Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time



“Therefore all the elders of Israel assembled and went to Samuel at Ramah... ” (1 Samuel 8:4.)

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

“To some, indeed, who lack patience, the Lord God, in his wrath, grants them what they ask, just as, on the other hand, he refused it to his apostle, in his mercy. We read what and how the Israelites asked and received, but, when their lust had been satisfied, their lack of patience was severely punished. And when they asked, he gave them a king, as it is written, according to their heart, but not according to his heart. These things are written that no one may think well of himself if his prayer is heard, when he has asked impatiently for what it would be better for him not to receive, and that no one may be cast down and may despair of the divine mercy toward him if his prayer has not been heard, when he has, perhaps, asked for something which would bring him more bitter suffering if he received it or would cause his downfall if he were ruined by prosperity. In such circumstances, then, we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” (Letter 130)



Collect
Attend to the pleas of Your people
with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength
to do what they have seen.
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.



Alternate Collect for today from:
Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions,
38. For the Forgiveness of Sins

Graciously hear the prayers
of those who call upon You,
we ask, O Lord, and forgive the sins
of those who confess to You,
granting us in your kindness both pardon and peace.
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


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The Word creates a divine harmony in creation



Saint Athansius of Alexandria
Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Against the Pagans

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. In these words John the theologian teaches that nothing exists or remains in being except in and through the Word.

Think of a musician tuning his lyre. By his skill he adjusts high notes to low and intermediate notes to the rest, and produces a series of harmonies. So too the wisdom of God holds the world like a lyre and joins things in the air to those on earth, and things in heaven to those in the air, and brings each part into harmony with the whole. By his decree and will he regulates them all to produce the beauty and harmony of a single, well-ordered universe. While remaining unchanged with his Father, he moves all creation by his unchanging nature, according to the Father’s will. To everything he gives existence and life in accordance with its nature, and so creates a wonderful and truly divine harmony.

To illustrate this profound mystery, let us take the example of a choir of many singers. A choir is composed of a variety of men, women and children, of both old and young. Under the direction of one conductor, each sings in the way that is natural for him: men with men’s voices, boys with boys’ voices, old people with old voices, young people with young voices. Yet all of them produce a single harmony. Or consider the example of our soul. It moves our senses according to their several functions so that in the presence of a single object they all act simultaneously: the eye sees, the ear hears, the hand touches, the nose smells, the tongue tastes, and often the other parts of the body act as well as, for example, the feet may walk.

Although this is only a poor comparison, it gives some idea of how the whole universe is governed. The Word of God has but to give a gesture of command and everything falls into place; each creature performs its own proper function, and all together constitute one single harmonious order.

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 First Week in Ordinary Time



“The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were dead.” (1 Samuel 4:11.)

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

“How will it be true to say about that [earthly] tabernacle that only “the innocent in hands and pure in heart, who did not receive his soul in vain,” will inhabit it, when the history of the kings transmits that the worst priests, “sons of pestilence,” have dwelt in the tabernacle of God and the ark of the covenant itself also was captured by foreigners and detained with the impious and profane? From all of this it is evident that the prophet felt in a far different sense about this tabernacle in which he says that only “the innocent in hands and pure in heart, who did not receive his soul in vain nor do evil to his neighbor and did not accept reproach against his neighbor” will dwell. It is necessary, therefore, that the inhabitant of this tabernacle which the Lord erected, not man, be such a person.” (Homilies on Exodus, 9.)



Collect
Attend to the pleas of Your people
with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength
to do what they have seen.
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


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The Word of the Father gives
order, direction and unity to creation



Saint Athanasius of Alexandria
Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Against the Pagans

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

By his own wisdom and Word, who is our Lord and Savior Christ, the all-holy Father (whose excellence far exceeds that of any creature), like a skillful steersman guides to safety all creation, regulating and keeping it in being, as he judges right. It is right that creation should exist as he has made it and as we see it happening, because this is his will, which no one would deny. For if the movement of the universe were irrational, and the world rolled on in random fashion, one would be justified in disbelieving what we say. But if the world is founded on reason, wisdom and science, and is filled with orderly beauty, then it must owe its origin and order to none other than the Word of God.

He is God, the living and creative God of the universe, the Word of the good God, who is God in his own right. The Word is different from all created things: he is the unique Word belonging only to the good Father. This is the Word that created this whole world and enlightens it by his loving wisdom. He who is the good Word of the good Father produced the order in all creation, joining opposites together, and forming from them one harmonious sound. He is God, one and only-begotten, who proceeds in goodness from the Father as from the fountain of goodness, and gives order, direction and unity to creation.

By his eternal Word the Father created all things and implanted a nature in his creatures. He did not want to see them tossed about at the mercy of their own natures, and so be reduced to nothingness. But in his goodness he governs and sustains the whole of nature by his Word (who is himself also God), so that under the guidance, providence and ordering of that Word, the whole of nature might remain stable and coherent in his light. Nature was to share in the Father’s Word, whose reality is true, and be helped by him to exist, for without him it would cease to be. For unless the Word, who is the very image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, kept it in existence it could not exist. For whatever exists, whether visible or invisible, remains in existence through him and in him, and he is also the head of the Church, as we are taught by the ministers of truth in their sacred writings.

The almighty and most holy Word of the Father pervades the whole of reality, everywhere unfolding his power and shining on all things visible and invisible. He sustains it all and binds it together in himself. He leaves nothing devoid of his power but gives life and keeps it in being throughout all of creation and in each individual creature.



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 First Week in Ordinary Time



“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed...” (Mark 1:35)

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

“Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer when he might have done so without prayer. If so, who among us would neglect to pray? Mark says that “in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” And Luke says, “He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray,’” and elsewhere, “And all night he continued in prayer to God.” And John records his prayer, saying, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.’” The same Evangelist writes that the Lord said that he knew “you hear me always.” All this shows that the one who prays always is always heard.” (On Prayer, 13.)



Collect
Attend to the pleas of your people
with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength to do what they have seen.
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


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Knowledge of the Father
consists in the Self-Revelation of the Son



Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Bishop, Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Against Heresies, Book 4

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

No one can know the Father apart from God’s Word, that is, unless the Son reveals him, and no one can know the Son unless the Father so wills. Now the Son fulfils the Father’s good pleasure: the Father sends, the Son is sent, and he comes. The Father is beyond our sight and comprehension; but he is known by his Word, who tells us of him who surpasses all telling. In turn, the Father alone has knowledge of his Word. And the Lord has revealed both truths. Therefore, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father by his revelation of himself. Knowledge of the Father consists in the self-revelation of the Son, for all is revealed through the Word.

The Father’s purpose in revealing the Son was to make himself known to us all and so to welcome into eternal rest those who believe in him, establishing them in justice, preserving them from death. To believe in him means to do his will.

Through creation itself the Word reveals God the Creator. Through the world he reveals the Lord who made the world. Through all that is fashioned he reveals the craftsman who fashioned it all. Through the Son the Word reveals the Father who begot him as Son. All speak of these things in the same language, but they do not believe them in the same way. Through the law and the prophets the Word revealed himself and his Father in the same way, and though all the people equally heard the message not all equally believed it. Through the Word, made visible and palpable, the Father was revealed, though not all equally believed in him. But all saw the Father in the Son, for the Father of the Son cannot be seen, but the Son of the Father can be seen.

The Son performs everything as a ministry to the Father, from beginning to end, and without the Son no one can know God. The way to know the Father is the Son. Knowledge of the Son is in the Father, and is revealed through the Son. For this reason the Lord said: No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son has revealed him. The word “revealed” refers not only to the future—as though the Word began to reveal the Father only when he was born of Mary; it refers equally to all time. From the beginning the Son is present to creation, reveals the Father to all, to those the Father chooses, when the Father chooses, and as the Father chooses. So, there is in all and through all one God the Father, one Word and Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation for all who believe in him.



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

 






Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time



“... and made this vow: “O LORD of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11.)

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

“Take note of the woman’s reverence: she did not say, “If you give me three, I shall give you two;” or “if two, I shall give you one.” Instead, “If you give me one, I shall dedicate the offspring wholly to you.” “He will not drink wine or strong drink.” She had not yet received the child and was already forming a prophet, talking about his upbringing and making a deal with God. What wonderful confidence on a woman’s part! Since she could not make a deposit on account of not having anything, she pays the price from what is coming to her. Just as many farmers who are living in extreme poverty but have no money to buy a calf or sheep, get them on credit from their masters by pledging to pay the price from the crops that are due, just so did she do, too — or rather much more: she did not take her son from God on credit but on condition of returning him wholly to him once again and reaping the fruit of his upbringing. She regarded it as sufficient reward, you see, to devote her labors to God’s priest.” (Homilies on Hannah, 1.)



Collect
Attend to the pleas of Your people
with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength
to do what they have seen.
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

 




The ability to love is within each of us



Saint Basil the Great
Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Detailed Rules for Monks

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Love of God is not something that can be taught. We did not learn from someone else how to rejoice in light or want to live, or to love our parents or guardians. It is the same—perhaps even more so—with our love for God: it does not come by another’s teaching. As soon as the living creature (that is, man) comes to be, a power of reason is implanted in us like a seed, containing within it the ability and the need to love. When the school of God’s law admits this power of reason, it cultivates it diligently, skillfully nurtures it, and with God’s help brings it to perfection.

For this reason, as by God’s gift, I find you with the zeal necessary to attain this end, and you on your part help me with your prayers. I will try to fan into flame the spark of divine love that is hidden within you, as far as I am able through the power of the Holy Spirit.

First, let me say that we have already received from God the ability to fulfill all his commands. We have then no reason to resent them, as if something beyond our capacity were being asked of us. We have no reason either to be angry, as if we had to pay back more than we had received. When we use this ability in a right and fitting way, we lead a life of virtue and holiness. But if we misuse it, we fall into sin.

This is the definition of sin: the misuse of powers given us by God for doing good, a use contrary to God’s commands. On the other hand, the virtue that God asks of us is the use of the same powers based on a good conscience in accordance with God’s command.

Since this is so, we can say the same about love. Since we received a command to love God, we possess from the first moment of our existence an innate power and ability to love. The proof of this is not to be sought outside ourselves, but each one can learn this from himself and in himself. It is natural for us to want things that are good and pleasing to the eye, even though at first different things seem beautiful and good to different people. In the same way, we love what is related to us or near to us, though we have not been taught to do so, and we spontaneously feel well disposed to our benefactors.

What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and wonderful than God’s majesty? What desire is as urgent and overpowering as the desire implanted by God in a soul that is completely purified of sin and cries out in its love: I am wounded by love? The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe.



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 Baptism of the Lord



“So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

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

“For my thoughts are not like the thoughts of human beings, and as far as the heaven is from the earth, so much are my thoughts separated from the thoughts of human beings. For I am extremely gracious and very much for forgiving — so that once I have promised and it has come out of my mouth, it will not be void, but everything will be completed through its efficacy.” According to the anagogical sense, there is a double meaning here, because the Word of the Lord or he about whom it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.”16 God’s word does not return to him void, only through his doing the will of his Father as he filled all things on account of which he had become embodied and reconciled the world to God. He is the One who is said to proceed out of his mouth and out of the womb and vulva, not that God has bodily parts like that but so that we learn the nature of the Lord through our words. Or it indeed could be said that the word of gospel teaching may be called “rainstorms” and the rain that the spiritual clouds pour over the good earth, where the truth of God has reached.” (Commentary on Isaiah, 15)



Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
Who, when Christ had been baptized
in the River Jordan
and as the Holy Spirit descended upon Him,
solemnly declared him Your Beloved Son,
grant that Your children by adoption,
reborn of water and the Holy Spirit,
may always be well pleasing to You.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


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




The Baptism of Christ



Saint Gregory Nazianzen
Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from Oration 39: On Holy Light

The Baptism of the Lord

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptized; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.

John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptizer; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptized by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again. I ought to be baptized by you: we should also add, “and for you,” for John is to be baptized in blood, washed clean like Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received—though not in its fullness—a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power 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

 






How does one become a disciple of Jesus?
Ask the travelers from the East!



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

“They were over joyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the Child with Mary His mother.
They prostrated (πεσόντες [pesontes], to fall or to prostrate, an act of worship) themselves
and did him homage (προσεκύνησαν [prosekunēsan], to fall down to worship).
Then they opened their treasures and offered Him
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.”


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

A week ago, we travelled with the shepherds of Bethlehem to behold the sign: “an Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12).” As the radiant Word of God illumines life this Sunday we meet another group of people, albeit quite different from Bethlehem shepherds, “magi (μάγοι [magoi]) from the East (Matthew 2:1).” μάγοι (magoi), particularly with their treasures for the Child, stand in lavish contrast to the shepherds of Bethlehem. Yet pinning down exactly who these people are is a bit of a challenge. A number of popular sources tend to equate these μάγοι (magoi) with practitioners of magic. Some ancient sources spoke of them ‘dabbling in dark knowledge,’ a knowledge that is more speculative and esoteric, removed from the common day-to-day knowledge of life and commerce, hence the popular moniker ‘the wise men.’ Other data associate the μάγοι (magoi) with a priestly-kingly caste in Persia (present day Iran) who spent their time in pursuit of learning that would inform and enhance society by elevating the bar of ethical living. Closely connected to this point is a scholarly discussion that links the μάγοι (magoi) with some (accent on ‘some’) of the monotheistic struggles in ancient Persia and a Zoroastrian reform movement emphasizing a priority of proper behavior towards one another in society grounded in a monotheistic cosmology.

At this point, one might be tempted to ask the question, “So what?” How does this historic and geographic data serve the message of salvation? Good questions and good responses that help minimize treating the μάγοι (magoi) as ‘just a story.’ I am sure many readers have heard that label applied to so many episodes in Sacred Scripture. It is dangerous because in the present culture ‘just a story’ translates to ‘not real’ and if ‘not real’ creeps into the perception of Sacred Scripture, the potential for a loss of direction in this life is great. As we saw last week, while many of the people we meet in the Infancy Narratives of Saints Matthew and Luke are important for many reasons, one significant role that all play is that they are teachers of discipleship. The ‘characters’ of the Infancy Narratives teach us how to follow Jesus Christ. No matter what we confidently know or do not know about the μάγοι (magoi) one aspect is certain: the μάγοι (magoi) teach us how to follow Jesus Christ.  The magoi teach us how to be disciples of Jesus! So:


μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #1: Allow yourself to be led by the Lord. The μάγοι (magoi) followed the star because the star “preceded them (προῆγεν, proēgen). Here the rich imagery of the Exodus and the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. The Biblical journey is always following the Lord’s lead and never one’s own. This is why the image of the shepherd is vital in Christian spirituality and ecclesiology. Sheep individually or as a herd simply do not have the ‘smarts’ for their individual or collective survival let alone knowing where to go for water, food and safety. Sheep need help for their very existence and that assistance is given by the shepherd. So the μάγοι (magoi) - despite their ‘elevated’ social status and wealth which normally gives rise to ‘being in charge,’ the μάγοι (magoi) follow Another. How the μάγοι (magoi) journey is also significant. While travel necessitates looking ahead and occasionally looking down to prevent stumbling, travel - especially in the Ancient Near Eastern world devoid of a talking GPS - required looking above, looking at the Star as the definitive guide for the journey. So μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #1 essential amounts to allowing oneself to be lead and to be lead from One Who is above.

μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #2: Adore the Lord. We often hear at this time of year, “O come let us adore Him.” More than ‘nice words of a Christmas carol,’ the command to adore is living the First Commandment: ‘I am the Lord Your God, you will not have strange gods before Me.’ Adoration is the expression of single-mindedness, single heartedness and purity of heart that are treasured virtues throughout the pages of Scripture that speak of the authentic life of the disciple. When the μάγοι (magoi) entered the house, “They prostrated (πεσόντες [pesontes], to fall or to prostrate) themselves and did him homage (προσεκύνησαν [prosekunēsan], to fall down to worship).” The gesture and posture of prostration express humanity’s identity: a creature dependent on the Creator for all aspects of life. Pope Benedict XVI, in his year-end address to Vatican officials many years ago, said: “we can do no other than say, with Saint Thomas: my Lord and my God! Adoration is primarily an act of faith – the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if he is present, then I bow down before him. Then my intellect and will and heart open up towards him and from him. In the risen Christ, the incarnate God is present, who suffered for us because he loves us. We enter this certainty of God’s tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life. Only thus can I celebrate the Eucharist correctly and receive the body of the Lord rightly.”

μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #3: Go home by a different route. There can be no other way for a disciple to traverse life than to do it differently. Because one is led by the Lord, because one has encounter the living God, because one falls down and worships the Lord in adoration life logically must be different for the disciple. This is the Hebrew experience of qadosh (qedesh, Hebrew that is translated ‘set apart,’ ‘different’ or ‘holy’). When Isaiah sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts,” he was recognizing a fundamental difference between himself and God. In western culture we tend to be somewhat skittish about holiness thinking improperly that one might appear better than someone else. Holiness is not about ‘better.’ It is a grace-enabled act of the will whereby one accepts the difference that life must be when one says “yes” to the Father’s will. The journey home – ultimately the eternal experience of salvation – cannot be a route “I” plan and execute as if “I” were obtaining directions from Google Maps or a vehicle’s GPS. It can only be a route whose directions have been planned by Another — the God and Father of us all — for the good of everyone’s salvation in this life and in the life to come.

Happy Feast Day, Gappy!






Solemnity of the
Epiphany of the Lord



“Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1.)

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

“And the Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of Isaiah, “Enlighten yourself, enlighten yourself, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen on you.” Observe now the difference between the fine phrases of Plato respecting the chief good and the declarations of our prophets regarding the light of the blessed; and notice that the truth as it is contained in Plato concerning this subject did not at all help his readers to attain to a pure worship of God, or even himself, who could philosophize so grandly about the chief good, whereas the simple language of the Scriptures led to their honest readers being filled with a divine spirit; and this light is nourished within them by the oil, which as a certain parable is said to have preserved the light of the torches of the five wise virgins.” (Against Celsus, 6.)



Collect
O God,
Who on this day
revealed Your Only Begotten Son
to the nations
by the guidance of a star,
grant in Your mercy
that we, who know You already by faith,
may be brought
to behold the beauty of Your sublime glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


Reflection on discipleship and the Magi







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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The Lord has made His salvation
known to the whole world



Pope Saint Leo the Great
Bishop of Rome and Father of the Church

An excerpt from his On the Lord’s Epiphany, Sermon 3

The Epiphany of the Lord

The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.

A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. The father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above.

Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham, the blessing renounced by the children of his flesh. In the persons of the Magi let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not in Judea only, but in the whole world, so that his name may be great in all Israel.

Dear friends, now that we have received instruction in this revelation of God’s grace, let us celebrate with spiritual joy the day of our first harvesting, of the first calling of the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the merciful God, who has made us worthy, in the words of the Apostle, to share the position of the saints in light, who has rescued us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. As Isaiah prophesied: the people of the Gentiles, who sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and for those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned. He spoke of them to the Lord: The Gentiles, who do not know you, will invoke you, and the peoples, who knew you not, will take refuge in you.

This is the day that Abraham saw, and rejoiced to see, when he knew that the sons born of his faith would be blessed in his seed, that is, in Christ. Believing that he would be the father of the nations, he looked into the future, giving glory to God, in full awareness that God is able to do what he has promised.

This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognize and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of the light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.


Reflection on discipleship and the Magi






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

 





Weekdays of Christmas Time
Saturday before the Solemnity of Epiphany



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

Saint Bede the Venerable comments on this verse from today’s First Reading:

“The Spirit bore witness that Jesus is the truth when he descended on him at his baptism. If Jesus were not the truth, the Spirit would not have done that. The water and the blood bore witness that Jesus is the truth when they both flowed from his side at the time he was crucified. That would not have been possible if he had not had a genuine human nature. All three are independent of each other, but their testimony is one and the same, because Christ’s divinity is not to be believed in apart from his humanity, nor is his humanity to be accepted apart from his divinity. And all three are present also in us, not in their natural form but by the mystical union of our souls with him. The Spirit makes us children of God by adoption, the water of the sacred font cleanses us, and the blood of the Lord redeems us. They are invisible in themselves, but in the sacraments they are made visible for our benefit.” (On 1 John)



Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
who were pleased to shine forth with new light
through the coming of your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that, just as he was pleased to share our bodily form
through the childbearing of the Virgin Mary,
so we, too, may one day merit
to become companions in his kingdom of grace.
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

 
 

God became man
so that man might become God



Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from Sermon 13 in the Christmas Season

Weekdays of Christmas Time
Saturday before the Solemnity of Epiphany

Beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal creator of all things, today became our Savior by being born of a mother. Of his own will he was born for us today, in time, so that he could lead us to his Father's eternity. God became man so that man might become God. The Lord of the angels became man today so that man could eat the bread of angels.

Today, the prophecy is fulfilled that said: Pour down, heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just one: let the earth be opened and bring forth a savior. The Lord who had created all things is himself now created, so that he who was lost would be found. Thus man, in the words of the psalmist confesses: Before I was humbled, I sinned. Man sinned and became guilty; God is born a man to free man from his guild. Man fell, but God descended; man fell miserably, but God descended mercifully; man fell through pride, God descended with his grace.

My brethren, what miracles! What prodigies! The laws of nature are changed in the case of man. God is born. A virgin becomes pregnant with man. The Word of God marries the woman who knows no man. She is now at the same time both mother and virgin. She becomes a mother, yet she remains a virgin. The virgin bears a son, yet she does not know man; she remains untouched, yet she is not barren. He alone was born without sin for she bore him without the embrace of a man, not by the concupiscence of the flesh but by the obedience of the mind.



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 John Neumann, Bishop
Feast in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia USA



“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”” (John 1:47)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Gospel proclamation, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

"He praises and approves the man because he had said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” And yet, shouldn’t have Jesus rather found fault in him? Surely not; for the words are not those of an unbeliever or one deserving blame, but praise. How can you say that? Because Nathanael had considered the writings of the prophets more than Philip. For he had heard from the Scriptures that Christ must come from Bethlehem, and from the village in which David was. This belief at least prevailed among the Jews, and the prophet had proclaimed it of old.11 . . . And so when he heard that Jesus was “from Nazareth,” he was confounded and doubted, not finding the announcement of Philip to agree with the prediction of the prophet." (Homiles of the Gospel of John, 20.)



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



Saint John Neumann
Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia (USA)

An excerpt from his A Letter to Cardinal Barnabo

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

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

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

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

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

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



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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Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (USA)



“... and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”” (John 1:36.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Gospel proclamation, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

Not by voice alone but with his eyes also [John] bore witness to and expressed his esteem and praise of Christ. At this point he addresses no word of exhortation to his followers either. Instead he only shows wonder and astonishment at the one who was present. John declares to everyone the gift that this one came to give. He also declares the manner of purification. For “the Lamb” declares both of these things. Notice also he did not say “who shall take” or “who has taken” but “who takes away the sins of the world,” because this is what he continually does. He took them not only then when he suffered, but from that time even to the present he takes them away. He is not repeatedly crucified (for he offered one sacrifice for sins) but by that one sacrifice continually purges them. As then the Word shows us his preeminence and the Son his superiority in comparison with others, so the lamb, the Christ, that prophet, the true light, the good shepherd and whatever other names are applied to him with the addition of the article, mark a great difference. For there were many “lambs” and “prophets” and “christs” and “sons.” But John separates [Christ] from all of these by a wide margin. He secured this not only by the article but by the addition of “only begotten,” since he had nothing in common with the creation. (Homiles of the Gospel of John, 18.)



Collect
O God,
Who crowned with the gift of true faith
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s
burning zeal to find You,
grant by her intercession and example
that we may always seek You with diligent love
and find You in daily service with sincere 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


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Our daily work is to do the will of God



Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Religious

An excerpt from her Conference to her spiritual daughters

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (USA)

I will tell you what is my own great help. I once read or heard that an interior life means but the continuation of our Savior’s life in us; that the great object of all his mysteries is to merit for us the grace of his interior life and communicate it to us, it being the end of his mission to lead us into the sweet land of promise, a life of constant union with himself. And what was the first rule of our dear Savior’s life? You know it was to do his Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.

I know what his will is by those who direct me; whatever they bid me do, if it is ever so small in itself, is the will of God for me. Then do it in the manner he wills it, not sewing an old thing as if it were new, or a new thing as if it were old; not fretting because the oven is too hot, or in a fuss because it is too cold. You understand—not flying and driving because you are hurried, not creeping like a snail because no one pushes you. Our dear Savior was never in extremes. The third object is to do his will because God wills it, that is, to be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you may be called.

You think it very hard to lead a life of such restraint unless you keep your eye of faith always open. Perseverance is a great grace. To go on gaining and advancing every day, we must be resolute, and bear and suffer as our blessed forerunners did. Which of them gained heaven without a struggle?

What are our real trials? By what name shall we call them? One cuts herself out a cross of pride; another, one of causeless discontent; another, one of restless impatience or peevish fretfulness. But is the whole any better than children’s play if looked at with the common eye of faith? Yet we know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life, that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

But we lack courage to keep a continual watch over nature, and therefore, year after year, with our thousand graces, multiplied resolutions, and fair promises, we run around in a circle of misery and imperfections. After a long time in the service of God, we come nearly to the point from whence we set out, and perhaps with even less ardor for penance and mortification than when we began our consecration to him.

You are now in your first setout. Be above the vain fears of nature and efforts of your enemy. You are children of eternity. Your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there to reward your duty and love. You may indeed sow here in tears, but you may be sure there to reap in joy.



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

 





Weekdays of Christmas Time
Wednesday before the Solemnity of 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
Grant us, almighty God,
that the bringer of your salvation,
who for the world’s redemption
came forth with newness of
heavenly light,
may dawn afresh in our hearts
and bring us constant renewal.
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 double commandment of love



Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from A Discourse on John

Weekdays of Christmas Time
Wednesday before the Solemnity of Epiphany

The Lord, the teacher of love, full of love, came in person with summary judgment on the world, as had been foretold of him, and showed that the law and the prophets are summed up in two commandments of love.

Call to mind, brethren, what these two commandments are. They ought to be very familiar to you; they should not only spring to mind when I mention them, but ought never to be absent from your hearts. Keep always in mind that we must love God and our neighbor: Love God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

These two commandments must be always in your thoughts and in your hearts, treasured, acted on, fulfilled. Love of God is the first to be commanded, but love of neighbor is the first to be put into practice. In giving two commandments of love Christ would not commend to you first your neighbor and then God but first God and then your neighbor.

Since you do not yet see God, you merit the vision of God by loving your neighbor. By loving your neighbor you prepare your eye to see God. Saint John says clearly: If you do not love your brother whom you see, how will you love God whom you do not see!

Consider what is said to you: Love God. If you say to me: Show me whom I am to love, what shall I say if not what Saint John says: No one has ever seen God! But in case you should think that you are completely cut off from the sight of God, he says: God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God. Love your neighbor, then, and see within yourself the power by which you love your neighbor; there you will see God, as far as you are able.

Begin, then, to love your neighbor. Break your bread to feed the hungry, and bring into your home the homeless poor; if you see someone naked, clothe him, and do not look down on your own flesh and blood.

What will you gain by doing this? Your light will then burst forth like the dawn. Your light is your God; he is your dawn, for he will come to you when the night of time is over. He does not rise or set but remains for ever.

In loving your neighbor and caring for him you are on a journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind? We have not yet reached his presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come into the presence of the one with whom you desire to remain for 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









2/3 Cappadocian Feast Day



O God,
Who were pleased to give light to Your Church
by the example and teaching of the Bishops
Saints Basil and Gregory, grant, we pray,
that in humility we may learn Your truth and
practice it faithfully in charity.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


The Church commemorates today the lives of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Both were very good friends and studied together in Athens long before becoming bishops. Their lives in the Church played out in the middle to late fourth century in the region of Cappadocia (now modern day Turkey), hence they are often referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. However, in the Latin Rite, this commemoration is actually ‘2/3 Cappadocian Feast Day.’ Basil’s younger brother, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, is not reckoned on the Latin Rite calendar … yet (I am holding out hope for this day to eventually include ‘younger brother.’)


Basil, given the title “Great,” brought strong administrative and theological skills to his shepherding ministry as bishop. He is credited with establishing the communal form of monasticism in Eastern Christianity and establishing the first institutional operation of Church charity along with a hospital. Basil saw prayer, charity and healing as imperatives for the pastoral life of the Church because these were essential actions in the life of Jesus. Among Basil’s writings is his famous On the Holy Spirit in which he defends the Personhood and Divinity of Holy Spirit against the teachings and writings of Eunomius and others. Eunomius was a contemporary of Basil (as well as Gregory and Gregory) who vociferously taught and wrote against the distinctiveness of Divine Personhood claiming that ‘God’ is simply known by actions or functions: creating, redeeming and sanctifying and not the Names expressive of oneness, distinctiveness and Personhood: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Eunomius’ teaching so gripped many places that the Baptismal formula morphed to baptism in the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier – an abuse and an error (invalid Baptism!) that the Council of Constantinople addressed and rectified in 381.

Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil’s close friend, bears the title “The Theologian” and sometimes also “The Poet.” While definitely more subdued in personality to the impressive and at times larger-than-life Basil, Gregory longed for the solitude of the monastery. He wrote of his own reluctance to accept priestly ordination and with that writing penned numerous pieces on pertinent theological and pastoral questions. 5 of those treatises are known as the “Theological Orations” as they dealt with Trinitarian Personhood against the writings of Eunomius.

Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s younger brother, is known as “The Mystic.” Initially very reluctant to embrace Christianity and not blessed with the administrative skills of older brother Basil, Gregory of Nyssa came into his own after Basil’s rather untimely death at the age of 49. Gregory ended up providing theological depth to much of Basil’s initiatives. While early in his episcopal career many thought he was simply ‘completing’ or ‘building on’ Basil’s thought, Gregory soon proved to be a gifted speculative theological thinker who simultaneously sought to make connections with living a spiritual (actually virtuous, as it was termed then) life that disposed one to the transformation of the Holy Spirit. He too penned a voluminous work against Eunomius and also numerous works on the spiritual life. Among some of his more famous works are On the Making of Man (a great work on theological anthropology), The Great Catechetical Oration (among the first ‘catechisms’ ever written and used in the Eastern Church well into the 15th century), the Life of Moses, the Homilies on the Song of Songs, Homilies on the Beatitudes, Orations on the Lord’s Prayer, to name only a few all of which  offer deep insights into the spiritual life). Indebted to Origen of Alexandria for his pioneering work on biblical interpretation, Gregory wove together both the literal and spiritual senses of Sacred Scripture to express a pastoral and theological approach to life known as epektasis: a continuous being-drawn by the Holy Spirit to live the life of Jesus Christ culminating in eternal life with God the Father.

The Cappadocian Fathers lived in a time of theological passion and a time that was replete with all kinds of theological confusion and heretical movements, some of which were grounded in ‘hurt pride’ and an inability to humbly receive the Church’s teachings. Gregory of Nyssa captured a glimpse of this passion in an introduction to one of his works:

“A city [Constantinople] full of profound theological disputes, everyone talking and preaching in the squares, in the market places, at the crossroads, in the alleyways: old clothes men, money-changers, costermongers: they are all at it. If you ask a man to change a piece of silver, he informs you wherein the Son differs from the Father; and if you ask for the price of a loaf, you are told by the way of reply that the Son is the inferior of the Father; and if you inquire whether the bath is ready, the man solemnly informs you that the Son was made out of nothing! (Oratio de Deitate Filii et Spiritus Sancti (PG XLVI, 557: 20-28)”

The Cappadocians knew proper worship, theology and expressions of the Divine Mystery were indispensable for authentic Christian living. Their preaching, teaching and writing - at times very technical and highly nuanced - were always placed at the service of concrete virtuous living that mirrored Jesus Christ. One of their many theological legacies is that mystery and teachings are not about the abstract or ethereal, rather they are about a way of living. This way of living is about always being drawn-up to contemplate and to live divinely. The saintly Nyssian bishop summed it up well: “Let faith thunder loud and pure in the proclamation of the Most Holy Trinity and may life imitate the fruit of the pomegranate!” (The Life of Moses)


On this day, I express gratitude to one (certainly, there are others!) of my mentors: Fr Ambrosius Eßer (Esser), OP. He directed by doctoral studies in the Fathers of the Church as well as my doctoral dissertation on Saint Gregory of Nyssa at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. Fr. Eßer himself had studied under the great patristic scholar, Fr Irénée Hausherr SJ and I am grateful for the many conversations in which Fr Eßer ‘handed-on’ the great patristic legacy of the Church.

After years of ministry as a Dominican priest, Fr Eßer died during the Easter Season of 2010 on April 12.

Lord God,
You chose our brother Ambrosius
to serve your people as a priest
and to share the joys and
burdens of their lives.
Look with mercy on him
and give him the reward of his labors,
the fullness of life promised to those
who preach Your holy Gospel.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. Alleluia!


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






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