John Henry Newman: Joshua – Combatant and Conqueror – is a Figure of Christ and His Followers Thursday, Jun 13 2013

We are told…that Joshua did not accomplish all the work that was to be done; but left a remnant of it to those who came after him.

And yet in one sense he did it all, for “all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time” (Josh. 10:42).

And, accordingly, he divided out even the country which he had not conquered; for what he had done involved and secured, as far as God’s aid was necessary, the doing of the rest.

[...] And so in like manner Christ has done the whole work of redemption for us; and yet it is no contradiction to say, that something remains for us to do: we have to take the redemption offered us, and that taking involves a work.

We have to apply His grace to our own souls, and that application implies pain, trial, and toil, in the midst of its blessedness. He has suffered and conquered, and those who become partakers in Him, undergo in their own persons the shadow and likeness of that passion and victory.

In them, one by one, is acted over again and again the history of the Son of God, so that as He died they die to sin,—as He rose again, so they rise again to righteousness; and in this imitation of His history consists their participation of His glory.

He truly has planted us in the land of promise, and has given our enemies into our hands; but they are still in it, and they have to be expelled from it;

and as the Israelites after Joshua’s death entered into a truce with them instead of obeying his command, so we too, after our Lord’s departure, instead of making that righteousness our own, which He has of His free grace imputed to us at the first, too often are content with that nominal imputation, and think it enough that He has “divided out the nations which remain”, careless about fulfilling His directions in destroying them….

Though Joshua is a figure of Christ and His followers in that he is a combatant and a conqueror, in one point of view he plainly differs from them.

He was bidden use carnal weapons in his warfare; but of ours St. Paul says, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong-holds” (2 Cor. 10:4).

[...] Such is the rule of our warfare. We advance by yielding; we rise by falling; we conquer by suffering; we persuade by silence; we become rich by bountifulness; we inherit the earth through meekness; we gain comfort through mourning; we earn glory by penitence and prayer.

John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890): Sermons on Subjects of the Day, Sermon 12. Joshus a Type of Christ and His Followers.

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Origen Adamantius: The Crossing of the River Jordan is Experienced in the Present Wednesday, Jun 12 2013

The ark of the covenant led the people of God across the Jordan.

The priests and the Levites halted, and the waters, as though out of reverence to the ministers of God, stopped flowing. They piled up in a single mass, thus allowing the people of God to cross in safety.

[...] The divine Word promises much greater and more lofty things to you who have passed through Jordan’s stream by the sacrament of baptism: he promises you a passage even through the sky.

Listen to what Paul says concerning the just: We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in heaven, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

There is absolutely nothing for the just man to fear; the whole of creation serves him.

Listen to another promise that God makes him through the prophet: If you pass through fire, the flame shall not burn you, for I am the Lord your God. The just man is everywhere welcome, and everything renders him due service.

So you must not think that these events belong only to the past, and that you who now hear the account of them do not experience anything of the kind. It is in you that they all find their spiritual fulfilment.

You have recently abandoned the darkness of idolatry, and you now desire to come and hear the divine law. This is your departure from Egypt.

When you became a catechumen and began to obey the laws of the Church, you passed through the Red Sea; now at the various stops in the desert, you give time every day to hear the law of God and to see the face of Moses unveiled by the glory of God.

But once you come to the baptismal font and, in the presence of the priests and deacons, are initiated into those sacred and august mysteries which only those know who should, then, through the ministry of the priests, you will cross the Jordan and enter the promised land.

There Moses will hand you over to Jesus, and He himself will be your guide on your new journey.

Mindful, then, of all the mighty works of God, remembering that he divided the sea for you and held back the waters of the river, you will turn to them and say: Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, why did you turn back? Mountains, why did you skip like rams, and you hills, like young sheep?

And the word of the Lord will reply: The earth is shaken at the face of the Lord, at the face of the God of Jacob, who turns stones into a pool and rock into springs of water.

Origen Adamantius (c.185-254): Homilies on Joshua (Hom 4, 1: PG 12, 842-843), from the Office of Readings, Wednesday of the 10th Week of Ordinary Time @ Crossroads Initiative.

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Ephrem the Syrian: God in His Great Love Granted to Moses to See His Glory Sunday, Jun 9 2013

But what shall we say about the Lord of the Angel, Who said to Moses No man shall see Me and live?

Is it on account of the fury of His anger, that whoso shall see Him shall die?  Or on account of the splendour of His Being?

For that Being was not made and was not created:  so that eyes which have been made and created cannot look upon it.

[...] Accordingly, the Self-Existent by His vision slays them that look upon Him; but He slays, not because of harsh fury but because of His potent splendour.

Because of this He in His great love granted to Moses to see His glory; yet in the same great love He restrained him from seeing His glory.

But it was not that the glory of His majesty would have been at all diminished, but that weak eyes could not suffice to bear the overpowering billows of His glory.

Therefore God, Who in His love desired that the vision of Moses should be directed upon the goodly brightness of His glory, in His love did not desire that the vision of Moses should be blinded amidst the potent rays of His glory.

Therefore Moses saw and saw not.  He saw, that he might be exalted; he saw not, that he might not be injured.  For by that which he saw, his lowliness was exalted; and by that which he saw not, his weakness was not blinded.

As also our eyes look upon the sun and look not upon it; and by what they see are assisted; and by what they see not, are uninjured.

[...]  So then through love God hindered Moses from seeing that glory that was too hard for his eyes;  as also Moses through his love prevented the children of his people from seeing the brightness that was too strong for their eyes.

For he learned from Him Who covered him, and spread His hand, and hid from him the splendour of the glory, that it might not injure him; so that he also should spread the veil and conceal from the feeble ones the overpowering splendour, that it might not hurt them.

Now when Moses saw that the sons of perishable flesh could not gaze upon the borrowed glory that was on his face, his heart failed within him; for that he had sought to dare to gaze upon the glory of the Eternal Being,

in whose floods, those above and those below are plunged and spring forth; the depths whereof none can fathom; the shores whereof none can reach; whereof no end or limit can be found.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Homily on Our Lord, 29.

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Dimitri of Rostov: “Wisdom has Built Itself a Temple” Saturday, Jun 8 2013

The Lord, Who lives in the heavens, wishing to appear on earth and abide with men, first prepared a dwelling place of His glory: His Most Pure Mother.

[...] And as the palaces of earthly kings are constructed by the most skilled craftsmen, of the most costly materials, and…are more beautiful and spacious than all the other dwellings of men, in the same manner the palace of the King of Glory must be erected (3 Kings 6).

In the Old Testament, when God desired to dwell in Jerusalem, Solomon built a temple for Him, employing Hiram, a most wise master, who possessed full knowledge of every art and science, and was skilled in every enterprise.

He constructed the temple with materials of great value: with costly stone, with aromatic woods of cedar and cypress brought from Lebanon, with pure gold, and upon a high place: that is, upon Mount Moriah (2 Chr. 3).

The temple was of great beauty. On its walls were portrayed the likeness of cherubims, and of various trees and flowers.

The temple was so spacious that the whole Israelite people could be accommodated without crowding, and the glory of the Lord would descend in fire and a cloud (2 Chr. 7).

Nevertheless, that temple did not suffice to contain within itself the Uncontainable God, for even though Solomon built Him a temple, “The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. ‘What house will ye build me’, saith the Lord: ‘or what is the place of my rest?’” (Acts 7).

At the beginning of the new era of grace, the Lord was pleased to create a temple not made by hands: the Most Pure, Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

By what builder was this temple erected? In truth, by One most wise; by the very Wisdom of God, as the Scripture says, “Wisdom hath built itself a temple” (Prov. 9).

All things created by the Wisdom of God are good and perfect, therefore, as it was the Wisdom of God that created the living temple of the Word…it was not possible that in her there could be any sort of imperfection or sin.

The Perfect God created a perfect temple; the Most Radiant King, a most radiant palace; for the Most Pure and Undefiled Bridegroom, a bridal chamber most pure and undefiled; for the Spotless Lamb, an unsullied dwelling place.

A Faithful Witness abiding in the heavens said to her, “You are most fair, my love; there is no spot in you” (Song of Songs 4).

And Saint John the Damascene says, “She is wholly the bridal chamber of the Spirit, wholly the city of God, a sea of Grace, wholly good, close to God.”

Dimitri of Rostov (1651-1709; Russian Orthodox): Homily On The Nativity Of The Most Pure Theotokos @ Mystagogy.

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Cyril of Jerusalem: “Thou Hast Prepared a Table Before Me in the Presence of Them that Afflict Me” Sunday, Jun 2 2013

(Following on from here…)

David says, Thou hast prepared a table before me in the presence of them that afflict me (Psalm 22).

What he says, is to this effect:  Before Thy coming, the evil spirits prepared a table for men…; but since Thy coming. O Lord, Thou hast prepared a table before me.

When the man says to God, Thou hast prepared before me a table, what other does he indicate but that mystical and spiritual Table, which God hath prepared for us over against, that is, contrary and in opposition to the evil spirits?

And very truly; for that had communion with devils, but this, with God.

[...] And thy cup intoxicateth me, as very strong.  You see that cup here spoken of, which Jesus took in His hands, and gave thanks, and said, This is My blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Solomon also, hinting at this grace, says in Ecclesiastes, Come hither, eat thy bread with joy (that is, the spiritual bread; Come hither, he calls with the call to salvation and blessing),

and drink thy wine with a merry heart (that is, the spiritual wine); and let oil be poured out upon thy head (here he alludes even to the mystic Chrism);

and let thy garments be always white, for the Lord is well pleased with thy works; for before you came to Baptism, your works were vanity of vanities.

But now, having put off your old garments, and put on those which are spiritually white, you must be continually robed in white…, by which we mean… that you must be clad in the garments that are truly white and shining and spiritual, that you may say with the blessed Isaiah,

My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with a garment of salvation, and put a robe of gladness around me.

Having learnt these things, you can be  fully assured that the seeming bread is not bread, though sensible to taste, but the Body of Christ; and that the seeming wine is not wine, though the taste will have it so, but the Blood of Christ.

Of this David sung of old, saying, And bread strengtheneth man’s heart, to make his face to shine with oil; so also you must “strengthen your heart,” by partaking thereof as of something spiritual, and “make the face of your soul to shine.”

And so having it unveiled with a pure conscience, may you reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord, and proceed from glory to glory, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-186): Catechetical Lectures 22, 7-9.

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Macarius the Egyptian: We Have Not Yet Taken to Ourselves the Gladness of Christ’s Salvation Friday, May 24 2013

(Continued from here…)

Do you wish to know why we, who were created in honour and put to live in paradise, came at last to be compared unto the beasts that have no understanding and were made like to them, having fallen from the glory of innocence?

Understand that, having become by the transgression the slaves of the fleshly passions, we shut ourselves out of the happy land of the living, and, being reduced to captivity, we are still sitting by the waters of Babylon.

And because we are still held in Egypt, we have not yet inherited the land of promise, flowing with milk and honey.

We have not yet been leavened with the leaven of sincerity, but are still in the leaven of wickedness.

Our heart is not yet sprinkled with the blood of God; for the snare of hell, and the hook of sin is still fixed in it.

We have not yet taken to ourselves the gladness of Christ’s salvation, for the sting of death is still rooted in us.

We have not yet put on the new man, which after God is created in holiness, since we have not yet put off the old man which is corrupt according to the sinful lusts.

We have not yet borne the image of the heavenly, nor been made conformed to His glory.

We have not yet worshipped God in spirit and in truth, because sin reigns in our mortal body.

We have not yet beheld the glory of the incorruptible, for we are still under the operation of the moonless night .

We have not yet put on the armour of light, since we have not yet put off the armour and the darts and the works of darkness.

We have not yet been transformed by the renewing of the mind, for we are still conformed to this world in the vanity of the mind.

We are not yet glorified with Christ, because we have not suffered with Him.

We do not yet bear in our body the marks of Him, and are not in the secret of the cross of Christ, for we are still in the affections and lusts of the flesh.

We are not yet heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, for the spirit of bondage is still in us, not that of adoption.

We have not yet become the temple of God and the habitation of the Holy Ghost, for we are still the temple of idols and the hold of the spirits of wickedness because of our propensity to the passions.

Macarius the Egyptian (c. 300-391) [attributed]: Spiritual Homily 25,4, trans. by A.J. Mason DD.

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John Climacus: When the Whole Man is Commingled with the Love of God… Wednesday, May 22 2013

If the face of a loved one clearly and completely changes us, and makes us cheerful, happy and carefree, what will the Face of the Lord not do when He makes His Presence felt invisibly in a pure soul?

Fear when it is an inner conviction of the soul destroys and devours impurity, for it is said: Nail down my flesh with the fear of Thee (Psalm 118:120).

And holy love consumes some, according to him who said: Thou hast ravished our heart, Thou hast ravished our heart (Song of Songs 4:9).

But sometimes it makes others bright and joyful, for it is said: My heart trusted in Him and I have been helped; even my flesh has revived (Psalm 27:7); and: When the heart is happy the face is cheerful (Proverbs 15:13).

So when the whole man is in a manner commingled with the love of God, then even his outward appearance in the body, as in a kind of mirror, shows the splendour of his soul.

That is how Moses who had looked upon God was glorified (cf. Exodus 34; 2 Corinthians 3:14).

Those who have reached such an angelic state often forget about bodily food. I think that often they do not even feel any desire for it. And no wonder, for frequently a contrary desire knocks out the thought of food.

I think that the body of those incorruptible men is not even subject to sickness any longer, because it has been rendered incorruptible; for they have purified the inflammable flesh in the flame of purity.

I think that even the food that is set before them they accept without any pleasure. For there is an underground stream that nourishes the root of a plant, and their souls too are sustained by a celestial fire.

The growth of fear is the beginning of love, but a complete state of purity is the foundation of theology.

He who has perfectly united his feeling to God is mystically led by Him to an understanding of His words. But without this union it is difficult to speak about God.

The engrafted Word (cf. James 1:21) perfects purity, and slays death by His presence; and after the slaying of death, the disciple of divine knowledge is illumined.

The Word of the Lord which is from God the Father is pure, and remains so eternally. But he who has not come to know God merely speculates.

Purity makes its disciple a theologian, who of himself grasps the dogmas of the Trinity.

John Climacus (c.575-c.650): The Ladder of Divine Ascent, step 30, 16-24, translated by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore (Harper & Brothers, 1959) @ Prudence True.

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Bede the Venerable: Passover, Pentecost and Jubilee Monday, May 20 2013

Behold how the Jewish feast of the Law is a foreshadowing of our feast today.

When the children of Israel had been freed from slavery in Egypt by the offering of the paschal lamb, they journeyed through the desert toward the Promised Land, and they reached Mount Sinai.

On the fiftieth day after the Passover, the Lord descended upon the mountain in fire, and with the sound of a trumpet and with thunder and lightning, He gave them the ten commandments of the Law.

[...] We already know that the Passover Lamb and the deliverance from Egypt foreshadow the death of Christ and our deliverance from sin, as it is written: “Christ our Passover Lamb is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:7).

He is “the true Lamb Who has taken away the sins of the world” (John 1:29), Who has redeemed us from the slavery of sin at the price of His blood, and by the example of His resurrection has shown us the hope of life and everlasting liberty.

The Law was given on the fiftieth day after the slaying of the lamb, when the Lord descended upon the mountain in fire; likewise on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of our Redeemer, which is today, the grace of the Holy Spirit, descending in the outward appearance of fire, was given to the disciples as they were assembled in the upper room.

The height of the mountain, and the elevation of the upper room, both indicate the sublimity of the commands and of the gifts.

At the sealing of the first covenant, the people remained at the base of the mountain, a handful of elders went partway up, and only Moses ascended to the summit.

At the sealing of the second covenant, the whole community of God’s people was gathered at the summit, in the upper room.

[...] In the law, the fiftieth year was ordered to be called the Year of Jubilee. During that year, all debts were to be cancelled, all slaves to be set free, the very beasts of burden to be eased from their yokes, and the year given over to celebrating the Divine praises.

Therefore, by this number is rightly indicated the tranquillity of that greatest peace when, at the sound of the trumpet, the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed into glory.

Then, when we are freed from every yoke of sin…the entire company of the people of God will give themselves over to contemplating the Heavenly Vision, and the command of the Lord will be fulfilled: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

The Venerable Bede (672/4-735): Homily on the Feast of Pentecost @ Society of Archbishop Justus.

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Gregory Palamas: Clothed in Immortality, Glory and Incorruption by the Power of the Holy Spirit Thursday, May 16 2013

Christ…, in His all-surpassing love for mankind, showed at Pentecost that His disciples were partakers, fathers and ministers of everlasting light and life, who bring us to new birth for eternal life and make those who are worthy children of the Light and fathers of enlightenment.

Thus, He Himself is with us unto the end of the world, as was promised through the Spirit (Matt. 28:20). For He is One with the Father and the Spirit, not according to hypostasis, but in His divinity, and God is One in Three, in one tri-hypostatic and almighty divinity.

The Holy Spirit always existed and was with the Son in the Father. How could the Father and divine Mind be without beginning if the Son and Word were not also without beginning? How could there be a pre-eternal Word without there also being a pre-eternal Spirit?

Thus the Holy Spirit ever was and is and will be, co-Creator with the Father and the Son, together with them renewing that which has suffered corruption, and sustaining the things that endure.

He is everywhere present and fills, directs and oversees everything. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit”, says the Psalmist to God, “Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Ps. 139:7). He is ‘not just everywhere, but also above all, not just in every age and time, but before them all.

And, according to the promise, the Holy Spirit will not just be with us until the end of the age, but rather will stay with those who are worthy in the age to come, making them immortal and filling their bodies as well with eternal glory, as the Lord indicated by telling His disciples, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16).

“It is sown”, says the Apostle (meaning buried and committed to the earth), “a dead natural body”, that is to, say, an ordinary created body with a created soul, stable and capable of movement.

“It is raised” (that is, comes back to life), “a spiritual body” (cf. 1Cor. 15:44), which means a supernatural body, framed and ordered by the Holy Spirit, and clothed in immortality, glory and incorruption by the Spirit’s power (cf. 1Cor. 15:53).

“The first man, Adam”, he says, “was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly” (cf. 1Cor. 15:45,47-48).

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): On Pentecost, 12-13 @Mystagogy.

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Basil the Great: The Dispensations Made for Man by Jesus Christ are Accomplished through the Grace of the Spirit Tuesday, May 14 2013

When we speak of the dispensations made for man by our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who will gainsay their having been accomplished through the grace of the Spirit?

Whether you wish to examine ancient evidence;—the blessings of the patriarchs, the succour given through the legislation, the types, the prophecies, the valorous feats in war, the signs wrought through just men;—or on the other hand the things done in the dispensation of the coming of our Lord in the flesh;—all is through the Spirit.

In the first place He was made an unction, and being inseparably present was with the very flesh of the Lord, according to that which is written, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is” “my beloved Son;” and “Jesus of Nazareth” whom “God anointed with the Holy Ghost.”

After this every operation was wrought with the co-operation of the Spirit.  He was present when the Lord was being tempted by the devil; for, it is said, “Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.” He was inseparably with Him while working His wonderful works; for, it is said, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils.”

And He did not leave Him when He had risen from the dead; for when renewing man, and, by breathing on the face of the disciples, restoring the grace, that came of the inbreathing of God, which man had lost, what did the Lord say?  “Receive ye the Holy Ghost:  whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever ye retain, they are retained.”

And is it not plain and incontestable that the ordering of the Church is effected through the Spirit?  For He gave, it is said, “in the church, first Apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues,” for this order is ordained in accordance with the division of the gifts that are of the Spirit.

Moreover by anyone who carefully uses his reason it will be found that even at the moment of the expected appearance of the Lord from heaven the Holy Spirit…will be present with Him.

For who is so ignorant of the good things prepared by God for them that are worthy, as not to know that the crown of the righteous is the grace of the Spirit, bestowed in more abundant and perfect measure in that day, when spiritual glory shall be distributed to each in proportion as he shall have nobly played the man?

Basil the Great (330-379): On the Holy Spirit 16, 39-40.

 

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