It is the count down of the 3rd Sunday for Christmas
John Baptist is the Precursor of Christmas in every way but, enough for us, is his word this morning, “One Mightier will baptize you WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE”.
Think against that Jordan bank drama of all the ‘precursors’, like the grannies preparing the Christmas gifts for children, reminding of the responses of children of EVERY AGE – in response to what the great Origen writes of the SIFT of the Holy Spirit, the sift of chaff from wheat, The Sift for the Holy Spirit among the presents of Christmas to
- enlightening
- animating
- inspiring
- and fire.
At the Reading in the Night Office the thought of Origen gave light on St. Luke (3:10-18) “the Holy Spirit and in fire holds a winnowing fan in his hand”, . . . “I suggest that the faithful are like a heap of unsifted grain”.
From a homily on Saint Luke's gospel by Origen (Hom. 26, 3-5: se 87, 340-342)
The baptism that Jesus gives is a baptism in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Baptism is one and the same no matter who receives it, but its effect depends on the recipient's disposition. He who is portrayed as baptizing in the Holy Spirit and in fire holds a winnowing fan in his hand, which he will use to clear his threshing floor. The wheat he will gather into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that can never be quenched.
I should like to discover our Lord's reason for holding a winnowing fan and to inquire into the nature of the wind that scatters the light chaff here and there, leaving the heavier grain lying in a heap-for you must have a wind if you want to separate wheat and chaff.
I suggest that the faithful are like a heap of unsifted grain, and that the wind represents the temptations which assail them and show up the wheat and the chaff among them. When your soul is overcome by some temptation, it is not the temptation that turns you into chaff. No, you were chaff already, that is to say fickle and faithless; the temptation simply discloses the stuff you are made of. On the other hand, when you endure temptations bravely it is not the temptation that makes you faithful and patient; temptation merely brings to light the hidden virtues of patience and fortitude that have been present in you all along. Do you think I had any other purpose in speaking to you, said the Lord to Job, than to reveal your virtue? In another text he declares: I humbled you and made you feel the pangs of hunger in order to find out what was in your heart.
In the same way, a storm will not allow a house to stand firm if it is built upon sand. If you wish to build a house, you must build it upon rock. Then any storms that arise will not demolish your handiwork, whereas the house built upon sand will totter, proving thereby that it is not well founded.
So while all is yet quiet, before the storm gathers, before the squalls begin to bluster or the waves to swell, let us concentrate all our efforts on the foundations of our building and construct our house with the many strong, interlocking bricks of God's commandments. Then when cruel persecution is unleashed like some fearful tornado against Christians, we shall be able to show that our house is build upon Christ Jesus our rock.
Far be it from us to deny Christ when that time comes. But if anyone should do so, let that person realize that it was not at the moment of his public denial that his apostasy took place. Its seeds and roots had been hidden within him for a long time; persecution only brought into the open and made public what was already there. Let us pray to the Lord then that we may be firm and solid buildings that no storm can overthrow, founded on The rock of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not, of course, to be found explicitly mentioned in Sacred Scripture.However, the meaning of Sacred Scripture is not to be found only in the grammatical analysis of its words and sentences.It’s meaning is also, and perhaps more fundamentally, to be found in thecomparison of events and personages of the past with events and personages of the future.It is to be found in the images, types and foreshadowings which reveal the meaning and purposes of these future personages and events.
So it is with the mystery of faith which we call the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Namely, that at the first moment of her conception Mary was personally free from all those implications of original sin which affect the rest of the human race.
The very first intimations of this mystery are to be found in the very first chapters of Genesis. They are to be found in the account of the creation of the first Adam and of his companion Eve and their being placed in a paradise and commanded to multiply and fill the earth.Now Tradition tells us that Christ is the new Adam and Mary the New Eve and the implications of that fact are enormous.We can argue that just as the first Eve was created immaculate to partner the first Adam in the settling of the human race in the first paradise of grace, so also the second Eve had to be created immaculate to partner the second Adam in resettling the now-fallen human race back into the realparadise of grace – a paradise which had only been symbolised by the first paradise, and thus to people it for the glory of God.The real recipients of the command to increase and multiply and fill paradise were, not the first Adam and Eve, but the New Adam and Eve.Mary was to join with Christ in his work of begetting a people for God, and indeed each one of us too has his role to play in the ultimate peopling of the kingdom of God.We are all made in God’s image and likeness and at the very heart of the Godhead is the reality of ‘generation’, a reality in which every child of God must participate in their own way.Each one of us is called spiritually to increase and multiply and fill the new paradise which is the church of God with new sons and daughters begotten by grace.
Finally, besides this foreshadowing of Mary’s complete triumph over Satan in sacred scripture, there is what we might call a well nigh explicit reference to it in the passage where St Paul tells us that “in the same way as death came to all through the one man, Adam, so also life comes to all through the one man Christ Jesus.Now it was precisely by his involvement with the first Eve that Adam brought death to the world and so, according to the reasoning of St Paul it must be precisely through his involvement with the second Eve that the second Adam conquers death and brings life to the world. The immaculate conception of Christ’s blessed Mother follows from this as does the day from the night.
Our Christian Faith is arguably defined more precisely by the birth of Christ rather than by his Passion, Death and Resurrection. If He who suffered and died for us had not been born the incarnate Son of God then his suffering and death could never have been sufficient to redeemed us. It is who Jesus is, rather than what he doesfor us, that accomplishes our redemption. Jesus is, by his very nature, the Father’s beloved Son. We are his sons and daughters only by adoption; the adoption of Grace. His love for Jesus then is obviously much greater than his love for us and it is precisely Jesus identification with us in our misery that draws his Father’s forgiveness and blessing upon us. As the prophet tells us, he says to his Father:“ Behold, I and the brethren you have given me”
Let us try to illustrate with a simple story how our restoration to God’s favour is brought about by the Christ child whose birth we celebrate at this season.
Let us imagine that a good father (God) had two children whom he loved very dearly – Peter, representing Jesus, and Paul, representing each one of us. Now Peter, of course, was very well behaved and was his Father’s favourite, whereas Paul, representing you and me, often offended his father, and sometimes very badly at that! Now, one day, this good Father promised to take the boys to some wonderful place they had long wanted to visit. However, that very day, Paul offended his father again particularly badly; so much so in fact that he became very angry and said that only Peter would be going with him and that was that! Paul, of course, began to cry and lament but the father wouldn’t relent. But then Peter began to cry too and said he would be miserable if Paul didn’t come too. He would have no one to share the day with. Finally, the father out of his special love for Peter, gave in and took the boys together. And so, all ended well for both boys!
That is how our redemption is brought about by the Christmas Babe. Christ so loves us that he shares our misery, and the Father so loves Christ, who is now our Brother, that he cannot give to the one without giving to the other. In any household, how often is this pattern repeated: But Dad! You gave him an ice cream! You have to give me one too! That’s life in the family! Whether its the family of God or the family of the Broons!
God bless
Fr Raymond
COMMENT
Nivard writes:---
Thanks Raymond,
Excellent!
You have the 'O Henry' touch.
He was famous for his short stories.
A poor young couple each planned to give the other a Xmas gift.
She cut her long tresses to buy him a gold chain for his precious pocket watch.
He sold his watch to buy a gold band for her hair.
Thank you William for your extreme interest in following my path in the Holyland sojourn.
Through the great hospitality of the monks of Latroun Abbey it was possible for me the make access to wonderful sacred places.
Thank you for taking such great interest in the Saint Saba’s focus.
William writes:
Please might you consider adding to the article 'Mar Saba' on your Blog the excerpt from your Holy Land Chronicle shown below?
"More Surprises – Spring of St. Sabas
I shall have to return to see “The Pluralistic Spiritual Centre” at Neve Shalom under construction, but my own discoveries continue at this very spot on learning of the association of St. Sabas with this place. In the course of lectures and expeditions we were introduced to the wonders of the Judean Desert Monasteries, e.g. St. George’s on the Wadi Qilt, St Gerasimo, east of Jericho, Mar Sabas etc.
What was my surprise to discover that Saint Sabas left his very successful laura at Mar Sabas, south of Bethlehem, because of rebellious monks settled at Nikopolis, the Byzantine name of Emmaus/Latroun, first as a hermit then as abba of the laura/monastery at this very place of Neve Shalom.
‘Fr. Rene (Prior} is going to take me down to the spring which supplied the monks with water. I have still to find if anything remains of the buildings. But how amazing! Even the Latroun booklet, printed in 1960s has no mention of this particular monastic settlement. It is also interesting that Murphy-O’Connor’s encyclopaedic “Holy Land”, (Oxford), shows a great partiality to the monastic sites which, owing to researches by young Israeli archaeologists, identifies at least 73 such ‘Judean Desert Monasteries’. This site, within the immediate environs of Latroun, is not actually in the Desert since the bulk of the hermitages, monasteries and lauras are within the confines of the extreme JudeanDesert. St. Sabas (439-532) founded eight monasteries in the JudeanDesert and two outside the desert."
Thank you for a fascinating article!
An avid follower,
In Our Lord,
William.
Neve Shalom – Wāħat as-Salām
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View of the village from Latrun Monastery
Neve Shalom (Hebrew: נְוֵה שָׁלוֹם, lit. Oasis of Peace), also known as Wāħat as-Salām (Arabic: واحة السلام) is a cooperative village jointly founded by Israeli Arabs and Jews in an attempt to show that the two peoples can live side by side peacefully, as well as to conduct educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples. The village is located on one of the two Latrun hilltops, midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the territory Israel has controlled since1967, which was until then no man's land between the Israeli and Jordanian lines. Falling under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, in 2006 it had a population of 200.
Mar Saba's Monastery is a sacred place I love to remember.
By courtesy of the Abbot and Community of Latroun Abbey I was accompanied to on three occasions.
The story of St. Saba became all the more interest to learn that in Latroun Abbey the site of one of the Saint's hermit's cave. In the higher groun we visited the place among the trees. It so happened at that moment some Russian folks from Tel Avive were picnicking and we were entusiastically asked us monks to join in the festivity which we thorouthly enjoyed.
Mar Saba Monastery, Bethlehem
The Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba or Saint Saba's Monastery; 14.5 km east of Bethlehem and a further 6 km from St. Theodosius; is considered to be the oldest ongoing inhabited monastery in the Holy Land and one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world, founded by Saint Saba of Cappadocia in the year 439.
The immense and spectacular monastery built into the rock overlooking the KidronRiver, with its griddle of walls and towers, is a thrilling shock when it suddenly comes into view in the midst of this desertland.
It represents a way of life unchanged since the time of Constantine. It has 110 cells and sheltered 4000 monks in the 7th century although today it only houses ten monks.
Despite the fact that Mar Saba is reputed to have had a long tradition of hospitality to strangers, women have never been allowed to enter. This regulation persists today, so female visitors must be satisfied with a glimpse of the chapel and buildings from a nearby two-storey tower on the right entrance, the so-called Women's Tower.
December 4, 2009
St. John Damascene
(676?-749)
John spent most of his life in the monastery of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, and all of his life under Muslim rule, indeed, protected by it. He was born in Damascus, received a classical and theological education, and followed his father in a government position under the Arabs. After a few years he resigned and went to the monastery of St. Sabas.
He is famous in three areas.
First, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him.
Second, he is famous for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers (of which he became the last). It is said that this book is to Eastern schools what the Summa of Aquinas became to the West.
Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known.
Comment:
John defended the Church’s understanding of the veneration of images and explained the faith of the Church in several other controversies. For over 30 years he combined a life of prayer with these defenses and his other writings. His holiness expressed itself in putting his literary and preaching talents at the service of the Lord.
Quote:
“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith).
December 5th.
Saint. Sabas
(b. 439)
Born in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), Sabas is one of the most highly regarded patriarchs among the monks of Palestine and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism.
After an unhappy childhood in which he was abused and ran away several times, Sabas finally sought refuge in a monastery. While family members tried to persuade him to return home, the young boy felt drawn to monastic life. Although the youngest monk in the house, he excelled in virtue.
At age 18 he traveled to Jerusalem, seeking to learn more about living in solitude. Soon he asked to be accepted as a disciple of a well-known local solitary, though initially he was regarded as too young to live completely as a hermit. Initially, Sabas lived in a monastery, where he worked during the day and spent much of the night in prayer. At the age of 30 he was given permission to spend five days each week in a nearby remote cave, engaging in prayer and manual labor in the form of weaving baskets. Following the death of his mentor, St. Euthymius, Sabas moved farther into the desert near Jericho. There he lived for several years in a cave near the brook Cedron. A rope was his means of access. Wild herbs among the rocks were his food. Occasionally men brought him other food and items, while he had to go a distance for his water.
Some of these men came to him desiring to join him in his solitude. At first he refused. But not long after relenting, his followers swelled to more than 150, all of them living in individual huts grouped around a church, called a laura.
The bishop persuaded a reluctant Sabas, then in his early 50s, to prepare for the priesthood so that he could better serve his monastic community in leadership. While functioning as abbot among a large community of monks, he felt ever called to live the life of a hermit. Throughout each year —consistently in Lent—he left his monks for long periods of time, often to their distress. A group of 60 men left the monastery, settling at a nearby ruined facility. When Sabas learned of the difficulties they were facing, he generously gave them supplies and assisted in the repair of their church.
Over the years Sabas traveled throughout Palestine, preaching the true faith and successfully bringing back many to the Church. At the age of 91, in response to a plea from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sabas undertook a journey to Constantinople in conjunction with the Samaritan revolt and its violent repression. He fell ill and, soon after his return, died at the monastery at Mar Saba. Today the monastery is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and St. Sabas is regarded as one of the most noteworthy figures of early monasticism.
Comment:
Few of us share Sabas’s yearning for a cave in the desert, but most of us sometimes resent the demands others place on our time. Sabas understands that. When at last he gained the solitude for which he yearned, a community immediately began to gather around him and he was forced into a leadership role. He stands as a model of patient generosity for anyone whose time and energy are required by others—that is, for all of us.
VATICAN CITY, 2 DEC 2009 (VIS) - William of St. Thierry was the subject of the Holy Father's catechesis during his general audience, celebrated this morning in St. Peter's Square.
William, a friend and admirer of Bernard of Clairvaux, was born in Liege between the years 1075 and 1080. A member of a noble family, he was educated in the most famous schools of the time and later entered the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Nicaise in Reims. He subsequently became abbot of the monastery of Saint-Thierry where, however, he was unable to reform the community as he wished and abandoned the Benedictines to enter the Cistercian abbey of Signy. There he wrote a number of important works of monastic theology.
"De natura et dignitate amoris" (The nature and the dignity of love) contains, the Pope explained, one of William's fundamental ideas, which also holds true for us today:"The principal force that moves the human soul is love. ... The truth is that only one task is entrusted to each human being: learning to love sincerely, authentically and freely. But only at the school of God can this task be achieved and can man attain the end for which he was created".
"Learning to love is a long and arduous path", said the Holy Father. "In this journey people must impose an effective asceticism upon themselves ... in order to eliminate any disordered affections ... and unify their lives with God - source, goal and power of love - until reaching the summit of spiritual life, which William defined as 'wisdom'. At the end of this ascetic itinerary, we experience great serenity and sweetness".
William likewise attributes considerable importance "to the emotional dimension" because "our heart is made of flesh and when we love God, Who is Love, how can we not express our human feelings in this relationship with the Lord? ... The Lord Himself, becoming man, chose to love us with a heart of flesh".
For this Cistercian monk, love "illuminates the mind and enables a better and more profound understanding of God and, in God, of people and events". Love "produces attraction and communion to the point of effecting a transformation, an assimilation, between the lover and the loved. ... And this holds true, above all, for knowledge of God and of His mysteries, which surpass our mind's capacity to understand. God is known if he is loved", Benedict XVI affirmed.
He concluded by quoting from the "Epistola aurea" addressed to the Cistercians of Mont-Dieu, a summary of William of St. Thierry's ideas on the subject of love: "The image of God present in man impels him towards resemblance; that is, towards an ever fuller identification between his will and the divine will. This perfection, which William calls 'unity of spirit', cannot be achieved through individual effort, ... but by the action of the Holy Spirit which ... purifies and ... transforms into charity all the desire for love present in the human being. ...In this way ... man becomes by grace what God is by nature".
Vatican Information Service AG/WILLIAM OF ST. THIERRY/... VIS 091202 (520)
Tuesday, December 1st., of the First Week of Advent Year C
The Gospel of LUKE is assigned to this Year C
Finding in the Tuesday Gospel passage, LUKE 10:21-24, I found it greatly attracting and fascinating. As I probe more I find further.
From Ronald Knox to Dom Henry Wansbrough emerges the remarkable recognition of “one of the deepest reflections in the Synoptic Gospels on the relationship between Father and Son”.(Wansbrough)
It is by good fortune to discover this “Year of Luke” book for every day.
A Harmony of the Gospels, R. Knox Translation
§54. Jesus Rejoices and Thanks the Father
§54. Jesus Rejoices and Thanks the Father
MATTHEW 11:25-27
25 At that time Jesus said openly, Father, who art Lord of heaven and earth, I give thee praise that thou hast hidden all this from the wise and the prudent,
26 and revealed it to little children. Be it so, Father, since this finds favour in
27 thy sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows the Son truly except the Father, and none knows the Father truly except the Son, and those to whom it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him.
LUKE 10:21-24
21 At this time, Jesus was filled with gladness by the Holy Spirit, and said, Father, who art Lord of heaven and earth, I give thee praise that thou ha l hidden all this from the wise and the prudent, and revealed it to little children.
22 Be it so, Lord, since this finds favour in thy sight. My Father has entrusted everything into my hands; none knows what the Son is, except the Father, and none knows what the Father is, except the Son, and those to whom
23 it is the Son's good pleasure to reveal him. Then, turning to his own disciple,
24 he said, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see; I tell you, there have been many prophets and kings who have longed to see what you see, and never saw it, to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
Ronald Knox A New Testamenr Commentary.
LUKE 10.21-24.
Jesus Thanksgiving and Blessedness of the Disciples
The remaining four verses of this passage are to be found in two different contexts in Matthew, 11.25-27 and 13.16-17. There is no doubt that Matthew gives the former utterance a more natural setting; what is hidden from the wise and prudent is the lesson which ought to have been conveyed by our Lord's miracles, whereas "all this" in Luke has the vaguest possible reference. Similarly Matthew 13.16, with its emphatic " But blessed are your eyes", fits into the argument without difficulty, whereas in Luke there is no obvious reason why our Lord should break off his conversation with the Seventy to address a remark (which might have been equally made at any other time) to the Twelve. It looks, therefore, as if Luke 10. 17-20 should be treated as a parenthesis, and verse 21 should be taken closely with the Chorazin-Bethsaida context, as in Matthew.
Verses 23 and 24 will have been known to Luke merely as an isolated utterance, which he fitted in here because it matched the reference to " revelation" in verse
22. Luke, as usual, gives us the impression that he was not familiar with Matthew's gospel, so far as its structure was concerned, but had access to some catena of Divine utterances which was either extracted from Matthew's gospel, or used in the compiling of it.
MATTHEW
11 :25-27 Jesus' thanksgiving prayer stands in contrast to the preceding narrative (11 :20-24). While several towns reject Christ, there is a remnant (including the disciples) who trust him with the simplicity of infants (11:25; cf. 18:1-4; 19:13-15). Jesus' language is similar to several statements in John's Gospel that articulate his unique relationship with the Father (Jn 3:35; 10:14-15; 17:25) .The intimacy between the Father and Son points to their oneness within the Blessed Trinity-i.e., their shared divine knowledge implies a shared divine nature.
. . .
LUKE
10:22 Jesus is the divine Son of God and, so, the heir of his Father's authority and estate (Mt 28:18; Jn 3:35; 17:2). - The Father, Son, and Spirit are equal in being, and no one of them possesses more of the divine life and knowledge than another. Since the Son is no less perfect than the Father, he is uniquely qualified to reveal the inner life of the Trinity to the world (Jn 1:18; 14:9) (CCC 253,2603).
Comments - Scot Hanh
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LUKE People’s Bible Commentary.
A Bible Commentary for Every Day
by Henry Wansbrough O.S.B.
LUKE 10:21-24
A FINAL BLESSING
This long section on disciples and discipleship ends with a double blessing: Jesus blesses his Father in gratitude, and his disciples for the revelation that has been given to them, and which they are to spread to others. Between these two blessings he pronounces one of the deepest reflections in the Synoptic Gospels on the relationship between Father and Son.
The eagerness of children
The blessing begins with Luke's characteristic theme of reversal. Mary's hymn of praise in the Magnificat centred on gratitude that God had 'pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly'. The beatitudes promise the kingdom of God to those who are poor now, and laughter to those who weep now. Now the reversal concerns revelation: it is not the learned and clever who receive the secrets of revelation but 'mere children'. This comes close to Paul's insistence, writing to the Corinthians, that God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, that human wisdom was unable to recognize God, and 'it was God's own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel' (1 Corinthians 1: 21) .
The preference for children is no romantic idealization of childhood, about their supposed innocence or guilelessness; rather, it gives the clue to why Jesus earlier set a child among the disciples as a model. One real universal characteristic of children is willingness to learn, an appreciation that they are an empty canvas on which there is still much to be drawn. Imitation is a feature of childhood from the very beginning. Adults hate being corrected; for children it is an inevitable part of life, and something on which to grow. The eagerness to grow in mind is as keen as the longing to grow in body, and a child realises that, while it can do nothing to speed bodily growth, it can do much to speed mental development. It is this eagerness to receive and to learn that Jesus here praises as the prerequisite of revelation.
The 'Johannine thunderbolt'
Between the two blessings at beginning and end of this little section comes the stunning statement about the relationship of the Son to the Father. Nothing else like it exists in the Synoptic Gospels, but it is amply filled out in the Gospel of John. The basic theology is that of the 'shaliah'. This is a Hebrew term in rabbinic writings for an envoy, sent with specific powers. The envoy is regarded as having the same powers, deserving the same respect, holding the same position as his principal. He is sent out by and reports back to the principal. In his turn he can appoint envoys to extend his work. This is clearly the concept which stands behind much of John's expression of the relationship of the Son to the Father, who shows him everything he himself does, who gives all judgment to the Son: 'as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself' (John 5:26).
The importance of this statement comes from the fact that the Hebrew mind defines in dynamic rather than static terms. The later Trinitarian theological definitions of the great Councils are given in static terms. That is, instead of describing the relationship of Son to Father in the Greek terms of essence and nature, as did the early Church Councils (dominated by Greek thought), the Hebrew mind describes in terms of powers and action, what a person does rather than what a person is. So here the Son reveals the Father, and to know the Son is to know the Father. Just as in John judgment has been entrusted to the Son, so here 'everything' has been entrusted to the Son, so that the Son is the plenipotentiary of the Father, and stands in the place of the Father.
PRAYER
Father; you reveal yourself to us in your Son. Teach me to pray and meditate over this revelation you give, and draw me ever closer into company with your Son and so with you.
