Gregory the Great: The Human Eye does not Suffice to Penetrate the Mystery of the Incarnation Sunday, Dec 23 2012

John answered them, saying: … The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose (John 1:26-27).

What reverence is due to Him he then teaches us by his own humility; going on to say: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose…!

[...] Who does not know that sandals are made from the skins of dead animals?  The Lord, in becoming Incarnate, appears among men, as though shod; because over His Divinity, he has put on as it were the mortal covering of our corruptibility.

Hence also the prophet says: Into Edom will I stretch out my shoe (Ps. 15:10).  The Gentiles are signified by Edom; His assumed mortality by the shoe.

The Lord therefore declares that He extends His shoe into Edom, because through the flesh He became known to the Gentiles; as if the Divinity had come to us with feet shod.

But the human eye does not suffice to penetrate the mystery of this incarnation. For in no way may we search out how the Word became embodied; how the Supreme Life-Giving Spirit, was quickened within the womb of a mother; how That Which has no beginning was both conceived and came into existence.

The latchets of His shoe are therefore the seals of a mystery.  John was not worthy to loose His shoe, because he was unable to search into the mystery of His Incarnation.

What then does he mean when he says, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose, except openly and humbly to confess his ignorance?

It is as though he were to say: what wonder that He is preferred before me, Whom I know to be born after me, but the Mystery of Whose Birth I am unable to comprehend.

Behold John, filled with the Spirit of prophecy, shining with knowledge, yet he plainly declares that as to this mystery he knows nothing.

In this connection, Dearest Brethren, we should note and ponder with careful thought, how holy men of God, in order to safeguard themselves in humility, when they know many things well, endeavour to keep before their minds that which they do not know.

Thus on the one hand, they remind themselves of their own limitations, and on the other, they are not raised above themselves because of those things in which their mind is accomplished.

Knowledge indeed is virtue, but humility is the guardian of virtue.  For the future then, let you be humble in your minds with regard to whatever you may know, lest what the virtue of knowledge has stored, the wind of vanity may carry off.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels, @ Lectionary Central.

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Gregory the Great: Letting Go of the Decaying Things of this World Friday, Nov 30 2012

(Feast of St Andrew)

Dearly beloved brethren, you have heard how that Peter and Andrew, having once heard the Lord call them, left their nets, and followed their Saviour.

As yet they had seen none of His miracles, as yet they had received no promise of their exceeding and eternal reward.

Nevertheless, at one word of the Lord they forgot all those things which they seemed to have.

We have seen many of His miracles.

We have received many of His gracious chastening.

Many times has He warned us of the wrath to come.

And yet Christ calls, and we do not follow.

He who calls us to be converted is now enthroned in heaven.

He has broken the necks of the Gentiles to the yoke of the faith.

He hath laid low the glory of the world.

And the wreckage of the world, falling ever more and more to decay, preaches unto us that the coming of that day when He is to be revealed as our Judge is drawing nigh.

And yet, our mind is so stubborn that we will not yet freely abandon those things on which, whether or not we wish to do so, we are in any case daily losing our grip.

Dearly beloved brethren, what shall we answer at His judgment-seat?

No lessons can persuade us.  No punishments can break us away from the love of this present world.

Faced with this question, someone might ask within his heart what Peter or Andrew had to lose by obeying the call of the Lord.

Dearly beloved brethren, we must consider here rather the intention than the loss incurred by their obedience.

He that keeps nothing whatsoever for himself, gives up much. He that sacrifices his all has sacrificed what is to him a great deal.

Beyond doubt, we cling to whatever we have, and what we have least, that we desire most. Peter and Andrew therefore gave up much when they gave up even the desire of possessing anything.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels, 5, from Mattins of the Feast of St Andrew (November 30^th) @ http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl.

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Gregory the Great: Michael – “Who is like God”; Gabriel – “The Strength of God”; Raphael – “God’s Remedy” Saturday, Sep 29 2012

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature.

Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message.

Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary.

It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.

Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform.

In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known.

But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us.

Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy”.

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power.

So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High.

He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment.

Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.

So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers.

Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle.

Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness.

Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homily 32 on the Gospels (Hom. 32, 8-9: PL 76, 1250-1251) from the Office of Readings for the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael on September 29 @ Crossroads Initiative.

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Gregory the Great: Christ Joins in His Own Person the Lowest with the Highest, Making a Way for Us Back to God Thursday, Aug 2 2012

After revealing his sublime feats of heroism the saintly Job seeks a helper, knowing as he does that his own merits are not enough for him to reach the highest peak.

And on whom indeed does he rest his gaze but the only-begotten Son of God, who took a human nature, labouring in mortality, and in so doing brought nature his saving help?

For he it was who, once he was made man, brought his help to us men so that, since the way back to God did not lie open to man left to himself, it might be opened through God-made-man.

We are a long way from being just and immortal, unjust and mortal as we are.

But between him who is immortal and just, and us who are neither the one nor the other, the Mediator of God and man has appeared.

And he is both mortal and just, having death in common with men and justice with God.

And because through our baseness we are far from the heights he occupies, he joins in his own person the lowest with the highest, to make a way for us back to God.

The blessed Job, then, seeks this Mediator, speaking as it were for the whole Church, when having said: Who will grant me a helper? he aptly goes on, that the Almighty one may hear my petition.

For he knew that men’s prayers for the repose of eternal freedom can only be heard through their advocate.

Of him, we are told through John the Apostle that: If anyone has sinned we have Christ the just man as advocate with the Father; and he is the propitiation for our sins, not for ours alone but also for those of the whole world.

And Paul the Apostle speaks of him as: The Christ who died for us, and indeed who rose again, who is at the right hand of God, and who intercedes for us.

It is for the only-begotten Son of God to intercede with his co-eternal Father, presenting himself as man; and then his having made intercession on behalf of human nature amounts to taking up that nature to the level of his own divine nature.

The Lord intercedes for us not in words, but in mercy; for what he did not wish to see condemned or lost in his chosen ones, that he set free by taking it on himself.

A helper is therefore sought, that our petition might be heard: for unless some mediator intercedes for us our prayers would undoubtedly remain as if unspoken, in the ears of Almighty God.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Reflections (Moralia) on Job, 22.17 (PL 76:237-238);  from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2.

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Gregory the Great: Every Prayer of Patience Offered by the Sufferer in God’s Praise is a Dart Turned against the Enemy’s Breast Monday, Jul 16 2012

When Job lost everything, at Almighty’s God decree, to pre­serve his peace of mind he remembered the time when he did not yet possess the things he had now lost.

[...] To enhance his peace of mind he ponders yet more closely his origins, saying as he does so: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return whence I came.

[...] Since therefore the things I have lost were only what I had received and must leave behind, what have I lost that really belonged to me?

But then, because consolation derives not only from thinking about one’s condition but also about the Crea­tor’s uprightness, he is right to add:

The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; as it has pleased the Lord, so has he wrought.

He well says, as it has pleased the Lord. For since in this world we have to put up with things we do not like, it is necessary that we should accommodate our best endeavours to him who cannot will anything that is unjust.

If therefore we know that what is just and equitable pleases the Lord, and that we can suffer nothing but what is pleasing to him, then all our sufferings must for that reason be justly and fairly imposed: and it would therefore be very unjust of us to grumble at them.

We should note that, having got all that right, Job ends by praising God.

This was so that his adversary [the devil] might realise, over­come by shame at seeing Job’s plight, that his own attitude in his prosperity is one of contempt for God, the same God to whom even this man, now fallen on evil times, can never­theless sing a hymn of praise.

We should realise that the enemy of our race can smite us with as many of his darts as there are temptations for him to afflict us with.

For we do battle daily; and daily his onslaught of temptations rains down on us.

But we in turn can fire our darts against him if, while buried in our tribulations, we will but react in humility.

Thus Job, although suffering in material things, is still a blessed and happy man.

We should not think that our champion merely receives wounds without inflicting any in return.

Indeed, every prayer of patience offered by the sufferer in God’s praise is a dart turned against the enemy’s breast: and a much sharper blow is thereby struck than the one sustained.

For the man in his afflictions loses only earthly goods, whereas in bearing humbly with his afflictions he has increased many times over his stock in heaven.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Reflections (Moralia) on Job, 2.17.30-18.31 (SC 32bis:203-205);  from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Sunday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2.

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Gregory the Great: We Must Ascend in Heart and Mind Where He has Ascended in Body Saturday, May 26 2012

The Prophet Habakkuk also has spoken of the glory of Christ’s Ascension in the words The sun was lifted up on high, and the moon stood still in her habitation.

Who is here signified by the Sun, if not the Saviour or by the Moon, if not the Church?

Until the Lord was withdrawn from her sight (that is, by His Ascension), His Holy Church was pale before the hostile glare of the world.

But after He was ascended, she waxed stronger, and distinctly shed forth the beams of that faith which had hitherto dwelt hiddenly in her.

“The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her habitation” when the Lord was gone away into heaven, His holy Church waxed stronger in her enlightening power.

Hence it is that Solomon has put into the mouth of the (same) Church the words: Behold, He cometh! leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

These hills are his lofty and noble achievements. “Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains.”

When He came to redeem us, He came, if I may so say, in leaps. My dearly beloved brethren, would you know what His leaps were?

From heaven he leapt into the womb’ of the Virgin, from the womb into the manger, from the manger on to the Cross, from the Cross into the grave, and from the grave up to heaven.

Lo, how the Truth made manifest in the Flesh did leap for our sakes, that He might draw us to run after Him for this end did He rejoice, as a strong man to run a race.

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, it behoves us in heart and mind thither to ascend, where we believe Him to have already ascended bodily.

Let us fly from earthly lusts. For us, who have a Father in heaven, let nothing be sweet below. And very much must we keep in our minds this thought, that He Which ascended up in peace, will return in dreadful Majesty and will require from us with justice an account of our keeping of those commandments which He gave us in mercy.

Let no man therefore reckon lightly this season which is given unto us that we may repent ourselves, nor be reckless touching the state of his soul.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels, 29, from Mattins of Thursday in the Octave of the Ascension in the Old Breviary @ http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl.

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Gregory the Great: “When Christ Ascended Upon High, He Led Captivity Captive” Thursday, May 24 2012

Why do we read that Angels appeared at the time of the Birth of the Lord, but we read not that they appeared in white apparel whereas, when the Lord ascended into heaven, it is written that the angels which appeared were clad in white.

[...] White raiment is an outward sign of solemn inward joy. That the occasion of God-made-Man entering into heaven was a great Festival for Angels, is the reason which we see why angels are specially named as robed in white at His Ascension, and not at His Birth.

At the Birth of the Lord the Godhead was manifested veiled under the form of a servant, but at His Ascension the Manhood was seen exalted and white vestments are more apt to exaltation than humiliation.

[...]  At His Birth He Who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was seen in the form in which He had humbled Himself. At His Ascension the Manhood Which He had taken into God was seen glorified.

Again, dearly beloved brethren, we must remember to-day, how that Christ hath blotted out the hand-writing that was against us, and reversed the sentence which doomed us to corruption.

That same nature to which it was said “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” that same nature is His Who hath this day ascended up into heaven.

It is because of this up-lifting of our flesh that blessed Job, by a figure, calleth the Lord a bird. The Jews could not understand the Mystery of the Ascension, and in view of this their unbelief, blessed Job said mystically “He knew not the path of the bird.”

The name of a bird is well given to the Lord, Who bodily soared up into heaven. And the path of that Bird knoweth no man, who believeth not in the Ascension into heaven.

It is of this glorious occasion that the Psalmist saith Who hast set thy glory above the heavens (8:2), and again God is gone up with a shout, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet (46:6). And yet again he saith Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive (67:19).

When Christ ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, (Eph. 4:8), because by His Own incorruptibility He swallowed up our corruptibility.

He gave gifts unto men, because by sending the Spirit from above, He gave“to one, the word of wisdom to another, the word of knowledge to another, the working of miracles to another, the gifts of healing; to another, divers kinds of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues, (1 Cor. 12:8-10).

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels, 29, from Mattins of Wednesday in the Octave of the Ascension in the Old Breviary @ http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl.

 

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Gregory the Great: Doubting Thomas and the Healing of Our Wounds of Disbelief Saturday, Apr 14 2012

Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

He was the only disciple absent; on his return he heard what had happened but refused to believe it.

The Lord came a second time; he offered his side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out his hands, and showing the scars of his wounds, healed the wound of his disbelief.

Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events?

Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed?

It was not by chance but in God’s providence.

In a marvellous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.

The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples.

As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened.

So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.

Touching Christ, he cried out: My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him: Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed.

Paul said: Faith is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. It is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what can not be seen.

What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: You have believed because you have seen me?

Because what he saw and what he believed were different things.

God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: My Lord and my God.

Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.

What follows is reason for great joy: Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts one we have not seen in the flesh.

We are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good works. The true believer practises what he believes.

But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works. Therefore James says: Faith without works is dead.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels 26, 7-9, from the Office of Readings for the Feast of St. Thomas, the Apostle, on July 3 @ Crossroads Initiative.  

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Gregory the Great: Jacob Contending with the Angel Represents the Soul who in Contemplation has Come Face to Face with God with God Wednesday, Feb 1 2012

The pursuit of the contemplative life is something for which a great and sustained effort on the part of the powers of the soul is required:

an effort to rise from earthly to heavenly things,

an effort to keep one’s attention fixed on spiritual things,

an effort to pass beyond and above the sphere of things visible to the eyes of flesh.

[...] There are times indeed when one succeeds, overcoming the opposing obscurity of one’s blindness and catching at least a glimpse, be it ever so fleeting and superficial, of boundless light.

But the experience is momentary only, so that all too quickly the soul must again return to itself.

[...] We have a beautiful illustration of all this in the sacred history of the Scriptures where the story is told of Jacob’s encounter with the angel, while on his return journey to the home of his parents.

On the way he met an angel with whom he engaged in a great struggle and, like anyone involved in such a contest, Jacob found his opponent, now stronger, now weaker than himself.

Let us understand the angel of this story as representing the Lord, and Jacob who contended with the angel as representing the soul of the perfect individual who in contemplation has come face to face with God.

This soul, as it exerts every effort to behold God as he is in himself, is like one engaged with another in a contest of strength.

At one moment it prevails so to speak, as it gains access to that boundless light and briefly experiences in mind and heart the sweet savour of the divine presence.

The next moment, however, it succumbs, overcome and drained of its strength by the very sweetness of the taste it has experienced.

The angel, therefore, is, as it were, overcome when in the innermost recesses of the intellect the divine presence is directly experienced and seen.

Here, however, it is to be noted that the angel, when he could not prevail over Jacob, touched the sciatic muscle of Jacob’s hip, so that it forthwith withered and shrank. From that time on Jacob became lame in one leg and walked with a limp.

[...] Previously we walked about on two feet, as it were, when we thought, so it seemed, that we could seek after God while remain­ing at the same time attached to the world.

But having once come to the knowledge and experience of the sweetness of God, only one of these two feet retains its life and vigour, the other becoming lame and useless.

For it necessarily follows that the stronger we grow in our love for God alone, the weaker becomes our love for the world.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on Ezekiel, 1.12 (PL 76:955) from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2.

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Gregory the Great: The Kingdom of Heaven is Likened unto Treasure Hidden in a Field Tuesday, Jul 26 2011

Dearly beloved brethren, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto the things of earth.

This is in order that, by the mean of things which we know, our mind may rise to the contemplation of the things which we know not by the example of things which are seen.

Thus may our mind fix her gaze on things which are not seen by the touch of things which she uses, and be warmed towards the things which she uses not – by things which she knows and loves, to love also the things which she knows not.

For, behold, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hides, and, for joy thereof, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

And herein we must remark that the treasure, when once it hath been found, is hidden to keep it safe.

He who does not keep hidden from the praises of men his eager striving heavenwards, does not do enough to keep the same safe from the attacks of evil spirits.

In this life we are, as it were, on the way home, and the road is beset by evil spirits, as it were, by highwaymen.

He, therefore, who carries his treasure glaringly invites robbery.

This I say, not that our neighbour should not see our good works, since it is written Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father.

Rather, I speak of what we do, to gain the praise of men.

Let the outward work agree with the inward thought, that by our good works we may give an example to our neighbour, and still, by our intention, directed only to the pleasing God, we may also prefer that our works should be secret.

The treasure is the desire for heaven the field wherein it is hidden is the earnest observance wherewith this desire is surrounded.

Whosoever turns his back upon the enjoyments of the flesh, and by earnest striving heavenward, puts all earthly lusts under the feet of discipline, so that he smiles back no more when the flesh smiles at him, and shudders no more at anything that can only kill the body – whosoever doth thus, has sold all that he had, and bought that field.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Homilies on the Gospels, 11, from Mattins of the Feast of St Anne in the Old Breviary @ http://lzkiss.net/cgi-bin/horas/brevi.pl.

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