tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25231981321851721692024-03-18T21:09:27.216-05:00What Accords with Sound DoctrineAs for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. (Titus 2:1 ESV)Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.comBlogger1805125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-29823298111246361422024-03-15T07:00:00.078-05:002024-03-15T07:00:00.135-05:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday in Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvckHLmoN-c73QDlSyPRYRkhVB43zjpduhxSG_N90tVvUaC-YZrk_Um17_k0fIuipVcs2qWFE5nBo7PxVEsze24nSJwEKY6HSU-Dpl-hKrv0ib7X2_9jxhuzNhbvRQBuvNIy2vfwpRnaTjs2vALVZs7IcyDlWqzMh_Nk9xFVt_TfA5daMhwOMwxCecA/s600/James-and-John.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvckHLmoN-c73QDlSyPRYRkhVB43zjpduhxSG_N90tVvUaC-YZrk_Um17_k0fIuipVcs2qWFE5nBo7PxVEsze24nSJwEKY6HSU-Dpl-hKrv0ib7X2_9jxhuzNhbvRQBuvNIy2vfwpRnaTjs2vALVZs7IcyDlWqzMh_Nk9xFVt_TfA5daMhwOMwxCecA/s400/James-and-John.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35–45)</i>
<p>What He is saying is that, if you wish the privilege of the first place and the highest honor, seek the place which is last, seek to be less worthy, more humble, less important than all, and to rank yourselves below the others. This is the virtue which gives this honor. And we have a most profitable example in the verse which follows, where He says: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” What He is saying is this. “You can see that to humble themselves is what makes men glorious and remarkable if you look at what happened to me, even though I have no need for honor and glory. Still it was by my humility that I accomplished countless good deeds.” For before He humbled Himself and became man, everything had perished and was destroyed. But after He humbled himself, He exalted all things.</p>
<p>He erased the curse, He triumphed over death, He opened paradise. He struck down sin, He opened wide the vaults of the sky, He lifted our first fruits to heaven, He filled the whole world with godliness. He drove out error, He led back the truth, He made our firstfruits mount to the royal throne. He accomplished so many good deeds that neither I nor all men together could set them before your minds in words. Before He humbled Himself, only the angels knew Him. After He humbled Himself, all human nature knew Him. You see how His humbling of Himself did not make Him have less but produced countless profits, countless deeds of virtue, and made His glory shine forth with greater brightness. God wants for nothing and has need of nothing. Yet, when He humbled Himself, He produced such great good, increased His household, and extended His kingdom.</p>
<p>Why, then, are you afraid that you will become less if you humble yourself? If you do humble yourself, you will become more exalted, you will be great, you will be illustrious, you will be renowned on every side. But this will happen only when you are satisfied to become less, to face dangers, and to be put to death. First you must seek to serve, to attend to and care for all men. If you will become exalted by humbling yourself, you must be ready to do and suffer all things.</p>
<p>Ponder this, my beloved, and then let us be fully prepared to pursue humility. When we shall be insulted and spat upon, when we shall be subjected to every humiliation, when we shall be dishonored and scorned, let us endure all this and be glad. Nothing is so likely to exalt us and win us glory and honor, nothing is so likely to show us as great as is the virtue of humility. May it come to pass that, while we succeed in gaining this virtue in its perfection, we may obtain all the blessings which have been promised through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory and honor and worship to the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever, world without end. Amen.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">John Chrysostom, <i>On the Incomprehensible Nature of God</i> 45–48</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-54271768837598222972024-03-08T07:00:00.097-06:002024-03-08T07:00:00.138-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjni2azb_-aNtw0HCbq3PE01cS61YJl4RWMHSBbWBkvirt_WyOsfR7vcYMn-Eigoqm2N2_y6cwpJ-SjUHhWoOEVILfHvzj1hjp0Vglu06M6tYvR6zmn_1CQePDdAJUoNit2bTbhig_XSkRuq7v57ZX30MTbpun7M8txCilbfhpDhM_Eo_lKMUQ6JCQ3HzU/s646/serpent-christ.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="646" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjni2azb_-aNtw0HCbq3PE01cS61YJl4RWMHSBbWBkvirt_WyOsfR7vcYMn-Eigoqm2N2_y6cwpJ-SjUHhWoOEVILfHvzj1hjp0Vglu06M6tYvR6zmn_1CQePDdAJUoNit2bTbhig_XSkRuq7v57ZX30MTbpun7M8txCilbfhpDhM_Eo_lKMUQ6JCQ3HzU/s400/serpent-christ.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:14–21)</i>
<p>What He says, is of this kind: Marvel not that I am to be lifted up that you may be saved, for this seems good to the Father, and He has so loved you as to give His Son for slaves, and ungrateful slaves. Yet a man would not do this even for a friend, nor readily even for a righteous man; as Paul has declared when he said, <i>Scarcely for a righteous man will one die</i>. Now he spoke at greater length, as speaking to believers, but here Christ speaks concisely, because His discourse was directed to Nicodemus, but still in a more significant manner, for each word has much significance. For by the expression, <i>so loved</i>, and that other, <i>God the world</i>, He shows the great strength of His love. Large and infinite was the interval between the two. He, the Immortal, Who is without beginning, the Infinite Majesty, they but dust and ashes, full of ten thousand sins, who, ungrateful, have at all times offended Him; and these He loved. Again, the words which He added after these are alike significant, when He says, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, not a servant, not an Angel, not an Archangel. And yet no one would show such anxiety for his own child, as God did for His ungrateful servants.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">John Chrysostom, <i>Homilies on the Gospel of John</i> 27.2
</p><p>Let us praise the Son first of all, venerating the blood that expiated our sins. He lost nothing of His divinity when He saved me, when like a good physician he stooped to my festering wounds. He was a mortal man, but He was also God. He was of the race of David but Adam's creator. He who has no body clothed Himself with flesh. He had a mother who, nonetheless, was a virgin. He who is without bounds bound Himself with the cords of our humanity. He was victim and high priest—yet He was God. He offered up his blood and cleansed the whole world. He was lifted up on the cross, but it was sin that was nailed to it. He became as one among the dead, but He rose from the dead, raising to life also many who had died before Him. On the one hand, there was the poverty of His humanity; on the other, the riches of His divinity. Do not let what is human in the Son permit you wrongfully to detract from what is divine. For the sake of the divine, hold in the greatest honor the humanity, which the immortal Son took on Himself for love of you.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Gregory Nazianzen, <i>Poem</i> 2</p><p></p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-73788014001271715792024-03-05T07:00:00.052-06:002024-03-05T07:00:00.148-06:00The Life of Repentance<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPokSWzeuK35Sisw-MilvDY5Pkhsx2EN8HOxMP0pLIXH79Pz34WnxBTomge7O-24jS3KDEJi4bLuZ1JleWJkk-9M1QtAo55_tlyxq5yijSeXeX1barHBV-ROB979k_baBGBl-EGIqJuJYK4gcLxZvRnsL6HrJuEUuaLDlBb7gZzeZSpm46denyzjY8yU8/s452/fell-down.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPokSWzeuK35Sisw-MilvDY5Pkhsx2EN8HOxMP0pLIXH79Pz34WnxBTomge7O-24jS3KDEJi4bLuZ1JleWJkk-9M1QtAo55_tlyxq5yijSeXeX1barHBV-ROB979k_baBGBl-EGIqJuJYK4gcLxZvRnsL6HrJuEUuaLDlBb7gZzeZSpm46denyzjY8yU8/s400/fell-down.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” —Martin Luther, <i>95 Theses</i> 1
<p>And when I saw these things in that bright mirror of the holy Gospel of my Lord, my soul became weak and my spirit was at an end and my body was bent down to the dust; my heart was filled with bitter groans that perhaps my stains might be made white by the washing of my tears. And I remembered that good Lord and kindly God who cancels through tears the bond of those in debt and accepts lamentation in the place of burnt sacrifices. When I came to this point, I took refuge in repentance and I hid myself beneath the wings of compunction. I sought refuge in the shade of humility and I said, “What more than these am I required to offer to Him who has no need of sacrifices and burnt offerings?” Rather, a humble spirit, which is the perfect sacrifice that is able to make propitiation for defects, a broken heart in the place of burnt offerings, and tears of propitiation in the place of a libation of wine are things which God will not reject.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Ephrem the Syrian, <i>Letter to Publius</i> 24</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-42985938583010956792024-03-01T07:00:00.093-06:002024-03-01T07:00:00.243-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-SjBnBJ0aLyOWiT6zL_J0nF29W42ryesmPUWsBb9HKM3Ssy5KxVuTuKNgsFccrQu3T3ol_dmZZH_ldZ4lf8OZh994XAzoVyjEbNuLe1z8266TIjqfNO8Aw4QJfYaVbv69yMfo0-Fp10XGDC6ssJIxO0tTLWm-AtOvPkB3SawW0Lch_J6vTEBK9Y02YM/s920/cleansing-of-temple.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-SjBnBJ0aLyOWiT6zL_J0nF29W42ryesmPUWsBb9HKM3Ssy5KxVuTuKNgsFccrQu3T3ol_dmZZH_ldZ4lf8OZh994XAzoVyjEbNuLe1z8266TIjqfNO8Aw4QJfYaVbv69yMfo0-Fp10XGDC6ssJIxO0tTLWm-AtOvPkB3SawW0Lch_J6vTEBK9Y02YM/s400/cleansing-of-temple.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:13–22)</i>
<p>If Jesus says that the temple in Jerusalem is the house of his own Father, and this temple was constructed for the glory of Him who created the heaven and the earth, are we not taught openly to consider the Son of God to be a Son of none other than the creator of heaven and earth? Since it is a house of prayer, the apostles of Christ, too, are commanded by the angel to enter this house of Jesus’ Father (as we have found in the <i>Acts of the Apostles</i>), and to stand and speak “to the people all the words of this life.” … Furthermore, if the house of Christ’s God were not the house of the same God, how would the disciples have remembered what is said in Psalm 68 [LXX]: “The zeal of your house has devoured me”? For that is what is stated in the prophet, and not ‘devours me.’ Now Christ is especially jealous for the house of God in each of us, not wishing it to be a house of merchandise, nor that the house of prayer become a den of thieves, since He is son of a jealous God. This is the case if we understand such words from the Scriptures in a reasonable manner, which were spoken metaphorically from the human viewpoint to set forth the fact that God wishes nothing alien to His will to be mingled with the soul of any men, but especially with the soul of those who wish to receive most divine faith.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Origen, <i>Commentary on John</i> 10.216, 220–221</p>
</div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-2230044779811937722024-02-23T07:00:00.068-06:002024-02-23T07:00:00.139-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmCW98PmWZiQ6syK-QjlUmBS1kWN35f_0aHtcTlemub8lWWs58auVrC3C3PMOg-HYkxkHIPKR7dw_fF7u0Td_JR8gQtfKXk8wcRpXiMyN9qKiAMYRR8SwBHfXdSSdLbl0xk0V1Ubqi2EqMY7NbL6i2tY5_c0fOxIPL5i13uOzN5A2EK3s8XqaT46fVDQ/s1024/carry-cross.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmCW98PmWZiQ6syK-QjlUmBS1kWN35f_0aHtcTlemub8lWWs58auVrC3C3PMOg-HYkxkHIPKR7dw_fF7u0Td_JR8gQtfKXk8wcRpXiMyN9qKiAMYRR8SwBHfXdSSdLbl0xk0V1Ubqi2EqMY7NbL6i2tY5_c0fOxIPL5i13uOzN5A2EK3s8XqaT46fVDQ/s400/carry-cross.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:27–38)</i>
<p>Do you wish to follow Christ? Be humble where He was humble; do not despise His humility if you wish to reach His height. Truly, the path became rough when man sinned, but it is smooth since Christ through His Resurrection trod upon it and made a royal road out of the exceedingly narrow path. Men run upon this way with two feet, that is, through humility and charity. Loftiness delights all men on it, but humility is the first step. Why do you stretch your foot beyond you? You want to fall, not to rise. Begin with the first step, that is, with humility, and you have risen.</p>
<p>For this reason our Lord and Savior not only said: <i>Let him deny himself</i>, but He added: <i>take up his cross, and follow me</i>. What does this mean, <i>take up his cross</i>? Let him bear whatever is troublesome: thus let him follow Me. When he has begun to follow Me according to My morals and precepts, he will have many people who contradict him and stand in his way, many who not only deride but even persecute him. Moreover, this is true, not only of pagans who are outside of the Church, but also of those who seem to be in it corporally but are outside of it because of the perversity of their deeds. Although these men glory in merely the title of Christian, they continually persecute good Christians. Such men belong to the members of the Church in the same way that bad blood is in the body. Therefore, if you wish to follow Christ, do not delay in carrying His cross; tolerate sinners, but do not yield to them. Do not let the false happiness of the wicked corrupt you. You ought to despise all things for the sake of Christ, in order that you may deserve to arrive at His companionship. The world is loved, but let the One who made the world be preferred to it. The world is beautiful, but much fairer is the One by whom the world was made. The world is flattering, but more delightful is He by whom the world was created.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Caesarius of Arles, <i>Sermons</i> 159.4–5</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-40881736572493862862024-02-16T07:00:00.050-06:002024-02-16T07:00:00.132-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday in Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PHbr9Ogu9M6a-l0oYOxYDsiHvnOFr-LEY2lYXIuBKCcnx3Mdb5ZWiHxNMjFP6nPPsW1an4CZhR2F-EKCkNwq8Uh4o_FkaKVPQ7iZEfAo9zRBMFURzMmvOhkz8uCPQv_KNWLcdLyjlWCNmN7oUHA5OJ71LGx2jKBy-5FVgvSTU6o1sovJEAiTqY47p28/s900/domenichino-the-sacrifice-of-isaac.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="849" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PHbr9Ogu9M6a-l0oYOxYDsiHvnOFr-LEY2lYXIuBKCcnx3Mdb5ZWiHxNMjFP6nPPsW1an4CZhR2F-EKCkNwq8Uh4o_FkaKVPQ7iZEfAo9zRBMFURzMmvOhkz8uCPQv_KNWLcdLyjlWCNmN7oUHA5OJ71LGx2jKBy-5FVgvSTU6o1sovJEAiTqY47p28/s400/domenichino-the-sacrifice-of-isaac.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you did this thing, and for My sake did not spare your beloved son, I will certainly bless you, and assuredly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:15–18 LXX)</i>
<p>In the former promise there was only the statement; here an oath is interposed, which the holy Apostle writing to the Hebrews interprets in this way, saying: “God, meaning to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed an oath.” And again, Scripture says: “Men swear by one greater than themselves.” “But God, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear,” “ ‘I swear by myself,’ said the Lord.” It was not that necessity forced God to swear (for who would exact the oath from him?), but as the apostle Paul has interpreted it, that by this he might point out to his worshipers “the immutability of his counsel.” So also elsewhere it is said by the prophet: “The Lord has sworn nor will he repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”</p>
<p>At that time in the first promise there is no reason stated why the promise is given, only that he brought him forth and “showed him,” Scripture says, “the stars of heaven, and said: ‘So shall your seed be.’ ” But now he adds the reason on account of which he confirms with an oath the promise which will be steadfast. For he says: “Because you have done this thing and have not spared your son.” He shows, therefore, that because of the offering or passion of the son the promise is steadfast. This clearly points out that the promise remains steadfast because of the passion of Christ for the people of the gentiles “who are of the faith of Abraham.”</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Origen, <i>Homilies on Genesis</i> 9.1</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-61484030110570638332024-02-09T07:00:00.040-06:002024-02-09T07:00:00.242-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Transfiguration<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7c7PHC5QNVXe4HkXETnKjzIJMIlXCLIccbkNAg1yWsxTCB8p4zL8cqZ32Z_7_NsN8e5gGtdE7Aj7b_-CBUNqY2UIoo-jDad3vW2ciyxVOkv6Nci89fc_A0pquZwOP7GLPNR_aWQTtitPInI_DxUiHrHQRIul2G81iXKLh9pRVmIgFavOgXXHepIaU9o/s2048/transfiguration.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7c7PHC5QNVXe4HkXETnKjzIJMIlXCLIccbkNAg1yWsxTCB8p4zL8cqZ32Z_7_NsN8e5gGtdE7Aj7b_-CBUNqY2UIoo-jDad3vW2ciyxVOkv6Nci89fc_A0pquZwOP7GLPNR_aWQTtitPInI_DxUiHrHQRIul2G81iXKLh9pRVmIgFavOgXXHepIaU9o/s400/transfiguration.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (Mark 9:2–9)</i>
<p>Make an effort, and do not grow weary of my prolonged discourse. For as when He manifests Himself, He is not manifested as He really is, nor is His bare essence manifested (for no man has seen God in His real nature; for when He is but partially revealed the Cherubim tremble—the mountains smoke, the sea is dried up, the heaven is shaken, and if the revelation were not partial who could endure it?) as then, I say, He does not manifest Himself as He really is, but only as the beholder is able to see Him, therefore does He appear sometimes in the form of old age, sometimes of youth, sometimes in fire, sometimes in air, sometimes in water, sometimes in armor, not altering his essential nature, but fashioning His appearance to suit the various condition of those who are affected by it. In like manner also when any one wishes to say anything concerning Him he employs human illustrations. For instance I say: "He went up into the mountain and He was transfigured before them, and His countenance shone as the sun, and His raiment became white as snow." He disclosed, it is said, a little of the Godhead, He manifested to them the God dwelling among them "and He was transfigured before them." Attend carefully to the statement. The writer says and He was transfigured before them, and His raiment shone as the light, and His countenance was as the sun. When I said "such is His greatness and power" and added "be merciful to me O Lord," (for I do not rest satisfied with the expression but am perplexed, having no other framed for the purpose) I wish you to understand, that I learned this lesson from Holy Scripture. The evangelist then wished to describe His splendor and he says "He shone." How did He shine? Tell me. Exceedingly. And how do you express this? He shone "as the sun." As the sun do you say? Yea. Wherefore? Because I know not any other luminary more brilliant. And He was white do you say as snow? Wherefore as snow? Because I know not any other substance which is whiter. For that He did not really shine thus is proved by what follows: the disciples fell to the ground. If he had shone as the sun the disciples would not have fallen; for they saw the sun every day, and did not fall: but inasmuch as he shone more brilliantly than the sun or snow, they, being unable to bear the splendor, fell to the earth.</p>
<p>Tell me then, O evangelist, did He shine more brightly than the sun, and yet do you say, "as the sun?" Yea: wishing to make that light known to you, I know not any other greater luminary, I have no other comparison which holds a royal place among luminaries. I have said these things that you may not rest contentedly in the poverty of the language used: I have pointed out to you the fall of the disciples: they fell to the earth, and were stupefied and overwhelmed with slumber. "Arise" He said, and lifted them up, and yet they were oppressed. For they could not endure the excessive brightness of that shining, but heavy sleep took possession of their eyes: so far did the light which was manifested exceed the light of the sun. Yet the evangelist said "as the sun," because that luminary is familiar to us and surpasses all the rest.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">John Chrysostom, <i>Homily 2 on Eutropius</i> 10–11</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-90934280338719924152024-02-02T07:00:00.063-06:002024-02-02T07:00:00.237-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZxKc0OeWZMqX9DSd7NENxiyBT0dY9Wkj_X5ormQRQVPOQa3KtxrrFmTZwPr_ecHpyTiheugbwlGH6CLgPZckNxiiFW0Loyw9J8c4f1Yuaaou0p2bivbHa-gcIwakUoh8w78BosVgGjL-UkBeCjo_e6RkRb6iy0MZyVca4kaRTene3sCBxKT-aXNDITU/s736/Paul_corinth.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="736" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZxKc0OeWZMqX9DSd7NENxiyBT0dY9Wkj_X5ormQRQVPOQa3KtxrrFmTZwPr_ecHpyTiheugbwlGH6CLgPZckNxiiFW0Loyw9J8c4f1Yuaaou0p2bivbHa-gcIwakUoh8w78BosVgGjL-UkBeCjo_e6RkRb6iy0MZyVca4kaRTene3sCBxKT-aXNDITU/s400/Paul_corinth.jpeg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1 Cor 9:16–27)</i>
<p>Paul is free from all men because he preached the gospel without getting any praise for it and never wanted anything from anyone except their salvation. He has not accepted large sums of money to spend on himself, which would have been sheer hypocrisy. He says that he has acted as a slave to all in order to show by his humility that he was not unlike anyone who is weak in his thinking. Paul wanted to strengthen them by patience for their future salvation by showing his great concern for those who were sinning or who were being slow to follow the commands of their faith. All along, his main aim was that they should not feel bitter resentment at being rebuked.</p>
<p>Did Paul merely pretend to be all things to all men, in the way that flatterers do? No. He was a man of God and a doctor of the spirit who could diagnose every pain, and with great diligence he tended them and sympathized with them. We have something or other in common with everyone, and this is what Paul brought out in dealing with particular people. He became a Jew to the Jews in that he circumcised Timothy, because that was a scandal to them, and when he went to the temple he practiced the rite of purification, so that the Jews would not be given an opportunity to blaspheme on his account. He performed an action which by its nature should have been obsolete, but he acted in accordance with the law. He agreed with the Jews that the law and the prophets were from God, and on that basis he showed them that Christ was the promised one. He agreed with them, in other words, in order to get them to accept his teaching. …</p>
<p>Paul became weak by abstaining from things which would scandalize the weak. Here he shows the true marks of a wise and spiritual man, because having become all things to all men, he nevertheless did not transgress the bounds of his faith. When he made allowances, he did so in order to do good, but he never did anything other than what the law commanded. Paul did all these things in order to share in God’s plan for the salvation of the human race.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Ambrosiaster, <i>Commentary on 1 Corinthians</i> 19–20, 22–23</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-76773712822452529232024-01-26T07:00:00.062-06:002024-01-26T07:00:00.249-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0ZIkUkwKRiibHxlvpOCdYKGl0RpH2R5y-OOk6LkQpqlDxaD1bk5p8VHzDYJ1APccu-jL_GCss3wy9G17xglFrtjhpIYRSNSSf8jEI_lr54hm8h2dCfmvjq9Xcnz418u934vVyFYj93WmhPem-ZbvZUpggwgJaIlq9X-vw4uQe0VHiSFCdYqu3Ouv-QQ/s1600/jesus-casting-out-demon.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0ZIkUkwKRiibHxlvpOCdYKGl0RpH2R5y-OOk6LkQpqlDxaD1bk5p8VHzDYJ1APccu-jL_GCss3wy9G17xglFrtjhpIYRSNSSf8jEI_lr54hm8h2dCfmvjq9Xcnz418u934vVyFYj93WmhPem-ZbvZUpggwgJaIlq9X-vw4uQe0VHiSFCdYqu3Ouv-QQ/s400/jesus-casting-out-demon.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. (Mark 1:21–28)</i>
<p>Even the demons cried out, on beholding the Son: “I know who You are, the Holy One of God.” Later the devil looking at him and tempting him, would say: “If You are the Son of God.” All of these thus recognized the Son and the Father, yet without believing. So it was fitting that the truth should receive testimony from all, and should become a means of judgment for the salvation not only of those who believe, but also for the condemnation of those who do not believe. The result is that all should be fairly judged, and that the faith in the Father and Son should be a matter of decision for all, so that one means of salvation should be established for all, receiving testimony from all, both from those belonging to it who were its friends, and by those having no connection with it who were its enemies. For that evidence is most trustworthy and true which elicits even from its adversaries striking testimonies on its behalf.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Irenaeus, <i>Against Heresies</i> 4.6.6–7</p>
<p>And again, when He put a curb in the mouths of the demons that cried after Him from the tombs. For although what they said was true, and they lied not then, saying, ‘You are the Son of God,’ and ‘the Holy One of God;’ yet He would not that the truth should proceed from an unclean mouth, and especially from such as them, lest under pretense thereof they should mingle with it their own malicious devices, and sow these also while men slept. Therefore He suffered them not to speak such words, neither would He have us to suffer such, but hath charged us by His own mouth, saying, ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves;’ and by the mouth of His Holy Apostles, ‘Believe not every spirit.’ Such is the method of our adversary’s operations; and of the like nature are all these inventions of heresies, each of which has for the father of its own device the devil, who changed and became a murderer and a liar from the beginning. But being ashamed to profess his hateful name, they usurp the glorious Name of our Savior ‘which is above every name,’ and deck themselves out in the language of Scripture, speaking indeed the words, but stealing away the true meaning thereof; and so disguising by some artifice their false inventions, they also become the murderers of those whom they have led astray.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Athanasius, <i>To the Bishops of Egypt</i> 1.3</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-57030861802151022022024-01-19T07:00:00.054-06:002024-01-19T07:00:00.129-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday after Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5aFgs7m5v0QS5aaVAxC8UglENlMkpMjRhGxdOU98NxORrvgr9rHURuuIxS698KE2zKUh2Z3TRPRJcpRuBrfeGNoj23p3NLjLs2NZIb7oSbdqhXKOxXtdKaUsy6zQ70E8VfFIGXeR0FxDlzJ0yKC0nMB8JvZOL0_WXiytxROPWQMLOc_DvloqqJWDjHc/s800/calling-peter-andrew.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5aFgs7m5v0QS5aaVAxC8UglENlMkpMjRhGxdOU98NxORrvgr9rHURuuIxS698KE2zKUh2Z3TRPRJcpRuBrfeGNoj23p3NLjLs2NZIb7oSbdqhXKOxXtdKaUsy6zQ70E8VfFIGXeR0FxDlzJ0yKC0nMB8JvZOL0_WXiytxROPWQMLOc_DvloqqJWDjHc/s400/calling-peter-andrew.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. (Mark 1:14–20)</i>
<p>For you have our Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, admitted by your own teachers to be, not an enchanter or a sorcerer, but holy, wise, the justest of the just, and dwelling in the vaults of heaven. He, then, being such, could only have done His miracles by a divine power, which also the holy writings bear witness that He had, saying that the Word of God and the highest Power of God dwelt in man’s shape and form, nay, even in actual flesh and body therein, and performed all the functions of human nature. And you yourself may realize the divine elements of this power, if you reflect on the nature and grandeur of a Being who could associate with Himself poor men of the lowly fisherman’s class, and use them as agents in carrying through a work that transcends all reason. For having conceived the intention, which no one ever before had done, of spreading His own laws and a new teaching among all nations, and of revealing Himself as the teacher of the religion of One Almighty God to all the races of men, He thought good to use the most rustic and common men as ministers of His own design, because maybe He had in mind to do the most unlikely things. For how could men unable even to open their mouths be able to teach, even if they were appointed teachers to only one person, far less to a multitude of men? How should they instruct the people, who were themselves without any education?</p>
<p>But this was surely the manifestation of the divine will and of the divine power working in them. For when He called them, the first thing He said to them was: ” Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And when He had thus acquired them as His followers, He breathed into them His divine power, He filled them with strength and bravery, and like a true Word of God and as God Himself, the doer of such great wonders, He made them hunters of rational and thinking souls, adding power to His words: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” and sent them forth fitted already to be workers and teachers of holiness to all the nations, declaring them heralds of His own teaching.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Eusebius, <i>Proof of the Gospel</i> 3.7</p>
</div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-4460092747174104652024-01-12T07:00:00.082-06:002024-01-12T07:00:00.130-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfvAj8NXDFtT3ri-Er2XDxMzjm1NhO-knWcUb8Zo8sXp_nAC48C2bYZ1XboRBmPnfBQIT6JSk60qt2vN5ImXeZeDZIURHRJJaf1AEWUBICq4wa9XczvxHmD0eI9TLkrbZY7OAg9gVoQugSaZt1UqTlcBZxpaA0DLE7mPLwKxJzGODnNCIsf9ONonLn-4/s500/jesus-calling-philip-and-nathaniel.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfvAj8NXDFtT3ri-Er2XDxMzjm1NhO-knWcUb8Zo8sXp_nAC48C2bYZ1XboRBmPnfBQIT6JSk60qt2vN5ImXeZeDZIURHRJJaf1AEWUBICq4wa9XczvxHmD0eI9TLkrbZY7OAg9gVoQugSaZt1UqTlcBZxpaA0DLE7mPLwKxJzGODnNCIsf9ONonLn-4/s400/jesus-calling-philip-and-nathaniel.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” (John 1:43-51)</i>
<p>In order to reassure those who were coming to him, our Lord began to speak more clearly to them so that he might reveal his secret omniscience. Thus also when Simon came to him, he told him the name by which he was called and whose son he was. When Philip wanted to follow him, but was prevented by reticence, Jesus said, “Follow me,” in order to reveal the desire of his heart. And finally, when Nathanael was in doubt, Jesus praised him by saying, <i>Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile</i>, and what he said was true. He did not praise him for anything that he was not. With these words, in whom there is no guile, he means that Nathaniel did not engage in subtlety but rightly said what he thought. Therefore, Nathanael was in doubt about what Philip had said, and naively and frankly revealed his thoughts. But even though he was praised, he did not yield to that praise but immediately asked where Jesus had found out about him. The Lord, even though he was not present, clearly pointed out the place and the tree under which he was before he had been called by Philip, so that he might show the excellence of his power in this way.</p>
<p>Therefore Nathanael, convinced by those deeds, said to Him, <i>Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel</i>; that is, “You are the Messiah who has already been announced.” The Messiah was certainly expected by them as someone more intimate with God than anyone else—like a king of Israel—even though they conceived of him in a fairly obscure and carnal way.…</p>
<p>What did the Lord answer him? <i>Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these</i>. Therefore He shows that nothing He had said was great or sufficient to demonstrate fully who He was. And then He declares what the greater things are that he would have seen, <i>Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man</i>. Now, if Nathanael had called Him “son” according to divine birth, what greater thing would he have seen? And how could seeing angels ascending and descending upon Him be greater than that? Certainly that is the greatest and most wonderful thing!—not only because it is consistent with His confessed divine nature which is the beginning of everything, so that Nathanael would know that angels ascend and descend upon Him (which always happens for the benefit of all humankind)—but also in order that Nathanael might understand that He is the creator of the angels. Now, after that confession, He says that something greater than what had appeared from the title “Son of God” (used in the sense of which we spoke) was expressed by Nathanael.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Theodore of Mopsuestia, <i>Commentary on John</i> 1.1.47–51</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-73837808971585612162024-01-06T07:00:00.065-06:002024-01-06T07:00:00.128-06:00Patristic Wisdom for Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBOWT3KEWDo03mM_QWBO05AsvJnw1c_aENJZE5enhOIiI-kLImsmBo81yjfDLEci_4LHc9waEvbPiILLhv2d7bF69iPcP_ACwGZnRQVoheP4WRzp_2PCb1r0U85TndegjhpdeZfx3yZbS0ee9Oausv6aT1WesUblJdDGmIV6wywPRt7JkA6QgWSBwgF4/s1200/magi-icon-large.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBOWT3KEWDo03mM_QWBO05AsvJnw1c_aENJZE5enhOIiI-kLImsmBo81yjfDLEci_4LHc9waEvbPiILLhv2d7bF69iPcP_ACwGZnRQVoheP4WRzp_2PCb1r0U85TndegjhpdeZfx3yZbS0ee9Oausv6aT1WesUblJdDGmIV6wywPRt7JkA6QgWSBwgF4/s400/magi-icon-large.webp"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
<blockquote>‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,<br />
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;<br />
For out of you shall come a Ruler<br />
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”</blockquote>
Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. (Matthew 2:1–12)</i>
<p>But now, after the service of the star, after the course of the Magi, let us see how glorious was the dignity that attended the king who had been born. For immediately the Magi fall down and worship the one born as Lord, and there in His very cradle they venerate the infancy of the crying child by offering Him gifts. They perceive one thing with the eyes of the body, something else with the vision of their mind. The humbleness of the body He assumed is seen, but the glory of His divinity is not concealed. It is a child who is seen, but it is God who is adored. How inexpressible is this mystery of the divine condescension! For our sake that incomprehensible and eternal nature does not disdain taking on the infirmities of our flesh. The Son of God, who is God of the universe, is born as a human being in a body. He permits Himself to be placed in a manger, within which are the heavens. He is confined to a cradle, one whom the world does not have room for. He is heard in the voice of a crying infant, at whose voice the whole world trembled in the time of his passion. And so, the Magi recognize this God of glory and Lord of majesty when they see Him as a child. Isaiah likewise shows that this child was both God and the eternal king, when he said, “For a child has been born to you; a son has been given to you, whose empire has been made on his shoulders.”</p>
<p>The Magi offer him gifts, therefore, namely gold, frankincense, and myrrh, in accordance with what the Holy Spirit had earlier testified about these things through the prophet, when he said, “From Saba they shall come bearing gold, frankincense, and precious stone, and they shall announce the salvation of the Lord” [Isa 60:6 LXX]. Clearly we recognize that the Magi fulfilled this prophecy. They both “announced the salvation of the Lord,” that the Christ was born as the Son of God, and in the gifts offered they confess that Christ is God, king, and man. For in the gold the authority of his kingdom is shown, in the frankincense the honor due to God in the myrrh the burial of the body. And therefore they offered gold as to a king, frankincense as to God, and myrrh as to a man. David too testifies about this as follows: “The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall offer presents, the kings of the Arabians and Saba shall bring gifts” [Ps 71:10 LXX]. And in order to show very powerfully to whom these gifts were to be given, he adds in this same psalm, “And there shall be given him of the gold of Arabia” [Ps 71:15 LXX]. In another psalm as well, the same David does not keep silent about the myrrh, when he spoke of the passion of the Lord and said, “Myrrh and stacte and cassia from your garments” [Ps 44:8 LXX]. Likewise Solomon speaks of this myrrh from Christ’s persona as follows: “I have gathered my myrrh with my spices” [Song 5:1], and again: “I gave off a sweet smell like myrrh” [Sir 24:15]. Surely in this he clearly testifies to the burial of his body, which burned with the sweetest divine smell throughout the whole world. Finally, the same David is shown to indicate these Magi when he says, “Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall hasten her hands” [Ps 67:31 LXX]. For since Sacred Scripture often calls this world “Egypt,” we rightly understand these Magi as the “ambassadors of Egypt,” having been chosen, as it were, as ambassadors of the whole world. In the gifts that they offered, they consecrated the belief of all the Gentiles and the commencement of faith.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Chromatius of Aquileia, <i>Tractate on Matthew</i> 5.1</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-33583461093583976682024-01-05T07:00:00.066-06:002024-01-05T07:00:00.167-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Baptism of Jesus<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc219Wpx8ns6aXxl7881h3B3lGt95HzBeQHNxOLAHME_VYfn_QO-7YlNkjfJe3HxQ6B3wMLNOFqYEem5VWSVr67lenp7zTx-ZRJDDgBaaDrYLmwwi9m922-uE4vyltKWN6po4tk1Foj7AymBK-qsub9eg8rvkaTXcaKZeoDwbXeY33FYrlYeQ1iY-EB0/s500/jesus_baptism.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc219Wpx8ns6aXxl7881h3B3lGt95HzBeQHNxOLAHME_VYfn_QO-7YlNkjfJe3HxQ6B3wMLNOFqYEem5VWSVr67lenp7zTx-ZRJDDgBaaDrYLmwwi9m922-uE4vyltKWN6po4tk1Foj7AymBK-qsub9eg8rvkaTXcaKZeoDwbXeY33FYrlYeQ1iY-EB0/s400/jesus_baptism.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:4–11)</i>
<p>The baptism of repentance therefore was employed as aspiring unto the remission and the sanctification about to follow in Christ. For in that he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, the declaration was made in respect of a future remission. Indeed since repentance goes before, remission follows after; and this it is to prepare the way; for he that prepares the way does not himself also perfect, but procures it to be perfected by another.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Tertullian, <i>On Baptism</i> 10</p>
<p>And stretching forth slowly his right hand, which seemed both to tremble and to rejoice, John baptized the Lord. Then his detractors who were present, with those in the vicinity and those from a distance, connived together, and spoke among themselves asking: “Was John then superior to Jesus? Was it without cause that we thought John greater, and does not his very baptism attest this? Is not he who baptizes presented as the greater, and he who is baptized as the less important?” But just as they, in their ignorance of the mystery of the divine economy, babbled about with each other, the holy One who alone is Lord spoke. He who by nature is the Father of the only begotten (who alone was begotten in unblemished fashion) instantly rectified their blunted imaginations. He opened the gates of the heavens and sent down the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, lighting upon the head of Jesus, pointing him out right there as the new Noah, even the maker of Noah, and the good pilot of the nature which is in shipwreck. And he himself calls with clear voice out of heaven, and says: “This is my beloved Son,”—Jesus, not John: the One baptized, and not the one baptizing; the One who was begotten of me before all time, and not the one who was begotten of Zechariah; the One who was born of Mary after the flesh, and not the one who was brought forth by Elizabeth beyond all expectation; the One who was the fruit of the virginity which he yet preserved intact, not the one who was the shoot from a sterility removed; the One who had his encounter with you, and not the one brought up in the wilderness. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: my Son, of the same substance with myself, and not of a different; of the same essence with me according to what is unseen, and of the same essence with you according to what is seen, yet without sin.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Gregory Thaumaturgus, <i>The Fourth Homily, On The Holy Theophany</i>, or <i>Of Christ's Baptism</i></p>
</div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-70472566114740352472024-01-01T07:00:00.051-06:002024-01-01T07:00:00.267-06:00Patristic Wisdom for the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgauPGc_0bElipgb6BAj5AjV7BfSMe0-dQSMnK_USFagSORyYRBr70AGrXcq0U_Ge5nMvABjbJoVKoy6MKr2pkkBiX1ShyUoumoO7Debp1d6P7dO9zHVKXfG4fnmxGkNy2pAQL8aY_N39XEVD3Xx_wBHww7qz3CUbjxw-xTByIFcgf6fivpoXcIaqzE2c/s516/2016-1231-circumcision.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgauPGc_0bElipgb6BAj5AjV7BfSMe0-dQSMnK_USFagSORyYRBr70AGrXcq0U_Ge5nMvABjbJoVKoy6MKr2pkkBiX1ShyUoumoO7Debp1d6P7dO9zHVKXfG4fnmxGkNy2pAQL8aY_N39XEVD3Xx_wBHww7qz3CUbjxw-xTByIFcgf6fivpoXcIaqzE2c/s400/2016-1231-circumcision.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)</i>
<p>On the eighth day, therefore, Christ is circumcised, and receives, as I said, His Name: for then, even then, were we saved by Him and through Him, “in Whom, it saith, ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands in the putting off of the fleshly body, with Christ’s circumcision, having been buried together with Him in baptism, wherein also ye were raised with Him.” His death, therefore, was for our sakes as were also His resurrection and His circumcision. For He died, that we who have died together with Him in His dying unto sin, may no longer live unto sin: for which reason it is said, “If we have died together with Him, we shall also live together with Him.” And He is said to have died unto sin, not because He had sinned, “for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth,” but because of our sin. Like as therefore we died together with Him when He died, so shall we also rise together with Him.</p>
<p>Again, when the Son was present among us, though by nature God and the Lord of all, He does not on that account despise our measure, but along with us is subject to the same law, although as God He was Himself the legislator. Like the Jews, He is circumcised when eight days old, to prove His descent from their stock, that they may not deny Him. For Christ was expected of the seed of David, and offered them the proof of His relationship. But if even when He was circumcised they said, “As for This man, we know not whence He is;” there would have been a show of reason in their denial, had He not been circumcised in the flesh, and kept the law.</p>
<p>But after His circumcision, the rite was done away by the introduction of that which had been signified by it, even baptism: for which reason we are no longer circumcised. For circumcision seems to me to have effected three several ends: in the first place, it separated the posterity of Abraham by a sort of sign and seal, and distinguished them from all other nations. In the second, it prefigured in itself the grace and efficacy of Divine baptism; for as in old time he that was circumcised, was reckoned among the people of God by that seal, so also he that is baptized, having formed in himself Christ the seal, is enrolled into God’s adopted family. And, thirdly, it is the symbol of the faithful when established in grace, who cut away and mortify the tumultuous risings of carnal pleasures and passions by the sharp surgery of faith, and by ascetic labors; not cutting the body, but purifying the heart, and being circumcised in the spirit, and not in the letter: whose praise, as the divine Paul testifies, needs not the sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Cyril of Alexandria, <i>Commentary on Luke</i> Homily 3</p><p></p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-66635880473597539272023-12-29T07:00:00.088-06:002023-12-29T07:00:00.130-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday after Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOm-2VC_ZEJLFuH46VmKnQCDJ5-THWxH9-cApr09XZmJAQ5knN7jjEFhoTAIZHX4YZgJc9n1fGfkjJRR9hotrGfPBaJVzWvZ2LNrn4mB2xKDkKvvdrWwJb1rXB6X78VT9NNPSILbjXk4Kssv2xD7RAI2dsuoBlg4AwKU4-Pxx6Di5Qfi9hc5BQ52qV9J8/s1000/Aert_de_Gelder_-_Het_loflied_van_Simeon.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="881" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOm-2VC_ZEJLFuH46VmKnQCDJ5-THWxH9-cApr09XZmJAQ5knN7jjEFhoTAIZHX4YZgJc9n1fGfkjJRR9hotrGfPBaJVzWvZ2LNrn4mB2xKDkKvvdrWwJb1rXB6X78VT9NNPSILbjXk4Kssv2xD7RAI2dsuoBlg4AwKU4-Pxx6Di5Qfi9hc5BQ52qV9J8/s400/Aert_de_Gelder_-_Het_loflied_van_Simeon.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
<blockquote>“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,<br />
According to Your word;<br />
For my eyes have seen Your salvation<br />
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,<br />
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,<br />
And the glory of Your people Israel.”</blockquote>
And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:22–40)</i>
<p>For this reason it seems wonderful that the sacrifice of Mary was not the first offering, that is, “a lamb a year old,” but the second, since “she could not afford” the first. For as it was written about her, Jesus’ parents came “to offer a sacrifice” for him, “according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’” But this also shows the truth of what was written, that Jesus Christ “although he was rich, became a poor man.” Therefore, for this reason, he chose both a poor mother, from whom he was born, and a poor homeland, about which it is said, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are little to be among the clans of Judah,” and the rest.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Origen, <i>Homilies on Leviticus</i> 8.4.3</p>
<p>The Son came to the servant not to be presented by the servant, but so that, through the Son, the servant might present to his Lord the priesthood and prophecy that had been entrusted to his keeping. Prophecy and priesthood, which had been given through Moses, were both passed down, and came to rest on Simeon. He was a pure vessel who consecrated himself, so that, like Moses, he too could contain them both. These were feeble vessels that accommodated great gifts—gifts that one might contain because of their goodness but that many cannot accept, because of their greatness. Simeon presented our Lord, and in him he presented the two gifts he had, so that what had been given Moses in the desert was passed on by Simeon in the temple. Because our Lord is the vessel in which all fullness dwells, when Simeon presented him to God, he poured out both of these upon Him: the priesthood from his hands and prophecy from his lips. The priesthood had always been on Simeon's hands, because of ritual purifications. Prophecy, in fact, dwelt on his lips because of revelations. When both of these saw the Lord of both of these, they were combined and were poured into the vessel that could accommodate them both, in order to contain priesthood, kingship and prophecy.
That infant who was wrapped in swaddling clothes by virtue of his goodness was also dressed in priesthood and prophecy by virtue of His majesty. Simeon dressed Him in these and presented Him to the one who had dressed Him in swaddling clothes. Then, as the old man returned Him to His mother, he returned the priesthood with Him. And when he prophesied to her about Him: “This child is destined for the downfall and rising,” he gave her prophecy with Him as well.
So Mary took her firstborn and left. Although he was visibly wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was invisibly clothed with prophecy and priesthood. Thus, what Moses had been given was received from Simeon, and it remained and continued with the Lord of these two gifts. The former steward and the final treasurer handed over the keys of priesthood and prophecy to the one in authority over the treasury of both of these.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Ephrem the Syrian, <i>Homily on Our Lord</i> 53.1-54.1</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-73680433877044637662023-12-25T07:00:00.100-06:002023-12-25T07:00:00.236-06:00Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyB96odHzcrL0vJ8BlnAzBkDiJwxkRfLwuYVIsdt0KFR-1xwYcQz99SAcDLUcQSPv6zwn3RL2nzXvrZMfuJsJlvSXannBIC3B2ShPAmL1HF-9i7s7omo_ZuU22yfPj2tmnKnmMEeZyO6RywlXyOEkvXSUZwQIkz35JWm1gfbmjAAGbaDOxCGZioUZ9cY/s1043/duccio-natgall-nativity.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1043" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyB96odHzcrL0vJ8BlnAzBkDiJwxkRfLwuYVIsdt0KFR-1xwYcQz99SAcDLUcQSPv6zwn3RL2nzXvrZMfuJsJlvSXannBIC3B2ShPAmL1HF-9i7s7omo_ZuU22yfPj2tmnKnmMEeZyO6RywlXyOEkvXSUZwQIkz35JWm1gfbmjAAGbaDOxCGZioUZ9cY/s400/duccio-natgall-nativity.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
<blockquote>“Glory to God in the highest,<br />
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”</blockquote>
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:1–20)</i>
<p>For He Whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. He Who is now Man was once the Uncompounded. What He was He continued to be; what He was not He took to Himself. In the beginning He was, uncaused; for what is the Cause of God? But afterwards for a cause He was born. And that came was that you might be saved, who insult Him and despise His Godhead, because of this, that He took upon Him your denser nature, having converse with Flesh by means of Mind. While His inferior Nature, the Humanity, became God, because it was united to God, and became One Person because the Higher Nature prevailed in order that I too might be made God so far as He is made Man. He was born—but He had been begotten: He was born of a woman—but she was a Virgin. The first is human the second Divine. In His Human nature He had no Father, but also in His Divine Nature no Mother. Both these belong to Godhead. He dwelt in the womb—but He was recognized by the Prophet, himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for Whose sake He came into being. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes—but He took off the swathing bands of the grave by His rising again. He was laid in a manger—but He was glorified by Angels, and proclaimed by a star, and worshiped by the Magi.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Gregory Nazianzen, <i>Oration</i> 29.19 “On the Son”</p>
<p>Look not therefore upon Him Who was laid in the manger as a babe merely, but in our poverty see Him Who as God is rich, and in the measure of our humanity Him Who excels the inhabitants of heaven, and Who therefore is glorified even by the holy angels. And how noble was the hymn, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and among men good will!” For the angels and archangels, thrones and lordships, and high above them the Seraphim, preserving their settled order, are at peace with God: for never in any way do they transgress His good pleasure, but are firmly established in righteousness and holiness. But we, wretched beings, by having set up our own lusts in opposition to the will of our Lord, had put ourselves into the position of enemies unto Him. But by Christ this has been done away: for He is our peace; for He has united us by Himself unto God the Father, having taken away from the middle the cause of the enmity, even sin, and so justifies us by faith, and makes us holy and without blame, and calls near unto Him those who were afar off: and besides this, He has created the two people into one new man, so making peace, and reconciling both in one body to the Father. For it pleased God the Father to form into one new whole all things in Him, and to bind together things below and things above, and to make those in heaven and those on earth into one flock. Christ therefore has been made for us both Peace and Goodwill; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and honor and might with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Cyril of Alexandria, <i>Commentary on Luke</i> 2</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-49203818165904518832023-12-22T07:00:00.059-06:002023-12-22T07:00:00.146-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp89kIGY4iwG4C7i1vNV-CbXs2GurB59X7M8lGGedEAOLZKZkeUwaL-9p70boK5AvZiTtIStsp_w94HKwfwbPoSG0Fqes10K3heYr-pZ66T-k6nuyifTIiG31K9Rky7ybFU8nKx3dY3ISgfe_V3SBnF0nO9wC5mKNTSVp5GZ7uoCAzqMAaKVzGUxS2Hnc/s1295/the-annunciation-virgin-mary-archangel-gabriel-icon.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="728" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp89kIGY4iwG4C7i1vNV-CbXs2GurB59X7M8lGGedEAOLZKZkeUwaL-9p70boK5AvZiTtIStsp_w94HKwfwbPoSG0Fqes10K3heYr-pZ66T-k6nuyifTIiG31K9Rky7ybFU8nKx3dY3ISgfe_V3SBnF0nO9wC5mKNTSVp5GZ7uoCAzqMAaKVzGUxS2Hnc/s400/the-annunciation-virgin-mary-archangel-gabriel-icon.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26–38)</i>
<p>The angel greeted Mary with a new address, which I could not find anywhere else in Scripture. I ought to explain this expression briefly. The angel says, “Hail, full of grace.” The Greek word is κεχαριτωμένη. I do not remember having read this word elsewhere in Scripture. An expression of this kind, “Hail, full of grace,” is not addressed to a male. This greeting was reserved for Mary alone. Mary knew the Law; she was holy, and had learned the writings of the prophets by meditating on them daily. If Mary had known that someone else had been greeted by words like these, she would never have been frightened by this strange greeting. Hence the angel says to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary! You have found grace in God’s eyes. Behold, you will conceive in your womb. You will bear a son, and you will name him ‘Jesus.’ He will be great, and will be called ‘Son of the Most High.’”</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Origen, <i>Homilies on Luke</i> 6.7</p>
<p>A heavenly fire engenders Him, not flesh<br />
Nor blood of father, nor impure desire.<br />
By power of God a spotless maid conceives,<br />
As in her virgin womb the Spirit breathes.<br />
The mystery of this birth confirms our faith<br />
That Christ is God: a maiden by the Spirit<br />
Is wed, unstained by love; her purity<br />
Remains intact; with child within, untouched<br />
Without, bright in her chaste fertility,<br />
Mother yet virgin, Mother that knew not man.<br />
Why, doubter, do you shake your silly head?<br />
An angel makes this known with holy lips.<br />
Will you not hearken to angelic words?<br />
The Virgin blest, the shining messenger<br />
Believed, and by her faith she Christ conceived.<br />
Christ comes to men of faith and spurns the heart<br />
Irresolute in trust and reverence.<br />
The Virgin’s instant faith attracted Christ<br />
Into her womb and hid Him there till birth.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Prudentius, <i>The Divinity of Christ</i> 566–584</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-63847831736423059512023-12-15T07:00:00.058-06:002023-12-15T07:00:00.135-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5OeOhyphenhyphenacdTiG-oSxAoQi0D9zmVqVOdNHM4qj7fz5bHOEN2ByP5dA0AEfIVKrsTInOfvsMiFTV5WKxnIcsSbVG85AWS9JT5a-SQtgSWAg0NtuGQ7FR19h4nGTbONjFu2lQejFat54Avk1zgC3WONDhgiPdjZPMFAyzeVf-1PNh7U8yrAvuhhwxBdvtc4/s1123/Bellanger_Carrying-The-Sheaves.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5OeOhyphenhyphenacdTiG-oSxAoQi0D9zmVqVOdNHM4qj7fz5bHOEN2ByP5dA0AEfIVKrsTInOfvsMiFTV5WKxnIcsSbVG85AWS9JT5a-SQtgSWAg0NtuGQ7FR19h4nGTbONjFu2lQejFat54Avk1zgC3WONDhgiPdjZPMFAyzeVf-1PNh7U8yrAvuhhwxBdvtc4/s400/Bellanger_Carrying-The-Sheaves.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>A song of ascent.<br />
<br />
When the Lord returned to the captive Zion,<br />
we became as those comforted.<br />
At that time our mouth was filled with joy,<br />
and our tongue with great joy.<br />
At that time they will say among the nations,<br />
“The Lord was magnified to act with them.”<br />
The Lord was magnified to act with us.<br />
We became gladdened.<br />
Return our captivity, O Lord,<br />
like the torrents in the south.<br />
Those who sow in tears<br />
will reap with great joy.<br />
Going, indeed they were going and weeping,<br />
removing their seed.<br />
But coming, they will come with great joy,<br />
lifting up their handfuls. (Psalm 126:1–6 [125 LXX])</i>
<p>Let no one believe that he possesses any happiness or true joy in this world. Happiness can be prepared for, but it cannot be possessed here. Two times succeed each other in their own order, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” Let no one deceive himself, brethren; there is no time to laugh in this world. I know, indeed, that every man wants to rejoice, but men do not all look for joy in the place where it should be sought. True joy never did exist in this world, it does not do so now, and it never will. For thus the Lord Himself warned His disciples in the Gospel when He said: “You will suffer in the world,” and again: “While the world rejoices, you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy.” For this reason, with the Lord’s help let us do good in this life through labor and sorrow, so that in the future life we may be able to gather the fruits of our good deeds with joy and exultation according to that sentence: “Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”</p>
<p>Through God’s giving us the strength, we ought to live in such a way that we may merit to return happily to our chief fatherland where our forebears, the patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles, long to see and welcome us. There our fellow citizens, the angels, that heavenly city of Jerusalem, and Christ, the king of that city, await us with the outstretched arms of love. If we have overthrown the devil and are filled with good works, then we may happily return to them. For you know, brethren, that all traders and travelers are anxious on the road, in order that they may be free from care in their native country, and they feel true joy when they merit to reach their fatherland along with great gain. Thus we too, dearly beloved, prepare our soul for joy whenever we deserve to go to Christ. In the meantime let us rejoice only in hope, but afterwards we are destined to possess joy in reality.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Caesarius of Arles, <i>Sermon</i> 215.2, 4</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-3151376234810013652023-12-11T07:00:00.012-06:002023-12-11T07:00:00.135-06:00The Lack of "Is"<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0MOXWl5HbHp-4WB7aEXvD6jxOFORnGU54ry2f2tpqPrNwqoXMaH0yQQFti02OhIXmh-PVMecdyH6BhzmnlRembWwcnIEYYyxdFasArMKxGYKDPIzHa91GHH0wN482Qq4Jr54PlRyWH6SMNhRR3iw4CYtlpM1rdpayAth4iAT92BB4cs1npFMxp2mTt4/s885/anexpressionofdisgust.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="885" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0MOXWl5HbHp-4WB7aEXvD6jxOFORnGU54ry2f2tpqPrNwqoXMaH0yQQFti02OhIXmh-PVMecdyH6BhzmnlRembWwcnIEYYyxdFasArMKxGYKDPIzHa91GHH0wN482Qq4Jr54PlRyWH6SMNhRR3iw4CYtlpM1rdpayAth4iAT92BB4cs1npFMxp2mTt4/s400/anexpressionofdisgust.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
May I have a moment of personal privilege? The above image accurately describes my feelings every time I hear one of my brethren in Christ, in an attempt to quote Jesus words of institution at the Lord’s Supper, say “Take, eat; this represents My body” and “This cup represents the new covenant in My blood.” What I really want to do is retort loudly and emphatically, “No, He did not. He said <i>this is</i>, not <i>this represents</i>.”
<p>Some are going to wonder what my problem is, since the majority of American evangelicalism believes that our Lord was speaking metaphorically at the Last Supper. Words have meaning. If we are quoting someone, it is incumbent that we be accurate in relating what was said: this goes more so for Scripture. While the person who is quoting what he or she believes the passage intends, it is not our place to communicate interpretation as inspired Holy Writ. Quote scripture, not opinion.</p>
<p>As to whether or not Jesus intended to speak figuratively in the Upper Room. Ulrich Zwingli (v Martin Luther) at Marburg and Theodore Beza (v Jakob Andreae) at Montbéliard attempted to reason that Jesus did not intend a literal uniting of His body and blood with the bread and wine. Both men were roundly dispatched. If you wish to cling to a representative view, you are free to be wrong. Just don’t dish it up and expect me to chow down.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlaTZU8vlvXMJFHLPSFWK-8M-sRD4Oey2-FL1tTNfzOZT4tSnK175IoV2MHMlIbMIx4F8W6izvGK0lbS-wZErL6434c5gWDKYdsNps6gXfhNHKlrKuBlPoM-jMSiVOwsF8Waxgb3q9bqLTK0KZtyVZe3gfZQGWavMHoQnTiAeq_FKDKZhj00M-ZhxB3E/s960/Thats-not-what-he-meant-to-say.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlaTZU8vlvXMJFHLPSFWK-8M-sRD4Oey2-FL1tTNfzOZT4tSnK175IoV2MHMlIbMIx4F8W6izvGK0lbS-wZErL6434c5gWDKYdsNps6gXfhNHKlrKuBlPoM-jMSiVOwsF8Waxgb3q9bqLTK0KZtyVZe3gfZQGWavMHoQnTiAeq_FKDKZhj00M-ZhxB3E/s400/Thats-not-what-he-meant-to-say.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-51057168769614073832023-12-08T07:00:00.067-06:002023-12-08T07:00:00.125-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPOgObM84YnxA8ddBU4ztg1x8_7F5JputFuvq8P7PqROphPXo26lvZlbtvghGiLTVFKY_A6Emtolm4lSOgW-Np4l2YtVJtBC30gwaN3AlzRSk3gdB3nU5I-Yd-drLcpRe0l_jZyTRdE_4h4Ab1baF7-q08z_SWdcDrkjDLXUWnKnNxrsPr_SAqjaKNn8/s900/saint-john-the-baptist-preaching-in-the-wilderness-pier-francesco-mola.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPOgObM84YnxA8ddBU4ztg1x8_7F5JputFuvq8P7PqROphPXo26lvZlbtvghGiLTVFKY_A6Emtolm4lSOgW-Np4l2YtVJtBC30gwaN3AlzRSk3gdB3nU5I-Yd-drLcpRe0l_jZyTRdE_4h4Ab1baF7-q08z_SWdcDrkjDLXUWnKnNxrsPr_SAqjaKNn8/s400/saint-john-the-baptist-preaching-in-the-wilderness-pier-francesco-mola.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets:
<blockquote>“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,<br />
Who will prepare Your way before You.”<br />
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:<br />
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;<br />
Make His paths straight.’ ”
</blockquote>John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1–8)</i>
<p>Now He called him an “messenger,” on account of the magnitude of the mighty deeds which he was to achieve (which mighty deeds Joshua the son of Nun did, and you yourselves read), and on account of his office of prophet announcing (to wit) the divine will; just as withal the Spirit, speaking in the person of the Father, calls the forerunner of Christ, John, a future “angel,” through the prophet: “Behold, I send my messenger before Your”—that is, Christ’s—“face, who shall prepare Your way before You.” Nor is it a novel practice to the Holy Spirit to call those “messengers” whom God has appointed as ministers of His power. For the same John is called not merely an “messengers” of Christ, but withal a “lamp” shining before Christ: for David predicts, “I have prepared the lamp for my Christ;” and him Christ Himself, coming “to fulfill the prophets,” called so to the Jews. “He was,” He says, “the burning and shining lamp;” as being he who not merely “prepared His ways in the desert,” but withal, by pointing out “the Lamb of God,” illumined the minds of men by his heralding, so that they understood Him to be that Lamb whom Moses was wont to announce as destined to suffer.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Tertullian, <i>An Answer to the Jews</i> 9</p>
<p>He gathered together a people unto Himself, and cherished them with many gifts of His goodness, and though He so often found them most unthankful, He ever exhorted them to repentance, and sent forth the voices of all the prophets in prophecy: promising them presently His grace, the light of which He would in the last days pour forth by His Spirit upon the whole world;* He commanded that the baptism of repentance should go beforehand, that, by the seal of repentance, He might fit beforehand those, whom He called by grace unto the promise appointed unto the seed of Abraham.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Tertullian, <i>On Repentance</i> 2</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-80529197038379130092023-12-01T07:00:00.067-06:002023-12-01T07:00:00.134-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday in Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SrajUpRwl5FCF7MRRMeaU3NgNYgEGd_lYVUguw0i3g5zPbVi_CBvKQBQpvktwxlSz6_T_KSN6gqV6V1WCx8IrLajPKsT0pUufZJKxL2eng6sZpS7ifWFusY4REVsduDzjzUncPvB0eGNXQyV4N2VFImdp6w1_Lh8a4Wfs3RPRzI5nTTx0tr_DjlkKkg/s1200/fig-tree.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SrajUpRwl5FCF7MRRMeaU3NgNYgEGd_lYVUguw0i3g5zPbVi_CBvKQBQpvktwxlSz6_T_KSN6gqV6V1WCx8IrLajPKsT0pUufZJKxL2eng6sZpS7ifWFusY4REVsduDzjzUncPvB0eGNXQyV4N2VFImdp6w1_Lh8a4Wfs3RPRzI5nTTx0tr_DjlkKkg/s400/fig-tree.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><i>But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:24–37)</i>
<p>The whole passage of this Gospel Scripture, from the inquiry of the disciples down to the parable of the fig tree you will find the sense in its connection suit in every point the Son of man, so that it consistently ascribes to Him both the sorrows and the joys, and the catastrophes and the promises; nor can you separate them from Him in either respect. For as much, then, as there is but one Son of man whose advent is placed between the two issues of catastrophe and promise, it must needs follow that to that one Son of man belong both the judgments upon the nations, and the prayers of the saints. He who thus comes in midway so as to be common to both issues, will terminate one of them by inflicting judgment on the nations at His coming; and will at the same time commence the other by fulfilling the prayers of His saints: so that if you grant that the coming of the Son of man is of my Christ, then, when you ascribe to Him the infliction of the judgments which precede His appearance, you are compelled also to assign to Him the blessings which issue from the same. If you will have it that it is the coming of your Christ, then, when you ascribe to him the blessings which are to be the result of his advent, you are obliged to impute to him likewise the infliction of the evils which precede his appearance. For the evils which precede, and the blessings which immediately follow, the coming of the Son of man, are both alike indissolubly connected with that event.… Reflect, in short, on the picture presented in the parable: “Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees; when they produce their fruit, men know that summer is at hand. So likewise, when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is very near.” Now, if the fructification of the common trees be an antecedent sign of the approach of summer, so in like manner do the great conflicts of the world indicate the arrival of that kingdom which they precede. But every sign is His, to whom belong the thing of which it is the sign; and to everything is appointed its sign by Him to whom the thing belongs. If, therefore, these tribulations are the signs of the kingdom, just as the maturity of the trees is of the summer, it follows that the kingdom is the Creator’s to whom are ascribed the tribulations which are the signs of the kingdom. Since the beneficent Deity had premised that these things must needs come to pass, although so terrible and dreadful, as they had been predicted by the law and the prophets, therefore He did not destroy the law and the prophets, when He affirmed that what had been foretold therein must be certainly fulfilled.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Tertullian, <i>Against Marcion</i> 4.39</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-16440841921983738372023-11-24T07:00:00.060-06:002023-11-24T07:00:00.129-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMNkp_2fqOBVNPgo9fTFs2xV-BEoVKqb9oDWNnxLZ_uGvdYlPkmDGXiaxYxT9SqsQT_8gu4SjF0fNLUYEhJoJcCFcV_JG-5RgwehKabxsau1LmKHtLNZsmAp4v1BpEcl56nR1Ew7FPnweOK2e-77w4_o3NJ6RyawAepCrkia82CxkNVzs1xIfOiKKfbU/s640/sheep-goats.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMNkp_2fqOBVNPgo9fTFs2xV-BEoVKqb9oDWNnxLZ_uGvdYlPkmDGXiaxYxT9SqsQT_8gu4SjF0fNLUYEhJoJcCFcV_JG-5RgwehKabxsau1LmKHtLNZsmAp4v1BpEcl56nR1Ew7FPnweOK2e-77w4_o3NJ6RyawAepCrkia82CxkNVzs1xIfOiKKfbU/s400/sheep-goats.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><i>“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31–46)</i>
<p>For as much as God differs from a human being, so a heavenly judgment differs from an earthly one. For the splendor of an earthly judge rests on his appearance, but the majesty of Christ the judge rests in truth, as the prophet attests: “Our God comes manifestly, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.” He says, “manifestly,” no longer veiled in the body as before so that scarcely even the good people could recognize him, but he will come manifest in glory so that even the evil people will confess him against their will, so that whoever despised him in his humility may recognize him in his power. And those who did not want to know how sweet his mercy is will perceive how dire his wrath is. “Our God … does not keep silence.” He did not say, “And he will be silent,” showing that he will keep quiet about himself, but his very glory will speak about him.…</p>
<p>Because he granted the grace to know him to all nations, he will rightly judge in each instance, so that neither the good will lose the fruits of their goodness without the doctrine of truth nor the evil will escape the punishment for their evil because of the excuse of ignorance. For just as at night the full shape of items does not appear but even a gem seems like a rock and a rock is thought to be a gem, so also before the coming of Christ the difference between human hearts is not apparent but also the evil are endured as if they were good and the good are despised as if they were evil. And whenever the illumination of the gospel has been preached and come to all nations, then the quality of all their wills has been revealed and all the nations rendered without excuse. And so then all people will be gathered justly to judgment because whoever gives a commandment beforehand implicitly proclaims that there will be a future judgment.…</p>
<p>You gave what you could not always hold on to; receive those things you may possess forever. Quite rightly you who sowed one thing on earth will receive a hundredfold in heaven. For the righteousness of people cannot earn as much as the kingdom of heaven was created to be, but it is based on the power of God that was able to prepare it. For if he had wanted to create the kingdom of heaven according to the limits of human righteousness, he would have created it at any rate after the works of human beings had been done. But now because he established the reward of the saints not according to what human beings deserve but according to his bountifulness, so before he created the saints in this age, he prepared the kingdom of heaven in heaven. For this reason he burdens with such labors those whom he knows to be his before the foundation of the world, and he makes them labor so long until they are made worthy of the heavenly kingdom because the kingdom of God is not plundered in accordance with the moderate capacity of people, but people are elevated in accordance with the greatness of the kingdom.…</p>
<p><i>“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire.’”</i> It is as though he could not endure their presence or to look on them, so he says, “Depart from me.” For just as carnal people delight to see the carnal appearance of the world, but if we see some things broken or deformed in any way, it is as though our sight has been wounded, so also God, who delights in the holiness of souls, cannot bear to look at sinful souls, as though he were weighed down by them. It is as though he were to say to them, “You are like rottenness and filth, nor can I endure you as long as you are standing in my court.”</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><i>Incomplete Commentary on Matthew</i> 54.33–34, 41</p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-53539760012201322482023-11-21T09:25:00.000-06:002023-11-21T09:25:23.164-06:00Mass and the Unwashed Masses<div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>Peter J. Scaer posted this on Facebook earlier today, 11/21/2023, and it is too good not to share.</i>
<p>Mass and the Unwashed Masses</p>
<p>Is the church's liturgy only for a few, for the educated, the cultured, and well read? Hardly. Though the liturgy, by its very nature and mystery invites education, catechesis, and teaching. In fact, the liturgy is great for little children who can't yet read, and for those who never learned. The liturgy is wonderful for those who eyesight has dimmed, whose capacity isn't what it used to be. The liturgical rhythm enters into the soul's deepest places, embeds itself within the mind and heart.</p>
<p>Why is it that the average Roman Catholic in the pew does not believe in the real presence? It's not because of what the church says, but by the casual way in which the supper is offered and distributed. The same I'm sure goes for us in the LCMS. Say that Christ's offers his true body and blood, but then, if the ministers are dressed as if they were sales people, if they treat the elements like fast food, if bodily reverence is nowhere to be found, people will get the message. It must not be all that special.</p>
<p>The American Evangelical world of course has no clue in such matters. If baptism is just a commitment ceremony, and if the supper is a reenactment, then a certain seriousness may be called for, but there's no reason for solemnity. For much of the Big Box church world, there is nothing approximating the Temple. (No wonder, they hope it's rebuilt.) Could we imagine the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies in street clothes, big smile on his face after an inspirational life lesson, music from the praise band? But we do have something holier still. If we believed in the priesthood of all believers, truly believed it, then we would encourage the awe and reverence appropriate to God's dwelling among us, Christ's giving of flesh and blood, a font from which springs forth life and forgiveness.
</p><p>The church service has never been about, should never be about, defining a class of people as high class, but should be conducted in a way that is appropriate to the proceedings. Standing up for the gospel is an act of reverence, as when grandma enters the room. Kneelers offer an opportunity for bodily posture that matches spiritual reality. The judge, robed in black, approaches the bench, and the courtroom is hushed into silence. A pin dropped is noise too loud for the ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.</p>
<p>The church service is all about sacred space, the Lord of all speaking and working among us. The church is our home, but Christ is the head of that home, and being in the Father's house means something. Little Children rightly feel comfortable there, for it is their home, they are the baptized, and the Lord's arms are wide open in embrace, and his hand is given for them in blessing. But we should never grow so casual as to be disdainful, so that we might lose awe, and forget where we are. Indeed, it is said that Ronald Reagan never entered the Oval Office without jacket and tie. May seem a bit much. But it was his way of reminding himself of the sacred duty with which he had been entrusted. And so also the sacred liturgy does well to be in harmony with the sacred things that we confess are taking place.</p>
<p></p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-85526594672889545752023-11-17T07:00:00.092-06:002023-11-17T07:00:00.152-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EvQqWh8qxrIUWndI4gn-5gPdOmG78jCDglz8mdz6MTIZcKVY7L4dNOxLs7FEj0FI_LcXtlME1tf1tk3th8le3EQBUIaUsGaNTw6na-MlWZSIwkg1T4s_HjPvlhDxXQduCqkjVVrRi2UoleS8XenvH3yUBMlVb2PxtSDhO93nSgwWmddWtlQJM5V83G4/s1288/talents.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EvQqWh8qxrIUWndI4gn-5gPdOmG78jCDglz8mdz6MTIZcKVY7L4dNOxLs7FEj0FI_LcXtlME1tf1tk3th8le3EQBUIaUsGaNTw6na-MlWZSIwkg1T4s_HjPvlhDxXQduCqkjVVrRi2UoleS8XenvH3yUBMlVb2PxtSDhO93nSgwWmddWtlQJM5V83G4/s400/talents.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><i>For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:14–30)
</i><p>Who is the man who sets out for foreign parts but our Redeemer, who departed to heaven in the body he had taken on? Earth is the proper place for his body; it is transported to foreign parts, so to speak, when he establishes it in heaven. The man setting out for foreign parts entrusted his goods to his servants, for he granted his spiritual gifts to those who believed in him. To one he entrusted five talents, to another two, to another one. There are five bodily senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. The five talents represent the gift of the five senses, that is, knowledge of externals; the two talents signify theory and practice; the one talent signifies theory alone. ...</p><p>The Lord who dispensed the talents returns to demand an account, because he who now generously bestows spiritual gifts may at the judgment inquire searchingly into what was achieved; he may take into account what everyone has received, and weigh up the gain we bring back from his gifts.</p>
<p>The servant who returned with two talents was praised by his master. He was led to his eternal reward when his master said to him: <i>Well done, good and faithful servant. Because you have been faithful about a few things, I shall put you in charge of many. Enter into the joy of your master</i>. All the good deeds of our present life, however many they may appear to be, are few in comparison with our eternal recompense. The faithful servant is put in charge of many things after overcoming all the troubles brought him by perishable things. He glories in the eternal joys of his heavenly dwelling. He is brought completely into the joy of his master when he is taken into his eternal home and joined to the company of angels. His inner joy at his gift is such that there is no longer any external perishable thing that can cause him sorrow. …</p>
<p>The useless servant called his master hard, and yet he neglected to serve him for profit. He said that he was afraid to put out the talent for interest, when he should have been afraid only of bringing it back to his master without interest. For many people in the Church resemble that servant. They are afraid to attempt a better way of life, but not of resting in idleness. When they advert to the fact that they are sinners, the prospect of laying hold of ways of holiness alarms them, but they feel no fear at remaining in their wickedness. …</p>
<p>Consider then, dearly beloved, that you will pay interest on this money you have received, on these words. Take care to be eager to understand from what you hear also other things you do not hear. Make connections between one thing and another, and so learn for yourselves how to do other things than those you have already learned from the preacher’s words. …</p>
<p>We must be certain that no slothful person is safe from the consequences of receiving a talent. No one can truly say, ‘I have not received a talent, and there is no reason I should be compelled to give an account.’ Even the very little that any poor person has received will be counted as his talent. One person has received understanding, and owes the office of preaching to his talent. Another has received earthly possessions and is under obligation to distribute alms from his properties. Another has received neither understanding of inner things nor many possessions, but has learned a skill which sustains him; in his case his skill is counted as a talent. Another has acquired none of these things, but perhaps he has merited acquaintance with a rich person and has received the talent of acquaintance: if he tells him nothing on behalf of the poor, he is condemned for keeping back his talent. Therefore the one with understanding must take care not to remain silent, the one with an abundance of possessions must watch that he is not slow in showing mercy, the one with a skill must be especially zealous to share his craft and usefulness with his neighbor, the one with an opportunity to speak with a rich person should fear to be condemned for keeping back his talent if he does not intercede with him on behalf of the poor when he can.</p>
<p>In truth the Judge who is to come will exact from each of us as much as he gave. So that everyone may be free from anxiety about the account he must give for his talent when the Lord returns, let him consider daily, with trembling, what he has received. The time is now near when the one who set out for foreign parts will return. He who departed far from this earth where he was born went away, so to speak, into foreign parts; but he will truly return to demand an accounting for his talents. If we are listless in performing good deeds he will judge us more severely concerning those gifts he has bestowed on us.</p>
<p>Let us then bear in mind the things we have received, and be careful in trading with them. Let no earthly care deter us from our spiritual work, lest we provoke the talent’s master to anger by hiding our talent in the earth. As the judge is now weighing his sins, the lazy servant digs up his talent from the earth, since there are many who withdraw themselves from their earthly desires and works when they are dragged to eternal punishment by the chastisement of the judge. Let us be watchful, then, before we must render an account of our talent, so that when the Judge is already approaching to strike us, the profit we have made may plead for us. </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Gregory the Great, Gospel Homily 18</p><p></p></div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523198132185172169.post-69110202863903941082023-11-10T07:00:00.056-06:002023-11-10T07:00:00.138-06:00Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPYx2pEfzidJrJLBpIXryQ3WrPP2LqzJFSTBGuQeKSG_WzWwrX3zkMAWNshDWvr-vEBZ03D5fnQX67lhmmcf5EnVfXxUw4epmqn2SeGfAyU7igpE5Ad11hioXf0nEy9FWXkQyqwuG1pnscV4lhUtgePdNJnjgo1FUTRg65IojbFnB-aITeJ7GV8QZgNk/s1600/parable-ten-virgins.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPYx2pEfzidJrJLBpIXryQ3WrPP2LqzJFSTBGuQeKSG_WzWwrX3zkMAWNshDWvr-vEBZ03D5fnQX67lhmmcf5EnVfXxUw4epmqn2SeGfAyU7igpE5Ad11hioXf0nEy9FWXkQyqwuG1pnscV4lhUtgePdNJnjgo1FUTRg65IojbFnB-aITeJ7GV8QZgNk/s400/parable-ten-virgins.jpg"/></a></div><div style="font-family: "georgia", "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">
<i>“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matt 25:1–-13)</i>
<p>The wise virgins are those who, having taken an opportune moment for action while in the body, initially prepared themselves to meet the Lord. But the foolish virgins, who were careless and negligent, had concern only for the circumstances of the moment. Forgetful of God’s promises, they carry no hope of the resurrection in themselves. Because these foolish virgins could not go out to meet the bridegroom with lamps unlit, they implored the ones who were wise to share some of their oil. The latter responded that they could not give them any because perhaps there would not be enough for everyone. In other words, no one should be supported by another’s works and merits. It is necessary for each of us to purchase oil for his own lamp. The wise virgins urged the foolish to go back in order to buy oil, even if the latter would be late in obeying the commandments of God. They intended to make themselves worthy by having lamps lit for their meeting with the bridegroom. While they were waiting, the bridegroom made his entrance. Together with him the wise virgins, now ready with their lighted lamps and veiled, entered the wedding feast. In other words, the wise virgins entered into heavenly glory at the very moment of the coming of the Lord in his splendor. And because there is now no longer an opportunity for repentance, the foolish run, pleading that the door be opened to them. But the bridegroom answered them, “I do not know you.” For the foolish did not come to render service to the one arriving, nor did they present themselves at the sound of the blowing trumpet, nor did they remain with the wedding party as it entered. Rather, they procrastinated, and they lost the opportunity for entering the wedding feast.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Hilary of Poitiers, <i>Commentary on Matthew</i> 27.5</p>
<p>The Lord indicates that the devil sows weeds among sleeping people, namely, among those who through negligence are overcome by their infidelity as by a kind of lethargy and fall asleep in respect to the divine commands. The apostle says concerning them, “For they who sleep, sleep at night, and they who are drunk, are drunk at night. But let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us be wakeful and sober.” Surely those foolish virgins about whom we read in the Gospel were weighed down by their lethargy and infidelity. Since they did not take oil for their vessels, they were unable to meet the bridegroom. Hence the devil, this enemy of the human race, is always extremely zealous to sow weeds among the wheat. But he who watches for the Lord constantly with a faithful mind, once the sleep of infidelity has been banished from him, will not be preoccupied by this nighttime sower.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Chromatius, <i>Tractate on Matthew</i> 51.1</p>
</div>Steve Brickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05809609523737519737noreply@blogger.com0