who came afterwards and who saw Jesus in the flesh, who heard his teaching and beheld the miracles he did in his body. We must however show that this opinion is false. Christ comes in two ways. One is through the intellect, by which God is received as a divine Word. The other is through the senses, by which he appears as a historical person coming out of the womb of Mary. But the first way is more purely divine than the second, which was made necessary by the sinful behavior of mankind. For God comes to all the saints through the intellect and by his word, whether they lived before or after the coming of Christ, sanctifying each one according to his deeds. Those who lived before the coming of Christ were less informed, not because of their wickedness but because of God’s dispensation of time. Therefore it is said that the prophets examined how and at what time the salvation of their souls would be fulfilled by the sufferings of Christ and his subsequent glory. They preached these things, knowing that they were not going to be revealed directly to them but would appear at some future time. Therefore it is wrong to say that their sanctification was somehow inferior to ours. (Commentary on 1 Peter.)

Collect

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of the world
may be directed by your peaceful rule
and that your Church may rejoice,
untroubled in her devotion.
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

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“... to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you ...” (1 Peter 1:4.)

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

For God foresaw that the faith and behavior of people would be put right by the teaching of the gospel, and so he chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestinating them to be his children by partaking of the Spirit of sonship. For foreknowledge means no more than seeing what is inside a person. It is now no longer foreknowledge in effect but knowledge of something real which has been foreseen. Those to whom Peter is writing were chosen according to foreknowledge, but the calling does not come to people who are hidden from view, for their innate awareness removes any doubt about their true nature.” (Catena)

Collect

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of the world
may be directed by your peaceful rule
and that your Church may rejoice,
untroubled in her devotion.
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 we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil?

Saint Gregory the Great

Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from Moral Reflections on Job, Book 3.

ORDINARY TIME, Week 8: Monday

When Paul perceived within himself the riches of internal wisdom, yet saw the corruptibility of his own body, he was led to say: We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Now in the blessed Job the earthen vessel felt the gaping sores without, while this treasure of wisdom remained whole and intact within. For outwardly his body was in agony, but inwardly from the treasure of wisdom came forth holy thoughts: If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil? The good here refers either to the temporal or to the eternal gifts of God, and the evil to the scourges of the present time, about which the Lord says through the prophet: I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light and create the darkness. I make peace and create evil.

I form the light and create the darkness, for though outwardly these scourges create the darkness of anguish, inwardly knowledge enkindles the light in the mind. I make peace and create evil, for peace with God is restored to us when those things which were rightly created for us, but are not ordinarily desired, are turned into scourges and become evil for us. It is through sin that we become opposed to God; therefore, it is fitting that we should return to his peace by way of scourges. In this manner, when everything created for good is turned into a source of pain for us, the mind of the chastened man may be humbly renewed and restored to peace with his Creator.

We ought particularly to observe in Job’s words how skillfully he meets his wife’s persuading: If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil? It is a great comfort in tribulation if, in times of adversity, we recall the gifts our Creator has given us. Nor will overwhelming sorrow break us, if we quickly call to mind the gifts which have sustained us. For it is written: On the day of prosperity do not forget affliction, and on the day of affliction do not forget prosperity. For if a man receives God’s gifts, but forgets his affliction, he can fall through his own excessive joy. On the other hand, when a man is bruised by scourges, but is not at all consoled by the thought of the blessings he has been fortunate to receive, he is completely cast down.

Thus both attitudes must be united so that one may be supported by the other: the memory of the gift can temper the pain of the affliction, and the foreboding and fear of the affliction can modify the joy of the gift. And so the holy Job, to soothe his soul’s depression in the midst of his wound, weighs the delightful gifts he has received even while he suffers from the scourges, saying: If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil?

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

Holy Trinity: not theological algebra rather a living mystery!

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

“The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go (πορευθέντες, poreuthentes), therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:16-20.)

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

What happens when you hear the phrase, ‘the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity’? When approaching the reality of mystery, the challenge lies, not in the word mystery itself, but how the word is grasped in Western culture. Mystery was used in the Ancient Near Eastern world to describe a particular way of living. In the later Hellenistic world of antiquity, one was ‘initiated into the mysteries.’ Once one’s life began ‘in the mysteries,’ one’s life was different. Mystery in this original Greek context did not focus primarily on the unknowable, but on living what was known of the particular reality that now engulfed one’s life. In other words, mystery was a word used to describe a very active and particular way of living life. Sure there were aspects of this living that were unknown, unclear and uncertain. The person living the mysteries knew however that deeper insights and the occasional resolution of the unknown, unclear and uncertain came only by living deeply that which (or Who) is known.

Consider though how mystery is popularly understood in the West. Mystery is practically synonymous first and foremost with ‘unknowable’ or ‘can't be figured out.’ Further complications arise when these (and others) descriptions of mystery hit the pragmatic and utilitarian approach of Western culture: ‘why bother,’ why waste time trying to figure out the unfirgurable,’ etc. I'll simply take ‘it’ on faith and believe, even though I may have absolutely no idea of what I am saying.

Andrei Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity in Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Along with ‘taking the Holy Trinity on faith,’ Christians often try to engage theological algebra: how can 3 be 1, how can 1 be 3? We attempt an explanation with Saint Patrick's shamrock (1 leaf with 3 petals), or water (ice, liquid, steam) or a candle (wax, wick, flame). Early Christianity had its struggles with articulating an acceptable expression of the Incomprehensible. In fourth-century Constantinople, Saint Gregory of Nyssa quipped, "The whole city is full of it, the squares, the marketplaces, the crossroads, the alleyways; rag dealers, money-changers, food-sellers, they are all busy arguing. If you ask someone to give you change, he philosophizes about the Begotten and the Unbegotten; if you inquire about the price of a loaf, you are told by way of reply that the Father is greater and the Son inferior; if you ask, “Is my bath ready?” the attendant answers that the Son was made out of nothing."

With all of these thoughts swirling about, what guidance does the Word of God offer us this Sunday? The Gospel proclamation known in some circles as the “Great Commissioning” helps to properly orient our thoughts – and more importantly, our lives – in the direction of Trinitarian living.

Some hold that the connection between this Sunday’s Gospel pericope and today’s Solemnity lies in the Baptismal formula. Consider for a moment another, prior connection: Jesus’ charge to the disciples “GO!” The Greek verb πορευομαι (poreuomai) has in interesting background in the Ancient Near Eastern world. While certainly a common verb to describe short or long travels, many cultures also engaged the verb to describe life’s journey to the other-world, the ‘world-beyond-this-one’ or the afterlife. Some cultures even linked the ‘travel’ of the sun from east to west as a metaphor for humanity’s travel from birth to death and with death, entrance into another world.

This sense of poreuomai gives a definitive direction to Jesus’ command GO. The actions of baptizing, teaching, and knowing His presence are actions at the heart of living the discipleship of the Lord Jesus – AND – living the life of the Most Holy Trinity. Living life now with the awareness that it has a particular direction, that is, union with the Divine Persons gives life a purpose now and therefore one lives Holy Trinity.

When disciples engage the command of ‘baptizing’ it is not a single event that has happened at some point in life. It is a way of living that recognizes each moment as a opportunity of be plunged more deeply into the very heart of life and love, the opposite of sin. When disciples live lives avoiding sin and conscious of being drawn more deeply into life and love, disciples lives Holy Trinity.

When disciples engage the command of ‘teaching’ it is not a ‘trivial pursuit’ approach to the things of God. Christian teaching – catechesis – is the forming of the intellect to assist with being put into communion with the Divine Persons (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 426). When disciples seek opportunities to be schooled by the Spirit of Love, disciples live Holy Trinity.

When disciples engage the command of ‘knowing’ that “I [Jesus] am with you always,” they acknowledge that journeying in this life is not a solitary affair. Not only is each disciple bonded to another, but the journey is done as the Body of Christ. Conscious that each disciple is part of the Body, disciples work to strengthen the Body by putting the needs and concerns of others first. When disciples life live unselfishly, disciples live Holy Trinity.

Far from an abstract, heading teaching, the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is an invitation to live life in a particular way, a way that always leads to an intensification of live and love. Saint Gregory of Nyssa in the Life of Moses summed it up this way: “May life thunder loud and pure in the proclamation of the Most Holy Trinity and may life imitate the fruit of the pomegranate!”

PREFACE

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvations,
always and everywhere to give You thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For with Your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
You are One God, One Lord:
not in the unity of a single person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.

For what You have revealed to us of Your glory
we believe equally of Your Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
so that, in confessing of the true and eternal Godhead,
You might be adored in what is proper to each Person,
their unity in substance, and their equality in majesty.

For this is praised by Angels and Archangels,
Cherubim, too, and Seraphim,
who never cease to cry out each day,
as with one voice they acclaim:

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

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

“The Spirit of God is the same as the Spirit of Christ and the same as the Holy Spirit. But he is also called the Spirit of adoption, as the apostle makes clear in this passage. David spoke of this Spirit also when he said: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” There are many sons of God, as Scripture says: “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you,” but only one is the Son by nature, the only begotten of the Father, through whom all the rest are called sons.

Likewise there are many spirits but only one who truly proceeds from God himself and who bestows on all the others the grace of his name and his sanctification.” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans)

Collect

God our Father,
Who by sending into the world
the Word of truth and
the Spirit of sanctification
made known to the human race
Your wondrous mystery,
grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith,
we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory
and adore Your Unity, powerful in majesty.
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

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

“... he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20.)

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

“And how do you go about converting someone? It is like the seeds sown by farmers. They are sown once, but they do not survive forever unless they are carefully nurtured. And unless the tillers of the soil protect the seeds, they will be exposed to the birds and to every seedeating creature. We are just like this, unless we protect what has been sown in us by constant care, for the devil will snatch it away and our own lethargy will destroy it. The sun dries it up, the rain drowns it, and weeds choke it, so that it is not enough for the sower to pass by once only. Rather he must tend it often, driving away the birds of the air, pulling up the weeds and filling up the rocky places with much soil. He must prevent, block off and eject any form of destruction. Where soil is concerned, everything depends on the farmer, for without him it remains lifeless, ready only to suffer harm. It is not like that with spiritual soil however. For in spiritual matters it is not all up to the teachers; at least half the effort must come from the pupils. It is up to us the teachers to sow the seed but up to you the pupils to do the rest.” (Catena)

Collect

O God,
Who never cease to bestow the glory
of holiness on the faithful servants
You raise up for Yourself,
graciously grant that the Holy Spirit
may kindle in us that fire
with which He wonderfully filled
the heart of saint Philip Neri.
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

Rejoice in the Lord always

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Sermon 171

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

The Apostle tells us to rejoice, but in the Lord, not in the world. Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world, says Scripture, will be reckoned an enemy of God. As a man cannot serve two masters, so one cannot rejoice both in the world and in the Lord.

Let joy in the Lord prevail, then, until joy in the world is no more. Let joy in the Lord go on increasing; let joy in the world go on decreasing until it is no more. This is said, not because we are not to rejoice while we are in this world, but in order that, even while we are still in this world, we may already rejoice in the Lord.

You may object: I am in the world; if I rejoice I certainly rejoice where I am. What is this? Do you mean that because you are in the world you are not in the Lord? Listen again to the Apostle, speaking now to the Athenians: in the Acts of the Apostles he says this is of God and the Lord our creator: In him we live and move and have our being. If he is everywhere, where is he not? Surely this was what he was exhorting us to realize. The Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything.

This is a great truth, that he ascended above all the heavens, yet is near to those on earth. Who is this stranger and neighbor if not the one who became our neighbor out of compassion?

The man lying on the road, left half-dead by robbers, the man treated with contempt by the priest and the levite who passed by, the man approached by the passing Samaritan to take care of him and help him, that man is the whole human race. When the immortal one, the holy one, was far removed from us because we were mortal and sinners, he came down to us, so that he, the stranger, might become our neighbor.

He did not treat us as our sins deserved. For we are now sons of God. How do we show this? The only Son of God died for us, so that he might not remain alone. He who died as the only Son did not want to remain as the only Son. For the only Son of God made many sons of God. He bought brothers for himself by his blood; he made them welcome by being rejected; he ransomed them by being sold; he honored them by being dishonored; he gave them life by being put to death.

So, brethren, rejoice in the Lord, not in the world. That is, rejoice in the truth, not in wickedness; rejoice in the hope of eternity, not in the fading flower of vanity. That is the way to rejoice. Wherever you are on earth, however long you remain on earth, the Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything.

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 Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No,” that you may not incur condemnation.” (James 5:12.)

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

“Let the witness of our life be stronger than an oath, and if some shameless person dares to ask an oath from you, let your yes be yes and your no be no, instead of swearing an oath. James forbids us to swear by heaven or by earth for this reason, that we should not give the creation more value than it has by deifying it. For those who swear, swear by something greater than themselves, as the apostle says.” (Catena)

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, always pondering spiritual things,
we may carry out in both word and deed
that which is 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. 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

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit —” (James 4:13.)

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

“Some people go on endless journeys for the sake of business and the profits which they can make thereby, enduring even sea travel for their sake. Some fight in order to get some advantage over others by increasing their power. Still others fatten their purses by cheating and by extortion, bringing down fire and brimstone on their heads.” (Catena)

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, always pondering spiritual things,
we may carry out in both word and deed
that which is 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. 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

There is a time to be born, and a time to die

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Bishop and Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Homily on Ecclesiastes, Homily 6

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

There is a time to be born and a time to die. The fact that there is a natural link between birth and death is expressed very clearly in this text of Scripture. Death invariably follows birth and everyone who is born comes at last to the grave.

There is a time to be born and a time to die. God grant that mine may be a timely birth and a timely death! Of course no one imagines that the Speaker regards as acts of virtue our natural birth and death, in neither of which our own will plays any part. A woman does not give birth because she chooses to do so; neither does anyone die as a result of his own decision. Obviously, there is neither virtue nor vice in anything that lies beyond our control. So we must consider what is meant by a timely birth and a timely death.

It seems to me that the birth referred to here is our salvation, as is suggested by the prophet Isaiah. This reaches its full term and is not stillborn when, having been conceived by the fear of God, the soul’s own birth pangs bring it to the light of day. We are in a sense our own parents, and we give birth to ourselves by our own free choice of what is good. Such a choice becomes possible for us when we have received God into ourselves and have become children of God, children of the Most High. On the other hand, if what the Apostle calls the form of Christ has not been produced in us, we abort ourselves. The man of God must reach maturity.

Now if the meaning of a timely birth is clear, so also is the meaning of a timely death. For Saint Paul every moment was a time to die, as he proclaims in his letters: I swear by the pride I take in you that I face death every day. Elsewhere he says: For your sake we are put to death daily and we felt like men condemned to death. How Paul died daily is perfectly obvious. He never gave himself up to a sinful life but kept his body under constant control. He carried death with him, Christ’s death, wherever he went. He was always being crucified with Christ. It was not his own life he lived; it was Christ who lived in him. This surely was a timely death – a death whose end was true life.

I put to death and I shall give life, God says, teaching us that death to sin and life in the Spirit is his gift, and promising that whatever he puts to death he will restore to life again.

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 the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

“Then He [Jesus] said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home...” (John 19:27.)

Saint Gregory the Great comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“The virgin mother, when wine was lacking, wanted Jesus to do a miracle. She was at once answered, “Woman, what have I to do with you?” as if to say plainly, The fact that I can do a miracle comes to me from my Father, not my mother. For it was from the nature of his Father that he could do miracles but from the nature of his mother that he could die. When he was on the cross, then, in dying he acknowledged his mother whom he commended to the disciple, saying, “Behold your mother.” And so, when he says, “Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come,”26 he is in effect saying, In the miracle, which I did not from your nature, I do not acknowledge you. When the hour of death shall come, however, I shall acknowledge you as my mother, since it is from you that I can die.” (Letter 10)

Collect

O God, Father of mercies,
Whose Only Begotten Son,
as He hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray,
that with her loving help
Your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace
all the families of the peoples.
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

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