The Lord speaks in the darkness

By e February 28, 2010 Jesus Stuff No Comments

So many of us are scared of the physical, spiritual or emotional dark, or at least the things that might be lurking in that darkness.

Did you notice in today’s mass readings that the Lord, our light and our salvation, speaks out of the darkness? I often look for the Lord when things are all light and good, and he speaks there too, but so often he speaks most profoundly in the darkness. The Father’s most profound message of love, that of Christ on the cross, was delivered in darkness. The Son’s most profound message of love, “not my will, but thine”, was likewise delivered in the dark of night. Perhaps the Spirit’s most profound message of love, “today is born to you a savior”, was also delivered in the dark of night.

Whether the darkness is in our external circumstances or internally, as we recognize the darkness of our sin and disobedience, we can take comfort from today’s message that the Lord, our light and our salvation, speaks even out of darkness.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

(Psalm 27:13-14)

Saint Cyril of Alexandria On Christ and the Holy Spirit

By e January 7, 2010 Jesus Stuff No Comments

This morning’s Office of Readings is particularly awesome, so I’d like to share a section of this commentary on the Gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria.

…I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven, and it rested on him…

Christ “received the Spirit” in so far as he was man, and in so far as man could receive the Spirit. He did so in such a way that, though he is the Son of God the Father, begotten of his substance, even before the incarnation, indeed before all ages, yet he was not offended at hearing the Father say to him after he had become man: You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

The Father says of Christ, who was God, begotten of him before the ages, that he has been “begotten today” for the Father is to accept us in Christ as his adopted children. The whole of our nature is present in Christ, in so far as he is man. So the Father can be said to give the Spirit again to the Son, though the Son possesses the Spirit as his own, in order that we may receive the Spirit in Christ. The son therefore took to himself the seed of Abraham, as Scripture says, and became like his brothers in all things.

The only-begotten Son receives the Spirit, but not for his own advantage, for the Spirit is his, and is givin in him and through him, as we have already said. He receives it to renew our nature in its entirety and to make it whole again, for in becoming man he took our entire nature to him self. If we reason correctly, and also use the testimony of Scripture, we can see that Christ did not receive the Spirit for himself, but rather for us in him; for it is also through Christ that all gifts come down to us.

Please Consider Signing The Manhattan Declaration

By e December 12, 2009 Deacon Formation, Jesus Stuff No Comments

The Manhattan Declaration

The Manhattan Declaration

A Call of Christian Conscience

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1.the sanctity of human life
2.the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3.the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I was a little hesitant that this might be some evil email-gathering tool for spammer-types, but it was good enough for Archbishop Chaput (http://www.americanpapist.com/2009/12/archbishop-chaput-on-why-he-signed.html), so it’s good enough for me.

Oh, that’s not a dogma… Purgatory (or any other, for that matter)

By e December 12, 2009 Deacon Formation, Jesus Stuff 1 Comment

The instructor this weekend proposes that Purgatory is not a dogma of the church, as it is insufficiently defined. My query is, how clearly defined or explicitly stated must a teaching be explained before we are obligated to accept the dogma as an essential truth? Her answer  was that it  is essentially up to the individual to weigh the merit of a teaching in order to determine whether it is a dogma.

I may vomit… that’s the peak of relativism and height of pride… “I accept all of the church’s teachings as authoritative with which I agree, and reject as specious all those with which I disagree.” There may be teachings we have difficulty understanding, but the challenge is for us to exercise sufficient humility to recognize that the failure MAY BE in our understanding, and not in thousands of years of thinking and teaching by men and women who have devoted their entire lives to these issues.

For what it’s worth, the Council of Trent made the following statement about Purgatory –

CONCERNING PURGATORY

FIRST DECREE

Began on the third, and terminated on the fourth, day of December, MDLXIII., being the ninth and last under the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IV.

Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar; the holy Synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine concerning Purgatory, transmitted by the holy Fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and every where proclaimed by the faithful of Christ.

Catholic Essentials presents a quick summary of teachings on Purgatory here: http://www.catholicessentials.net/purgatory.htm that may be of interest to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also offers: