Words of the Word

Saint John Neumann, Bishop (Feast in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia USA)

“So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties...” (Mark 6:39-40)

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

“I believe that he ordered the people to sit down upon the grass because of what is said in Isaiah: “all flesh is grass;” that is, to humble the flesh, to make subject the arrogance of the flesh; so that each one may become a partaker of the loaves to which Jesus gave his blessing.

Since there are different classes of those who need the food which Jesus supplies, for all are not equally nourished by the same words, on this account I think that Mark has written, “And he commanded them that they should all sit down by companies upon the green grass; and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties...” For it was necessary that those who were to find comfort in the food of Jesus should either be in the order of the hundred — the sacred number which is consecrated to God because of its completeness; or in the order of the fifty — the number which symbolizes the remission of sins in accordance with the mystery of the Jubilee which took place every fifty years, and of the feast at Pentecost.” (Commentary on Matthew, 11.)

Collect

O God,
Who called the Bishop
Saint John Neumann,
renowned for his
charity and pastoral service,
to shepherd your people in America,
grant by his intercession
that, as we foster the
Christian education of youth
and are strengthened
by the witness of brotherly love,
we may constantly increase
the family of your Church.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Christmas Weekday - Thursday before Epiphany

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29.)

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

”There are five animals that are offered on the altar, three being land animals and two winged. It seems worthwhile to me to ask why the Savior is said to be a “lamb” by John and none of the rest. But also, in the case of the land animals, since three types of animal are offered according to each species, why did he name the lamb from the species of sheep? Now these are the five animals: a young bull, a sheep, a goat, a turtledove, a pigeon.

And the three types of sheep are a ram, the ewe and the lamb. It is the lamb, however, that we find offered in the perpetual sacrifices. What other perpetual sacrifice can be spiritual to a spiritual being than the Word in his prime, the Word symbolically called “lamb”? But if we examine the declaration about Jesus, who is pointed out by John in the words “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” from the standpoint of the plan of salvation when the Son of God bodily lived among the human race, we will assume that the lamb is none other than his humanity. For he “was led as a sheep to the slaughter and was dumb as a lamb before its shearer,” saying, “I was an innocent lamb being led to be sacrificed.”

This is why in the Apocalypse, too, a little lamb is seen “standing as though slain.” This lamb, indeed, which was slain according to certain secret reasons, has become the expiation of the whole world. According to the Father’s love for humanity, he also submitted to slaughter on behalf of the world, purchasing us with his own blood from him who bought us when we had sold ourselves into sin. He, however, who led this lamb to the sacrifice was God in man, the great high priest, who reveals this through the saying, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.”” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, 6.)

Collect

O God,
Who by the Nativity of Your Only Begotten Son
wondrously began for Your people
the work of redemption,
grant, we pray,
to Your servants such firmness of faith,
that by His guidance
they may attain the glorious prize
You have promised.
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

The vision of the Word will fulfill all our desires

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Sermon 194

Christmas Weekday

What man knows all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ, concealed in the poverty of his flesh? Scripture says: Although he was rich he became poor for our sake to enrich us by his poverty. He showed himself poor when he assumed our mortal nature and destroyed death, yet he promised us riches, for he had not been robbed of his wealth but was keeping it in reserve.

How great are the blessings of his goodness which he reserves for those who fear him and shows to those who hope in him! Until he gives them to us in their plentitude, we can have only the faintest conception of them; but to enable us to receive these blessings, he who in his divine nature is the equal of the Father assumed the condition of a slave and became like us, and so restored to us our likeness to God. The only Son of God became a son of man to make many men sons of God. He instructed slaves by showing himself in the form of a slave, and now he enables free men to see him in the form of God.

For we are the sons of God, and although what we shall be has not yet been revealed, we know that when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. For what are those treasures of wisdom and knowledge, what those divine riches, if not the one thing that can fulfill our longing? What are the great blessings of his goodness, if not the one thing that will content us? Therefore: Show us the Father, and all our desires will be satisfied.

Christ speaks both in us and for us when, in one of the psalms, he says to the Father: I shall be satisfied when your glory is revealed. For he and the Father are one, and whoever sees him sees the Father also. The Lord of hosts is himself the king of glory. He will transform us and show us his face, and we shall be saved; all our longing will be fulfilled, all our desires will be satisfied.

But this has not yet been accomplished; he has not yet given us the vision that will satisfy every desire; we have not yet drunk our fill of the fountain of life. So while all this remains in the future and we still walk by faith, justice and, with inexpressible longing, yearn for God’s beauty, let us reverently celebrate the day he was born into our own servile condition.

Since we can as yet form no conception of his generation by the Father before the daystar, let us keep the festival of his birth of a virgin in the hours of the night. Since it is still beyond our understanding that his name endures for ever and existed before the sun, let us at least recognize his dwelling that he has placed beneath the sun. We cannot yet behold him as the only Son, abiding for ever in his Father, so let us recall his coming forth like a bridegroom from his chamber. We are not yet ready for the banquet of our Father, so let us contemplate the manger of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Christmas Weekday, Friday before Epiphany

“... the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three are of one accord.” (1 John 5:8.)

Pope Saint Leo the Great comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:

“This means the Spirit of sanctification, the blood of redemption and the water of baptism, which three are one and remain distinct, and none of them is separated from union with the others. This is the faith by which the church lives and moves.” (Letters, 28.)

Collect

Cast your kindly light upon Your faithful,
Lord, we pray,
and with the splendor of Your glory
set their hearts ever aflame,
that they may never cease
to acknowledge their Savior
and may truly hold fast to Him.
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

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions...” (Luke 2:46.)

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

”Because he was a small child, he is found “in the midst of teachers,” sanctifying and instructing them. Because he was a small child, he is found “in their midst,” not teaching them but “asking questions.” He did this because it is appropriate to his age, to teach us what befits boys, even if they are wise and learned. They should rather hear their teachers than want to teach them and not show off with a display of knowledge. He interrogated the teachers not to learn anything but to teach them by his questions. From one fountain of doctrine, there flow both wise questions and answers. It is part of the same wisdom to know what you should ask and what you should answer. It was right for the Savior first to become a master of learned interrogation. Later he would answer questions according to God’s reason and Word.” (Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, 19.)

Collect

O God,
Who were pleased to give us
the shining example of the Holy Family,
graciously grant that we may imitate them
in practicing the virtues of family life
and in the bonds of charity,
and so, in the joy of your house,
delight one day in eternal rewards.
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 Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

“and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord...” (Luke 2:24)

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

“For this reason it seems wonderful that the sacrifice of Mary was not the first offering, that is, “a lamb a year old,” but the second, since “she could not afford” the first. For as it was written about her, Jesus’ parents came “to offer a sacrifice” for him, “according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’” But this also shows the truth of what was written, that Jesus Christ “although he was rich, became a poor man.” Therefore, for this reason, he chose both a poor mother, from whom he was born, and a poor homeland, about which it is said, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are little to be among the clans of Judah,” and the rest.” (Homilies on Leviticus, 8.)

Collect

Almighty and invisible God,
who dispersed the darkness of this world
by the coming of your light,
look, we pray, with serene countenance upon us,
that we may acclaim with fitting praise
the greatness of
the Nativity of your Only Begotten 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

In the fullness of time the fullness of divinity appeared

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Abbot and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Sermon 1 On the Lord’s Epiphany

Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

The goodness and humanity of God our Savior have appeared in our midst. We thank God for the many consolations he has given us during this sad exile of our pilgrimage here on earth. Before the Son of God became man his goodness was hidden, for God’s mercy is eternal, but how could such goodness be recognized? It was promised, but it was not experienced, and as a result few have believed in it. Often and in many ways the Lord used to speak through the prophets. Among other things, God said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. But what did men respond, thinking thoughts of affliction and knowing nothing of peace? They said: Peace, peace, there is no peace. This response made the angels of peace weep bitterly, saying: Lord, who has believed our message? But now men believe because they see with their own eyes, and because God’s testimony has now become even more credible. He has gone so far as to pitch his tent in the sun so even the dimmest eyes see him.

Notice that peace is not promised but sent to us; it is no longer deferred, it is given; peace is not prophesied but achieved. It is as if God the Father sent upon the earth a purse full of his mercy. This purse was burst open during the Lord’s passion to pour forth its hidden contents—the price of our redemption. It was only a small purse, but it was very full. As the Scriptures tell us: A little child has been given to us, but in him dwells all the fullness of the divine nature. The fullness of time brought with it the fullness of divinity. God’s Son came in the flesh so that mortal men could see and recognize God’s kindness. When God reveals his humanity, his goodness cannot possibly remain hidden. To show his kindness what more could he do beyond taking my human form? My humanity, I say, not Adam’s—that is, not such as he had before his fall.

How could he have shown his mercy more clearly than by taking on himself our condition? For our sake the Word of God became as grass. What better proof could he have given of his love? Scripture says: Lord, what is man that you are mindful of him; why does your heart go out to him? The incarnation teaches us how much God cares for us and what he thinks and feels about us. We should stop thinking of our own sufferings and remember what he has suffered. Let us think of all the Lord has done for us, and then we shall realize how his goodness appears through his humanity. The lesser he became through his human nature the greater was his goodness; the more he lowered himself for me, the dearer he is to me. The goodness and humanity of God our Savior have appeared, says the Apostle.

Truly great and manifest are the goodness and humanity of God. He has given us a most wonderful proof of his goodness by adding humanity to his own divine nature.

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

Birth of the Rebel, Jesus

The sounds are characteristic of the Season. As soon as the melody of any number of Christmas carols chime, the lyrics fill our minds and once again remind us of the uniqueness of ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ Occasionally a song comes along that we have not heard and we ask, ‘Is this a Christmas song?’ Back in the 1970’s, composer and musician Jackson Browne wrote “The Rebel Jesus” and it appeared on the Chieftans’ Christmas album, “The Bells of Dublin” a decade later. Consider the following stanzas:

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgment
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.

Jesus, a rebel? Let’s face it, it is not one of the words we typically use to describe the Person and His work, especially at this time of the Year. Many of our images of Jesus unfortunately have ‘tamed’ or ‘domesticated’ Him into being nothing more than a nice man who looks like one of the Bee Gees and taught people to be nice. We have lost the ‘sting’ that much of His teaching brought to humanity and as such we have refashioned a Jesus Who is comfortable and easy-going. With a refashioned Jesus even the celebration of His Nativity has been re-written. ‘Christmas is (fill in the blank). Christmas is for (fill in the blank).’

The reality is that no other person in recorded history has left such a mark on humanity. His birth, while legitimately celebrated with family, friends, gifts, food and good cheer, is actually a most inconvenient event for humanity. Why is Jesus’ birth an inconvenience? Essentially, His birth challenges the status quo of self-serving entitlement and mediocrity calling us to take a stand as He in fact did throughout His life with and among us.

Biblically, “to rebel” is not always a bad action. In the languages of both Testaments, “to rebel” means “to stand for, to stand with” or “to stand against.” Is this not precisely what Jesus the Rebel did when He walked the Earth? Throughout His ministry, He continuously “stood for” doing His Father’s will. Doing the Father’s will is adoring, worshipping and living in right-relationship with God our Father, each other and all of creation. It is “standing for” the Father’s will in all things, not just the issues or actions I choose. It is “standing for” the right actions that reverences life, feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless and consoles the sorrowing, to name only a few (see Matthew 25:31-45 for more on the Corporal Works of Mercy as well as their complement, the Spiritual Works of Mercy). The Rebel Jesus “stands with” His people, never abandoning them in times of difficulty or adversity. The Rebel Jesus ‘runs into’ situations to be with the suffering and sorrowing, not running away to seek individual relief and comfort. The Rebel Jesus most inconveniently “stands against” sin, oppression, selfishness and arrogance expressed in any form that demeans the dignity and sacredness of the human person. The Rebel Jesus challenges structures of society – both civil and religious – when authority is abused to make one’s life comfortable at the expense of another.

In many of his addresses (most especially at Christmas Mass), Pope Francis has exhorted all of us to permit Jesus to find each of us in the encounter He [Jesus] desires. As God, Jesus took on a full, complete human nature in all things but sin so that we in turn may be free from sin and live as sons and daughters of our Loving Father. What a Gift we have been given in His birth, a birth that challenges us to be rebels like Him in standing for His Kingdom and His way of living.

May this Christmas be the moment to act and to stand ‘for, and with’ Jesus; and to act and to stand ‘against’ everything that is not of Him.

Nativity of the Lord - At the Mass at Dawn

“When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:15-16.)

Saint Bede the Venerable comments on this verse from today’s Gospel Proclamation:

“The shepherds did not keep silent about the hidden mysteries that they had come to know by divine influence. They told whomever they could. Spiritual shepherds in the church are appointed especially for this, that they may proclaim the mysteries of the Word of God and that they may show to their listeners that the marvels which they have learned in the Scriptures are to be marveled at.” (Homilies on the Gospels, 1.)

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, as we are bathed
in the new radiance of your incarnate Word,
the light of faith, which illumines our minds,
may also shine through in our 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. 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

??ailing

Why is the Visitation more than a visit? Mary knows!

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

“Mary set out (Ἀναστᾶσα, Anastasa)
and traveled (ἐπορεύθη, eporeuthe) to the hill country
in haste (μετὰ σπουδῆς, meta spoudes)
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.”

(Luke 1:39-40)

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

On Advent’s final Sunday, God’s Word narrates Mary’s trek from her home town of Nazareth to a “town of Judah” in the “hill country.” The Gospel does not state why Mary went to Elizabeth. We know the town of Judah in the hill country to be Ein Kerem (sometimes spelled Ein Karem), situated in very rugged area west of Jerusalem and home to Elizabeth and Zechariah, relatives of Mary. We know that Galileans by and large were relatively poor people, suggesting that the pregnant Virgin Mary most probably walked most if not all of the journey on foot, which could take anywhere from 10 to 16 days. What we do NOT know is the reason for the trip. Of all the possible actions to take after the Archangel Gabriel's visit, why does the Evangelist Luke record a rather difficult trip at a somewhat inconvenient time? Why not, for example, narrate a conversation between Mary and her Mother? Why not capture some of Mary’s own thoughts on these events? While these are but two questions we might reasonably proffer along with others, our questing must begin with the Sacred Text.

To the listener, events appear to move quickly and abruptly. Mary declares her response to Gabriel in Luke 1:38, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” which is followed at the end of that same verse by Gabriel's departure and Mary’s setting out in verse 39, the beginning of the episode proclaimed this Sunday. Here, as in every Gospel episode where Mary is present, she acts as a teacher, catechizing the listener in what it means to be a disciple of her Son.

The English translation we listen to this Sunday has Mary ‘traveling in haste.’ Fair enough — after all, Mary has to journey from point A to point B, from Nazareth to Ein Kerem. Throughout this Gospel, the Evangelist Luke couches the Good News using a journey motif. For Luke, no travel is meaningless. All journeys in Luke are ripe with meaning and depth, with Jesus’ own journey to Jerusalem being the most prominent, vital and salvific. Mary ‘traveling to the hill country’ is more than a statement of locomotion. πορεύομαι (poreuomai) translated properly as “to travel” or “to make a journey” also expresses a deeper meaning. In the Greco-Roman world of the Biblical era, πορεύομαι conveyed a sense of a ‘plan being put into motion,’ a type of unfolding. Far from being a spur-of-the-moment road trip south, Mary’s journey is part of a much larger plan and is, in fact, a mission. Her mission to travel to Elizabeth’s house is an essential element in the unfolding of a plan - the plan of salvation - that already is in motion, eventually bringing healing and wholeness to humanity in the very Person of her Son, Jesus.

This is a point to consider when it comes to asking why the trip of pregnant Mary to visit pregnant Elizabeth. Earlier in Luke, we learned that Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron (in fact, Aaron’s wife is Elisheba [the Hebrew form of Elizabeth] Exodus 6:23). This situates Elizabeth within the world and life of the Old Testament that knew of many couples struggling with fertility and the resulting legal questions of a first-born son. God’s covenantal promise of descendants seemed humanly impossible in the lives of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Manoah and his unnamed wife, and Elkanah and Hannah. In all of these families, including Zechariah and Elizabeth, a work of God reversed the couple's situation and the child born had a significant role to play in economy of salvation. Throughout Israel's history, generation after generation sang the Lord's praises for His presence and action in the world. These great and mighty deeds, often enshrined in the melodic verses of the Psalms, became the collective memory for the Israelites reminding them of God's presence with them. Humanly hopeless situations were reversed often by the whispering, thundering or prophetic sounding of God's effective Word.

But is Mary’s pregnancy a divine reversal? Is Mary herself facing a dire, immediately hopeless situation for which there is no human way out? Is Mary’s pregnancy another in a series of divine acts begun in the Old Testament and now continuing in the New? To quote a wise mentor, “Yes in the sense of No; No in the sense of Yes.” Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth is the celebration of divine reversal. Mary celebrates with Elizabeth the life of John the Baptist, the last of the prophets who speak God's Word to prepare the way for THE Word. Humanity, hopelessly numbed by and addicted to sin, will have the opportunity to have that situation reversed through the preaching of John the Baptist (last week's Gospel). Heeding the prophetic word and permitting that word to soak deeply into the heart, humanity has received power to move away from sin and embrace a path of life and peace. But Mary’s Pregnancy is beyond the confines of divine reversal. Mary’s pregnancy is beyond any great and mighty work of the Lord God. This is a wholly new creation - God-in-the-flesh: Emmanuel. As awesome as the reversal of barren to life is, all comparisons are muted in the reality of fruitful virginity and the resulting birth of Jesus: Emmanuel - God-with-us not in the sense of recall or memory but in-the-flesh. This is Mary’s lesson. In the visit to Elizabeth, Mary reminds all of God's great and mighty deeds - AND - God is at work in way unlike any other moment in time.

As these final days of this preparatory Season draw to a close, there is still time to allow body, mind and heart to be attuned to the transforming intervention of Jesus, God-in-the-flesh. There is still time to permit body, mind and heart to see “the plan” already at work in life, especially in those dark and difficult moments of life. There is still time for body, mind and heart to cry out to the Holy Spirit for a zealous and determined connection with the Person Jesus pours His abundant joy into every aspect of our lives.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

“He shall take his place as shepherd by the strength of the LORD, by the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall dwell securely, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth.” (Micah 5:3.)

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

“But now, the same star which led the magi to the place where the infant God was to be found with his virgin mother could of course have led them right to the very city. But it withdrew, and didn’t appear at all to them again, until the Jews themselves had been questioned about the city where Christ was to be born. This was to oblige them to name it themselves, on the evidence of divine Scriptures, and to say themselves, “In Bethlehem of Judah. For so it is written, ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah; for from you shall come forth the leader who will rule my people Israel.’” What else can divine Providence have meant by this, but that among the Jews would remain only the divine Scriptures by which the nations would be instructed, they themselves being blind? This evidence they would carry about with them not as an assistance to their own salvation but as evidence of ours. Because today it may happen that when we bring forward prophecies about Christ, uttered long before and now made clear by the events that have fulfilled them, the pagans whom we wish to gain will say that they weren’t foretold so long ago but have been composed by us after the event, so that what has later occurred may be thought to have been previously prophesied. Then we can cite the volumes owned by the Jews, to clear the doubts of the pagans, who were already prefigured in those magi, whom the Jews instructed from the divine books about the city in which Christ was born, without themselves either seeking or acknowledging him.” (Sermon 200)

A reflection on today’s Gospel appears here.

Collect

Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord,
Your grace into our hearts,
that we,
to whom the Incarnation of Christ Your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by His Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of 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

Saturday of the Third Week of Advent - 22 December: O King of all the Nations

O King of all the nations,
the only joy of every human heart;
O Keystone of the mighty arch of man,
come and save the creature
You fashioned from the dust.

“Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the LORD in Shiloh.” (1 Samuel 1:24.)

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

“Considering all these things, and whatever else the Lord shall have made known to you in this matter, which either does not occur to me or would take too much time to state here, strive in prayer to overcome this world: pray in hope, pray in faith, pray in love, pray earnestly and patiently, pray as a widow belonging to Christ. For although prayer is, as He has taught, the duty of all His members, i.e. of all who believe in Him and are united to His body, a more assiduous attention to prayer is found to be specially enjoined in Scripture upon those who are widows. Two women of the name of Anna are honorably named there — the one, Elkanah's wife, who was the mother of holy Samuel; the other, the widow who recognized the Most Holy One when He was yet a babe. The former, though married, prayed with sorrow of mind and brokenness of heart because she had no sons; and she obtained Samuel, and dedicated him to the Lord, because she vowed to do so when she prayed for him.” (Letter 130)

Collect

O God,
Who, seeing the human race fallen into death,
willed to redeem it
by the coming of your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that those who confess his Incarnation
with humble fervor
may merit his company as their Redeemer.
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

Third Sunday of Advent

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” (Philippians 4:6.)

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

“He said “whoever does the will of my Father” shall enter, not whoever does my will. Why? Nothing is insufficient if they do the will of the Father. What he did say was itself a very difficult thing to accept in view of their weakness. He implied that to do his Father’s will is to do his will. There is no other willing of the Son than the will of the Father. This may apply in particular to those who commit themselves in detail to legal rules yet take little thought for the actual embodiment of their better intentions. Elsewhere Paul confronts them directly when he says, “Consider this. You bear the name Jew, rely on the law, boast in God and know the will of God,” but in all this you derive no benefit as long as the actual fruits of good living are not present.” (Homily on Philippians, 15.)

Collect

O God, who see how Your people
faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.
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

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

“... but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands...” (Matthew 17:12)

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

“The disciples who went up with Jesus remembered the traditions of the scribes concerning Elijah, that before the advent of Christ, Elijah would come and prepare for him the souls of those who would receive him. But the vision on the mountain, in which Elijah appeared, did not seem to be harmonized with what had been said, since Elijah seemed to them to have come with him rather than before him. So they say this thinking that the scribes were wrong. To this the Savior replies, not denying what was handed down about Elijah but saying that there was another coming of Elijah before that of Christ unknown to the scribes. In [this coming] “they did not know him but did to him whatever they pleased,” as though they too were accomplices in his imprisonment by Herod and execution by him. Then he says that he too will suffer what they did to Elijah. The disciples asked these questions as though about Elijah and the Savior replied. But hearing the Savior’s words, “Elijah has already come,” and what followed, they took it as a reference to John the Baptist.” (Commentary on Matthew, 13)

Collect

May the splendor of Your glory
dawn in our hearts,
we pray, almighty God,
that all shadows of the night
may be scattered
and we may be shown
to be children of light
by the advent of Your
Only Begotten 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

Mary and the Church

Blessed Isaac of Stella

Cistercian Monk

An excerpt from his Sermon 51

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

The Son of God is the first-born of many brothers. Although by nature he is the only-begotten, by grace he has joined many to himself and made them one with him. For to those who receive him he has given the power to become the sons of God.

He became the Son of man and made many men sons of God, uniting them to himself by his love and power, so that they became as one. In themselves they are many by reason of their human descent, but in him they are one by divine rebirth.

The whole Christ and the unique Christ—the body and the head—are one: one because born of the same God in heaven, and of the same mother on earth. They are many sons, yet one son. Head and members are one son, yet many sons; in the same way, Mary and the Church are one mother, yet more than one mother; one virgin, yet more than one virgin.

Both are mothers, both are virgins. Each conceives of the same Spirit, without concupiscence. Each gives birth to a child of God the Father, without sin. Without any sin, Mary gave birth to Christ the head for the sake of his body. By the forgiveness of every sin, the Church gave birth to the body, for the sake of its head. Each is Christ’s mother, but neither gives birth to the whole Christ without the cooperation of the other.

In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary, and what is said in a particular sense of the virgin mother Mary is rightly understood in a general sense of the virgin mother, the Church. When either is spoken of, the meaning can be understood of both, almost without qualification.

In a way, every Christian is also believed to be a bride of God’s Word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful. These words are used in a universal sense of the Church, in a special sense of Mary, in a particular sense of the individual Christian. They are used by God’s Wisdom in person, the Word of the Father.

This is why Scripture says: I will dwell in the inheritance of the Lord. The Lord’s inheritance is, in a general sense, the Church; in a special sense, Mary; in an individual sense, the Christian. Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell for ever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul.

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 Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

“In the wilderness I will plant the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; in the wasteland I will set the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine ...” (Isaiah 41:19.)

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

“All these [types of trees] are equally placed in solitude, lest even one chord from the harp of the Lord and any virtue of the graces of the church seem to be missing. They are planted in the desert so that all might understand and recognize with a common mind that the hand of the Lord has accomplished all these things, so that in the desert of the nations there came rivers of virtues and in a land once a desert and full of salty water the cedar and cypress and other trees may grow, whose height and stature rush to the skies. The olive tree is the same tree that supplies both light and relaxation after working.” (Commentary on Isaiah, 12.)

Collect

May the glorious intercession
of the Virgin and Martyr Saint Lucy
give us new heart, we pray, O Lord,
so that we may celebrate her heavenly birthday
in this present age
and so behold things 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.

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 Second Week of Advent

“The wilderness and the parched land will exult; the Arabah will rejoice and bloom ...” (Isaiah 35:1.)

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:

“I said, “What are the fire, the gulf, or the other things which are mentioned, if they are not what they are said to be?”

“And where shall we place that oracle of Isaiah, which cries to the wilderness, “Be glad, O thirsty wilderness. Let the desert rejoice and blossom as a lily, and the desolate places of Jordan shall blossom and shall rejoice”? For it is clear that it is not to places without soul or sense that he proclaims the good tidings of joy, but he speaks, by the figure of the desert, of the soul that is parched and unadorned.

And “the excellence of Carmel” is given to the soul that bears the likeness to the desert, that is, the grace bestowed through the Spirit. For since Elijah dwelt in Carmel, and the mountain became famous and renowned by the virtue of him who dwelt there, and since moreover John the Baptist, illustrious in the spirit of Elijah, sanctified the Jordan, therefore the prophet foretold that “the excellence of Carmel” should be given to the river.

And “the glory of Lebanon,” from the similitude of its lofty trees, he transfers to the river. For as great Lebanon presents a sufficient cause of wonder in the very trees that it brings forth and nourishes, so is the Jordan glorified by regenerating people and planting them in the paradise of God. And of them, as the words of the psalmist say, ever blooming and bearing the foliage of virtues, “the leaf shall not wither,” and God shall be glad, receiving their fruit in due season, rejoicing, like a good planter, in his own works.” (On the Baptism of Christ)

Collect

May our prayer of petition
rise before you, we pray, O Lord,
that, with purity unblemished,
we, your servants, may come, as we desire,
to celebrate the great mystery
of the Incarnation of your Only Begotten 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

In Christ, God has spoken to us

Saint John of the Cross

Priest and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from The Ascent of Mount Carmel

Monday of the Second Week of Advent

Under the ancient law prophets and priests sought from God revelations and visions which indeed they needed, for faith had as yet no firm foundation and the gospel law had not yet been established. Their seeking and God’s responses were necessary. He spoke to them at one time through words and visions and revelations, at another in signs and symbols. But however he responded and what he said and revealed were mysteries of our holy faith, either partial glimpses of the whole or sure movements toward it.

But now that faith is rooted in Christ, and the law of the gospel has been proclaimed in this time of grace, there is no need to seek him in the former manner, nor for him so to respond. By giving us, as he did, his Son, his only Word, he has in that one Word said everything. There is no need for any further revelation.

This is the true meaning of Paul’s words to the Hebrews when he urged them to abandon their earlier ways of conversing with God, as laid down in the law of Moses, and set their eyes on Christ alone: In the past God spoke to our fathers through the prophets in various ways and manners; but now in our times, the last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. In effect, Paul is saying that God has spoken so completely through his own Word that he chooses to add nothing. Although he had spoken but partially through the prophets he has now said everything in Christ. He has given us everything, his own Son.

Therefore, anyone who wished to question God or to seek some new vision or revelation from him would commit an offense, for instead of focusing his eyes entirely on Christ he would be desiring something other than Christ, or beyond him.

God could then answer: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear him. In my Word I have already said everything. Fix your eyes on him alone for in him I have revealed all and in him you will find more than you could ever ask for or desire.

I, with my Holy Spirit, came down upon him on Mount Tabor and declared: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear him. You do not need new teachings or ways of learning from me, for when I spoke before it was of Christ who was to come, and when they sought anything of me they were but seeking and hoping for Christ in whom is every good, as the whole teaching of the evangelists and apostles clearly testifies.

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 Francis Xavier, Priest

“In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it...” (Isaiah 2:1.)

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

“This mountain is in the house of the Lord, for which the prophet sighed when he said, “One thing I asked from the Lord, this I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” and about which Paul wrote to Timothy, “If I am late, you should know how to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” This house was built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, who are mountains themselves as imitators of Christ. About this house of Jerusalem the psalmist cried out: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which dwells in Jerusalem; it will not be moved forever. The mountains surround her and the Lord surrounds his people.” Hence Christ also founds his church on one of the mountains and says to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against her.”” (Commentary on Isaiah, 1.)

Collect

O God,
Who through the preaching of
Saint Francis Xavier
won many peoples to Yourself,
grant that the hearts of the faithful
may burn with the same zeal for the faith
and that Holy Church may everywhere rejoice
in an abundance of offspring.
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

As Advent dawns ...

And so another Season of Advent begins as does another year of Grace. With stores decked out for Christmas since before Halloween, with some radio stations having flipped the switch filling airwaves with Christmas music and our email inboxes filled with all sorts of enticements to spend, spend and spend - allowing ourselves to be drawn into Advent is quite a challenge. Perhaps we can take a cue from the Church’s Sacred Liturgy, particularly the prayer following the Lord’s Prayer:

“Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,

graciously grant peace in our days,

that, by the help of Your mercy,

we may be always free from sin

and safe from all distress,

as we await the blessed hope

and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Deliverance from every evil.
Peace in our days.
Freedom from sin.
Safe[ty] from all distress.

Might any of these be a dream nurtured deep within, wondering if any or all four will ever become a reality? The world repeats a tired message: evil (if it even exists) will prevail along with its chaos, peace will never come, there really isn't any sin and we will look for new ways to medicate and to cope with distress in our lives. The ethos of pessimism, skepticism, denial and despair clash with the Spirit within us because we know the struggle with evil is real, we long for peace, and sin is not only a reality but we know its seductive and addictive hold on us. The Good News is that in the presence of Jesus Christ these realities have no power. Experiencing once again the singular and unique newness of Who Jesus is transforms evil, provides peace, unleashes freedom from sin and safety from distress.

Deliverance, peace, freedom and safety bring us to Season of Advent - and - Advent more than simply a period of time. Like all Seasons of the Church year, each is about a way of living as a disciple of Jesus. Advent becomes for each disciple a school of presence, the presence of Jesus Who transforms all that is not of His Father's Kingdom. In this school, in this period of time we are invited to live less distracted and more focused on Jesus Who came to us in Bethlehem, comes to us in His Word and Sacrament and Who will come again at the end of the ages. Centuries ago, Saint Irenaeus wrote: “You must realize that He Who was promised has brought something totally new by giving us Himself.” Living Advent retunes the corporal and spiritual senses to experience the Lord’s surprising presence among us that transforms hearts and lives in ways that blow apart the narrow thinking of our imaginations. May one of Advent’s prophets - Saint John the Baptist - guide us through Lent with his axiom for discipleship: “He [Jesus] must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

First Sunday of Advent

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man...” (Luke 21:36.)

The unknown author of the Didache comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“Watch” over your life. Do not let “your lamps” go out, and do not keep “your loins ungirded,” but “be ready,” for “you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming.” Meet together frequently in your search for what is good for your souls, since “a lifetime of faith will be of no advantage” to you unless you prove perfect at the very end. In the final days, multitudes of false prophets and seducers will appear. Sheep will turn into wolves, and love into hatred. With the increase of iniquity, people will hate, persecute and betray each other. Then the world deceiver will appear in the disguise of God’s Son. He will work “signs and wonders,” and the earth will fall into his hands. He will commit outrages such as have never occurred before. Then humankind will come to the fiery trial, “and many will fall away” and perish. “Those who persevere in their faith will be saved” by the Curse himself. Then “there will appear the signs” of the Truth: first the sign of stretched-out hands in heaven, then the sign of “a trumpet’s blast,” and third, the resurrection of the dead, but not all the dead. As it has been said, “The Lord will come and all his saints with him. Then the world will see the Lord coming on the clouds of the sky.” (Didache, 16.)

Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
graciously keep from us all adversity,
so that, unhindered in mind and body alike,
we may pursue in freedom of heart
the things that are Yours.
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 Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand...” (Luke 21:20.)

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

“To make his prediction even clearer and to mark more plainly the time of its capture, Jesus says, “When you have seen Jerusalem surrounded with armies, then know that its destruction is near.” Afterwards, he again transfers his words from this subject to the time of the consummation. He says, “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Since creation begins to be changed and brings unendurable terrors on the inhabitants of earth, there will be a certain fearful tribulation. There will also be souls departing to death. The unendurable fear of those things that are coming will be sufficient for the destruction of many.” (Commentary on Luke, «Homily 139»)

Collect

Stir up the will of Your faithful,
we pray, O Lord,
that, striving more eagerly
to bring Your divine work to fruitful completion,
they may receive in greater measure
the healing remedies Your kindness bestows.
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

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