Words of the Word

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Tuesday-Week32-2013. Saint Josaphat.

“So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.” (Luke 17:10)

In commenting upon this verse from today’s Mass Readings, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“He said, “When you have done everything, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants,’” to warn them in his wish that they keep themselves at great distance from that destructive passion. Dearly beloved, see how the person with his mouth open for human glory and performing the works of virtue on that account has no benefit from it. Despite practicing every example of virtue, if he seems to give himself credit for it, he ends up empty-handed and bereaved of everything.” (Homily on Genesis, 31)

Stir up in your Church,
we pray, O Lord,
the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat
as he laid down his life for the sheep,
so that through his intercession
we, too, may be strengthened
by the same Spirit and
not be afraid to lay down our life for others.
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.

Click here for some biographical data on Saint Josaphat as well as today’s “Second Reading” from the Liturgy of the Hours: Office of Readings.

Continue praying for all who are suffering the results of Super Typhoon Haiyan and now an earthquake. Consider offering a gift to help with relief services.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Monday-Week32-2013. Saint Martin of Tours. Veterans' Day (USA).

“And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.” (Luke 17:4)

In commenting on this verse from the Gospel according to Saint Luke from today’s Gospel, Cyril of Alexandria writes:

“He says, “If he who sins against you repents and acknowledges his fault, you shall forgive him not only once, but very many times.” We … must rather imitate those whose business it is to heal our bodily diseases and who do not care for a sick person once only or twice, but just as often as he happens to become ill. Let us remember that we also are liable to infirmities and overpowered by our passions. This being the case, we pray that those who have the duty to rebuke us and who have the authority to punish us may show themselves forgiving and kind to us. It is our duty, having a common feeling for our mutual infirmities, to bear one another’s burdens, so we will fulfill the law of Christ. Observe also that in the Gospel according to Matthew, Peter makes the inquiry, “How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” The Lord then tells the apostles, “Although he sins seven times in the day,” that is, frequently, “and will acknowledge his fault, you shall forgive him.” (Commentary on Luke, Homilies 113-116)

O God,
Who are glorified in the Bishop Saint Martin
both by his life and death, make new,
we pray, the wonders of your grace
in our hearts, that neither death nor life
may separate us from your love.
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.

Click here for some biographical data on Saint Martin of Tours as well as today’s Second Reading from the Liturgy of the Hours: Office of Readings.

Veterans’ Day is observed today in the United States of America. Click here for further information and prayer resources.

Continue praying for all who are suffering the results of Super Typhoon Haiyan. On this feast of ‘Martin the Charitable,’ consider offering a gift to help with relief services.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Sunday-Week32-2013.

“We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you [both] are doing and will continue to do.” (II Thessalonians 3:4)

Saint Maximus of Turin offers the following insight on this verse from today's Pauline proclamation:

“Through the operation of these millstones — the new and the old covenants — the holy church, then, acts with unceasing care so as to draw out the fine flour of a clean heart from hidden thoughts, once the roughness of sins has been scattered, and to produce spiritual food from their kernels when they have been cleansed by the heavenly commandments. The apostle Paul says about this food, “I gave you milk to drink, not food,” and again, “Solid food is for the perfect, who have their faculties trained by habit,” and so forth. Purifying our hearts from all that is human, the faithful soul strives to offer God as it were the finest wheat, as holy David says, “A broken spirit is a sacrifice to God.” The gospel rushes forward with such speed, however, that only the wise know of its movement. About this speed the blessed Paul says with understanding, “May the word of God speed on and be made glorious in us.” But in the eyes of the foolish the gospel seems to stand still, I say, because they neglect its commands, for they do not believe that what has been written will come to pass.” (Sermon 20)

Almighty and merciful God,
graciously keep from us all adversity,
so that, unhindered in mind and body alike,
we may pursue in freedom of heart
the things that are yours.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Saturday-Week31-2013. The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.

“He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there.” (John 2:14)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“Nevertheless, in order to seek the mystery of the deed in the figurative meaning, who are they who sell the oxen? Who are they who sell the sheep and doves? They are those who seek their own interests in the church rather than those of Jesus Christ. Those who have no desire for redemption have everything for sale. They do not want to be bought; they want to sell. Yet surely it is for their good that they be redeemed by the blood of Christ so that they may attain the peace of Christ. For what profit is there in acquiring anything temporal or transitory in this world — whether it be money, or gorging oneself on food or achieving high honors from your fellow human beings? Are not all things smoke and wind? Do not all things pass on in a moment? And woe to those who want to hang on to passing things, for they pass with them! ... My brothers, those who seek such things sell them. For Simon [Magus] too wanted to buy the Holy Spirit for that very reason — because he wanted to sell the Holy Spirit — and he thought that the apostles were the kind of merchants that the Lord drove out of the temple with a scourge. But he was the one who was actually such a merchant, wanting to buy what he might sell. He was of those who sell doves. For the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. Therefore, brothers, who are those who sell doves — who are they except those who say, “We give the Holy Spirit”? Why do they say this and at what price do they sell? At the price of their own honor. They receive for a time bishops’ seats as their price, that they may seem to sell doves. Let them beware of the scourge of ropes. The dove is not for sale; it is given gratis, for it is called grace.” (Tractates on the Gospel of John, 10)

On this day in 324, lands and buildings that originally belonged to the Roman Laterani family were formally dedicated as the Cathedral Church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I. The during the reign of Emperor Nero, the Laterani family lost the property to the Emperor when a family member was accused of some unknown impropriety against Nero. From the the time of Nero to the early years of the fourth century, the ‘ownership history’ is somewhat sketchy as the property eventually passes to Constantine's wife, Fausta. What is clear is that with the Edict of Toleration, the Roman Empire's relationship with the Church changed dramatically. Not only were bishops appointed civil magistrates by the emperor, Constantine also began an aggressive 'renovation' project taking existing Roman buildings and permitting the bishops to use them for places of worship and ecclesiastical gatherings/meetings. New buildings were also constructed during this time and dedicated as Churches to signal the Church’s clear visible presence in the Empire. Robin Jensen notes that this ‘church building campaign’ “symbolized the beginning of Christianity’s transition from a minority community adapting what it had available and expressing itself in familiar terms, to a powerful, wealthy and dominant segment of the population, now able to determine the forms and styles by which it expressed its own cultural identity. The imposing scale and potential grandeur of the basilica design well suited the gradually more elaborate liturgy, even as it reflected the changed social and political status of the church and became a definitive and monumental symbol of the church’s new self-understanding and cultural integration (Christianity: Origins to Constantine, page 585).”

O God,
Who from living and chosen stones
prepare an eternal dwelling for Your majesty,
increase in your Church
the spirit of grace you have bestowed,
so that by new growth your faithful people
may build up the heavenly Jerusalem.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Friday-Week31-2013.

“He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.” (Luke 16:5-6)

Origen of Alexandria offers the following insight on these Gospel verses:

“What the Gospel of “the unjust steward” says is also an image of this matter. He says to the debtor [of one hundred measures of wheat], “Take your bill, sit down, and write eighty,” and the other things that are related. You see that he said to each man, “Take your bill.” It is evident from this that the documents of sin are ours, but God writes documents of justice. The apostle says, “For you are an epistle written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.” You have in yourselves documents of God and documents of the Holy Spirit. If you transgress, you yourself write in yourselves the handwriting of sin. Notice that at any time when you have approached the cross of Christ and the grace of baptism, your handwriting is fastened to the cross and blotted out in the fountain of baptism. Do not rewrite later what has been blotted out or repair what has been destroyed. Preserve only the documents of God in yourself. Let only the scripture of the Holy Spirit remain in you.” (Homilies on Genesis, 13).”

Almighty and merciful God,
by whose gift Your faithful offer
You right and praiseworthy service,
grant, we pray, that we may hasten
without stumbling to receive
the things you have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Thursday-Week31-2013.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15:8)

Saint Ambrose of Milan offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“The price of the soul is faith. Faith is the lost drachma that the woman in the Gospel seeks diligently. We read that she lit a candle and swept her house. After finding it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, inviting them to rejoice with her because she has found the drachma that she had lost. The damage to the soul is great if one has lost the faith or the grace that he has gained for himself at the price of faith. Light your lamp. “Your lamp is your eye,” that is, the interior eye of the soul. Light the lamp that feeds on the oil of the spirit and shines throughout your whole house. Search for the drachma, the redemption of your soul. If a person loses this, he is troubled, and if he finds it, he rejoices.” (Letter 20)

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

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Wednesday-Week31-2013

“Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?” (Luke 14:28)

Saint Gregory of Nyssa offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“The Gospel somewhere says that a person who begins to build a tower but stops with the foundations and never completes it is ridiculous. What do we learn from this parable? We learn that we should work to bring every aspiration to a conclusion, completing the work of God by an elaborate building up of his commandments. One stone does not make a complete tower, nor does one commandment bring the perfection of the soul to its desired measure. It is necessary to both erect the foundation and, as the apostle says, “to lay upon it a foundation of gold and precious stones.” That is what the products of the commandments are called by the prophet when he says, “I have loved your commandment more than gold and much precious stone.” (On Virginity, 18)”

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