Thomas Aquinas: Renewal Through the Holy Spirit Monday, May 28 2012

Renewal through the Holy Spirit consists, first of all, of the grace that cleanses. Sin is a sort of old age of the soul, and a man is only freed from this old age through justifying grace, by which he is cleansed from sin…: “As Christ has risen from the dead, so also let us walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

[...] Secondly, this renewal consists in the justice that is ever making progress. If one should walk, grow tired, and become weak, and then he rests, his powers seem to him to be renewed; and when a man works diligently, he is renewed when he gains further power for working.

[...]  Thirdly, renewal comes about through the wisdom that illuminates. When a man comes to new knowledge of more of the good things of God, he is renewed. About this renewal it says in Colossians: “Put on the new man who is created according to God.”

The “new man” indicates Christ, because His was a new kind of conception, “not from the seed of man, but from the Holy Spirit”;

a new kind of birth, because His mother remained a virgin after birth; a new kind of suffering, because it was without guilt; a new kind of rising from the dead, because it was quick and renewing, for He rose quickly and in glory;

a new kind of ascension, because he ascended by His own power, not by that of another, as did Enoch and Elijah. And so it is said in Ecclesiasticus: “Show signs anew and work wonders” (Sir. 36:6).

And because all things are renewed through Christ, therefore on solemnities we use new vestments in church, that we may “sing to the Lord a new song”—as though to signify that he who is renewed by the exterior cleanness of his clothing is renewed interiorly in his mind by grace.

By “stripping off the old man,” i.e., the habit of sins with its deeds, “and putting on” the habit of virtue which is not lacking in [good] deeds, “the new man,” i.e., the rational mind, will be renewed “in the knowledge of God” (Col. 3:9-10). As Romans has it, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14).

[...] Fourthly, renewal comes about through the glory that attains consummation, when the body is renewed, the oldness of punishment and guilt being taken away. We read about this in the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;” (Is. 65:17).

And where does this renewal come from? The Holy Spirit. He is the pledge of our inheritance, and it is He who leads us into the heavenly inheritance. He who needs to be created and renewed shall obtain this from the Holy Spirit.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): Sermon “Emitte Spiritum”.

Leave a Response »

 

Prosper Guéranger: These Fifty Days of Easter Are the Image of Our Eternal Happiness Sunday, Apr 29 2012

Eternity in heaven is the true Pasch: hence, our Pasch here on earth is the feast of feasts, the solemnity of solemnities.

The human race was dead; it was the victim of that sentence, whereby it was condemned to lie mere dust in the tomb; the gates of life were shut against it.

But see! The Son of God rises from his grave and takes possession of eternal life.

Nor is he the only one that is to die no more, for, as the Apostle teaches us, ‘He is the first-born from the dead’(Col. 1:18).

The Church would, therefore, have us consider ourselves as having already risen with our Jesus, and as having already taken possession of eternal life.

The holy Fathers bid us look on these fifty days of Easter as the image of our eternal happiness.

They are days devoted exclusively to joy; every  sort of sadness is forbidden; and the Church cannot speak to her  divine Spouse without joining to her words that glorious cry of  heaven, the Alleluia, wherewith, as the holy Liturgy says, the streets and squares of the heavenly Jerusalem resound without  ceasing.

We have been forbidden the use of this joyous word during the past nine weeks; it behoved us to die with Christ.

But now that we have risen together with him from the tomb, and that we are resolved to die no more that death which kills the soul and caused our Redeemer to die on the cross, we have a right to our Alleluia.

The providence of God, who has established harmony between the visible world and the supernatural work of grace, willed that the Resurrection of our Lord should take place at that particular season of the year when even Nature herself seems to rise from the grave.

The meadows give forth their verdure, the trees resume  their foliage, the birds fill the air with their songs, and the  sun, the type of our triumphant Jesus, pours out his floods of  light on our earth made new by lovely spring.

[...] Speaking, in the Canticle, to the faithful soul, and inviting her to take her part in this new life  which he is now imparting to every creature, our Lord himself says:

‘Arise, my dove, and come! Winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land. The voice of the turtle is heard. The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs.  The vines, in flower, yield their sweet smell. Arise thou, and come!’(Song 10:13).

Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875): The Liturgical Year, tr. Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., Vol. 6, (Newman Pr., Westminster, Md, 1952).

Leave a Response »

 

Irenaeus of Lyons: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Restoration of the Image of God Thursday, Apr 26 2012

By the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not merely a part of man, was made in the likeness of God.

Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was moulded after the image of God.

[...] When the spirit here blended with the soul is united to God’s handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and likeness of God.

But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image of God in his formation, but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect.

[...] That flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the soul itself, considered apart by itself, the man; but it is the soul of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the spirit a man, for it is called the spirit, and not a man; but the commingling and union of all these constitutes the perfect man.

And for this cause does the apostle, explaining himself, make it clear that the saved man is a complete man as well as a spiritual man; saying thus in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Now the God of peace sanctify you perfect; and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved whole without complaint to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now what was his object in praying that these three — that is, soul, body, and spirit — might be preserved to the coming of the Lord, unless he was aware of the [future] reintegration and union of the three, and that they should be heirs of one and the same salvation? For this cause also he declares that those are “the perfect” who present unto the Lord the three component parts without offence.

Those, then, are the perfect who have had the Spirit of God remaining in them, and have preserved their souls and bodies blameless, holding fast the faith of God, that is, that faith which is directed towards God, and maintaining righteous dealings with respect to their neighbours.

Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century AD – c. 202): Adversus Haereses, 5, 6, 1.

Leave a Response »

 

Cyril of Alexandria: Like Abraham, We Shall Be Called Righteous and Friends of God Monday, Jun 27 2011

Abraham believed in God and that his faith was counted as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.

[...] He heard God say to him: Leave your own land and your kindred, and go to the land that I will show you.

When he was commanded to sacrifice his only son as a type of Christ, he learned God’s hidden purpose.

[...] He was even deemed worthy to converse with God, and he knew God’s plan, which was to be accomplished in the last days.

[...] But now see how events have repeated themselves for those who rise through faith to the friendship of our Saviour Christ.

They too heard the command to leave their country, and that they left it eagerly we know from their own declaration that We have here no lasting city, but seek one that is to come, whose builder and maker is God.

For those who are citizens of heaven are strangers and sojourners on earth; so great is their love for God that they have abandoned as it were their native land, and long for the resting place above.

The Saviour gave them a glimpse of this when he said to them: I am going to prepare a place for you; and when I come again I will take you with me, so that where I am you may be also.

They heard the command to leave their kindred. How shall we show this? We will refer to Christ’s own words: Anyone who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.

There can be no doubt that relationship with God comes before earthly and physical relationship, and that among his followers love for Christ is far stronger than any other love.

Blessed Abraham was commanded to offer his own son to God as a fragrant odour; others, girded with the righteousness of faith, are commanded to offer only them­selves.

Present your bodies, wrote the Apostle, as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God – that is your spiritual worship.

Of these it is also written: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, with its passions and desires.

Such people know the mystery that is in Christ, since they know the powers of the age to come, and what will happen at the end of time, when they will receive the rewards of their labours, and the recompense for their devotion to Christ.

Thus, like Abraham, we shall be called righteous and friends of God.

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376-444): Commentary on John X (PG 74:386-7); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Sunday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1.

Leave a Response »

 

Cyril of Jerusalem: Having His Body and Blood in Our Members, We Become Bearers of Christ and Sharers in the Divine Nature Sunday, Jun 26 2011

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body”.

He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take, drink: this is my blood”.

Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt?

Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not his blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ.

His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with him.

Having his body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you.

This horrified them and they left him. Not understanding his words in a spiritual way, they thought the Savior wished them to practice cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged.

Under the new covenant there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation.

These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared.

Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ.

You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness.

Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that be contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-186): Catechetical Lectures 22, 3-6, from the Office of Readings for Saturday of the Octave of Eastertide @ Crossroads Initiative.

Leave a Response »

 

Macarius the Egyptian: Anointed in Mind and Heart with the Sanctifying Oil of Gladness, We Receive the Pledge of the Holy Spirit Thursday, Jun 16 2011

Mature Christians who are deemed worthy to attain perfection, and to come close to the King, are always consecrated to the Cross of Christ.

As in prophetic times anointing was regarded as a most honourable rite, since kings and prophets were anointed, so now spiritual men are anointed with a heavenly unction and become Christians by grace so that they too may be kings, and prophets or heavenly mysteries.

They are sons and lords and gods, bound, held captive, overwhelmed, crucified and consecrated.

Anointing with oil from a visible plant, a tree that could be seen, had such virtue that those anointed received an undisputed dig­nity, for this was the recognized way of appointing kings.

David, for example, after his anointing, was immediately exposed to persecutions and afflictions, and then after seven years he became King.

How much more, then, do those who are anointed in mind and heart with the sanctifying and cheering oil of gladness, the heavenly and spiritual unction, receive the seal of that kingdom of incorruptible and eternal power, namely the pledge of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit?

And this Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete because of the encouragement and grace he gives to those who suffer.

Anointed with ointment from the tree of life, Jesus Christ, the heavenly plant, these men are counted worthy to attain perfec­tion, to become kings and adopted sons of God, sharing in the secrets of the heavenly King and enjoying free access to the Al­mighty.

Even while still in this world they enter his palace, the dwelling-place of the angels and the spirits of the Saints.

For although they are not yet in possession of that perfect inheritance prepared for them in the age to come, they are as fully assured of it through the pledge they have received here on earth as though they were already crowned, already reigning.

Christians find nothing strange in the fact that they are destined to reign in the world to come, since they have known the mysteries of grace beforehand.

When man transgressed the commandment, the devil shrouded the soul with a covering of darkness.

But with the coming of grace the veil is entirely stripped away, so that with clear eyes the soul, now cleansed and restored to its true nature, which was created pure and blameless, ever clearly beholds the glory of the true light, the true Sun of Righteousness, brilliantly shining in its inmost being.

Macarius the Egyptian (c. 300-391) [this homily, like much of the Macarian corpus is generally attributed to the anonymous author known as Pseudo-Macarius): Macarian Homilies 17.1-4 (PG 34:794-6); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I.

 

Leave a Response »

 

Augustine of Hippo: The Holy Spirit is the Gift of God to Those Who Love God Through Him Wednesday, Jun 15 2011

The Apostle Paul says: To each of us is given grace according to the measure of the donation of Christ.

To show that the donation of Christ is the Holy Spirit he went on to add, That is why it says, he ascended on high, he took captivity captive, he gave gifts to men.

But it is public knowledge that when the Lord Jesus had ascended to heaven after his resurrec­tion from the dead he gave the Holy Spirit.

[...] And do not let it worry you that he says ‘gifts’, not ‘gift’. He was quoting the text from a psalm: you have ascended on high, you have taken captivity captive, you have received gifts among men.

Elsewhere he mentions many gifts, and then says, All these does one and the same Spirit achieve, distributing them severally to each as he wills.

The same word is found in the Letter to the Hebrews, where it is written, God bearing witness with signs and portents and various mighty deeds and distribu­tion of the Holy Spirit. [...] The Apostle Peter, speaking about Christ to the Jews who were moved in their hearts and saying, What shall we do, brothers? said to them:

Repent, and let each one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And there is a lot more scriptural evidence which all conspires to prove that the Holy Spirit is the gift of God, in that he is given to those who love God through him.

[...] Insofar as people now see that the Holy Spirit is called the gift of God, they must realize of course that when they hear the phrase, the gift of the Holy Spirit, they are to recognize the same figure of speech as in the phrase, in the stripping of the body of flesh.

Just as the body of flesh is nothing but flesh, so the gift of the Holy Spirit is nothing but the Holy Spirit.

So he is the gift of God insofar as he is given to those to whom he is given; but in himself he is God even if he is not given to anyone, because he was God, co-eternal with the Father and the Son, even before he was given to anyone.

Nor is he less than the Father and the Son because they give and he is given: he is given as God’s gift in such a way that as God he also gives himself.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430:  On the Trinity 15,  from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1.

Leave a Response »

 

Hilary of Poitiers: We Are Inundated by the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Monday, Jun 13 2011

The river of God is brimming with water. You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.

There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God.

And in the gospel, the Lord himself says: Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him.

He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

And from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in full flood.

We also have food prepared for us. And who is this food?

It is he in whom we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we receive a place in the communion of his holy body.

This is what is meant by the words of the psalm:

You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.

For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.

We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit.

We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom.

We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing.

Demons are made subject to our authority.

These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.

Hilary of Poitiers (c.300-368): @ Crossroads Initiative.       

Leave a Response »

 

Ephrem the Syrian: May the Spiritual Waters of Your Love Cleanse the Effects of Mortality from Our Hearts Thursday, Jun 9 2011

Lord, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity.

Sunrise marks the hour for men to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end.

Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer.

Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun.

In your sacrament we daily embrace you and receive you into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope.

We have had your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at your sacramental table.

Teach us to find our joy in your favour! Lord, we have within us your memorial, received at your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

We glimpse the beauty that is laid up for us when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty your immortal will now creates within our mortal selves.

Saviour, your crucifixion marked the end of your mortal life; teach us to crucify ourselves and make way for our life in the Spirit.

May your resurrection, Jesus, bring true greatness to our spiritual self and may your sacraments be the mirror wherein we may know that self.

Saviour, your divine plan for the world is a mirror for the spiritual world; teach us to walk in that world as spiritual men.

Lord, do not deprive our souls of the spiritual vision of you nor our bodies of your warmth and sweetness.

The mortality lurking in our bodies spreads corruption through us; may the spiritual waters of your love cleanse the effects of mortality from our hearts.

Grant, Lord, that we may hasten to our true city and, like Moses on the mountain top, possess it now in vision.

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Sermon 3, from the Office of Readings for the feast of St. Ephrem, June 9^th @ Crossroads Initiative.

Leave a Response »

 

John Henry Newman: We have Lost Christ and We have Found Him Sunday, Jun 5 2011

He says; I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

And He says shortly before it, It is expedient for you that I go away.

And again: I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more: but ye see Me.

Thus Christ’s going to the Father is at once a source of sorrow, because it involves His absence; and of joy, because it involves His presence.

And out of the doctrine of His resurrection and ascension, spring those Christian paradoxes, often spoken of in Scripture, that we are sorrowing, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.

This, indeed, is our state at present; we have lost Christ and we have found Him; we see Him not, yet we discern Him.

We embrace His feet, yet He says, Touch Me not.

How is this? it is thus: we have lost the sensible and conscious perception of Him;

we cannot look on Him, hear Him, converse with Him, follow Him from place to place;

but we enjoy the spiritual, immaterial, inward, mental, real sight and possession of Him;

a possession more real and more present than that which the Apostles had in the days of His flesh, because it is spiritual, because it is invisible.

We know that the closer any object of this world comes to us, the less we can contemplate it and comprehend it.

Christ has come so close to us in the Christian Church (if I may so speak), that we cannot gaze on Him or discern Him.

He enters into us, He claims and takes possession of His purchased inheritance;

He does not present Himself to us, but He takes us to Him. He makes us His members.

Our faces are, as it were, turned from Him;

we see Him not, and know not of His presence, except by faith, because He is over us and within us.

And thus we may at the same time lament because we are not conscious of His presence, as the Apostles enjoyed it before His death;

and may rejoice because we know we do possess it even more than they, according to the text,

whom having not seen (that is, with the bodily eyes) ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).

John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890): Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. 6, Sermon 10. The Spiritual Presence of Christ in the Church.

One Response »