St. Sebastian (257?-288?)
Nothing is historically certain about St. Sebastian except that he was a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present Basilica of St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in several martyrologies as early as a.d. 350. The legend of St. Sebastian is important in art, and there is a vast iconography. Scholars now agree that a pious fable has Sebastian entering the Roman army because only there could he assist the martyrs without arousing suspicion. Finally he was found out, brought before Emperor Diocletian and delivered to Mauritanian archers to be shot to death. His body was pierced with arrows, and he was left for dead. But he was found still alive by those who came to bury him. He recovered, but refused to flee. One day he took up a position near where the emperor was to pass. He accosted the emperor, denouncing him for his cruelty to Christians. This time the sentence of death was carried out. Sebastian was beaten to death with clubs. He was buried on the Appian Way, close to the catacombs that bear his name.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (3:1-6)
Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, Stand up in front of everyone. Then Jesus asked them, Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they remained silent. He looked round at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Anger and Love
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
I remember years ago I was beginning some research on the character of God as it is shown in certain religious traditions. In one of the first of my meetings with the moderator of my work, he referred to the Old and New Testaments. He said that the God of the Old Testament was a God of anger while the God of the New was a God of love. I immediately disputed his simplification - and indeed it was a very superficial categorization of the God of the Scriptures. But it is commonly held, and the anger of God in the Old Testament is regarded by some people as something of an embarrassment to revealed religion. God should not be portrayed as being angry and wrathful. There are anthropologists and theorists of religion who set the wrathful Yahweh in the company of the other irascible deities of many pagan peoples, implying that he differs little from them. But Yahweh’s wrath is not just a personal irascibility - it is a horror of sin. This is not the moment to compare the character of Yahweh God with that of other gods, but it is important to consider this insistence that God can only be, we might say, “benevolent” - even with sin. This is relevant because, characteristically, a thoroughly secular outlook strives to be “benevolent” towards personal sin. That is to say, it looks kindly on it, and this is basically because it does not think that there is sin. What matters is that a person be sincere, and if you do what you do out of genuine conviction, then all is well. Thus there is nothing objectively “sinful” with homosexual practice in itself - provided you are sincere. So we ought be “benevolent” towards those who “sin,” with sincerity. We ought be even-handed, and if anything, it is sinful to be “wrathful” towards sin and the sinner. These secular assumptions are accepted as self-evident, and can set up in our minds severe expectations about the character and actions of God himself. It can confirm the rejection of certain revealed doctrines, such as that of God’s definitive judgment on each person, and of the doctrine of eternal punishment in Hell.
Now, God is indeed portrayed as being angry in the Old Testament. He punishes man for his sin. Adam and Eve disobeyed him and knowingly accepted the word of the Serpent. God cast them out of the Garden and imposed hard labour on the man and suffering on the woman. He punished Cain for his murder of Abel. Having ordered Noah into the Ark, he destroyed the peoples for their sins. He rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. He punished Moses for his lack of faith by refusing him entry into the Promised Land. He took away the crown from Saul for his disobedience, and he punished David more than once for his sins. Because of their sins he allowed the city of Jerusalem to be destroyed by the Babylonians and the chosen people to be deported to Babylon. In all of this Yahweh God is portrayed as being angry - not just piqued and irritated like many of the gods of the peoples, - and his anger is horror at sin. Yahweh God required holiness: be holy, he ordered, for I the Lord am holy. In the Old Testament, God is portrayed as a God of compassion and love - he felt compassion for his people, and for this reason he sent Moses to deliver his people from their slavery. But sin provoked his wrath. So man has every reason to fear God if he sins. If he wishes to please God and obtain his favour, he must turn away from his sins. Thus our Lord began his public ministry calling on all to repent, for the kingdom of God was near at hand. Of course, we may philosophize on how the anger of God is best understood in view of the infinity of his love, but that God presents himself to us as angry if we persist in our sins and refuse to repent, is clear from his revelation. This brings us to our Gospel today, a passage in which our Lord is angry. He is the image of the unseen God, and we read that in the face of the sinful stubbornness of the leaders, “He looked round at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your hand” (Mark 3: 1-6). He looked on them “in anger.” Let us make sure he does not look on us “in anger.”
Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, has come to offer us his personal friendship. Salvation consists in faithful friendship with Jesus. We have a choice. Do we wish to live in his friendship, or do we wish to live without it? Sin is the one thing that destroys friendship with God and Christ - and unrepented sin confirms this loss. If we sin, we must repent so as to be received back into the friendship of God. Ultimately and eternally, we shall find ourselves in God’s friendship or subject to his anger. What shall it be? His friendship? Well then, now I begin!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
St. Fabian (c. 250)
Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of clergy and laity and he was chosen unanimously. He led the Church for 14 years and died a martyr’s death during the persecution of Decius in 250 AD. St. Cyprian wrote to his successor that Fabian was an “incomparable” man whose glory in death matched the holiness and purity of his life. In the catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave may still be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words, “Fabian, bishop, martyr.”
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:23-28)
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn. The Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Lord even of the Sabbath
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
One of the most distinctive practices of the Jewish people was its observance of the Sabbath. Egypt had its many festivals, but not the regular Sabbath. The Sabbath was a linchpin of Israel’s celebration of God as the Lord of the world, which is his creation. There is an inspired expression of this in the very first chapter of the Bible. In that inaugural text, the creation of the whole world is presented as a “work” distinctive of God alone - for the one God alone did all of this work. There were no other gods. The inspired author presents this pictorially as having been done over a working week, at the end of which God rests with his good work done. The Sabbath thus has its roots not only in explicit divine law (as in the Decalogue) but, obscurely, in the very ways of God. By working and by then resting after the manner of the Sabbath, man is acting as God wishes him to act, and also, in some sense, as God himself acts. In this way man fulfils his own nature, for as the first chapter of Genesis shows, God made man in his own image. While he is subject to God, he is at the same time God-like, and is therefore called to act and work in imitation of God. The observance of the Sabbath was critical in the life of the nation as expressing its calling to act always in a way that pleases God. Thus it was that the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments. It came from God, and Moses and the prophets laid it down as fundamental - and this character it retains to the present day in the Jewish and Christian religions. To forget the Sabbath is to commence the crumbling of one’s faith in revealed religion, and life in accord with it. I say all this simply to show that by observing the Sabbath, the chosen people of God in practical and ongoing effect recognized God as their Lord. But in our Gospel passage today, we have a remarkable statement uttered in the presence of the religious professionals of the nation - the Pharisees. Jesus declares, when challenged by them over the manner of Sabbath observance he allows among his disciples, that he, the man Jesus whom they behold before them, is the very Lord of the Sabbath.
No other individual in the history of the nation made such a statement. Moses received the Ten Commandments of God with its solemn stipulation of the Sabbath. It is unthinkable that he would declare himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath. No prophet had made any such pretension. The prophets insisted on the observance of the Sabbath, and condemned its distortions. Some condemned its neglect while others condemned an observance of it that neglected justice and mercy. But they were all subjects and servants of the Sabbath - which meant that they were subjects and servants of Yahweh, the Lord of the Sabbath. In the encounter today, initiated by the Pharisees who saw Christ’s disciples picking ears of corn, our Lord first of all shows his respect for the Scriptures and for the true tradition of the chosen people. “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions” (Mark 2:23-28). Our Lord is saying that the observance and teaching of the Pharisees in this matter was an innovation for the worse. Their received rules departed from the understanding of the holy men of old and from what the Scriptures plainly suggested. But then he calmly introduces a breathtaking addition. There is the hint of not just one, but two points in his statement. He is the Lord (kurios), and he is Lord even/also (kai) of the Sabbath. That is to say, our Lord seems to be making an assertion of his general lordship, while also applying it to the case at hand, his lordship even/also of the Sabbath. We observe here and elsewhere our Lord’s assured sense of full sovereignty in all his teaching. One often notices that a dog barks because it is scared. Our Lord did not “bark” his personal claims out with aggression. They were uttered with a kingly calm, with an imperturbable strength, as in our passage today. He, Jesus Christ, is Lord - Lord of lords and King of kings.
But let us apply our Lord’s teaching to our own lives, and in particular to our observance of the Sabbath. Is Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath as we observe it? Do we make the Sunday the Lord’s Day? Or do we take a very perfunctory attitude to Sunday, being content with a somewhat routine attendance at Sunday worship, and little else? Perhaps we live out the Sunday basically in much the same way as we do every other day of the week. Let us resolve to keep holy the Sabbath day, the day we rest in the Lord, worshipping him as a people and gathering our energies so as to serve him diligently by our daily work. It is thus that we shall please God.
Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of clergy and laity and he was chosen unanimously. He led the Church for 14 years and died a martyr’s death during the persecution of Decius in 250 AD. St. Cyprian wrote to his successor that Fabian was an “incomparable” man whose glory in death matched the holiness and purity of his life. In the catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave may still be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words, “Fabian, bishop, martyr.”
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:23-28)
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn. The Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Lord even of the Sabbath
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
One of the most distinctive practices of the Jewish people was its observance of the Sabbath. Egypt had its many festivals, but not the regular Sabbath. The Sabbath was a linchpin of Israel’s celebration of God as the Lord of the world, which is his creation. There is an inspired expression of this in the very first chapter of the Bible. In that inaugural text, the creation of the whole world is presented as a “work” distinctive of God alone - for the one God alone did all of this work. There were no other gods. The inspired author presents this pictorially as having been done over a working week, at the end of which God rests with his good work done. The Sabbath thus has its roots not only in explicit divine law (as in the Decalogue) but, obscurely, in the very ways of God. By working and by then resting after the manner of the Sabbath, man is acting as God wishes him to act, and also, in some sense, as God himself acts. In this way man fulfils his own nature, for as the first chapter of Genesis shows, God made man in his own image. While he is subject to God, he is at the same time God-like, and is therefore called to act and work in imitation of God. The observance of the Sabbath was critical in the life of the nation as expressing its calling to act always in a way that pleases God. Thus it was that the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments. It came from God, and Moses and the prophets laid it down as fundamental - and this character it retains to the present day in the Jewish and Christian religions. To forget the Sabbath is to commence the crumbling of one’s faith in revealed religion, and life in accord with it. I say all this simply to show that by observing the Sabbath, the chosen people of God in practical and ongoing effect recognized God as their Lord. But in our Gospel passage today, we have a remarkable statement uttered in the presence of the religious professionals of the nation - the Pharisees. Jesus declares, when challenged by them over the manner of Sabbath observance he allows among his disciples, that he, the man Jesus whom they behold before them, is the very Lord of the Sabbath.
No other individual in the history of the nation made such a statement. Moses received the Ten Commandments of God with its solemn stipulation of the Sabbath. It is unthinkable that he would declare himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath. No prophet had made any such pretension. The prophets insisted on the observance of the Sabbath, and condemned its distortions. Some condemned its neglect while others condemned an observance of it that neglected justice and mercy. But they were all subjects and servants of the Sabbath - which meant that they were subjects and servants of Yahweh, the Lord of the Sabbath. In the encounter today, initiated by the Pharisees who saw Christ’s disciples picking ears of corn, our Lord first of all shows his respect for the Scriptures and for the true tradition of the chosen people. “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions” (Mark 2:23-28). Our Lord is saying that the observance and teaching of the Pharisees in this matter was an innovation for the worse. Their received rules departed from the understanding of the holy men of old and from what the Scriptures plainly suggested. But then he calmly introduces a breathtaking addition. There is the hint of not just one, but two points in his statement. He is the Lord (kurios), and he is Lord even/also (kai) of the Sabbath. That is to say, our Lord seems to be making an assertion of his general lordship, while also applying it to the case at hand, his lordship even/also of the Sabbath. We observe here and elsewhere our Lord’s assured sense of full sovereignty in all his teaching. One often notices that a dog barks because it is scared. Our Lord did not “bark” his personal claims out with aggression. They were uttered with a kingly calm, with an imperturbable strength, as in our passage today. He, Jesus Christ, is Lord - Lord of lords and King of kings.
But let us apply our Lord’s teaching to our own lives, and in particular to our observance of the Sabbath. Is Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath as we observe it? Do we make the Sunday the Lord’s Day? Or do we take a very perfunctory attitude to Sunday, being content with a somewhat routine attendance at Sunday worship, and little else? Perhaps we live out the Sunday basically in much the same way as we do every other day of the week. Let us resolve to keep holy the Sabbath day, the day we rest in the Lord, worshipping him as a people and gathering our energies so as to serve him diligently by our daily work. It is thus that we shall please God.
Monday, January 18, 2010
St. Charles of Sezze (1613-1670)
Charles thought that God was calling him to be a missionary in India, but he never got there. God had something better for this 17th-century successor to Brother Juniper. Born in Sezze, southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta and Paschal Baylon to become a Franciscan; he did that in 1635. Charles tells us in his autobiography, "Our Lord put in my heart a determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor and to beg alms for his love." Charles served as cook, porter, sacristan, gardener and beggar at various friaries in Italy. In some ways, he was "an accident waiting to happen." He once started a huge fire in the kitchen when the oil in which he was frying onions burst into flames. One story shows how thoroughly Charles adopted the spirit of St. Francis. The superior ordered Charles — then porter — to give food only to traveling friars who came to the door. Charles obeyed this direction; simultaneously the alms to the friars decreased. Charles convinced the superior the two facts were related. When the friars resumed giving goods to all who asked at the door, alms to the friars increased also. At the direction of his confessor Charles wrote his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. He also wrote several other spiritual books. He made good use of his various spiritual directors throughout the years; they helped him discern which of Charles’ ideas or ambitions were from God. Charles himself was sought out for spiritual advice. The dying Pope Clement IX called Charles to his bedside for a blessing. Charles had a firm sense of God’s providence. Father Severino Gori has said, "By word and example he recalled in all the need of pursuing only that which is eternal" (Leonard Perotti, St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page 215). He died at San Francesco a Ripa in Rome and was buried there. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1959.
Father Gori says that the autobiography of Charles "stands as a very strong refutation of the opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are born saints, that they are privileged right from their first appearance on this earth. This is not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the generous fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight just as we do, and more so, against their passions, the world and the devil" (St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page viii).
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:18-22)
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? Jesus answered, How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. No-one sews a patch of cloth that has not shrunk on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.
It is new!
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
One of several key elements of the Jewish religion that gave it notoriety among the peoples was its observance of the Sabbath. It was a constant cause of conflict between our Lord and several of the religious leaders that he did not observe many of the practices of the Sabbath which they had stipulated. Thus he was attacked for healing on the Sabbath and for permitting his disciples to pick ears of corn on the Sabbath in order to satisfy their hunger. Another notable feature of the Jewish religion was fasting. It was a mark of religious earnestness among the Jews that they fasted, and in fact the Jewish religion was somewhat notorious among the pagans for the its practice of fasting. Some pagan writers even thought that the Jews fasted on the Sabbath, which they did not. Fasting is referred to repeatedly in the Old Testament - and in fact here our Lord informs his interlocutors that his own disciples "will fast." Our Gospel scene today opens with the author setting the context, which is that "John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting." So it is that "some people came and asked Jesus, How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" It was plain to them that our Lord was a prophet, that he was filled with God and of eminent holiness. But to all appearances he was not notable in his fasting practices - as was, say, John - and he did not impose a regime of fasting on his disciples in the way John and the Pharisees did theirs. Indeed, in another passage of the Gospels our Lord contrasts himself with John. John came neither eating nor drinking, whereas the Son of Man did come eating and drinking. The leaders called John a man possessed, while him they called a drunkard and a glutton. So some of the people were puzzled; they could not understand what was going on; they could not fit it together. What did the religion of Jesus amount to? Our Lord calmly and sovereignly - and we may imagine, with a smile - explained to these children of Abraham that there was something altogether new here. It could not be business - the business of religion - as usual. A new start was being made, and later they would fast.
It was a new start indeed. "No-one sews a patch of cloth that has not shrunk on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." Jesus was the new piece, the new garment of revealed religion which would clothe the peoples. He was the new wine from which all would be invited to drink. God had revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long before, and these patriarchs had faithfully handed on the Revelation. He revealed himself to Moses and the prophets, and these had handed on the divine Revelation. The chosen people knew they were called to hear and to live by that word of the living God - the God who was the Bridegroom of the people. But in our passage today, our Lord calmly and almost casually indicates that the Bridegroom had now arrived. A new relationship with his people was about to be established, and the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham was about to be seen. "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? Jesus answered, How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast" (Mark 2: 18-22). At this point, with the Bridegroom now among them, it could not be business as usual in things religious. His disciples must come to know him, learn from him, base their lives on him. Revealed religion was a new thing - it was the love and worship and service of him. He was not just a master instructing his disciples, as were John and the leading Pharisees. He was the object of their friendship, their worship and their service. He was the very Bridegroom. This had to be learned and placed at the heart of religion, and then, when the time came for him to be "taken away," they would fast.
That is to say, if we wish to be a disciple of Christ, first things must come first. St Paul would write that all the fasting in the world would be useless if it had not love. The first love in our life is our love for Christ. This is what must be learnt first and above all. Jesus Christ is the centre and focus of the Christian religion. He is not just our Teacher - though he is most certainly our Teacher. He is our Lord and our God. Our life is life in him, and his gift to us is a share in his own Spirit, enabling us to live consistently the life of God, if we but set our hearts and minds to it. Let us then place Jesus Christ at the centre of our lives, and never allow anything to take his place - and certainly never the very practices of religion.
Charles thought that God was calling him to be a missionary in India, but he never got there. God had something better for this 17th-century successor to Brother Juniper. Born in Sezze, southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta and Paschal Baylon to become a Franciscan; he did that in 1635. Charles tells us in his autobiography, "Our Lord put in my heart a determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor and to beg alms for his love." Charles served as cook, porter, sacristan, gardener and beggar at various friaries in Italy. In some ways, he was "an accident waiting to happen." He once started a huge fire in the kitchen when the oil in which he was frying onions burst into flames. One story shows how thoroughly Charles adopted the spirit of St. Francis. The superior ordered Charles — then porter — to give food only to traveling friars who came to the door. Charles obeyed this direction; simultaneously the alms to the friars decreased. Charles convinced the superior the two facts were related. When the friars resumed giving goods to all who asked at the door, alms to the friars increased also. At the direction of his confessor Charles wrote his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. He also wrote several other spiritual books. He made good use of his various spiritual directors throughout the years; they helped him discern which of Charles’ ideas or ambitions were from God. Charles himself was sought out for spiritual advice. The dying Pope Clement IX called Charles to his bedside for a blessing. Charles had a firm sense of God’s providence. Father Severino Gori has said, "By word and example he recalled in all the need of pursuing only that which is eternal" (Leonard Perotti, St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page 215). He died at San Francesco a Ripa in Rome and was buried there. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1959.
Father Gori says that the autobiography of Charles "stands as a very strong refutation of the opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are born saints, that they are privileged right from their first appearance on this earth. This is not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the generous fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight just as we do, and more so, against their passions, the world and the devil" (St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page viii).
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:18-22)
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? Jesus answered, How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. No-one sews a patch of cloth that has not shrunk on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.
It is new!
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
One of several key elements of the Jewish religion that gave it notoriety among the peoples was its observance of the Sabbath. It was a constant cause of conflict between our Lord and several of the religious leaders that he did not observe many of the practices of the Sabbath which they had stipulated. Thus he was attacked for healing on the Sabbath and for permitting his disciples to pick ears of corn on the Sabbath in order to satisfy their hunger. Another notable feature of the Jewish religion was fasting. It was a mark of religious earnestness among the Jews that they fasted, and in fact the Jewish religion was somewhat notorious among the pagans for the its practice of fasting. Some pagan writers even thought that the Jews fasted on the Sabbath, which they did not. Fasting is referred to repeatedly in the Old Testament - and in fact here our Lord informs his interlocutors that his own disciples "will fast." Our Gospel scene today opens with the author setting the context, which is that "John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting." So it is that "some people came and asked Jesus, How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" It was plain to them that our Lord was a prophet, that he was filled with God and of eminent holiness. But to all appearances he was not notable in his fasting practices - as was, say, John - and he did not impose a regime of fasting on his disciples in the way John and the Pharisees did theirs. Indeed, in another passage of the Gospels our Lord contrasts himself with John. John came neither eating nor drinking, whereas the Son of Man did come eating and drinking. The leaders called John a man possessed, while him they called a drunkard and a glutton. So some of the people were puzzled; they could not understand what was going on; they could not fit it together. What did the religion of Jesus amount to? Our Lord calmly and sovereignly - and we may imagine, with a smile - explained to these children of Abraham that there was something altogether new here. It could not be business - the business of religion - as usual. A new start was being made, and later they would fast.
It was a new start indeed. "No-one sews a patch of cloth that has not shrunk on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." Jesus was the new piece, the new garment of revealed religion which would clothe the peoples. He was the new wine from which all would be invited to drink. God had revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long before, and these patriarchs had faithfully handed on the Revelation. He revealed himself to Moses and the prophets, and these had handed on the divine Revelation. The chosen people knew they were called to hear and to live by that word of the living God - the God who was the Bridegroom of the people. But in our passage today, our Lord calmly and almost casually indicates that the Bridegroom had now arrived. A new relationship with his people was about to be established, and the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham was about to be seen. "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? Jesus answered, How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast" (Mark 2: 18-22). At this point, with the Bridegroom now among them, it could not be business as usual in things religious. His disciples must come to know him, learn from him, base their lives on him. Revealed religion was a new thing - it was the love and worship and service of him. He was not just a master instructing his disciples, as were John and the leading Pharisees. He was the object of their friendship, their worship and their service. He was the very Bridegroom. This had to be learned and placed at the heart of religion, and then, when the time came for him to be "taken away," they would fast.
That is to say, if we wish to be a disciple of Christ, first things must come first. St Paul would write that all the fasting in the world would be useless if it had not love. The first love in our life is our love for Christ. This is what must be learnt first and above all. Jesus Christ is the centre and focus of the Christian religion. He is not just our Teacher - though he is most certainly our Teacher. He is our Lord and our God. Our life is life in him, and his gift to us is a share in his own Spirit, enabling us to live consistently the life of God, if we but set our hearts and minds to it. Let us then place Jesus Christ at the centre of our lives, and never allow anything to take his place - and certainly never the very practices of religion.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Prayers today: May all the earth give you worship and praise, and break into sone to your name, O God, Most High (Psalm 65:4)
Father of heaven and earth, hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356)
The life of Anthony will remind many people of St. Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel message, "Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor" (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis in that most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the witness of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and guidance. At 54, he responded to many requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells. Again like Francis, he had great fear of "stately buildings and well-laden tables." At 60, he hoped to be a martyr in the renewed Roman persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing himself to danger while giving moral and material support to those in prison. At 88, he was fighting the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took the Church centuries to recover. "The mule kicking over the altar" denied the divinity of Christ. Anthony died in solitude at 105.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2:1-11
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Jesus Christ
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
Jesus Christ One of the intriguing areas of modern study is the nature of religion. In A Grammar of Assent - a modern classic on the nature of religious assent (1870) - Newman chooses to define religion in this way: “By religion I mean the knowledge of God, of His Will, and of our duties towards Him” (p.303, Image). The emphasis in this description is on the objective reality of God and his will for man. A religion without God would have been a nonsense for Newman. But the word “religion” in common parlance and in academic study now embraces a far broader range of meanings than that which Newman gives to the word. One prominent philosopher in a book on theism chooses to define religion as, in effect, man’s commitment to ultimate values. We commonly refer even to sport as being a man’s “religion.” There are great religions which deny what Newman would have taken for granted as essential in any religion. For instance, it is generally agreed that Buddhism denies a loving Creator and a personal soul that persists in its full identity after death. It is clear that Asian civilization, including Buddhism, has traditionally manifested a religious instinct, but the formal beliefs of some Asian peoples have been very far from what a Christian - as in, say, Newman - would regard as an authentic religion. But then, for more than two centuries there has been debate among some about the essence of Christianity. A famous book entitled The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach was published in 1841. In his book Feuerback maintained that the deities of religion are projections of human needs. Man depends on nature, and he deifies certain forces of nature and makes of them the gods he worships and supplicates. Religion, he thought, is just a superstition, and should be replaced by science. Now, all of this shows the need for clarity in thought, and in particular thought about Revelation. What is the essence of the religion revealed by God to man - which is to say, the essence of the Christian religion? What is the Gospel, the Good News for all of humanity?
The essence of the religion which God has fully and definitively revealed is the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. In our Gospel today (John 2: 1-11), our Lord did something which manifested his glory. At the wedding feast of Cana, he changed the water into a beautiful wine. The wine that came from the word of Christ replaced the water that was all that was left for the wedding, and it was the best wine possible. It was Christ’s gift to man in his need. Let us take the wine that replaced the water as a parable, a sign, of the uniqueness and the completeness of Jesus Christ as the heart and soul of man’s true religion. Christ is the gift of God, and the Good News for humanity is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who died and who rose from the dead. At a certain point in history - in the time of King Herod and the Emperor Caesar Augustus - God fulfilled the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants. He sent “his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4: 4-5). We celebrate his coming at Christmas. From the very beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Jesus Christ in order to lead all to faith in him. From the loving knowledge of Jesus Christ there naturally springs up in the heart of the believer the desire to bring to others the person of Jesus Christ and the plan of God as present and revealed in him. That plan is to bring all humanity into communion with him. The fulness of religion and, in particular, the fulness of the Christian religion consists in the person of Jesus Christ and union with him. Closely related to this fundamental truth is another. It is that Christ is to be found in his body the Church which he founded on the Apostles, with Peter at their head. Christ is present among men still, glorious though unseen. His Church is the locale of his presence among men. The Church is his body, and we who make up the Church are his members. He reaches out to us in the Church’s ministry, in her preaching, in her teaching and her catechesis, and in her sacraments, especially the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. He, Jesus Christ, is man’s all.
In our Gospel passage today we read that “This was the first of his miraculous signs which Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” Their faith in Jesus Christ in due course became their religion, and it was the religion they brought to the world. The purpose of life is to be a true and constant disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the pathway to holiness and to heaven. All of the Church’s teaching has Jesus at its heart, and the whole of our life ought be a life in, and with, Jesus. This is the Good News that saves.
Father of heaven and earth, hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356)
The life of Anthony will remind many people of St. Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel message, "Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor" (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis in that most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the witness of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and guidance. At 54, he responded to many requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells. Again like Francis, he had great fear of "stately buildings and well-laden tables." At 60, he hoped to be a martyr in the renewed Roman persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing himself to danger while giving moral and material support to those in prison. At 88, he was fighting the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took the Church centuries to recover. "The mule kicking over the altar" denied the divinity of Christ. Anthony died in solitude at 105.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2:1-11
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Jesus Christ
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
Jesus Christ One of the intriguing areas of modern study is the nature of religion. In A Grammar of Assent - a modern classic on the nature of religious assent (1870) - Newman chooses to define religion in this way: “By religion I mean the knowledge of God, of His Will, and of our duties towards Him” (p.303, Image). The emphasis in this description is on the objective reality of God and his will for man. A religion without God would have been a nonsense for Newman. But the word “religion” in common parlance and in academic study now embraces a far broader range of meanings than that which Newman gives to the word. One prominent philosopher in a book on theism chooses to define religion as, in effect, man’s commitment to ultimate values. We commonly refer even to sport as being a man’s “religion.” There are great religions which deny what Newman would have taken for granted as essential in any religion. For instance, it is generally agreed that Buddhism denies a loving Creator and a personal soul that persists in its full identity after death. It is clear that Asian civilization, including Buddhism, has traditionally manifested a religious instinct, but the formal beliefs of some Asian peoples have been very far from what a Christian - as in, say, Newman - would regard as an authentic religion. But then, for more than two centuries there has been debate among some about the essence of Christianity. A famous book entitled The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach was published in 1841. In his book Feuerback maintained that the deities of religion are projections of human needs. Man depends on nature, and he deifies certain forces of nature and makes of them the gods he worships and supplicates. Religion, he thought, is just a superstition, and should be replaced by science. Now, all of this shows the need for clarity in thought, and in particular thought about Revelation. What is the essence of the religion revealed by God to man - which is to say, the essence of the Christian religion? What is the Gospel, the Good News for all of humanity?
The essence of the religion which God has fully and definitively revealed is the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. In our Gospel today (John 2: 1-11), our Lord did something which manifested his glory. At the wedding feast of Cana, he changed the water into a beautiful wine. The wine that came from the word of Christ replaced the water that was all that was left for the wedding, and it was the best wine possible. It was Christ’s gift to man in his need. Let us take the wine that replaced the water as a parable, a sign, of the uniqueness and the completeness of Jesus Christ as the heart and soul of man’s true religion. Christ is the gift of God, and the Good News for humanity is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who died and who rose from the dead. At a certain point in history - in the time of King Herod and the Emperor Caesar Augustus - God fulfilled the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants. He sent “his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4: 4-5). We celebrate his coming at Christmas. From the very beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Jesus Christ in order to lead all to faith in him. From the loving knowledge of Jesus Christ there naturally springs up in the heart of the believer the desire to bring to others the person of Jesus Christ and the plan of God as present and revealed in him. That plan is to bring all humanity into communion with him. The fulness of religion and, in particular, the fulness of the Christian religion consists in the person of Jesus Christ and union with him. Closely related to this fundamental truth is another. It is that Christ is to be found in his body the Church which he founded on the Apostles, with Peter at their head. Christ is present among men still, glorious though unseen. His Church is the locale of his presence among men. The Church is his body, and we who make up the Church are his members. He reaches out to us in the Church’s ministry, in her preaching, in her teaching and her catechesis, and in her sacraments, especially the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. He, Jesus Christ, is man’s all.
In our Gospel passage today we read that “This was the first of his miraculous signs which Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” Their faith in Jesus Christ in due course became their religion, and it was the religion they brought to the world. The purpose of life is to be a true and constant disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the pathway to holiness and to heaven. All of the Church’s teaching has Jesus at its heart, and the whole of our life ought be a life in, and with, Jesus. This is the Good News that saves.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
St. Berard and Companions (d. 1220)
Preaching the gospel is often dangerous work. Leaving one’s homeland and adjusting to new cultures, governments and languages is difficult enough; but martyrdom sometimes caps all the other sacrifices. In 1219 with the blessing of St. Francis, Berard left Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco. En route in Spain Vitalis became sick and commanded the other friars to continue their mission without him. They tried preaching in Seville, then in Muslim hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco where they preached in the marketplace. The friars were immediately apprehended and ordered to leave the country; they refused. When they began preaching again, an exasperated sultan ordered them executed. After enduring severe beatings and declining various bribes to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the friars were beheaded by the sultan himself on January 16, 1220. These were the first Franciscan martyrs. When Francis heard of their deaths, he exclaimed, "Now I can truly say that I have five Friars Minor!" Their relics were brought to Portugal where they prompted a young Augustinian canon to join the Franciscans and set off for Morocco the next year. That young man was Anthony of Padua. These five martyrs were canonized in 1481.
Before St. Francis, the Rules of religious orders made no mention of preaching to the Muslims. In the Rule of 1223, Francis wrote: "Those brothers who, by divine inspiration, desire to go among the Saracens and other nonbelievers should ask permission from their ministers provincial. But the ministers should not grant permission except to those whom they consider fit to be sent" (Chapter 12).
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:13-17 )
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Heroism
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
When we think of the hero, we think of someone who had done a most notable good deed despite a great cost. A soldier has fallen, but is still alive and is under the line of fire. With bullets whizzing so close as almost to be felt, the priest crawls towards the stricken young man. He reaches him and gives him the last rites, and then begins to drag him towards shelter. The chaplain is hit and he shudders. But he keeps struggling on, dragging his dying companion. The chaplain is hit again, this time more seriously. His companions are anxiously awaiting him some twenty yards off, praying he will make it. He struggles ahead, pulling himself and his moaning burden along. He is hit again. He dies a hero and is later awarded the highest honours posthumously. All recognize that he was a man of heroic virtue in a moment of mortal danger, for he was prepared to forego life itself for the sake of a true good. True, but our danger is that we can identify heroism with public and observable heroism. The chaplain could only have summoned the resources to do what he did if he had been faithful - heroic - in his unobserved everyday duties. Or again, we are in a notorious concentration camp during the Second World War. There has been an escape, and the camp officials have decreed that several of the prisoners are to be executed in reprisal and as a disincentive for any future attempts. One of those selected to die breaks down in loud tears, speaking of his wife and children whom he is leaving. Silently another man from the ranks of the prisoners steps forward and asks to take his place. His offer is accepted and he goes on to die in the starvation bunker. He is the priest - and his name is Maximilian Kolbe, now a canonized saint. His act of heroism was but the culmination of a life of hidden fidelity - heroism, we might say - in everyday service of God. The essential point is our rising to the call of duty as conscience presents it. If we do this, duty will call us on and on, leading us to the heights. The hand of the Lord will be with us, but it all depends on our "yes!"
In one passage of the Gospel a very good young man comes eagerly to Jesus to ask him what he must do to gain entry into heaven. Our Lord replies that he must keep the Ten Commandments. He has always kept these, he responds - what more is needed? His good life was manifest, and our Lord looked on him with love. Imagine that! Our Lord looked on him with love. The young man was the object of our Lord’s special friendship. If you want to be perfect, our Lord said, sell all, give to the poor, and follow me. It was a gentle call, full of marvellous promise, but the young man drew back. He could not bring himself to forego his wealth. He may have become a saint, a great friend of God. But he failed to take this path of heroism. It all happened in a moment, and this bright moment was gone, gone forever. Our scene changes to the Gospel passage of today and our Lord has just finished speaking to a large crowd by the lake. He has noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, and as he walks along he pauses at the tax collector’s booth. Follow me, is all he said, gazing at Levi. We must presume that Levi was also a man of some wealth because of his profession. We notice that in the same passage Levi held a banquet in his home, so the home was big enough to accommodate the function. He also had a lot of his colleagues there, which may indicate some position on his part among this class of persons. He had means, but we read that he "got up and followed him." He allowed nothing to hold him back from the call he had just received. Grace came to him and sustained his decision to have Christ for his life. There was another tax collector - and his name was Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in Jericho, and our Lord invited himself to dine at Zacchaeus’s home. Zacchaeus rose immediately to the occasion, converted and became, we may presume, a disciple of Christ. In each of these cases, the imminent possibility was that attachments to the goods of this life - such as material wealth - could have stymied the call of duty and of God. But the call was accepted.
Every day there are numerous calls of duty. We must refine and educate our consciences so as to hear the calls of duty aright. That said, the critical thing is to accept this call whatever be the cost. If in the little duties of everyday life, made manifest by the requirements of our state in life, we forego what we prefer, then we shall be led along the path of hidden heroism. Levi the son of Alphaeus took that step. He heard the call and immediately accepted it. That is what we should do - but not only in the big things that may be noticed. Our heroism, sustained by the grace of God, is to be the heroism of obedience to God in the little ordinary duties of everyday life.
Preaching the gospel is often dangerous work. Leaving one’s homeland and adjusting to new cultures, governments and languages is difficult enough; but martyrdom sometimes caps all the other sacrifices. In 1219 with the blessing of St. Francis, Berard left Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco. En route in Spain Vitalis became sick and commanded the other friars to continue their mission without him. They tried preaching in Seville, then in Muslim hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco where they preached in the marketplace. The friars were immediately apprehended and ordered to leave the country; they refused. When they began preaching again, an exasperated sultan ordered them executed. After enduring severe beatings and declining various bribes to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the friars were beheaded by the sultan himself on January 16, 1220. These were the first Franciscan martyrs. When Francis heard of their deaths, he exclaimed, "Now I can truly say that I have five Friars Minor!" Their relics were brought to Portugal where they prompted a young Augustinian canon to join the Franciscans and set off for Morocco the next year. That young man was Anthony of Padua. These five martyrs were canonized in 1481.
Before St. Francis, the Rules of religious orders made no mention of preaching to the Muslims. In the Rule of 1223, Francis wrote: "Those brothers who, by divine inspiration, desire to go among the Saracens and other nonbelievers should ask permission from their ministers provincial. But the ministers should not grant permission except to those whom they consider fit to be sent" (Chapter 12).
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (2:13-17 )
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Heroism
(Homily by Fr. E. J. Tyler)
When we think of the hero, we think of someone who had done a most notable good deed despite a great cost. A soldier has fallen, but is still alive and is under the line of fire. With bullets whizzing so close as almost to be felt, the priest crawls towards the stricken young man. He reaches him and gives him the last rites, and then begins to drag him towards shelter. The chaplain is hit and he shudders. But he keeps struggling on, dragging his dying companion. The chaplain is hit again, this time more seriously. His companions are anxiously awaiting him some twenty yards off, praying he will make it. He struggles ahead, pulling himself and his moaning burden along. He is hit again. He dies a hero and is later awarded the highest honours posthumously. All recognize that he was a man of heroic virtue in a moment of mortal danger, for he was prepared to forego life itself for the sake of a true good. True, but our danger is that we can identify heroism with public and observable heroism. The chaplain could only have summoned the resources to do what he did if he had been faithful - heroic - in his unobserved everyday duties. Or again, we are in a notorious concentration camp during the Second World War. There has been an escape, and the camp officials have decreed that several of the prisoners are to be executed in reprisal and as a disincentive for any future attempts. One of those selected to die breaks down in loud tears, speaking of his wife and children whom he is leaving. Silently another man from the ranks of the prisoners steps forward and asks to take his place. His offer is accepted and he goes on to die in the starvation bunker. He is the priest - and his name is Maximilian Kolbe, now a canonized saint. His act of heroism was but the culmination of a life of hidden fidelity - heroism, we might say - in everyday service of God. The essential point is our rising to the call of duty as conscience presents it. If we do this, duty will call us on and on, leading us to the heights. The hand of the Lord will be with us, but it all depends on our "yes!"
In one passage of the Gospel a very good young man comes eagerly to Jesus to ask him what he must do to gain entry into heaven. Our Lord replies that he must keep the Ten Commandments. He has always kept these, he responds - what more is needed? His good life was manifest, and our Lord looked on him with love. Imagine that! Our Lord looked on him with love. The young man was the object of our Lord’s special friendship. If you want to be perfect, our Lord said, sell all, give to the poor, and follow me. It was a gentle call, full of marvellous promise, but the young man drew back. He could not bring himself to forego his wealth. He may have become a saint, a great friend of God. But he failed to take this path of heroism. It all happened in a moment, and this bright moment was gone, gone forever. Our scene changes to the Gospel passage of today and our Lord has just finished speaking to a large crowd by the lake. He has noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, and as he walks along he pauses at the tax collector’s booth. Follow me, is all he said, gazing at Levi. We must presume that Levi was also a man of some wealth because of his profession. We notice that in the same passage Levi held a banquet in his home, so the home was big enough to accommodate the function. He also had a lot of his colleagues there, which may indicate some position on his part among this class of persons. He had means, but we read that he "got up and followed him." He allowed nothing to hold him back from the call he had just received. Grace came to him and sustained his decision to have Christ for his life. There was another tax collector - and his name was Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in Jericho, and our Lord invited himself to dine at Zacchaeus’s home. Zacchaeus rose immediately to the occasion, converted and became, we may presume, a disciple of Christ. In each of these cases, the imminent possibility was that attachments to the goods of this life - such as material wealth - could have stymied the call of duty and of God. But the call was accepted.
Every day there are numerous calls of duty. We must refine and educate our consciences so as to hear the calls of duty aright. That said, the critical thing is to accept this call whatever be the cost. If in the little duties of everyday life, made manifest by the requirements of our state in life, we forego what we prefer, then we shall be led along the path of hidden heroism. Levi the son of Alphaeus took that step. He heard the call and immediately accepted it. That is what we should do - but not only in the big things that may be noticed. Our heroism, sustained by the grace of God, is to be the heroism of obedience to God in the little ordinary duties of everyday life.
Friday, January 15, 2010
St. Paul the Hermit (c. 233-345)
It is unclear what we really know of Paul's life, how much is fable, how much fact. Paul was reportedly born in Egypt, where he was orphaned by age 15. He was also a learned and devout young man. During the persecution of Decius in Egypt in the year 250, Paul was forced to hide in the home of a friend. Fearing a brother-in-law would betray him, he fled in a cave in the desert. His plan was to return once the persecution ended, but the sweetness of solitude and heavenly contemplation convinced him to stay. He went on to live in that cave for the next 90 years. A nearby spring gave him drink, a palm tree furnished him clothing and nourishment. After 21 years of solitude a bird began bringing him half of a loaf of bread each day. Without knowing what was happening in the world, Paul prayed that the world would become a better place. St. Anthony attests to his holy life and death. Tempted by the thought that no one had served God in the wilderness longer than he, Anthony was led by God to find Paul and acknowledge him as a man more perfect than himself. The raven that day brought a whole loaf of bread instead of the usual half. As Paul predicted, Anthony would return to bury his new friend. Thought to have been about 112 when he died, Paul is known as the "First Hermit." His feast day is celebrated in the East; he is also commemorated in the Coptic and Armenian rites of the Mass.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark 2:1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . . He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this!
Christ and us
(Homily by. Fr. E. J. Tyler)
There are two features of creation which call for our contemplation, because they reveal the ways of God towards man. These ways of God are manifested also in our Gospel passage today. The first fundamental fact is that everything comes from and is directly sustained in being by God. All that we are, all that we have, and everything that happens, is the direct result of the sustaining hand of God. When a person sins, God does not cause the sin but he sustains in being the one who, by his own free decision, is sinning. This is one aspect of the profound odiousness of sin, that the all-holy God is brought so close to it. God cannot veil his face from what is so hateful to him because he holds in existence the one who does what is offensive to him. Precisely because he is constantly creating whatever exists apart from himself, God who is utterly other than all that is, is simultaneously intimately near to all that is. This imminence of God means that we may turn to him knowing that he is so very near, nearer to us in awareness than we are to ourselves. We depend on him directly and can speak to him directly because precisely as our Creator he is so immediate to us. That having been said, we observe another feature of creation. It is that God sustains and aids us through his creatures. We generally get our help from him through our fellow creatures rather than directly from him. The child depends completely on God for every aspect of existence, but he also depends on his parents and on creation for his existence. His parents give him food, the planet gives him air, and his family gives him love. In fact, man’s vocation is precisely to serve his fellow man and never to leave him - as it were - simply in the hands of his Creator. This law of service pervades the entire creation. The flower provides pollen and the bee collects it for food, and the bee provides honey for man. Man spends his life and gains his livelihood by serving others. That is to say, all creatures depend on their fellows for their life and flourishing, while all the time depending directly on God for everything.
This general pattern is reflected in our Gospel today (Mark 2: 1-12). The crowd - with the exception of the hostile teachers of the law - look to Jesus directly for the answer to their needs. We read that "when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them." Moreover, a paralytic who could not reach him was lowered before him. We read that "Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on." Our Lord proceeded to forgive his sins and to restore him to complete health. In Jesus Christ the people, including the helpless paralytic, had direct access to God, for Jesus is God. But notice this, that the paralytic was brought to Jesus by his friends. It was when Jesus saw their faith - the faith not only of the paralytic but of his friends - that he forgave the paralytic his sins. The paralytic depended not only Christ, but on the physical help of his friends, and on their faith. All through his public ministry the incarnate Son of God generally brought the blessings of heaven to man through the help and agency of others. Our Lord gathered disciples in order to make of them fishers of men. He sent more of his disciples out two-by-two ahead of him to prepare his way. Even in the gathering of his disciples, our Lord depended on others. His first two disciples - Andrew and probably John - had been more or less sent to him by their master, John the Baptist. Simon Peter came to Jesus, but it was through the word and encouragement of his brother Andrew. Likewise, Bartholomew came to Jesus, but it was through the word of Philip. At the end, just before he ascended into heaven, our Lord charged his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. He would be with them. But he depended on them - just as he depends on us.
For our very creation we depend utterly on God, but for our creation we depended also on our parents. For our redemption and sanctification we depend utterly on Christ, but at the same time for our redemption and sanctification we depend on the ministry of his Church. God has made us his co-workers. We who are members of the Church are called to bring others into the presence of Jesus. Let us resolve to be like those people in the Gospel who brought their friend into the presence of Jesus. While people depend on God and on Jesus, they also depend on us, and we shall be held to account for the responsibility Christ has given to us of bringing him to them by our prayers, our words and our deeds.
It is unclear what we really know of Paul's life, how much is fable, how much fact. Paul was reportedly born in Egypt, where he was orphaned by age 15. He was also a learned and devout young man. During the persecution of Decius in Egypt in the year 250, Paul was forced to hide in the home of a friend. Fearing a brother-in-law would betray him, he fled in a cave in the desert. His plan was to return once the persecution ended, but the sweetness of solitude and heavenly contemplation convinced him to stay. He went on to live in that cave for the next 90 years. A nearby spring gave him drink, a palm tree furnished him clothing and nourishment. After 21 years of solitude a bird began bringing him half of a loaf of bread each day. Without knowing what was happening in the world, Paul prayed that the world would become a better place. St. Anthony attests to his holy life and death. Tempted by the thought that no one had served God in the wilderness longer than he, Anthony was led by God to find Paul and acknowledge him as a man more perfect than himself. The raven that day brought a whole loaf of bread instead of the usual half. As Paul predicted, Anthony would return to bury his new friend. Thought to have been about 112 when he died, Paul is known as the "First Hermit." His feast day is celebrated in the East; he is also commemorated in the Coptic and Armenian rites of the Mass.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark 2:1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . . He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this!
Christ and us
(Homily by. Fr. E. J. Tyler)
There are two features of creation which call for our contemplation, because they reveal the ways of God towards man. These ways of God are manifested also in our Gospel passage today. The first fundamental fact is that everything comes from and is directly sustained in being by God. All that we are, all that we have, and everything that happens, is the direct result of the sustaining hand of God. When a person sins, God does not cause the sin but he sustains in being the one who, by his own free decision, is sinning. This is one aspect of the profound odiousness of sin, that the all-holy God is brought so close to it. God cannot veil his face from what is so hateful to him because he holds in existence the one who does what is offensive to him. Precisely because he is constantly creating whatever exists apart from himself, God who is utterly other than all that is, is simultaneously intimately near to all that is. This imminence of God means that we may turn to him knowing that he is so very near, nearer to us in awareness than we are to ourselves. We depend on him directly and can speak to him directly because precisely as our Creator he is so immediate to us. That having been said, we observe another feature of creation. It is that God sustains and aids us through his creatures. We generally get our help from him through our fellow creatures rather than directly from him. The child depends completely on God for every aspect of existence, but he also depends on his parents and on creation for his existence. His parents give him food, the planet gives him air, and his family gives him love. In fact, man’s vocation is precisely to serve his fellow man and never to leave him - as it were - simply in the hands of his Creator. This law of service pervades the entire creation. The flower provides pollen and the bee collects it for food, and the bee provides honey for man. Man spends his life and gains his livelihood by serving others. That is to say, all creatures depend on their fellows for their life and flourishing, while all the time depending directly on God for everything.
This general pattern is reflected in our Gospel today (Mark 2: 1-12). The crowd - with the exception of the hostile teachers of the law - look to Jesus directly for the answer to their needs. We read that "when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them." Moreover, a paralytic who could not reach him was lowered before him. We read that "Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on." Our Lord proceeded to forgive his sins and to restore him to complete health. In Jesus Christ the people, including the helpless paralytic, had direct access to God, for Jesus is God. But notice this, that the paralytic was brought to Jesus by his friends. It was when Jesus saw their faith - the faith not only of the paralytic but of his friends - that he forgave the paralytic his sins. The paralytic depended not only Christ, but on the physical help of his friends, and on their faith. All through his public ministry the incarnate Son of God generally brought the blessings of heaven to man through the help and agency of others. Our Lord gathered disciples in order to make of them fishers of men. He sent more of his disciples out two-by-two ahead of him to prepare his way. Even in the gathering of his disciples, our Lord depended on others. His first two disciples - Andrew and probably John - had been more or less sent to him by their master, John the Baptist. Simon Peter came to Jesus, but it was through the word and encouragement of his brother Andrew. Likewise, Bartholomew came to Jesus, but it was through the word of Philip. At the end, just before he ascended into heaven, our Lord charged his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. He would be with them. But he depended on them - just as he depends on us.
For our very creation we depend utterly on God, but for our creation we depended also on our parents. For our redemption and sanctification we depend utterly on Christ, but at the same time for our redemption and sanctification we depend on the ministry of his Church. God has made us his co-workers. We who are members of the Church are called to bring others into the presence of Jesus. Let us resolve to be like those people in the Gospel who brought their friend into the presence of Jesus. While people depend on God and on Jesus, they also depend on us, and we shall be held to account for the responsibility Christ has given to us of bringing him to them by our prayers, our words and our deeds.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Servant of God John the Gardener (d. 1501)
John was born of poor parents in Portugal. Orphaned early in life, he spent some years begging from door to door. After finding work in Spain as a shepherd, he shared the little he earned with those even more needy than himself. One day two Franciscans encountered him on a journey. Engaging him in conversation, they took a liking to the simple man and invited him to come and work at their friary in Salamanca. He readily accepted and was assigned to the task of assisting the brother with gardening duties. A short time later John himself entered the Franciscan Order and lived a life of prayer and meditation, fasting constantly, spending the nights in prayer, still helping the poor. Because of his work in the garden and the flowers he produced for the altar, he became known as "the gardener." God favored John with the gift of prophecy and the ability to read hearts. Important persons, including princes, came to the humble, ever-obedient friar for advice. He was so loving towards all that he never wanted to take offense at anything. His advice was that to forgive offenses is an act of penance most pleasing to God. He predicted the day of his own death: January 11, 1501.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (1:40-45)
A man with leprosy came to him and begged Jesus on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them. Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Suffering
(Homily by. Fr. E. J. Tyler)
In a sense, the leper’s words to our Lord in today’s Gospel are iconic of all religion: "If you are willing, you can make me clean." There are any number of theories, faith-based and secular-based, which purport to determine the origins of religion. But what is plain is that in religion man has typically turned to the powers above for aid in gaining what he thinks he needs. Man is in a state of need, and he asks for help from the powers which, he believes, control the course of the world. So it is that he applies to the gods, and in particular to those whose powers extend to the area of need in question. Mars was the Roman god of war. It was not much use turning to Mars for matters concerned with love, fertility and beauty - for those needs, one had to have recourse to, say, Venus. Julius Caesar chose Venus for his protectress. The long and the short of it was that religion was always seen as necessary to get the help man needed, but an associated question was, who among the gods was actually willing to help? Many of the gods were busy with their own interests and not very concerned with man. So our leper today expresses a fundamental statement when it comes to religion: "If you are willing, you can make me clean" (Mark 1:40-45). Nothing else in the whole wide world offered any hope for the leper. No doctors could cure him. There was no hope except in the one true God of Israel. The leper had a tremendous blessing before him. It was Jesus Christ in whom God was manifestly present and working, and his words to Jesus express what we might call the weight of much of the religion of man. Our Lord’s reply reveals the consolation of true religion, that all things are in the hands of one only God, and he is able and willing to help. "I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured." This single scene validates the religion of petition. Man should strive to know God and apply to him where he is to be found. Then he should ask for what he needs. Our Lord elsewhere in the Gospels urges us to ask and we shall receive, to seek and we shall find.
While our Lord revealed in his person and ministry that God is both able and willing to answer man’s needs - look at the spontaneity and immediacy with which our Lord, once asked, heals the leper - nevertheless it is not a simple matter. Religion, including the religion of petition, is not magic. It is not like pressing a button with the door immediately opening. It is not like knowing a special religious formula, applying it, and having the course of the world change accordingly. Man in his prayer before God is speaking to God, not to a Force that is vaguely subject to other forces, as were the gods of the peoples. God is the infinite Lord of the world and his love is all-seeing. He knows what is truly best, and, paradoxically, a request to take away a certain affliction may not actually be the best. But more to the point, Christ has by his life and death transformed the meaning and possibilities of suffering and death. Let us make a comparison, beginning with our Gospel scene today. Compare the prayer of the leper to Christ with Christ’s own prayer to his heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before the commencement of his Passion. The leper’s prayer was, If you are willing (theles), you can take this affliction away from me. Christ’s prayer to his heavenly Father was, Father, you are willing (boulei), take this cup away from me - nevertheless, not my will (thelema) but yours be done. The Greek words are similar in meaning, and, with good reason, various English translations give the same English word - "willing." The point is that while our Lord immediately granted the leper his request because he was "willing," it was "the will" (thelema) of his heavenly Father that his divine Son suffer indescribably for the redemption of the world. Thus there is a certain sense in which, for a higher purpose, suffering can be allowed and even willed by God. He willed his Son to suffer, and the world was saved by that suffering. It was, though, a suffering that expressed obedience. Obedience was its form, its soul, its living centre. Suffering was the expression of obedience and became a blessing for the world as a result.
A priest arrives secretly in an anti-Christian country to minister to the underground Church, is captured and spends his entire life in a harsh concentration camp, finally dying in lonely obscurity. It has been his mission to suffer and die a forgotten martyr. His suffering was willed by God for a higher purpose. It was the seed of Christians. So it is with many disciples of Christ whose mission in life was to suffer in union with him. It was ordained that the Son of Man must suffer and so enter his glory. Because of Christ, suffering has become the royal road to victory and glory - provided it is borne with Christ in obedience to the will of God. Let us look on suffering - the fuel of religion - with the eyes of Christ, and if it is God’s will, suffer with him.
John was born of poor parents in Portugal. Orphaned early in life, he spent some years begging from door to door. After finding work in Spain as a shepherd, he shared the little he earned with those even more needy than himself. One day two Franciscans encountered him on a journey. Engaging him in conversation, they took a liking to the simple man and invited him to come and work at their friary in Salamanca. He readily accepted and was assigned to the task of assisting the brother with gardening duties. A short time later John himself entered the Franciscan Order and lived a life of prayer and meditation, fasting constantly, spending the nights in prayer, still helping the poor. Because of his work in the garden and the flowers he produced for the altar, he became known as "the gardener." God favored John with the gift of prophecy and the ability to read hearts. Important persons, including princes, came to the humble, ever-obedient friar for advice. He was so loving towards all that he never wanted to take offense at anything. His advice was that to forgive offenses is an act of penance most pleasing to God. He predicted the day of his own death: January 11, 1501.
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (1:40-45)
A man with leprosy came to him and begged Jesus on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them. Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Suffering
(Homily by. Fr. E. J. Tyler)
In a sense, the leper’s words to our Lord in today’s Gospel are iconic of all religion: "If you are willing, you can make me clean." There are any number of theories, faith-based and secular-based, which purport to determine the origins of religion. But what is plain is that in religion man has typically turned to the powers above for aid in gaining what he thinks he needs. Man is in a state of need, and he asks for help from the powers which, he believes, control the course of the world. So it is that he applies to the gods, and in particular to those whose powers extend to the area of need in question. Mars was the Roman god of war. It was not much use turning to Mars for matters concerned with love, fertility and beauty - for those needs, one had to have recourse to, say, Venus. Julius Caesar chose Venus for his protectress. The long and the short of it was that religion was always seen as necessary to get the help man needed, but an associated question was, who among the gods was actually willing to help? Many of the gods were busy with their own interests and not very concerned with man. So our leper today expresses a fundamental statement when it comes to religion: "If you are willing, you can make me clean" (Mark 1:40-45). Nothing else in the whole wide world offered any hope for the leper. No doctors could cure him. There was no hope except in the one true God of Israel. The leper had a tremendous blessing before him. It was Jesus Christ in whom God was manifestly present and working, and his words to Jesus express what we might call the weight of much of the religion of man. Our Lord’s reply reveals the consolation of true religion, that all things are in the hands of one only God, and he is able and willing to help. "I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured." This single scene validates the religion of petition. Man should strive to know God and apply to him where he is to be found. Then he should ask for what he needs. Our Lord elsewhere in the Gospels urges us to ask and we shall receive, to seek and we shall find.
While our Lord revealed in his person and ministry that God is both able and willing to answer man’s needs - look at the spontaneity and immediacy with which our Lord, once asked, heals the leper - nevertheless it is not a simple matter. Religion, including the religion of petition, is not magic. It is not like pressing a button with the door immediately opening. It is not like knowing a special religious formula, applying it, and having the course of the world change accordingly. Man in his prayer before God is speaking to God, not to a Force that is vaguely subject to other forces, as were the gods of the peoples. God is the infinite Lord of the world and his love is all-seeing. He knows what is truly best, and, paradoxically, a request to take away a certain affliction may not actually be the best. But more to the point, Christ has by his life and death transformed the meaning and possibilities of suffering and death. Let us make a comparison, beginning with our Gospel scene today. Compare the prayer of the leper to Christ with Christ’s own prayer to his heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before the commencement of his Passion. The leper’s prayer was, If you are willing (theles), you can take this affliction away from me. Christ’s prayer to his heavenly Father was, Father, you are willing (boulei), take this cup away from me - nevertheless, not my will (thelema) but yours be done. The Greek words are similar in meaning, and, with good reason, various English translations give the same English word - "willing." The point is that while our Lord immediately granted the leper his request because he was "willing," it was "the will" (thelema) of his heavenly Father that his divine Son suffer indescribably for the redemption of the world. Thus there is a certain sense in which, for a higher purpose, suffering can be allowed and even willed by God. He willed his Son to suffer, and the world was saved by that suffering. It was, though, a suffering that expressed obedience. Obedience was its form, its soul, its living centre. Suffering was the expression of obedience and became a blessing for the world as a result.
A priest arrives secretly in an anti-Christian country to minister to the underground Church, is captured and spends his entire life in a harsh concentration camp, finally dying in lonely obscurity. It has been his mission to suffer and die a forgotten martyr. His suffering was willed by God for a higher purpose. It was the seed of Christians. So it is with many disciples of Christ whose mission in life was to suffer in union with him. It was ordained that the Son of Man must suffer and so enter his glory. Because of Christ, suffering has become the royal road to victory and glory - provided it is borne with Christ in obedience to the will of God. Let us look on suffering - the fuel of religion - with the eyes of Christ, and if it is God’s will, suffer with him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
