Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

“For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.” (II Corinthians 1:5.)

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

If as the sufferings of Christ abound so also comfort abounds through Christ, let us welcome the great encouragement of Christ’s sufferings and let them abound in us, if we indeed yearn for the abundant comfort with which all who mourn will be comforted, though perhaps it will not be alike for everyone. For if the comfort were alike for everyone, it would not be written, “As the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” Those who share in sufferings will share also in the comfort in proportion to the suffering they share with Christ. And we learn this from the one who made such statements with unshaken conviction, for “we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” (Exhortation to Martyrdom, 42.)

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,
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

Let me not only be called a Christian,
but prove to be one

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Bishop, Apostolic Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Letter to the Romans, 3.

Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

You have never begrudged the martyrs their triumph but rather trained them for it. And so I am asking you to be consistent with the lessons you teach them. Just beg for me the courage and endurance not only to speak but also to will what is right, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one. For if I prove myself to be a Christian by martyrdom, then people will call me one, and my loyalty to Christ will be apparent when the world sees me no more. Nothing you can see is truly good. For our Lord Jesus Christ, now that he has returned to his Father, has revealed himself more clearly. Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world.

I am writing to all the churches to declare to them all that I am glad to die for God, provided you do not hinder me. I beg you not to show me a misplaced kindness. Let me be the food of beasts that I may come to God. I am his wheat, and I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become Christ’s pure bread.

I would rather that you coaxed the beasts to become my tomb and to leave no scrap of me behind; then when I have died I will be a burden to no one. I shall be a true disciple of Christ when the world no longer sees my body. Pray to Christ for me that by these means I may become a sacrifice to God. I do not give you orders like Peter and Paul. They were apostles, I am a condemned criminal; they were free, I am still a slave. But if I suffer, I shall become the freedman of Jesus Christ and I shall rise again to freedom in him.

Now as a prisoner I am learning to give up my own wishes. All the way from Syria to Rome I am fighting wild beasts, by land and by sea, by day and by night, chained as I am to ten leopards, I mean the detachment of soldiers who guard me; the better you treat them, the worse they become. I am more and more trained in discipleship by their ill usage of me, but I am not therefore justified. How happy I will be with the beasts which are prepared for me! I hope that they will make short work of me. I shall even coax them to devour me quickly and not to be afraid of touching me, as sometimes happens; in fact, if they hold back, I shall force them to it. Bear with me, for I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible rob me of my prize, which is Jesus Christ! The fire, the cross, packs of wild beasts, lacerations, rendings, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of the whole body, the horrible tortures of the devil—let all these things come upon me, if only I may gain Jesus Christ!

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

A Eucharistic Examen

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ has added and vital significance this year as the Church in the United States begins a three year period of Eucharistic Revival. These years will focus in a particular way on the gracious, unique, preeminent and singular way in which Jesus invites each person into communion with Him and in the power of Holy Spirit, to be drawn more deeply into relational living with God our Father. So, where do we begin?

Recent history gives evidence of a number of concerns when it comes to life in our times. Tragic and horrific Church scandals have harmed countless people of all ages, particularly the young. Many people's confidence and trust in the Church has waned if not been crushed. War, terrorism, violence - nationally and globally - have broken the spirits of many. Political, social and ecclesial divisiveness together with economic turbulence and climate concerns have robbed many of a sense of peace and filled many hearts with anxiety. Each day seems to bring about more bad news that numbs the heart and perhaps asks, is there any hope? Christianity has always responded with an emphatic YES, a yes that consists in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, risen and alive Who offers all people a connection with Him and a way of living that will create a peace that cannot be humanly engineered or fabricated; a peace that is transformative and eternal. The challenge, however, is to know that this Proclamation is not magic. Jesus is not a Pollyanna. Proclaiming and then the necessary response of living Jesus is not waving a spiritually magic wand and poof, all is well. It does not work that way. When Jesus originally sounded the Good News of the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), He commanded two responses: trust (believing) and conversion (metanoia), period. It was this believing and willingness to change that led so many to listen to Jesus' words and eventually be fed by Him (see Scriptures for this Sunday). Perhaps this approach to Jesus and His Good News, trust and conversion, is a great place to start for this Sunday’s Solemnity and the start of Eucharistic Revival.

In the midst of meetings, committees, plans, programs, etc. that may surround this period of Eucharistic Revival, it is essential to recall these words of Jesus as His Public Ministry unfolded: trust and conversion. ‘Education’ and other human activities do have a place in Christian living but they can never usurp the primacy of being in communion with Jesus Who blesses believers with the Gift of Holy Spirit to be drawn to God our Father (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 426). The Fathers of the Church preferred catechesis as the term to describe being formed as a disciple of Jesus, not education and certainly not a program. True, catechesis involves imparting knowledge about Jesus but this knowledge is always in service of trust and conversion, never an end in itself. Historically, the Church battled numerous movements that viewed religious knowledge as the source of salvation and only provided information about Jesus. All these movements, most notably Gnosticism, were deemed heretical by the Church. Gnosticism contended that salvation was the product one’s work to obtain secret knowledge. Once that knowledge was obtained (whatever the knowledge was), one was saved. Saint Irenaeus, one of the more famous defenders of the Church against Gnosticism, taught that Christianity is not about acquiring secret knowledge but fundamentally relational, grounded in the very relational living of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Hence, it would seem opportune to examine ‘where we’re at’ as a disciple of Jesus Who blesses us with an invitation to live His life. When Jesus directed us at His Last Supper to “do this in memory of Me” (Luke 22:19), He taught us how to connect with Him in a most intimate and relational way. While involving a dimension of recall, remembrance in Hebrew (zakar) is all about relational living: re-connect, re-join, re-establish. Perhaps the following examen sparked by a Eucharistic hymn of old, Ave verum corpus, may help us to be drawn by the Lord's Grace into a deeper encounter with Him in His Most Holy Body and Blood. 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, attitudes and attire 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? Do I give preference in my life for the poor or is life about my time and my possessions?

“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.

Reflection on the Gospel proclaimed this Sunday (John 6:51-58)

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

From prohibition to command: the vaccine that strengthens and transforms death to life

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

“Jesus said to the crowds:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats (φάγῃ, phage) this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat (φαγεῖν, phagein)?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat (φάγητε, phagete) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats (τρώγων, trogon) my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats (τρώγων, trogon) my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on (τρώγων, trogon) me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats (τρώγων, trogon) this bread will live forever.””

(John 6:51-58.)

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

After much teaching and debating with the crowd, Jesus sounds a clear, blunt and forceful command that carries an equally clear admonition: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat (φάγητε, phagete) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” In an unambiguous way, Jesus commands the very eating of His Flesh and the drinking of His Blood, actions that would have been abhorrent to the Jewish crowd of the first century as well as an offense to the sensibilities of many people then and now. So why does Jesus of Nazareth, Himself a devout and faithful Jew, command a non-kosher and rather barbaric action? A response (emphasis on A) lies in the very creation of humanity expressed in Genesis.

In the Creation Account, we learn via the dialog between Eve and the Serpent that humanity lives within boundaries, a characteristic of all created reality. Humanity, for example, is not given carte blanche to eat anything in the Garden: a particular tree is not to be touched and its fruit is not to be eaten. Boundaries are placed on what humanity can and cannot consume in the Garden. While Eve may not know the exact reason why the fruit is prohibited, she knows that the fruit is forbidden.

[As a brief aside, this food prohibition is not whimsical nor capricious on the part of God nor are any of the episodes of this Sacred Account of the Beginnings to be declared casually ‘just a story’ that can be dismissed because ‘we know better.’ We don’t. There is much bound to the tree, the fruit and the entire Garden experience that is crucial for grasping what it means to be created in the “image and likeness of God.” Being created “in the image and likeness of God” has implications not only for the rest of Creation, but for the relationship of God of humanity.]

So long as humanity listened to the voice of God alone and went about the work entrusted to them, Genesis contends that Divine Harmony - Original Justice - flourished. But when humanity choose to listen to another and to grasp (as opposed to receiving graciously) for that which Divinity forbade, life took a noticeable turn, to say the least and the relationship that humanity enjoyed with God changed utterly. That which was forbidden (for our own good) was not only grasped and taken but even more so, consumed. Eve, Adam, and the whole of humanity were filled with shame and alienated from the Loving God because the command “Do not eat!” was ignored.

Out of love, the Creator sounded the ‘first Gospel (known by the Fathers of the Church as the Protoevangelium, [Genesis 3:15])’ and promised healing. The rupture, grave in and of itself, became inextricably bound to our nature because we not only touched but consumed a reality that severely damaged our capacity to relate genuinely and authentically to God, others, the true self and all creation. Healing, promised by God and implicitly desired by humanity, needed to be applied to the root of the ailment which in this case involved listening to another instead of the One Creator (cf Dt 6:4-9, the great prayer of Israel known as the Shema), touching and ingesting a toxin that radically altered the privileged relationship that humanity enjoyed with God. As the healing work began to unfold, the Divine Word drew humanity step by step into a closer relationship (Abraham, for example) and fed humanity in such a way to grow more selfless (covenant meals of hospitality, for example) and free (Passover Meal, for example).

“In the fullness of time …” as Saint Paul pens, God the Father sends Jesus His Son, the Word to bring this healing to fulfillment. Throughout His Public Ministry, Jesus calls humanity to listen to what He has heard from His Father. He often touches humanity to bring about healing of body and soul and in the episode proclaimed this weekend, He commands the very consumption of Himself to combat the ingested toxin of the Garden.

But what kind of eating does Jesus mean? It is an important question because the Evangelist John employs two distinct Greek verbs in this Sunday’s proclamation - and both of them are translated into English as “to eat.” In the first part of this Sunday’s pericope, the Greek verb φάγω (phago) is used. φάγω (phago) refers to a physical act of eating and it is the verb used to translate the Hebrew אָכַל (ʾakal) that appears in Genesis 3. אָכַל (ʾakal), while its primary meaning and principle usage is the physical act of ‘food into mouth,’ it can refer – on occasion – to a metaphoric or poetic ‘eating’ that is akin to ‘taking in a lesson or a message.’ The Greek φάγω (phago) functions in a similar way. Most of the time, φάγω (phago) refers to the physical act of eating but on occasion can refer to a metaphoric, poetic or idiomatic ‘eating,’ such as the saying in the American usage of English, ‘I could eat my words.’

But then there is matter of the other verb in Greek that is translated into English “to eat,” the Greek verb τρώγω (trogo). In antiquity this verb not only referred to the action of eating but also how one ate: gnawing and chewing … and the gnawing and chewing were often accompanied by guttural sounds and monosyllabic grunts and groans. In other words, τρώγω (trogo) describes an exceptionally graphic action, often used to depict how animals and barbarians ate - not the way our moms and dads taught us to eat and behave at the supper table! τρώγω (trogo) functions here TO REMOVE any hint or suggestion that Jesus is speaking about a metaphoric, poetic or solely spiritual eating. The action is physical. The action is also quite messy – AND – it points directly to the Cross. The only way that anyone can consume the flesh and blood of a living being is for that living being to be dead. Jesus’ command “to eat” and “to eat” in a specific way - τρώγω (trogo) - is a declaration of giving Himself completely in fidelity to the Father’s Will that results in His Sacrifice on the Cross that we may live fully.

Thus the “do not eat” of Genesis is replaced by Jesus’ command “to eat” and “to eat” in a very particular way: τρώγω (trogo). Biblically, this is a significant Sacred Text in the Church’s teaching of Jesus’ Real Presence. At the Easter Vigil in the Diocese of Hippo some 1600 years ago, Saint Augustine addressed the newly Baptized and Confirmed prior to the reception of Holy Communion for the first time, “Become Who you consume.” In the Garden, our nature ingested a poison; our nature welcomed sin into our very being – not just into our spiritual nature, our physical nature as well. We are in need of an antidote for the ingested poison, spiritually and physically (sacramentally). No wonder that Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Gregory of Nyssa referred to the Holy Eucharist as a Sacred Drug! Saint Ignatius wrote of the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality” and Saint Gregory wrote of the Eucharist as the antidote for poison of sin swirling around in our souls and bodies, provided we use the Sacred Medicine properly.

Graciously coming before our Lord, receiving (not taking) with hearts open to His Real Presence is our healing and our strength for the journey - a vaccination that we can receive no where else and from no one else.

A Eucharistic Examen - appropriate pondering for today's Solemnity.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51.)

Saint Clement of Alexandria offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gosepl Proclamation:

“God elaborates on a suitable and wholesome new diet for the newly-formed and newborn babe. He says it consists of the one who nourishes and who is the Father of all that are generated and regenerated—just as manna, the celestial food of angels, flowed down from heaven on the ancient Hebrews. But when our kind and loving Father rained down the Word, he himself became spiritual nourishment to the good. This is a truly amazing mystery, because this is the kind of diet the Lord administers: he offers his flesh and pours out his blood so that nothing is lacking for his children’s growth. This is almost too much to take in! And then we are to throw out the old and carnal corruption, our old diet, receiving in exchange a totally new diet — Christ himself as we ingest him for him to remain hidden there. Then, with our Savior enshrined in our souls, as it were, we can correct the affections of our flesh.” (Christ the Educator, 1.)

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,
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

Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

“Prayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with wickedness. It is better to give alms than to store up gold ...” (Tobit 12:8)

Saint Gaudentius of Brescia offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Frist Reading:

“It is written that fasting with almsgiving is a good thing. It was necessary to do both, to mitigate the Lord’s indignation. Perhaps you cannot fast, and you cannot because you do not want to — at least give food to someone who is hungry. You who cannot stand to fast for three hours past the usual hour can certainly understand what someone would suffer who unwillingly goes hungry because of his poverty. Your cruelty forces him to fast, you who, fattened by sumptuous banquets, do not think to relieve the poor person’s hunger with even a little food. You point to the possibility of famine, you pretend to be in need, you complain of unfavorable circumstances. You beg more shamefully than that poor person — indeed, you behave toward God like an ingrate with your false complaining. But what if there was a famine? Would you perhaps be the only one to feel it, and not that poor person? How is it that every day you lay out new silver, beautify your houses with marble, buy silk garments, trade necklaces adorned with gold and gems? It is shameful to mention and painful even to think of the number of peasants who, living on the lands of people who live in the luxury we have described, have died of hunger or been supported by the alms of the church.” (Sermons, 13.)

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,
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 way to come to true life

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Priest and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Exposition on John

Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Christ himself is the way, and therefore he says: I am the way. This certainly is eminently right for through him we have access to the Father. Since this way is not separate from its end, but joined to it, he adds the truth and the life; thus he is himself at once both the way and the goal. In his human nature he is the way, and in his divine nature he is the goal. Therefore, speaking as man he says: I am the way; and speaking as God he adds: the truth and the life. These two words are an apt description of this goal.

For this goal is the object of human desire, and a man desires two things above all. In the first place he wants to know the truth, which is peculiar to him; and secondly he wants to continue to exist, which is common to all things. Christ is the way by which we come to know truth, though he is also that truth: Lead me, O Lord, in truth, and I shall enter into your way. Christ is also the way to come to life, though he is also that life: You have made known the ways of life.

Therefore, he designated the end of this way by truth and life, about which we have spoken above with reference to Christ. First, he himself is life, for life was in him; then, he is truth, because he was the light of men, and light is truth.

If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way: This is the way; walk in it. And Augustine says: Make man your way and you shall arrive at God. It is better to limp along the way than stride along off the way. For a man who limps along the way, even if he only makes slow progress, comes to the end of the way; but one who is off the way, the more quickly he runs, the further away is he from his goal.

If you are looking for a goal, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the truth, where we desire to be. My mouth shall reflect on the truth. If you are looking for a resting place, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the life. Whoever finds me finds life, and receives salvation from the Lord.

Therefore hold fast to Christ if you wish to be safe. You will not be able to go astray, because he is the way. He who remains with him does not wander in trackless places; he is on the right way. Moreover he cannot be deceived, because he is the truth, and he teaches every truth. And he says: For this I was born and for this I have come, to bear witness to the truth. Nor can he be disturbed, because he is both life and the giver of life. For he says: I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

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 Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

“David himself calls him ‘Lord’; so how is he his son?” [The] great crowd heard this with delight.” (Mark 12:37.)

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

“For that through which Mary had been made was not dying, but that which was made from Mary was dying. The eternity of [his] divinity was not dying, but the weakness of [his] flesh was dying. Therefore he made that reply, distinguishing in the faith of believers the one who came from the one through whom he came. For he, God and Lord of heaven and earth, came through a woman as his mother. In regard to the fact that he was Lord of the world, Lord of heaven and earth, he was also, of course, Lord of Mary; and in regard to the fact that he was creator of the world, creator of heaven and earth, he was also the creator of Mary. But insofar as it was said, “made of a woman, made under the law,” he was the son of Mary. He was the Lord of Mary, he was the son of Mary; he was the creator of Mary, he was created from Mary. Do not be amazed that he is both son and Lord. For as he was [the son] of Mary, so, also, he was said to be the son of David; indeed the son of David precisely because the son of Mary. Hear the apostle speaking clearly: “who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.” Hear that he was also the Lord of David; and let David himself say this: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand.’” And Jesus himself proposed this to the Jews, and by it refuted them. Therefore just as he was both the son and the Lord of David, the son of David according to the flesh, the Lord of David according to [his] divinity, so he was the son of Mary according to the flesh and the Lord of Mary according to [his] majesty. Because, therefore, she was not the mother of [his] divinity and what she sought would be a miracle through [his] divinity, he answered her, “What is it to me and to you, woman?” But that you may not think that I am denying you as my mother, “My hour has not yet come.” For there shall I acknowledge you when the weakness of which you are the mother has begun to hang on the cross.” (Tractate on John, 8.)

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,
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 Lord sees our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts

Baldwin of Canterbury

Bishop

An excerpt from Tractate 6

Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

The Lord knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Without a doubt, every one of them is known to him, while we know only those which he lets us read by the grace of discernment. The spirit of man does not know all that is in man, nor all of the thoughts which he has, willingly or unwillingly. Man does not always perceive his thoughts as they really are. Having clouded vision, he does not discern them clearly with his mind’s eye.

Often under the guise of devotion a suggestion occurs to our mind—coming from our own thoughts or from another person or from the tempter—and in God’s eyes we do not deserve any reward for our virtue. For there are certain imitations of true virtues as also of vices which play tricks with the heart and bedazzle the mind’s vision. As a result, the appearance of goodness often seems to be in something which is evil, and equally the appearance of evil seems to be in something good. This is part of our wretchedness and ignorance, causing us anguish and anxiety.

It has been written: There are paths which seem to man to be right, but which in the end lead him to hell. To avoid this peril, Saint John gives us these words of advice: Test the spirits to see if they are from God. Now no one can test the spirits to see if they are from God unless God has given him discernment of spirits to enable him to investigate spiritual thoughts, inclinations and intentions with honest and true judgment. Discernment is the mother of all the virtues; everyone needs it either to guide the lives of others or to direct and reform his own life.

In the sphere of action, a right thought is one ruled by the will of God, and intentions are holy when directed single-mindedly toward him. In a word, we could see clearly through any action of ours, or into our entire lives, if we had a simple eye. A simple eye is an eye, and it is simple. This means that we see by right thinking what is to be done, and by our good intention we carry it out with simple honesty, because deceitful action is wrong. Right thinking does not permit mistakes; a good intention rules out pretence. This then is true discernment, a combination of right thinking and good intention.

Therefore, we must do all our actions in the light of discernment as if in God and in his presence.

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 Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, and who walk in his ways.” (Psalm 128, 1)

In commenting on this verse from today’s Psalm, Cassiodorus writes:

“When he says, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord,” he shows that they are not blessed who fear with troubled mind the dangers of the world when temporal property is lost. For those dangers make people wretched when they torment them with groundless fear. They have no advantage, but rather a dimunition. They do not know an ascent, but rather destruction. In contrast, the fear of the Lord descends from love, is born of charity and is begotten of sweetness. A pious fear comforts the fearful and refreshes the afflicted, and does not know how to lack joy unless such fruit of fear has been put aside. About this fear it is written, “Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” How advantageous fear is, if children are taught by it! What sort of learning there is which is given with sweet affection!” (Explanation of the Psalms)

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,
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 Church moves forward like the advancing dawn

Saint Gregory the Great

Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from Moral Reflections on Job, Book 29.

Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Since the daybreak or the dawn is changed gradually from darkness into light, the Church, which comprises the elect, is fittingly styled daybreak or dawn. While she is being led from the night of infidelity to the light of faith, she is opened gradually to the splendor of heavenly brightness, just as dawn yields to the day after darkness. The Song of Songs says aptly: Who is this who moves forward like the advancing dawn? Holy Church, inasmuch as she keeps searching for the rewards of eternal life, has been called the dawn. While she turns her back on the darkness of sins, she begins to shine with the light of righteousness.

This reference to the dawn conjures up a still more subtle consideration. The dawn intimates that the night is over; it does not yet proclaim the full light of day. While it dispels the darkness and welcomes the light, it holds both of them, the one mixed with the other, as it were. Are not all of us who follow the truth in this life daybreak and dawn? While we do some things which already belong to the light, we are not free from the remnants of darkness. In Scripture the Prophet says to God: No living being will be justified in your sight. Scripture also says: In many ways all of us give offense.

When he writes, the night is passed. Paul does not add, the day is come, but rather, the day is at hand. Since he argues that after the night has passed, the day as yet is not come but is rather at hand, he shows that the period before full daylight and after darkness is without doubt the dawn, and that he himself is living in that period.

It will be fully day for the Church of the elect when she is no longer darkened by the shadow of sin. It will be fully day for her when she shines with the perfect brilliance of interior light. This dawn is aptly shown to be an ongoing process when Scripture says: And you showed the dawn its place. A thing which is shown its place is certainly called from one place to another. What is the place of the dawn but the perfect clearness of eternal vision? When the dawn has been brought there, it will retain nothing belonging to the darkness of night. When the Psalmist writes: My soul thirsts for the living God; when shall I go and see the face of God?, does he not refer to the effort made by the dawn to reach its place? Paul was hastening to the place which he knew the dawn would reach when he said he wished to die and to be with Christ. He expressed the same idea when he said: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

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 Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

“Then sad at heart, I groaned and wept aloud. With sobs I began to pray: ...” (Tobit 3:1.)

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

“Regarding the second kind of prayer, see Daniel: “And Azarias standing up prayed in this manner and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire he said.” And Tobias: “And I began to pray with tears, saying, You are just, O Lord, and all your works are just and all your ways mercy and truth. And your judgments are true and just forever.” And since the passage in Daniel has been obelized on the ground that it is not found in the Hebrew text, and those of the circumcision reject the book of Tobias as not being canonical, I shall quote the words of Anna from the first book of Kings: “And she prayed the Lord, shedding many tears. And she made a vow, saying, O Lord of hosts, if you will look down on the affliction of your servant,” and so on. And in Habakkuk: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet with song. O Lord, I have heard your voice and was afraid. O Lord, I reflected on your works and was astonished. In the midst of two animals you will be known; in the approach of the years you will be recognized.” The example just given illustrates very well the definition of prayer inasmuch as he who offers it unites it with praise of God. And again, in the book of Jonah: “Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish. And he said, I cried out of my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell you heard the screams of my voice. And you have thrown me into the deep in the heart of the sea, and a flood has surrounded me.” (On Prayer, 14.)

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,
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

True doctrine dispels arrogance

Saint Gregory the Great

Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Moral Reflections on Job, Book 23-24.

Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Listen, Job, to what I say and ponder all my words. The teaching of the arrogant has this characteristic: they do not know how to introduce their teaching humbly and they cannot convey correctly to others the things they understand correctly themselves. With their words they betray what they teach; they give the impression that they live on lofty heights from which they look down disdainfully on those whom they are teaching; they regard the latter as inferiors, to whom they do not deign to listen as they talk; indeed they scarcely deign to talk to them at all—they simply lay down the law.

To teachers of this kind the Lord through the prophet says rightly: But you will rule them with severity and with power. There is no doubt that such as are prone not to correct their subjects with quiet reasoning, but to compel them to change by rough and domineering methods, rule with severity and power.

On the contrary true doctrine all the more effectively shuns the voice of arrogance through reflection, in which it pursues the arrogant teacher himself with the arrows of its words. It ensures that the pride which it attacks in the hearts of those listening to the sacred words will not in fact be preached by arrogant conduct. For true doctrine tries both to teach by words and to demonstrate by living example—humility, which is the mother and mistress of virtues. Its goal is to express humility among the disciples of truth more by deeds than by words.

Accordingly, when addressing the Thessalonians, Paul is oblivious of his own eminent dignity as an apostle; he actually says: We became as little children in your midst. Similarly, the apostle Peter enjoins: Be always prepared to satisfy everybody who asks a reason for the hope which is in you, and by adding the words, with a good conscience, speak gently and respectfully, Peter draws attention to the manner in which sacred doctrine should be taught.

When he tells his disciples: These things command and teach with all power, Paul really recommends the credibility that goes hand in hand with good behavior rather than the domineering exercise of power. When one practices first and preaches afterwards, one is really teaching with power. Doctrine loses credibility, if conscience tethers the tongue. Paul, therefore, in the saying quoted above, does not refer to the power of lofty rhetoric but to the confidence elicited by good deeds. Of the Lord, too, it is said: He taught with authority unlike the Scribes and the Pharisees. He alone in a unique and sovereign way spoke from the power of his goodness because no evil weakness led him into sin. For he had from the power of his own divine nature what he gave to us through the sinlessness of his human 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

Te Deum

You are God: we praise You;
You are the Lord; we acclaim You;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships You.

To You all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of Your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise You.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise You.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise You.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims You;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When You became man to set us free
You did not shun the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that You will come and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help Your people,
bought with the price of Your own blood,
and bring us with Your saints
to glory everlasting.

The Most Holy Trinity:
the way of living

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

“God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes (πιστεύων, pisteuōn) in him
might not perish
but might have eternal life.

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

For many Christians, the word mystery is synonymous with the Most Holy Trinity. Mystery is an excellent word in the theological vocabulary and certainly a necessary word when speaking about the Most Holy Trinity. The difficulty is how western culture understands and uses the word mystery. Mystery is often regarded first and foremost as ‘unknowable,’ ‘can't be figured out’ or ‘incomprehensible.’ Further challenges arise with these (and others) descriptions of mystery from the pragmatic and utilitarian approach of western culture which says, ‘if mystery is unknowable, why bother?’ If I am not going to be able to figure out the Holy Trinity, why waste time? I will simply take ‘it’ on faith and believe, even though I sense some emptiness with this approach to faith living.

There is another angle to consider when it comes to mystery. In the Greek biblical world and into the Age of the Fathers of the Church, the word mystery is part of a family of words stemming from the Greek verb μύω (muō) translated “to close” or “to shut.” A related verb, μυάω (muáō) is often translated “to shut or close the lips” hence silence. Particularly when approaching the Oracles in the ancient Greek world, one would approach the Oracle in silence in order to listen to the guidance offered for living life. Mystery, from the Greek μυστήριον mustērion and related to μύω (muō) came to describe a sacred rite or action requiring one to approach in silence to receive guidance for living life. The important note here is that mystery is not primarily about figuring out the unknown or the incomprehensible. Mystery is about silence ordered to receiving advice or direction for life. No wonder the early Christians in the East adopted the word mystery for so many facets of Christian life. Not only were the primal teachings such as the Most Holy Trinity referred to as a mystery, but in the East the events of Baptism, Confirmation and the Most Holy Eucharist were termed mysteries. In other words, before the Christian West used the word sacraments, the East was using the word mysteries. Baptism as mystery, Confirmation as mystery, Most Holy Eucharist as mystery are not mainly about the unknowable but about living the life of Jesus Christ.

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

Despite the original meaning of mystery,’ Christians often try to engage theological algebra on this Solemnity: how can 3 be 1, how can 1 be 3? We attempt an explanation with Saint Patrick's shamrock, 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 as we listen attentively and silently? The Gospel proclamation is a mere 2 verses, popular verses whose citation is often found on placards at sporting events. In these 2 verses, πιστεύω (pisteuō) is used in some form 3 times. πιστεύω (pisteuō) is properly translated “to believe,” yet even with this information another question arises: what does it mean “to believe?” For many, believing — like faith — is often relegated and limited to mere mental activity or mental assent that involves all of 2 nanoseconds. While believing and faith do have transcendent realities associated with each, the fact that a human believes or that a human professes faith means, by definition, that such an action is an act of the whole person: soul AND body.

This point is intensified when looking at the meaning of πιστεύω in the biblical era. πιστεύω (pisteuō) expressed a claim that one made on another for direction in life (hence a connection with mystery). When I or we believed in another, I or we gave over control of the journey’s direction to the person leading the expedition. Naturally, one would have known something about the leader before embarking on the trip, but the full knowledge of who this person is emerges only as the journey unfolds and one experiences the skill, the knowledge, the resources to bring a journey to its proper completion. No wonder πιστεύω (pisteuō) practically became a synonym for trust.

Consequently, on this solemn festival of the Most Holy Trinity we celebrate the Spirit’s gift of πιστεύω (pisteuō) to all. Such permits us to commit the entirety of our lives to the Person Jesus as the Leader of life’s journey. Following Him involves more than knowledge and mental assent; it requires a change of heart visible in the way each thinks, speaks and acts. Following Him requires docility and humility of spirit for “only He [Jesus] can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 426.)

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:

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Saint John Chrysostom comments on this verse from today’s Gospel reading:

“The text, “God so loved the world,” shows such an intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. The immortal, the infinite majesty without beginning or end loved those who were but dust and ashes, who were loaded with ten thousand sins but remained ungrateful even as they constantly offended him. This is who he “loved.” For God did not give a servant, or an angel or even an archangel “but his only begotten Son.” And yet no one would show such anxiety even for his own child as God did for his ungrateful servants.

"He laid down his life for us and poured forth his precious blood for our sakes — even though there is nothing good in us — while we do not even pour out our money for our own sake and neglect him who died for us when he is naked and a stranger. We put gold necklaces on ourselves and even on our pets but neglect our Lord who goes about naked and passes from door to door. He gladly goes hungry so that you may be fed; naked so that he may provide you with the materials for a garment of incorruption, yet we will not even give up any of our own food or clothing for him. These things I say continually, and I will not cease to say them, not so much because I care for the poor but because I care for your souls.” (Homilies on the Gospel of John, 27)

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,
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 Charles Lwanga and Companions

“... and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?”” (Mark , 11:28.)

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

“Fearing a stoning, but fearing more an admission of the truth, they answered the truth with a lie, reminiscent of the Scripture: “injustice has lied within herself.” For they said, “We know not.” And because they had shut themselves up against him, by asserting that they did not know what they knew, the Lord did not open up to them because they did not knock. For it has been said, “Knock and it will be opened to you.” But they not only had not knocked that it might be opened, but by their denial they barricaded the door itself against themselves. And the Lord said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”” (Tractate on John, , 2.)

Collect

O God,
Who have made the blood of Martyrs
the seed of Christians, mercifully grant
that the field which is Your Church,
watered by the blood
shed by Saints Charles Lwanga
and his companions, may be fertile and
always yield You an abundant harvest.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen

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

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.” (Mark , 11:13.)

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

“Some who witnessed Christ’s miracles did not understand what they meant, and how they spoke to those who knew they had special meaning. They wondered only at the miracles themselves. Others both marvelled at the miracles, and attained some preliminary understanding of them. For this we must come to the school of Christ himself. Those fixed only upon the plain sense of Scripture tend to focus merely upon miracle for miracles’ sake. Hence they may prematurely conclude that Jesus himself was ignorant of the time of the year, something any ordinary farmer could discern. For it was not yet the season for the tree to bear fruit. Nevertheless, since he was hungry, he looked for fruit on the tree. Does this imply that Christ knew less than what every peasant could easily discern? Surely not. Wouldn’t you expect the maker of the fig tree to know what the ordinary orchard worker would know in a snap? So when he was hungry he looked for fruit on the tree, but he seemed to be looking for something more from this tree. He noted that the tree had no fruit, but was full of leaves. It was at that point that he cursed it, and it withered away. So what terrible thing had the poor tree done simply in not bearing fruit? Could the tree reasonably be faulted for its fruitlessness? No. But human beings who by their own free will decide not to bear fruit—that is a different matter. Those found wanting in accountability in this case are those who had the benefit of the law, which was meant to bear fruit, but they had no fruit to show for it. They had a full growth of leaves (the law), yet they bore no fruit (works of mercy).” (Sermons on New Testamnet Lessions, 48.)

Collect

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of our 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,
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 Interior Witness

Saint Gregory the Great

Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Moral Reflections on Job, Book 10.

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Whoever is mocked by his friend, as I am, shall call upon God, and he shall hear him. A weak-minded person is frequently diverted toward pursuing exterior happiness when the breath of popular favor accompanies his good actions. So he gives up his own personal choices, preferring to remain at the mercy of whatever he hears from others. Thus, he rejoices not so much to become but to be called blessed. Eager for praise, he gives up what he had begun to be; and so he is severed from God by the very means by which he appeared to be commendable in God.

But sometimes a soul firmly strives for righteousness and yet is beset by men’s ridicule. He does what is admirable but he gets only mockery. He might have gone out of himself because of man’s praise; he returns to himself when repelled buy their abuse. Finding no resting-place without, he cleaves more intensely to God within. All his hope is fixed on his Creator, and amid all the ridicule and abuse he invokes his interior witness alone. One who is afflicted in this way grows closer to God the more he turns away from human popularity. He straightway pours himself out in prayer, and, pressured from without, he is refined with a more perfect purity to penetrate what is within.

In this context, the words apply: Whoever is mocked by his friend, as I am, shall call upon God, and he shall hear him. For while the wicked reproach the just, they show them whom they should look to as the witness of their actions. Thus afflicted, the soul strengthens itself by prayer; it is united within to one who listens from on high precisely because it is cut off externally from the praise of men. Again, we should note how appropriately the words, are inserted, as I am. There are some people who are both oppressed by human mockery and are yet deprived of God's favorable hearing. For when the mockery is done to a man’s own sin, it obviously does not produce the merit that is due to virtue.

The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn. It is the wisdom of this world to conceal the heart with stratagems, to veil one’s thoughts with words to make what is false appear true and what is true appear false. On the other hand it is the wisdom of the just never to pretend anything for show, always to use words to express one’s thoughts, to love the truth as it is and to avoid what is false, to do what is right without reward and to be more willing to put up with evil than to perpetrate it, not to seek revenge for wrong, and to consider as gain any insult for truth’s sake. But this guilelessness is laughed to scorn, for the virtue of innocence is held as foolishness by the wise of this world. Anything that is done out of innocence, they doubtless consider to be stupidity, and whatever truth approves of, in practice is called folly by their worldly wisdom.

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

Saint Justin of Rome, Martyr

“... Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.” (Mark 10:52.)

Saint Clement of Alexandria offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gosepl Proclamation:

“The commandment of the Lord shines clearly, enlightening the eyes. Receive Christ, receive power to see, receive your light, that you may plainly recognize both God and man. More delightful than gold and precious stones, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the Word that has enlightened us.7 How could he not be desirable, who illumined minds buried in darkness, and endowed with clear vision “the light-bearing eyes” of the soul? Sing his praises, then, Lord, and make known to me your Father, who is God. Your Word will save me, your song instruct me. I have gone astray in my search for God; but now that you light my path, Lord, I find God through you, and receive the Father from you, I become co-heir with you, since you were not ashamed to own me as your brother. Let us, then, shake off forgetfulness of truth, shake off the mist of ignorance and darkness that dims our eyes, and contemplate the true God, after first raising this song of praise to him: “All hail, O light!” For upon us buried in darkness, imprisoned in the shadow of death, a heavenly light has shone, a light of a clarity surpassing the sun’s, and of a sweetness exceeding any this earthly life can offer.” (Exhortation to the Greeks, 11.)

Collect

O God, Who through the folly of the Cross
wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,
grant us, through his intercession,
that, having rejected deception and error,
we may become steadfast in the faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

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

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

“Since they spent several days there, Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man here left in custody by Felix.” (Acts 25:14.)

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

“See [Paul’s] enemies who unwittingly conspired in creating a large audience. Even Agrippa himself falls into a desire for a hearing—and not only does he listen, but he does so with intensity. And then, look at [his] defense. As Festus presents it, he exposes the cruelty of the Jewish leaders. Because when the governor says these things, he is beyond suspicion, resulting in the Jewish leaders being convicted by him. For, after he has exposed the truth about all these things, then God metes out punishment. Felix condemns them, Festus condemns them and, even though he was favorably inclined, Agrippa condemns them too.” (Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, 51.)

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,
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

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