St. Paulinus of Nola
Letter 38, 3-4 (PL 61, 359-360)
“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”
From the beginning of the world Christ suffers in all his own, for he is “the beginning and the end”, (Rv 1,8) who is cloaked in the Law and revealed in the Gospel, a Lord ever “wonderful” and suffering and triumphant “in His saints” (2Thes 1,10; Ps 67,36 LXX).
In Abel he was killed by his brother, in Noah he was laughed at by his son, in Abraham he wandered abroad, in Isaac he was sacrificed, in Jacob he was a servant, in Joseph he was sold, in Moses he was exposed and made to flee, in the persons of his prophets he was stoned and lacerated, in his apostles he was storm-tossed on land and sea, and on the many different crosses of the blessed martyrs he was often executed.
So, too, he now also bears our weaknesses and our sickness, for he is the Man who was always set in the snare for us, and who knows how to endure the weakness which we cannot bear and know not how to bear without him. He, I say, now also bears the weight of the world for us and in us, and destroys it by bearing it, and achieves “strength in weakness” (2Cor 12,9). It is he who suffers the taunts which you endure; it is against him that the world directs the hatred which you experience.
But thanks be to him, because he overcomes when he is judged (cf. Rom 3,4); and as you remember from Scripture, the Lord enables us to triumph under the appearance of slavery. He gained for his servants the grace of freedom.
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St. John-Mary Vianney
from Catechism on Prayer
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
You see, my children, the Christian’s treasure is not on earth; it is in heaven (Mt 6:20). So our thinking must go to where our treasure is. The human person has a beautiful task: to pray and to love. You pray, you love – that is the human being’s happiness on earth.
Prayer is nothing other than union with God. When our heart is pure and united with God, we feel within ourselves a balm, an intoxicating sweetness, a dazzling light. In this intimate union, God and the human person are like two pieces of wax that have melted together; you can no longer separate them. This union of God with his little creature is something beautiful. It is a happiness that we cannot understand. We had deserved not to pray; but God in his goodness allows us to speak to him. Our prayer is incense, which he receives with tremendous pleasure.
My children, your heart is small, but prayer expands it and makes it able to love God. Prayer is a foretaste of heaven, an outflowing of paradise. It never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey, which descends into the soul and sweetens everything. Sorrows melt in prayer well done like snow in the sun.
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Tertullian
from the Treatise On the Prescription of Heretics, 20-22; (CCL I, 201)
St. Matthias, apostle, one of the twelve foundation stones of the Church (Rev 21:14)
Our Lord Jesus Christ himself declared what he was, what he had been, how he was carrying out his Father’s will, what obligations he demanded of men. This he did during his earthly life, either publicly to the crowds or privately to his disciples.
Twelve of these he picked out to be his special companions, appointed to teach the nations. One of them fell from his place. The remaining eleven were commanded by Christ, as he was leaving the earth to return to the Father after his resurrection, to go and teach the nations and to baptise them into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19).
The apostles cast lots and added Matthias to their number, in place of Judas, as the twelfth apostle. The authority for this action is to be found in a prophetic psalm of David. After receiving the power of the Holy Spirit which had been promised to them, so that they could work miracles and proclaim the truth, they first bore witness to their faith in Jesus Christ and established churches throughout Judea. They then went out into the whole world and proclaimed to the nations the same doctrinal faith.
They set up churches in every city. Other churches received from them a living transplant of faith and the seed of doctrine… They bear witness to their unity by the peace in which they all live, the brotherhood which is their name, the fellowship to which they are pledged. The principle on which these associations are based is common tradition by which they share the same sacramental bond.
The only way in which we can prove what the apostles taught – that is to say, what Christ revealed to them – is through those same churches. They were founded by the apostles themselves, who first preached to them by what is called the living voice and later by means of letters.
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St. Augustine
from Sermon 98, 1, 2 (PLS 2, 494-495)
Already on high with him
Our Lord Jesus Christ has risen up to heaven today; may our hearts rise up to heaven along with him! Let us hear what the apostle Paul says to us: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3,1).
Just as Jesus ascended without, however, departing from us, so we too already live with him above even though what we have been promised has not yet come to pass in our flesh. He is already raised up above the heavens and yet he suffers on earth all the pains that we, his members, feel.
To this he bore witness when he called out from above: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9,4), and again: “I was hungry and you gave me food” (Mt 25,35). Why not work together with him on this earth in such a way that, through the faith, hope and charity that unite us to him, we may even now find rest with him in heaven?
He who is there is likewise here with us; and we who are here are likewise there with him. He can do all this by means of his divinity, power and love; and we, if we cannot like him do it through divinity, can do it in him through love. He did not leave heaven when he came down to us and he has not left us when he went up to heaven… That he would remain with us even when above, he promised before his Ascension when he said: “Behold I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28,20).
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Ven. Cardinal John Henry Newman
from Meditations and Devotions, ch. 14 (The Paraclete, 3)
“If I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you”
My God, I adore thee, O Eternal Paraclete, the light and the life of my soul. Thou mightest have been content with merely giving me good suggestions, inspiring grace and helping from without. Thou mightest thus have led me on, cleansing me with thy inward virtue, when I changed my state from this world to the next. But in thine infinite compassion thou hast from the first entered into my soul, and taken possession of it. Thou hast made it thy temple.
Thou dwellest in me by thy grace in an ineffable way, uniting me to thyself and the whole company of angels and saints. Nay, as some have held, thou art present in me, not only by thy grace, but by thy eternal substance, as if, though I did not lose my own individuality, yet in some sense I was even here absorbed in God. Nay—as though thou hadst taken possession of my very, body, this earthly, fleshly, wretched tabernacle—even my body is thy temple (1Cor 6,19). O astonishing, awful truth! I believe it, I know it, O my God!
O my God, can I sin when thou art so intimately with me? Can I forget who is with me, who is in me? Can I expel a Divine Inhabitant by that which he abhors more than anything else, which is the one thing in the whole world which is offensive to him, the only thing which is not his?… My God, I have a double security against sinning; first the dread of such a profanation of all thou art to me in thy very presence; and next because I do trust that that presence will preserve me from sin… I will call on thee when tried and tempted… Through thee I will never forsake thee.
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St. Teresa of Avila
from Spiritual Testimonies, 49, 51
“If anyone loves me… we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”
Once while I was recollected in this company I always bear with me in my soul, God seemed so present to me that I thought of St. Peter’s words: “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God” (Mt 16,16). For God was thus living in my soul.
This presence is not like other visions, because it is accompanied by such living faith that one cannot doubt that the Trinity is in our souls by presence, power, and essence. It is an extremely beneficial thing to understand this truth. Since I was amazed to see such majesty in something so lowly as my soul, I heard: “It is not lowly, daughter, for it is made in my image” (Gn 1,27).
Once while with this presence of the three Persons that I carry about in my soul, I experienced so much light you couldn’t doubt the living and true God was there… I was reflecting upon how arduous a life this is that deprives us of being always in that wonderful company, and… the Lord said to me: “Think, daughter, of how after this life is finished you will not be able to serve me in ways you can now. Eat for me and sleep for me, and let everything you do be for me, as though you no longer lived but I; for this is what St. Paul was speaking of” (Gal 2,20).
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St. Cyprian
from Letter 56
“Because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you”
Our Lord’s will is that we should rejoice and leap for joy when we are persecuted (Mt 5,12) because, when persecutions come, it is then that crowns of faith are given (cf. Jas 1,12), then that Christ’s soldiers prove themselves, then that the heavens open to their witnesses. We aren’t employed among God’s forces only to think of quiet, running away from service when the Teacher of humility, patience and suffering has himself provided the same service before us.
What he taught he first of all carried out, and if he exhorts us to stand firm it is because he himself suffered before us and on our behalf.
In order to take part in competitions in the stadium we exercise and train ourselves and think ourselves highly honoured if, before the eyes of the crowd, we have the happiness of receiving the prize. But here is a trial that is noble and stunning in another way, in which God watches us – we, his children – take part in the combat and himself gives us a heavenly crown (1Cor 9,25).
The angels watch us, too, and Christ comes to our aid. So let us arm ourselves with all our strength; let us fight the good fight with brave hearts and solid faith.
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Dorotheus of Gaza
from Instructions, 6, 76-78 (SC 92, p. 281-287)
Love of God and neighbor
The more we are united to our neighbor, the more we are united to God. So that you can understand the meaning of this saying I’m going to give you an image taken from the Fathers: imagine a circle drawn on the ground, that is to say a line drawn into a round shape with a compass, having a centre. We refer to the middle of the circle as being the exact centre. Now give your attention to what I am saying.
Imagine that this circle is the world, its centre is God and each radius represents different ways or kinds of lifestyle. When the saints, desiring to draw near to God, move towards the middle of the circle, then to the degree to which they penetrate further into its interior they draw closer to each other even as they draw closer to God. The closer they draw to God, the closer they draw to each other; and the closer they draw to each other, the closer they draw to God.
From this you will understand that the same thing applies conversely when we turn away from God to withdraw outside the circle: then it becomes obvious that, the more we withdraw from God, the more we withdraw from each other, and the more we withdraw from each other, the more we also withdraw from God..
Such is the nature of charity. To the extent that we stand outside and do not love God, to the same extent each one of us stands apart with regard to their neighbor. But if we love God, then insofar as we come closer to God through our love for him, we also participate in love of neighbor to the same extent. And insofar as we are united to our neighbor we are equally so to God.
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Thomas de Celano
from Vita Secunda of St. Francis, 125 and 127
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you”
St.Francis maintained: “My best defense against all the plots and tricks of the enemy is still the spirit of joy. The devil is never so happy as when he has succeeded in robbing one of God’s servants of the joy in his or her soul. The devil always has some dust on hold that he blows into someone’s conscience through a small basement window so as to make opaque what is pure. But in a heart that is filled with joy, he tries in vain to introduce his deadly poison.
The demons can do nothing against a servant of Christ whom they find filled with holy gladness; whereas a dejected, morose and depressed soul easily lets itself be submerged in sorrow or captured by false pleasures.”
That is why he himself always tried to keep his heart joyful, to preserve that oil of gladness with which his soul had been anointed (Ps 45:7). He took great care to avoid sorrow, the worst of illnesses, and when he felt that it was beginning to infiltrate his soul, he immediately had recourse to prayer. He said: “At the first sign of trouble, the servant of God must get up, begin to pray, and remain before the Father until the latter has caused him or her to retrieve the joy of the person who is saved.” (Ps 51:12)…
I sometimes saw Francis with my own eyes picking up a piece of wood from the ground, placing it on his left arm, and scraping it with a straight stick as if he were moving a bow on a violin. In this way, he mimed an accompaniment to the praises he was singing to the Lord in French.
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Blessed Charles de Foucauld
from Meditations on the Psalms, Ps 1
Yielding fruit in due season
“Happy the man who… meditates on the Law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season” (Ps 1,1-3). O my God, you tell me how happy I shall be, happy with a true happiness, happy on the last day… and that, wretched though I be, I am a palm tree planted near running waters, waters running with your divine will, your divine love and grace… and that I shall yield my fruit in due season.
Thus you deign to comfort me. It seems to me that I am without fruit, without any good works, and I say to myself: I was converted eleven years ago and what have I done? What comparison is there between the works accomplished by the saints and my own? I see myself with hands completely empty.
But you deign to comfort me; you tell me: “You will bear fruit in your season”… What season is this? The season that comes to all of us is the hour of judgement. And you promise me that, if I persevere with good will and in the struggle, however small I see myself to be, I shall yield fruit at the final hour.
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Thomas a Kempis
from Imitation of Christ Bk.1, ch.11
“My peace I give to you”
We could have great peace if we were willing not to busy ourselves with the sayings and doings of others, for which we bear no responsibility. How can you remain long at peace if you interfere in other people’s business, if you are on the watch for a chance to leave your solitude, if your inner recollection is slight and sporadic? Blessed are the simple, for they have great peace.
What is it that made some of the saints such perfect contemplatives? Their whole study was to deaden themselves to every earthly desire, and so they could wholly cleave to God from the very depth of their heart, and freely give time to himself. But as for us, we are too much taken up with our appetites, too anxious about transitory things. We seldom perfectly conquer even one fault; so frigid and tepid we remain.
If we were perfectly dead to ourselves, and free of all inner involvements; then we could also taste the things of God, and have some experience of heavenly contemplation. It is total and utter hindrance to me that we are not free from passion and lust; and we do not undertake the perfect way of the Saints. When we meet with even slight adversity, we are quickly thrown and we turn to human comforts.
If we were to try like gallant warriors to stand firm in battle; then surely we should see the help of God upon us from heaven. For he is ready to help those who struggle, hoping in his grace… If you did but mind what peace for yourself, what joy for others your good dispositions would secure! I think you would take much more thought for spiritual progress.
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St. Augustine
from Discourse on the Psalms, Ps. 86
Saints Philip and James, apostles, foundations of the holy city (Rv 21:19)
“Her foundations are upon the holy hills; the Lord loves the gates of Zion.” (Ps 86 87:1-2)… “You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone” (Ep 2:19-20)…
Christ, the cornerstone, and the apostles and mighty prophets, the hills that bear the fabric of the city, constitute a sort of living structure. This living building now makes its voice resound in your hearts. God himself, a master builder, is working in you through my tongue so that you may be built up into its structure, like so many squared stones….
Note the shape of a stone that has been perfectly squared off: Christians should have similar qualities. In all their trials they never fall; though pushed and, after a fashion, knocked over, they do not fall; for whatever way a square stone is turned, it still stands erect… Be similar to those squared stones, and be thus prepared for every shock; whatever the force which may push you, it cannot make you lose balance…
You will rise to take your place in this building by a sincere Christian life, by faith, hope and love. The holy city is constructed of its own citizens; they are themselves the blocks that form this city, for these stones are living: “You also,” says Scripture, “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house,” (1 P 2:5)… Why are the apostles and prophets the foundations? Because their authority is the support of our weakness… Through them we enter the kingdom of God: they proclaim it to us; and while we enter by their means, we enter also through Christ, who is himself its gate (Jn 10:9).
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St. Irenaeus of Lyons
from Against the Heresies, IV, 5
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”
God’s splendor is life-giving and therefore those who see God partake of life. This is the reason why he who cannot be grasped and is incomprehensible and invisible offers himself to our sight, understanding and grasp, that he might give life to those who take hold of him and see him. For if his greatness cannot be fathomed, neither, too, can his goodness be expressed, yet through it he allows himself to be seen and bestows life on the beholder.
It is impossible to live without Life; there is no life except through participation in God; and this participation in God consists in seeing God and rejoicing in his goodness. Therefore people will come to see God that life may be theirs… as Moses says in Deuteronomy: “In that day we shall see, because God will speak to man and he will live” (cf. Dt 5,24).
God is invisible and inexpressible… but all living beings learn through his Word that there is only one God, the Father, who contains all things and gives existence to all things, as our Lord himself also says: “No one has seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (Jn 1,18).
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St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus
from Autobiography of a Soul, Manuscript A, 2r-3r
“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places”
I had always wondered why it was that God has his preferences, instead of giving each soul an equal degree of grace… Jesus has been gracious enough to teach me a lesson about this mystery, simply by holding up to my eyes the book of nature.
I realised, then, that all the flowers he has made are beautiful; the rose in its glory, the lily in its whiteness, don’t rob the tiny violet of its sweet smell, or the daisy of’ its charming simplicity. I saw that if all these lesser blooms wanted to be roses instead, nature would lose the gaiety of her spring tide dress-there would be no little flowers to, make a pattern over the countryside.
And so it is with the world of souls, which is his garden. He wanted to have great Saints, to be his lilies and roses, but he has made lesser Saints as well; and these lesser ones must be content to rank as daisies and violets, lying at his feet and giving pleasure to his eye like that. Perfection consists simply in doing his will, and being just what he wants us to be.
This, too, was made clear to me: that our Lord’s love makes itself seen quite as much in the simplest of souls as in the most highly gifted, as long as there is no resistance offered to his grace. After all, the whole point of love is making yourself small; and if we were all like the great Doctors who have shed lustre on the Church by their brilliant teaching, there wouldn’t be much condescension on God’s part, would there, about coming into hearts like these?
But no, he has created little children, who have no idea what’s going on and can only express themselves by helpless crying: he has made the poor savages, with nothing better than the natural law to live by; and he is content to forget his dignity and come into their hearts too – these are the wild flowers that delight him by their simplicity.
It is by such condescension that God shows his infinite greatness. The sun’s light that plays on the cedar-trees plays on each tiny flower as if it were the only one in existence; and in the same way our Lord takes a special interest in each soul, as if there were no other like it.
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St. Padre Pio de Pietrelcina
from Epistle 3,707; 2,70
“If you receive the one I send, you receive me.”
After the love of our Lord, I recommend to you the love of the Church, his Spouse. She is in a sense the dove that broods and brings to birth her Spouse’s children. Always give thanks to God for being a child of the Church, following the example of so many souls who have preceded us on this wonderful path. Have great compassion for all pastors, preachers and spiritual guides; they can be found in the whole world… Pray to God for them, so that by saving themselves they might be fruitful and bring salvation to souls.
Pray for deceitful people and fervent ones alike, pray for the Holy Father, for all the spiritual and temporal needs of the Church; for she is our mother. Also say a special prayer for all who work for the salvation of souls to the Father’s glory.
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St. Anselm
from Meditation on Human Redemption
“I came into the world, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness”
Good Lord Jesus Christ, thus was I placed, neither asking nor conjecturing, when as the sun you gave me light… You threw away the leaden weight that was dragging me down, you took off the burden that pressed upon me, you drove off those who were attacking me, and opposed them on my behalf. You called me by a new name, (Rv 2,17) which you gave me from your name, the name of christian.
And I who was bent down, you made upright in your sight, saying, “Be of good cheer. I have redeemed you. I have given my life for you. You shall leave the evil you were in, and not fall into the pit to which you were going, if you cleave to me, I will lead you into my Kingdom…”
Lord, it was so with me, and this is what you have done for me! I was in darkness, knowing nothing of myself… I had fallen from righteousness into wickedness, which is the way to hell, and from blessedness to temporal misery for ever…
When I was destitute of all help, you illuminated me, and showed me what I was, for when I was still unable to see this, you taught others the truth on my behalf and you showed it to me before I asked it… You have made me sure of the salvation of my soul, for you have given your life for it… Consider, O my soul, how much my whole being owes to his love!
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Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
from No Greater Love
“My sheep hear my voice”
You will think praying is difficult if you don’t know how to go about it. We all have to help ourselves pray: first of all by having recourse to silence since we can’t place ourselves in God’s presence if we don’t practise silence, interior as well as exterior.
Becoming silent within isn’t easy but the effort is indispensable. It is only in silence that we will find new strength and real union. God’s strength will become our own so that we can do everything as it has to be done, and it will be the same regarding the union of our thoughts with his thoughts, our prayers with his prayers, our actions with his actions, our life with his life. Union is the fruit of prayer, humility and love.
God speaks in the silence of the heart. If you place yourself before God in silence and prayer, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you know your nothingness and emptiness that God can fill you with himself. The great souls of prayer are souls of great silence.
Silence causes us to see everything differently. We need silence if we are to touch the souls of others. The important thing is not what we say but what God says – what he says to us and what he says through us. In a silence like this he will listen to us; in silence like this he will speak to our souls and we will understand his voice.
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St. Thomas Aquinas
from Commentary on St John’s Gospel, 10,3
The good shepherd and the door of the sheep
Jesus has said: “I am the good shepherd.” It is clear that the title “shepherd” is applicable to Christ. For just as shepherds pasture their flocks so Christ revives the faithful with spiritual food, his own Body and Blood.
To distinguish himself from the bad shepherd and thief Jesus specifies that he is the “good shepherd”. Good, because he defends his flock with the devotion of a good soldier for his country. On the other hand, Christ has said that the shepherd goes in by the door and that he himself is that door. So when he here calls himself the shepherd we have to understand that it is he who goes in through himself. And this is indeed true since he makes it clear that he knows the Father through himself whereas we have to go in through him, and it is he who gives us blessedness.
Let us take good note that no one else but he is the door for no one else is light except by participation. John the Baptist “was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light” (Jn 1,18). It was Christ himself who “was the light that enlightens everyone” (v.9). Therefore no one can call himself the door since Christ has kept this title for himself.
However, he has handed on the title of shepherd to others and has granted it to some of his members. Indeed, Peter was one, too, and the other apostles, as well as all bishops. Jeremiah says: “I will give you shepherds according to my own heart” (3,15).
And although the leaders of the Church – who are their descendents – are all shepherds, Christ says: “I am the good shepherd” to show us the unique force of his love. No shepherd is good who is not united through love with Christ, thus becoming a member of the true shepherd.
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St. Basil of Seleucia
from Homily 26 on the Good Shepherd [PG 85, 299-308]
“I am the good shepherd, the true shepherd” (Jn 10,11)
Abel, the first shepherd, was pleasing to the Lord, who willingly accepted his sacrifice and looked with even more favor on the giver as on the gift he made (Gn 4,4). Scripture also draws attention to Jacob, the shepherd of Laban’s flocks, noting the care he took for his sheep: “How often the scorching heat ravaged me by day, and the frost by night!” (Gn 31,40); and God rewarded this man for his labor.
Moses, too, was a shepherd on the mountains of Midian, preferring to be ill-treated with God’s people than to know rejoicing [in the palace of Pharaoh]. And God, pleased at his choice, as a reward allowed him to see him (Ex 3,2). After this vision Moses did not abandon his shepherd’s office but with his staff commanded the elements (Ex 14,16) and pastured the people of Israel.
David was also a shepherd but his shepherd’s staff was changed to a royal sceptre and he received a crown. Now, do not be astonished if all these shepherds were close to God. The Lord himself was not ashamed to be called “shepherd” (Pss 23[22]; 80[79]). God was no more ashamed of pasturing men than he was of having created them. But let us now consider our own shepherd, Christ. Let us see his love for humanity and his gentleness in leading them to pasture. He takes pleasure in the sheep who surround him just as he searches for those who stray. Hills or forests are no obstacle to him; he runs down into the valley of shadow (Ps 23[22],4) to reach the place where the lost sheep is to be found… He is seen in hell; he gives the command to come out; thus he seeks for the love of his sheep. Someone who loves Christ is someone who listens to his voice.
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St. Jerome
from Lettre 53 to Paulinus
“The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life”
We read Holy Scripture: in my view, I think the Gospel is Jesus’ body, Holy Scripture is his teaching. It’s true that the text: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood” finds its most complete application in the mystery of the eucharist.
But the true Body of Christ, the true Blood, is also contained in the word of Scripture and divine teaching.
When we take part in the holy mysteries, we are concerned about it if a crumb should fall to the ground. When we hear the word of God, if we are thinking of something else while it enters our ears, what sort of responsibility will we not incur?
Since the Lord’s flesh is food indeed and his blood is real drink, to eat his flesh and drink his blood is our only good, not just in the eucharistic mystery but in the reading of Scripture, too.
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St. Padre Pio de Pietrelcina
from Letters of Padre Pio (Vicenza 1969)
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”
– Father, I feel too unworthy to receive communion! Truly, I’m not worthy.
Reply: – Yes, it’s true. We aren’t worthy of such a gift. But it’s one thing to participate unworthily in a state of grave sin and another not to be worthy of it. We are all unworthy of it, but it is Jesus who invites us, it is he who wants it. So let us be humble and receive it with loving hearts.
– Father, why do you weep when you receive communion?
Reply: – If the Church has cried out: “He did not despise the Virgin’s womb” when speaking of his incarnation in the womb of the Immaculate Virgin, what can be said of us poor sinners? But Christ said: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life for ever.” In this case, let us come up to the communion rail with great love and veneration. May our whole day serve, first of all to prepare us for it and then to give thanks.
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St. Peter Damian
from Sermon 45
“This bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats it will live forever”
The Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, she warmed him in her arms, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and surrounded him with motherly care. This is the same Jesus whose body we now receive and whose redeeming blood we drink in the sacrament of the altar. This is what the Catholic Faith professes; this is what the Church teaches faithfully.
No human language could sufficiently glorify the one in whom, as we know, “the mediator between God and humankind” took flesh (1Tm 2,5). No human praise is adequate for the one whose pure womb produced the fruit that is food for our souls and who testifies by his own words: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever”.
And indeed, we who have been cast out of Paradise because of a fruit also find the joys of Paradise again by means of food of another kind. Eve took and ate one kind of food and we were condemned to an eternal fast; Mary brought forth another kind of food and the doors of the heavenly banquet were opened wide.
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Baldwin of Ford
from The Sacrament of the Altar, II, 3 [SC 93, p.255f.]
“I am the bread of life”
Christ says: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”… And the psalmist says: “bread fortifies the hearts of men” and “wine gladdens men’s hearts” (Ps 104[103],15). Christ is food and drink, bread and wine to those who believe in him: bread that strengthens and fortifies…, drink and wine that gladdens…
All that is strong and firm in us, that is joyful and glad to carry out God’s commands, bear suffering, put obedience into effect and stand up for justice: all these things consist in the strength of this bread and joy of this wine. How blessed are they who act boldly and joyfully!
And since no one is able to do this unaided, blessed are they who longingly desire to put into practice what is just and right and to be strengthened and gladdened in everything by him who said: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Mt 5,6). If Christ is the food and drink that ensures the strength and joy of the righteous even now, how much more will he be so in heaven when he gives himself to the righteous without measure?
Note how, in the words of Christ…, the food that remains for eternal life is called bread from heaven, true bread, the bread of God, the bread of life… It is bread of God to distinguish it from bread made and prepared by the baker…; it is bread of life to distinguish it from the perishable bread that neither is, nor gives life but barely keeps it going with difficulty and for a time. This bread, however, is life, gives life, preserves in being the life that has nothing to do with death.
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St. Justin
from First Apology, 67.66 [PG 6, 427-431]
“The true bread from heaven”
And so on the day called Sunday there is an assembly in one place of all who live in the cities or in the country; the memorials of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time allows. After the reader has finished, the presiding officer verbally instructs and exhorts us to imitate these shining examples.
Then we all rise and pray together. Next, as I said before, when we finish the prayer, bread, wine, and water are brought up. The presiding officer once again offers up prayers of thanksgiving according to his strength, and then the people cry out “amen” (meaning, in Hebrew, ‘May it be so’).
And this food we call the Eucharist, and no one is allowed to partake of it unless he believes our doctrine is true and has been washed in the laver for regeneration and the forgiveness of sins, and so lives as Christ has taught.
For we do not partake of this as ordinary food and drink; but just as the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ our Savior, took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so too the food over which the thanksgiving prayer has been pronounced through the word which came from him, and by which our flesh and blood are changed and nourished-this food we have been taught is the very flesh and blood of Jesus.
For the apostles in the memorials which they wrote, called the Gospels, declared that Jesus ordered them to act in this way. Jesus, taking bread, gave thanks and said, “Do this in commemoration of me: this is my body.” And likewise, taking up the cup, he gave thanks and said, “This is my blood” and gave it to them alone (Mt 26,26f;1Co 11,23f.)…
We all hold this common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, on which God made the world, changing darkness and matter, and on which Christ Jesus our Savior rose from the dead.
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Blessed Henry Suso
from Life, ch. 50
Seeking Jesus
Concerning the question: “What is God?” not one of the masters who have ever been has succeeded in giving an explanation, for it is beyond all thought and intelligence. And yet someone who zealously and diligently seeks for some kind of knowledge of God will attain it, although in a very remote way…
This is how some virtuous pagan masters sought him in former times, especially the wise man, Aristotle. He examined the course of nature…, sought passionately and thus found. From nature he deduced that that there must necessarily be a unique monarch, lord over all creatures, and this is what we call God…
God’s being is such a spiritual substance that mortal eye is unable to contemplate it as it is, but it can be seen in its works. As St. Paul says: creatures are a mirror reflecting God (Rom 1,20). Let us stop here for a moment…: look above and around you, how immense and lofty is the heaven in its swift course, with what nobility has its Lord adorned it with its seven planets and how decorative it is by reason of its innumerable host of stars! When the sun shines gaily in a cloudless sky during the summer, what fruit, what good things it brings to the earth!
How beautifully green are the meadows, how smiling the flowers, how the sweet song of little birds resounds in forest and field, and all the animals that went into hiding during the hard winter now hasten happily outside. How both young and old among men express their joy with the joy that brings such happiness to them. O loving God, if you are so worthy of being loved in your creatures, how beautiful and worthy of being loved you must be in yourself!
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St. Peter Chrysologus
from Sermon 50, 1.2.3 (PL 52, 339-340)
“The boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading”
Christ got into the boat: for was it not he who uncovered the sea’s bed after dividing its waters, so that the people of Israel could pass through dry-shod as though through a valley? (Ex 14,29). And was it not he who made the waves of the sea firm beneath Peter’s feet so that the water could provide a solid, stable path for his feet? (Mt 14,29).
He got into the boat. Christ got into the boat of his Church that he might pass through the sea of this world until the end of time, leading those who believe in him to their heavenly homeland with a peaceful crossing and making into citizens of his Kingdom those with whom he communicates in his humanity. It is true that Christ has no need of the boat, but the boat has need of Christ. Indeed, if it were not for this pilot from heaven, the Church’s boat, tossed about by the waves, would never reach its harbor.
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St. Augustine
Confessions XI, 2.3
“The one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit”
Lord my God, light of the blind and strength of the weak-and constantly also light of those who can see and strength of the mighty: Listen to my soul and hear it crying from the depth (Ps 130[129],1). For if your ears are not present also in the depth, where shall we go? To whom shall we cry?
‘The day is yours and the night is yours’ (Ps. 73,16). At your nod the moments fly by. From them grant us space for our meditations on the secret recesses of your law, and do not close the gate to us as we knock (Mt 7,7). It is not for nothing that by your will so many pages of scripture are opaque and obscure. These forests are not without deer, which recover their strength in them and restore themselves by walking and feeding, by resting and ruminating (Ps. 29[28],9). O Lord, bring me to perfection and reveal to me the meaning of these pages.
See, your voice is my joy, your voice is better than a wealth of pleasures. Grant what I love; for I love it, and that love was your gift. Do not desert your gifts, and do not despise your plant as it thirsts. Let me confess to you what I find in your books. “Let me hear the voice of praise” (Ps. 26[25],7) and drink you, and let me consider “wonderful things out of your law” (Ps. 119[118],18), from the beginning in which you made heaven and earth until the perpetual reign with you in your heavenly city.
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St. Gregory of Nazianzus
from Hymn 32 (PG 37, 511-512)
Come to the light
We bless you, Father of lights, Christ, Word of God, splendor of the Father, Light from light and source of all light, Spirit of fire and breath of the Son as of the Father.
O Holy Trinity, undivided light, You dispelled the darkness To create a world that would bear your likeness, luminous with order and beauty
You enlightened man with reason and wisdom, Made him shine with the seal of your Image, That in your light he might see light (Ps 37[36],10) And become wholly light.
In the heavens you made numberless lights to shine, Commanded day and night To agree in dividing time between them, Each peacefully taking its turn.
Night brings an end to the work of the tired body, Day calls it to those works you love, Teaching us to flee from darkness and hasten Towards that day where night will be no more.
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St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] From a Pentecost Novena 1942
“You do not know where it comes from or where it goes”
Who are you, sweet light, that fills me And illumines the darkness of my heart? You lead me like a mother’s hand, And should you let go of me I would not know how to take another step. You are the space That embraces my being and buries it in yourself. Away from you, it sinks into the abyss Of nothingness, from which you raised it to the light. You, nearer to me than I to myself And more interior than my most interior And still impalpable and intangible And beyond any name: Holy Spirit – eternal love!
Are you not the sweet manna That from the Son’s heart Overflows into my heart, The food of angels and the blessed? He who raised himself from death to life, He has also awakened me to new life From the sleep of death. And he gives me new life from day to day, And at some time his fullness is to stream through me, Life of your life – indeed, you yourself: Holy Spirit – eternal life!
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Attributed to St. Hippolytus of Rome
from Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany, “On the Holy Theophany” (PG 10, 854-862)
To be born again by water and the Holy Spirit
Pray give me your close attention. I wish to return to the fountain of life and cause the source of our cure to spring forth. The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world. He came to man to wash him in water and the Spirit. He gave him rebirth for the incorruptibility of his soul and body. He infused the Spirit of life and clad him all over with an imperishable armor. Thus, if man has been mortal he is to become equally divine. And if, after the rebirth of washing, he has been made divine by water and the Holy Spirit, he will also become an inheritor of heaven after the resurrection from the dead.
Come, all you nations, come to the immortality of baptism… This water is that which participates in the Spirit; watering paradise it quenches earth, it causes plants to grow, brings living beings to birth and, in a word, brings forth man to life by effecting his rebirth. In this water Christ was baptised; on it the Spirit descended in the form of a dove…
Whoever goes down with faith into the bath of regeneration casts aside the garment of a slave and puts on that of adoption. He comes up from baptism shining like the sun, radiant with righteousness. More than this: he emerges a son of God and co-heir with Christ, to whom, together with the Most Holy Spirit, the good, the life-giving, be glory and power both now and ever through all ages. Amen.
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Gregory of Narek
from Book of Prayers, 33 (trad. SC 78, p. 206)
“Receive the Holy Spirit”
Almighty, Benefactor, Friend to humankind, God of all, and Creator of all things, visible and invisible; You who save us and affirm us, who care for us and bring us peace, Mighty Spirit of the Father… You share the same throne, the same glory, and the same creative activity as the Father… By your mediation was revealed to us the Trinity of Persons in a unity of nature in the Divinity; and you, too, are counted as one among those Persons, O incomprehensible One…
Through Moses you were proclaimed Spirit of God (Gn 1,2) as you hovered over the waters with all-embracing protectiveness, awesome, full of care. You spread your wings in sign of your compassionate presence hovering over those newly born, and by this means revealed the mystery of the waters of baptism… O Almighty One, as Lord you created all natures and everything that exists (cf. Credo), every being created by you, in the moment that is last among the days of life here below and first in the Land of the living.
He who is of the same nature as you, He, the firstborn Son, who is consubstantial with the Father, obeyed you as a Father in our nature, binding his will to yours. He made you known as true God, equal and consubstantial to his all-powerful Father… and he shut the mouths of those who resisted you for they were struggling against God (cf. Mt 12,28), whereas he forgave all who were against himself.
He is the Just One, the Pure One, the Savior of all, delivered up on account of our sins and raised for our justification (Rom 4,25). Through you all glory to him, and to you all praise, together with the all-powerful Father for endless ages. Amen.
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St. John of the Cross
from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, 3,31
“He rebuked them for their unbelief “
Where signs and testimonies abound, there is less merit in believing. God never works marvels except when they are a necessity for belief. Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him. Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: “Faith comes through hearing” (Rom10,17) . And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking
And the women were sent to tell the disciples first… And journeying incognito to Emmaus with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see him. Finally he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection. And announcing to Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing (Jn 20,29), he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds.
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St. Gregory the Great
from Homilies on the Gospel, 24
Peter drags the net ashore
After catching such large fish, “Simon Peter went overboard and dragged the net ashore.” I believe that you, dear listeners, now perceive why it was Peter who brought the net to land. Our holy Church had been entrusted to him; it was to him individually that it was said: “Simon, son of John, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” What was afterwards disclosed to him in words was now indicated to him by an action.
Because the Church’s preacher was to part us from the waves of this world, it was surely necessary that Peter bring the net full of fish to land. He dragged the fish to the firm ground of the shore, because by his preaching he revealed to the faithful the stability of our eternal home. He accomplished this by his words and by his letters, and he accomplishes it daily by his miraculous signs. As often as he serves us from the uproar of earthly affairs, what occurs is that we are caught like fish in the net of the faith and brought to shore.
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St. Anthony of Padua
from Sermons for Sundays and Feasts of the Saints
“Touch me and see”
“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.” I think there are four reasons why our Lord showed his side, hands and feet to the apostles. First of all to prove he was truly risen and remove from us any cause for doubt. Secondly, so that the “dove” – that is to say, the Church or the faithful soul – might make its nest in those wounds as in “the crevice of the rock” (Sg 2,14) and find refuge there from the eye of the bird of prey. Thirdly, to imprint as an emblem the marks of the Passion in our hearts. And in the fourth place as a warning, asking us to show him pity and not pierce him anew with the nails of our sins. He shows us his hands and his feet: “Behold,” he says, “the hands that have fashioned you (cf. 119[118],73); see how the nails have pierced them. Behold my heart – the heart where you my faithful, you my Church, were born as Eve was born from Adam’s side: see how the lance has opened it so that the door of Paradise, held shut by the fiery Cherubim, might be opened to you. The blood that flowed from my side has driven aside that angel and blunted his sword; the water has extinguished the fire (cf Jn 19,34)… Listen carefully, take these words to yourself, and peace will be with you.”
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Cardinal John Henry Newman
from Parochial and Plain Sermons 6, 10
“Were not our hearts burning within us”
Brethren, let us turn to the account of Christ’s appearances to his disciples after the Resurrection, which are most important, first, as showing that such an unconscious communion with him is possible; next, that it is likely to be the sort of communion now granted to us, from the circumstance that in that period of forty days after the Resurrection, he began to be in that relation towards his Church, in which he is still, and probably intended to intimate to us thereby what his presence with us is now.
Now observe what was the nature of His presence in the Church after his Resurrection. It was this, that he came and went as he pleased; that material substances, such as the fastened doors, were no impediments to his coming; and that when he was present his disciples did not, as a matter of course, know him… The two disciples on the way to Emmaus do not seem to have been conscious of this at the time, but on looking back, they recollected that as having been, which did not strike them while it was. “Did not,” they say, “did not our heart burn within us?”… Let us observe, too, when it was that their eyes were opened… when he consecrated and brake the Bread. There is evidently a stress laid on this in the gospel… for so it was ordained, that Christ should not be both seen and known at once; first he was seen, then he was known. Only by faith is he known to be present… He removed his visible presence, and left but a memorial of himself. He vanished from sight that he might be present in a sacrament; and in order to connect his visible presence with his presence invisible, He for one instant manifested himself to their open eyes; manifested himself, if I may so speak, while he passed from his hiding-place of sight without knowledge, to that of knowledge without sight.
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St. Augustine
from 1st Sermon for Holy Thursday, Morin Guelferbytanus 13 (PLS 2, 572)
“I am going to my Father and your Father”
“Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” What are we to say? That Christ is better touched by faith than by flesh. Touching Christ by faith is truly to touch him. This is what the woman suffering from an issue of blood did: she drew near to Christ, full of faith, and touched his robe… And our Lord, hemmed in by the crowd, was touched by no one but this woman… because she believed (Mk 5,25f.).
My brethren, Jesus is in heaven today. While he was living among his disciples, clothed visibly in flesh and possessing a body that could be touched, he was both seen and touched. But today, now he is seated at the right hand of the Father, which of us can touch him? And yet, woe to us if we do not touch him. We all touch him who believe in him. He is far away in heaven and the distance separating him from us cannot be measured. But believe, and you touch him.
What am I saying? You touch him? If you believe then you have with you the one in whom you believe…
Do you know how Mary wished to touch him? She searched for him among the dead and did not believe he would rise again: “They have taken my Lord from the tomb!” (Jn 20,2). She wept for a man… “Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” You touch me before I have ascended to the Father and see no more than a man in me. What will that sort of faith give you? “Let me ascend to the Father. I have never left him but, for your sake, I will ascend provided you believe me to be equal to the Father.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not leave his Father when he descended from his side. So neither has he forsaken us when he went up again from our side. For at the very time of his going up and sitting at the right hand of the Father, so far he said to his disciples: “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28,20).
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Roman LiturgyPaschal Sequence
” Victimae paschali laudes “
“Jesus met them on their way”
Christians to the Paschal Victim Offer thankful sacrifice. Christ the Lamb has saved the sheep; Christ the Just One paid the price, Reconciling sinners to the Father.
O Mary, come and say What you saw at break of day. “The empty tomb of my living Lord! I saw Christ Jesus risen, and adored!”
Death and Life fought bitterly For this wondrous victory; The Lord of life who died Reigns glorified!
Bright angels testified, Shroud and grave-cloths side by side! “Yes, Christ my hope rose gloriously. He goes before you into Galilee.”
Share the good news, sing joyfully: His death is victory! Lord Jesus, victor King, show us mercy. Amen. Alleluia!
Original version:
Victimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani. Agnus redemit oves: Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores. Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando: dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus. Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via? Sepulcrum Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis: Angelicos testes, sudarium, et vestes. Surrexit Christus spes mea: praecedet suos in Galilaeam. Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere: tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere. Amen. Alleluia.
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St. Proclus of Constantinople
from Sermon 14 (PG 65, 796)
“Day of gladness and joy” (Ps 118[117],24)
How beautiful is this feast of Easter! And how beautiful our assembly! This day contains so many mysteries, both old and new! During this week of feasting or, rather, of happiness, people are rejoicing all over the world and even the powers of heaven unite themselves with us in joyful celebration of the Lord’s resurrection.
Angels and Archangels are exultant as they wait for the heavenly King, Christ our God, to return victorious over the earth; the choirs of saints exult as they sing of “he who rose before the dawn”, the Christ (cf. Ps 110[109],3). Earth exults, for the blood of a God has washed it. The sea exults, for the footsteps of our Lord have honoured it. May every person born again of water and the Holy Spirit, exult. May Adam, the first of men, now freed from the ancient curse, exult…
Christ’s resurrection has not only inaugurated this holy feast but, still more, has won for us salvation instead of suffering, immortality in place of death, healing instead of wounds, resurrection instead of decline. In former times the Passover mystery was carried out in Egypt according to the ritual prescribed by the Law: the sacrifice of the lamb was no more than a sign.
But today we celebrate a spiritual Passover according to the Gospel: the day of resurrection. Then it was a lamb taken from the flock that was sacrificed…; now Christ in person offers himself as lamb of God. Then it was an animal from the sheepfold; now, not just a lamb but the shepherd himself lays down his life for his sheep (Jn 10,11)… Then the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea and sang a hymn of victory in honor of their deliverer: “Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory” (Ex 15,10). Now, all those accounted worthy of baptism sing this victory song in their hearts: “You alone are holy, you alone are God, Jesus Christ, in the glory of God the Father. Amen”.
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A Homily of the 5th century attributed to Eusebius the Gallican(Homily 12 A; CCL 101, 145)
“You have brightened this night with the radiance of the risen Christ” (Collect)
“Let the heavens be glad and earth exult” (Ps 96[95],11). More brightly than the rays of the sun this day has shone forth for us from the brilliance of the tomb. Let the underworld cry out, for from this day on it has an offspring; let it rejoice because this is the day of its visitation; let it be glad because, after endless ages, it has seen a light unknown before and at last, in the darkness of its deepest night, has breathed again!
O radiant light, now seen breaking from the heights of the whitening sky…, you have clothed with sudden brightness “those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk 1,79).
For at Christ’s descent at once the everlasting night of hell shone out with light and the cries of the afflicted were silenced; the chains of those condemned broke off and fell; the malicious spirits were seized with stupor as though struck by a thunderbolt…
No sooner does Christ come down than the grim doorkeepers, blind in the silence of their night, crouching in fear, whisper among themselves: “Who is this mighty one, shining with whiteness? Never has our hell received such as he; never has the world cast such a one into our maw…
Had he been guilty, he would not possess such temerity; had some crime blackened him, he could never have dispersed our darkness with his shining. Yet if he is God, what is he doing in the tomb? If he is man, how does he have the courage? If he is God, what has he come here for? If he is man, how can he set prisoners free?…
Oh cross, that undoes all our pleasures and give birth to our misfortune! A tree enriched us and a tree has ruined us. This mighty power, so feared by the people, has perished!”
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St. Augustine
from Sermons on St. John’s Gospel, 2
“When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last, he said: ‘Truly, this man was the Son of God!’ ” (Mk 15,39)
“In the beginning was the Word, the Utterance of God” (cf. Jn 1,1). He is one and the same with him; what he is, he is always; he is without change, he is being. This is the name he made known to his servant Moses: “I am who I am” and “You will say: I AM sent me to you” (Ex 3,14)…
Who could understand this? Who could reach him – supposing he were to direct all the powers of his soul as best he may to reaching him who is? I will compare him to an exile who sees his homeland from afar: the sea is separating him from it; he knows where he has to go but has no means of getting there. In the same way we want to reach that final haven which will be our own, where is the One who Is, for he alone is always the same. But the ocean of this world blocks the way…
He who calls us came here below to give us the means of getting there. He chose the wood that would enable us to cross the sea: indeed, no one can cross the ocean of this world who is not borne by the cross of Christ. Even the blind can cling to this cross. If you can’t see where you are going very well, don’t let go of it: it will guide you by itself.
So then, brethren, this is what I should like to impress on your hearts: if you want to live in a spirit of devotion, a christian spirit, cling to Christ just as he became for us so as to rejoin him as he is now and as he has always been. This is why he came down to us, for he became man that he might take up the weak, enabling them to cross the sea and disembark into the homeland where a ship is no longer needed because there is no more ocean to cross. In all events, it would be better for one’s soul not to see him who is and to embrace Christ’s cross than to see him spiritually but despise the cross.
So, for our own happiness, may we both see where we are going and cling to the ship that is taking us there…! Some have succeeded and have seen what he is. It was because he had seen him that John said: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” They saw him and, to attain what they saw from afar, they clung to the cross of Christ. They did not despise the humility of Christ.
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St. John-Mary Vianney
from Sermon for Holy Thursday
“He loved them to the end”
What great love, what charity was that of Jesus Christ when he chose the evening of the day he was to be put to death to institute a sacrament through which he would remain in our midst, to be our Father, Consoler, and all our good! Still happier than those who were alive during his mortal life, when he was only in one place and people had to come from a great distance if they were to have the joy of seeing him, now, today we find him everywhere in the world and this joy is promised to me until the world’s end. O what great love was that of God for his creatures!
No indeed! Nothing could stop him when it came to showing us the greatness of his love. At that happy moment for us, all Jerusalem was on fire, all the people in an uproar, everyone was plotting his harm, everyone wanting to shed his precious blood – and yet it was precisely at that moment that he prepared for them, as for us, the most unutterable testimony of his love.
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St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
from The Prayer of the Church
“Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
The Gospels tell us that Christ prayed the way a devout Jew faithful to the Law prayed… We know that Jesus said the old blessings over bread, wine, and the fruits of the earth as they are prayed to this day. So he fulfilled one of the most sacred religious duties: the ceremonial Passover seder to commemorate deliverance from slavery in Egypt. And perhaps this very gathering gives us the most profound glimpse into Christ’s prayer and the key to understanding the prayer of the Church…
Blessing and distributing bread and wine were part of the Passover rite. But here both receive an entirely new meaning. This is where the life of the church begins. Only at Pentecost will it appear publicly as a Spirit-filled and visible community. But here at the Passover meal the seeds of the vineyard are planted that make the outpouring of the Spirit possible.
In the mouth of Christ, the old blessings become life-giving words. The fruits of the earth become his body and blood, filled with his life… Through the Lord’s last supper, the Passover meal of the Old Covenant is converted into the Easter meal of the New Covenant.
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St. Augustine
from Sermons on St. John’s Gospel, 62, 63
“He dipped the morsel and handed it to Judas”
When our Lord, Bread of Life (Jn 6,35), had given bread to that dead man and, in handing him the bread, indicated the one who would betray the living bread, he said to him: “What you have to do, do quickly”. He was not commanding a crime; he was revealing his evil deed to Judas and declaring our good to us. Was it not all the worse for Judas and all the better for us that Christ should be delivered up? For Judas, who is harming himself, acts on our behalf without knowing it.
“What you have to do, do quickly.” These are words of a man who stands ready, not of a man who is annoyed; these words say less about the punishment of the betrayer as about the reward of the redeemer, of the one who redeems. For in saying: “What you have to do, do quickly” Christ is seeking to hasten the salvation of believers far more than he is accusing the unfaithful man’s crime. “He was handed over for our transgressions; Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her” (Rom 4,25; Eph 5,25).
This is what caused the apostle Paul say: “He loved me and gave himself up for me” (Ga 2,20). For in fact no one could have handed Christ over if he had not handed over himself… When Judas betrayed him, it was Christ who handed himself over; the former undertook his sale, the latter our purchase. “What you have to do, do quickly”: not so that it might be given over into your power but because it is the will of him who can do all things…
“Judas took the morsel and left at once. It was night.” And he who went out was himself night. Then, when night had left, Jesus said: “Now is the Son of Man glorified!” Day unto day hands on the word (cf. Ps 19[18],3), that is to say Christ entrusts it to his disciples so that they might hear and follow him in love… Something similar will take place when the world that Christ has vanquished passes away, Then, when the weeds are no longer mixed up with the wheat, the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Mt 13,43).
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Origen
from Homilies on Exodus, 8
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”
“I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery” (Ex 2,20). These words are not just being spoken to those who came out of Egypt in former times but, still more, to you who hear them now, provided only that you are leaving Egypt… Consider: are not this world’s affairs and the deeds of the flesh the house of slavery? And, on the other hand, are not flight from the things of this world and life in God the house of freedom, as the Lord said in the Gospel: “If you remain in my word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”?
Yes indeed, Egypt is the house of slavery; Jerusalem and Judah the house of freedom. Now hear what the apostle Paul has to say on the subject…: “The Jerusalem above is freeborn and she is mother of us all” (Gal 4,26).
So just as the earthly province of Egypt is called “house of slavery” for the children of Israel as opposed to Jerusalem and Judah, which stand for a “house of freedom” in their regard, in the same way, compared to the heavenly Jerusalem which we might call “mother of the free”, the whole world and all it contains is a house of slavery. In former times, as a punishment for sin, there was a transition from the paradise of freedom to the bondage of this world…; hence the first words to inaugurate God’s commandments are about freedom: “I am the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.”
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St. Bede the Venerable
from Homilies for Advent, 3 (CCL 122, 14-17)
“The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” What is said of the house of David applies not only to Joseph but also to Mary. It was a precept of the law that each man should marry a wife from his own tribe and kindred. St. Paul also bears testimony to this when he writes to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my Gospel” (2Tm 2,8)…
“He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” The angel refers to the kingdom of the Israelite nation as the throne of David because in his time, by the Lord’s command and assistance, David governed it with a spirit of faithful service… As David had once ruled the people with temporal authority, so Christ would now lead them to the eternal kingdom by his spiritual grace…
“He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever”. The house of Jacob here refers to the universal Church which, through its faith in and witness to Christ, shares the heritage of the patriarchs. This may apply either to those who are physical descendants of the patriarchal families, or to those who come from gentile nations and are reborn in Christ by the waters of baptism.
In this house Christ shall reign for ever, and “of his kingdom there will be no end”. During this present life, Christ rules in the Church. By faith and love he dwells in the hearts of his elect, and guides them by his unceasing care toward their heavenly reward. In the life to come, when their period of exile on earth is ended, he will exercise his kingship by leading the faithful to their heavenly country. There, for ever inspired by the vision of his presence, their one delight will be to praise and glorify him.
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St. Bernard
from Selected Sermons, 22, 5-6
“I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?”
You owe your whole life to Christ Jesus, for he gave his life for your life and endured bitter torments that you might not have to endure eternal torment… Is there anything that will not seem sweet to you after you have gathered into your heart all the bitter sufferings of your Lord?… As the heavens are higher than the earth (Is 55,9) so is his life higher than our life and yet it has been given for our life. As mere nothingness cannot be compared to any other thing so our life cannot be measured against his…
When I have dedicated to him all that I am, all of which I am capable, it will still be like a star compared to the sun, a drop of water to a river, a single stone to a tower, a grain of sand to a mountain. I have nothing but two, small things, very small indeed: my body and my soul or, rather, only one, small thing: my will.
And am I not going to give it to him who has gone before so small a being as I with such blessings, to him who in wholly giving himself has wholly redeemed me? Otherwise, were I to keep my will for myself, with what face, what eyes, what spirit or conscience would I take my refuge in the merciful heart of our God? How could I dare to pierce that strong rampart guarding Israel and cause, not just a few drops, but torrents of the blood that flows from the five parts of his body, to flow at the price of my redemption.
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St. Cyril of Alexandria
from Commentary on the Letter to the Romans, 15, 7
“To gather into one the dispersed children of God”
It is written that: “We, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Rom 12,5), for Christ gathers us into a unity by bonds of love: “He made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity… abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims that he might create in himself one new person in place of two” (Eph 2,14-15). Therefore we ought to have the same feelings towards each other: “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy” (1Cor 12,26).
Hence, as St. Paul again says: “Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom 15,7). Let us welcome each other if we would share these same feelings. “Let us bear one another’s burdens; striving to preserve unity of Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4,2-3). This is how God has welcomed us in Christ. For that man spoke truly when he said: “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son” (Jn 3,16). For indeed the Son was given as a ransom for the lives of all of us and we have been liberated from death, set free from death and sin. St. Paul illuminates the outline of this plan of salvation when he says that: “Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness” (Rom 15,8). For God had promised the patriarchs, fathers to the Jews, that he would bless their descendants, who would also become as numerous as the stars of heaven. And this is the reason why the Word, who is God, was manifested in the flesh and became man. He upholds all creation in being and maintains the well-being of all that exists because he is God. But he came into this world when he became incarnate “not to be served” but, as he himself said: “to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10,45).
