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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-09-14
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 04-09-14 | Revised New Americn Bible

Posted on 04/08/2014 7:45:28 PM PDT by Salvation

April 9, 2014

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

 

 

Reading 1 Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar said:
“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”

Responsorial Psalm Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!

Gospel Jn 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“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.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”



TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; lent; prayer
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To: All
Information: St. Mary Cleophas

Feast Day: April 9

21 posted on 04/09/2014 8:05:50 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Waldetrudis

Feast Day: April 09
Born: (around) 615 :: Died: 686

Waldetrudis was born in Belgium. Her mother Bertille, her father and her sister Aldegondes are all saints. She grew up to be a beautiful girl and even when she was enjoying herself, she had a way of enriching the lives of people.

Several young men wanted to marry her. Since parents chose husbands for their daughters in those days, they chose Count Madelgar. They could not have picked a better man, because he became a saint too. He is St. Vincent Madelgar. Vincent and Waldetrudis had two sons and two daughters. Amazingly, they have all been declared saints.

St. Waldetrudis was happy that God had given her such a wonderful family. But jealous ladies spread terrible stories about her and she suffered much in her lifetime. The women were not pure and kind as she was and did not want people to think that she was better than they. But Waldetrudis did not protect herself from their lies. She thought of how Jesus had suffered on the cross and, like him, she forgave them.

When their children were grown, St. Vincent told his wife that he wanted very much to be a monk and hoped he could spend the rest of his life in the monastery. His wife understood and gave him her permission. Before going, St. Vincent made sure that his family was well taken care of.

The couple was going to miss each other very much. But Waldetrudis would not hold her husband back. She made the sacrifice for God. Two years later, Waldetrudis joined the convent and became a nun. She lived a very self-sacrificing life and was very generous with the poor.

People came to her for advice and for healing. St. Waldetrudis died in 688. After her death, many people who prayed at her tomb were miraculously healed.

 


22 posted on 04/09/2014 8:16:20 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Catholic

Almanac:

Monday, April 9

Liturgical Color: Violet


Today the Church honors Bl. James of Padua. James was a Franciscan missionary traveling with Bl Thomas of Tolentino and Bl. Peter of Siena. All 3 were captured by Muslims in 1322 and were beheaded for upholding their faith.


23 posted on 04/09/2014 12:31:53 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Catholic Culture

 

Daily Readings for:April 09, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Enlighten, O God of compassion, the hearts of your children, sanctified by penance, and in your kindness grant those you stir to a sense of devotion a gracious hearing when they cry out to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o    Basic French Bread

o    French Pea Soup

ACTIVITIES

o    Elementary Parent Pedagogy: 'Copy Jesus' for Love

o    Preschool Parent Pedagogy: Lessons from Books

PRAYERS

o    Prayer for the Fifth Week of Lent

o    April Devotion: The Blessed Sacrament

o    Novena to St. Bernadette

·         Lent: April 9th

·         Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Old Calendar: St. Mary of Cleophas (Hist); St. Gaucherius (Hist)

Historically today is the feast of St. Mary of Clophas, Mother of St. James the Less and Joseph, wife of Cleophas (or Clopas or Alpheus). She was one of the "Three Marys" who served Jesus and was present at the Crucifixion , and accompanied Mary Magdalen to the tomb of Christ. Tradition reports that she went to Spain as a missionary. Mary reportedly died at Ciudad Rodrigo. Another tradition states that she went to France with St. Lazarus and his sisters.

Also St. Gaucherius' feast is historically celebrated today. He was also know as Walter, abbot-founder and friend of St. Stephen of Grandmont. He founded St. John's Monastery at Aureilfor and a convent for women.

Stational Church


St. Mary of Clophas
"And there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen." How should we understand "His mother's sister," literally, as in having the same parents, or in the same sense that Jesus's "brothers" are to be understood as close relatives?

The short answer is that Mary of Cleophas is probably the Blessed Virgin's sister-in-law. Mary of Cleophas may have had a previous husband named Alpheus, or this Alpheus may have been Cleophas. The Blessed Virgin Mary, of course, only had one husband (Joseph) and remained a virgin. The long answer may be found here.


St. Gaucherius

Born in Meulan-sur-Seine to the northwest of Paris, he received a classical education and became a priest. However he felt a deep longing for solitude and a life more radically centered on God. He thereupon devoted his life God as a hermit and began with his friend, Germond, to reside in the area of Limoges. Alone and forgotten by the world, Gaucherius and Germond grew in holiness. Their example attracted others who built hermitages near to theirs. Finally Gaucherius decided to build a monastery at Aureil and to establish two communities, one for men, the other for women, both under the rule of St. Augustine. The passage of an eremitical settlement into the canonical life was one of the principal ways through which the canons regular grew in the 11th and 12th Century. The community of Aureil is typical of these kinds of Ordo Novus canons regular. Thereafter he lived with his companions, being for all a model of sanctity. His companions and disciples include St. Lambert of Angouleme and St. Faucherus as well as the founder of Grandmont monastery, St. Stephen Muret. He died 80 years old in 1140 and was canonized in 1194.

Excerted from the Canons Regular of St. Augustine


The Station today is at the church of St. Marcellus at the Corso. Legend claims that Pope St. Marcellus (308-309) was sentenced by Emperor Maxentius to look after the horses at the station of the Imperial mail on the Via Lata, where the Via del Corso now lies. He was freed by the people, and hidden in the house of the Roman lady Lucina (see also San Lorenzo in Lucina). He was rearrested, and imprisoned in the stables.


25 posted on 04/09/2014 1:27:38 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 8:31-42

5th Week of Lent

The truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

Shin Dong-hyuk was a prisoner in a North Korean prison camp for twenty-three years before he escaped. But for most of that time, he thought that his life was normal. You see, he was born there. “I just thought that those people who carry guns were born to carry guns,” he said. It took him so long to entertain the thought of escaping because he thought that everyone lived in a camp like his. During his incarceration, if you had asked him the meaning of the word “freedom,” he wouldn’t have known how to answer!

You can hear similarities to Shin’s story in what Jewish leaders say to Jesus in today’s Gospel: “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone” (John 8:33). Jesus is trying to tell them that they are slaves—slaves to sin. But they can’t understand what he means. They are observing the Law to the best of their ability; what could possibly be wrong with that? Nothing at all. But Jesus wanted to give them something more.

Jesus wanted his listeners to remain free to obey the Law, but he also wanted them to know the freedom of the Holy Spirit: the freedom to hear the Spirit speak words of wisdom, love, and guidance; the freedom from self-centered concerns and anxieties; the freedom to do the very things that Jesus was doing—a freedom based on the power of God living and active in their hearts.

Freedom in Christ is something we never stop needing, even if we’ve been walking with the Lord for a long time. As Easter draws near, consider what freedom looks like for you. You may find that, like Shin Dong-hyuk, you have been imprisoned for quite a while without even knowing it. Do you need the freedom to become the person you want to be—more patient, more considerate, more open to the Holy Spirit? The freedom to go out and build the kingdom of God with confidence and grace? Freedom from a longstanding resentment or past hurt? Jesus wants to set you free. So let his truth settle deep into your heart so that you can step into the freedom he has prepared for you this Lent.

“Lord, send me your light and your grace—the light to see where I need to change and the grace to make those changes! Jesus, I want to be set free!”

Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; (Psalm) Daniel 3:52-56


27 posted on 04/09/2014 1:52:19 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for April 9, 2014:

Do one or both of you struggle with pornography use? Despite what the culture says, pornography use is never okay. It can cause severe harm to marriages and families. For help, visit www.foryourmarriage.org and search for “Overcoming obstacles: pornography.”

28 posted on 04/09/2014 1:57:56 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

The Truth Will Set You Free
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

 

John 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "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." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ´You will become free´?" Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father´s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father." They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham´s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!" So they said to him, "We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are life and truth and goodness. You are also peace and mercy. How grateful I am to have this moment to turn to you. Without you I can do nothing good. In fact, when I do good, it is you working through me, despite my failings. Thank you, Lord. Here I am ready to love you more.

Petition: Grant me the grace, Lord, to remain in your word and to be set free by your truth.

1. A Vibrant Faith: Faith isn’t real until it touches our attitudes and, above all, our concrete choices. To “remain” in the word of Christ means to conform our lives with his life and his virtues, especially the virtue of charity, which is the very essence of Christian doctrine and morality. To “remain” in his word is, as some would say, “to walk the walk.” In another passage we are told that it is not those who say “Lord, Lord…” who will enter the Kingdom, but only those who actually do the Father’s will in their lives. Remaining in his word is the stuff of sanctity – it’s also the stuff of daily perseverance and of knowing how to get up, dust ourselves off, and begin again each time we falter or fall along the way. How well do I “remain” in Christ’s word? Could an impartial observer see from my attitudes and actions that I follow Christ?

2. A True Disciple Lives the Truth: Christ seems to imply that there are true and false disciples. There is only one way to tell the difference between the two: whether one actually embraces his word not only as an ideal, but also as a rule of life. Today a plethora of voices, even within the Christian community, would have us follow a purely “therapeutic” Christianity – a form of Christianity in which we can supposedly believe in Christ while adopting behaviors or attitudes which are totally opposed to his “way” of discipleship as taught authoritatively by the Church. The temptation to separate faith and practice is never far from us. How much have these false voices impacted my own understanding of what it means to follow Christ as a member of his body, the Church?

3. Authentic Freedom: The freedom promised by Christ to those who remain in his word is much deeper than the freedom offered by the world. Christ’s freedom is not simply a political freedom. Neither is it the ability to choose whatever I want, when I want, and how I want. The freedom of Christ’s disciple is spiritual, moral, and interior; it is the freedom for which every person longs in the depths of his heart. And only Christ gives this kind of freedom.

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for the freedom you have given me! With it I could seek happiness in broken vessels of clay, forgetting you, the fountain of living waters. You could have made me not free.... But thus you have created me, and I want to be free. I want to know how to be free. I want to demonstrate that I am free, with the most sovereign act of my freedom: Lord, since I am free, I give my freedom, my will, to you, so that your will may be done.

Resolution: I will exercise my freedom responsibly, as Christ would have me do.


29 posted on 04/09/2014 2:47:31 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Homily of the Day

To kill is a strong word. And yet today’s Gospel finds Jesus using the word kill. He addresses this word to the Jews who were his fellow countrymen and believed in him. And if this word is proclaimed to us today, it means that this word is applicable to us. We are slaves because we have idols that control our lives. Be it money, career, affections of people, job, fame, fortune or any other earthly concern. It is this addiction, slavery and obsession that forces us to commit sin. God understands our nature not as evil but weak and sends his word to hopefully find place in our hearts with the purpose of freeing us from this slavery. Every time we reject the word, we kill the Spirit that wants to free us.  Do we kill Christ? Yes, every time we reject the Holy Spirit. When we kill the impulses of our conscience, we are in fact killing Christ’s advances to us. Let us be alert to notice when the Spirit speaks to us that we may listen to the word that Christ sends to us to help us in our daily life.


30 posted on 04/09/2014 2:52:09 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 3

<< Wednesday, April 9, 2014 >>
 
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
View Readings
Daniel 3:52-56 John 8:31-42
Similar Reflections
 

FATHER-FREEDOM

 
"We have but one Father and that is God Himself." —John 8:41
 

When Jesus taught us about freedom, He taught us about God's fatherhood. We can be free because we are children of God the Father. When we become free, we, as sons and daughters of God, have a permanent place with Jesus in God the Father's family (see Jn 8:35). Jesus, as the Son of the Father, sets us free (Jn 8:36).

The truth will set us free (Jn 8:32). By truth, the Lord means true relationships, especially our relationship with God the Father. Jesus came to show us the Father (Jn 14:9). No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (Jn 14:6). Because Jesus is the only Way to the Father, He alone truly sets us free (Jn 8:36). Jesus is the Truth (Jn 14:6), because He has been perfectly true in His relationship with His Father, even to accepting death on the cross.

If, by grace, we are true to our heavenly Father and decide to do His will rather than ours (see Mt 26:39), we will deeply discover how true the Father is to us. This awesome security will take precedence over all fears, anxieties, and pressures (Lk 12:7). Secure in the Father's true love, we will not be manipulated. We will be free at last.

 
Prayer: Father, Abba, in Your arms I am truly free. I love You.
Promise: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who sent His angel to deliver the servants that trusted in Him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." —Dn 3:95
Praise: Len tried to stop masturbating during Lent. Jesus gave him the power to stop for a lifetime.

31 posted on 04/09/2014 2:58:35 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Help to stop abortion in America through prayer!


32 posted on 04/09/2014 3:00:12 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
John
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  John 8
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews, who believed him: If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed. Dicebat ergo Jesus ad eos, qui crediderunt ei, Judæos : Si vos manseritis in sermone meo, vere discipuli mei eritis, ελεγεν ουν ο ιησους προς τους πεπιστευκοτας αυτω ιουδαιους εαν υμεις μεινητε εν τω λογω τω εμω αληθως μαθηται μου εστε
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. et cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos. και γνωσεσθε την αληθειαν και η αληθεια ελευθερωσει υμας
33 They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any man: how sayest thou: you shall be free? Responderunt ei : Semen Abrahæ sumus, et nemini servivimus umquam : quomodo tu dicis : Liberi eritis ? απεκριθησαν αυτω σπερμα αβρααμ εσμεν και ουδενι δεδουλευκαμεν πωποτε πως συ λεγεις οτι ελευθεροι γενησεσθε
34 Jesus answered them: Amen, amen I say unto you: that whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. Respondit eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis : quia omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. απεκριθη αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι πας ο ποιων την αμαρτιαν δουλος εστιν της αμαρτιας
35 Now the servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the son abideth for ever. Servus autem non manet in domo in æternum : filius autem manet in æternum. ο δε δουλος ου μενει εν τη οικια εις τον αιωνα ο υιος μενει εις τον αιωνα
36 If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Si ergo vos filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis. εαν ουν ο υιος υμας ελευθερωση οντως ελευθεροι εσεσθε
37 I know that you are the children of Abraham: but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. Scio quia filii Abrahæ estis : sed quæritis me interficere, quia sermo meus non capit in vobis. οιδα οτι σπερμα αβρααμ εστε αλλα ζητειτε με αποκτειναι οτι ο λογος ο εμος ου χωρει εν υμιν
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do the things that you have seen with your father. Ego quod vidi apud Patrem meum, loquor : et vos quæ vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facitis. εγω ο εωρακα παρα τω πατρι μου λαλω και υμεις ουν ο εωρακατε παρα τω πατρι υμων ποιειτε
39 They answered, and said to him: Abraham is our father. Jesus saith to them: If you be the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. Responderunt, et dixerunt ei : Pater noster Abraham est. Dicit eis Jesus : Si filii Abrahæ estis, opera Abrahæ facite. απεκριθησαν και ειπον αυτω ο πατηρ ημων αβρααμ εστιν λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους ει τεκνα του αβρααμ ητε τα εργα του αβρααμ εποιειτε [αν]
40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who have spoken the truth to you, which I have heard of God. This Abraham did not. Nunc autem quæritis me interficere, hominem, qui veritatem vobis locutus sum, quam audivi a Deo : hoc Abraham non fecit. νυν δε ζητειτε με αποκτειναι ανθρωπον ος την αληθειαν υμιν λελαληκα ην ηκουσα παρα του θεου τουτο αβρααμ ουκ εποιησεν
41 You do the works of your father. They said therefore to him: We are not born of fornication: we have one Father, even God. Vos facitis opera patris vestri. Dixerunt itaque ei : Nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati : unum patrem habemus Deum. υμεις ποιειτε τα εργα του πατρος υμων ειπον ουν αυτω ημεις εκ πορνειας ου γεγεννημεθα ενα πατερα εχομεν τον θεον
42 Jesus therefore said to them: If God were your Father, you would indeed love me. For from God I proceeded, and came; for I came not of myself, but he sent me: Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis utique et me ; ego enim ex Deo processi, et veni : neque enim a meipso veni, sed ille me misit. ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους ει ο θεος πατηρ υμων ην ηγαπατε αν εμε εγω γαρ εκ του θεου εξηλθον και ηκω ουδε γαρ απ εμαυτου εληλυθα αλλ εκεινος με απεστειλεν

33 posted on 04/09/2014 5:13:32 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed in him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;
32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how say you, you shall be made free?
34. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin.
35. And the servant abides not in the house for ever: but the Son abides ever.
36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

CHRYS. Our Lord wished to try the faith of those who believed, that it might not be only a superficial belief: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed in Him, If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed. His saying, if you continue, made it manifest what was in their hearts. He knew that some believed, and would not continue. And He makes them a magnificent promise, viz. that they shall become His disciples indeed; which words are a tacit rebuke to some who had believed and afterwards withdrawn.

AUG. We have all one Master, and are fellow disciples under Him. Nor because we speak with authority, are we therefore masters; but He is the Master of all, Who dwells in the hearts of all. It is a small thing for the disciple to come to Him in the first instance: he must continue in Him: if we continue not in Him, we shall fall. A little sentence this, but a great work; if you continue. For what is it to continue in God's word, but to yield to no temptations. Without labor, the reward would be gratis; if with, then a great reward indeed.

And you shall know the truth.

AUG. As if to say: Whereas you have now belief, by continuing, you shall have sight. For it was not their knowledge which made them believe, but rather their belief which gave them knowledge. Faith is to believe that which you see not: truth to see that which you believe? By continuing then to believe a thing, you come at last to see the thing; i.e. to the contemplation of the very truth as it is; not conveyed in words, but revealed by light. The truth is unchangeable; it is the bread of the soul, refreshing others, without diminution to itself; changing him who eats into itself; itself not changed. This truth is the Word of God, which put on flesh for our sakes, and lay hid, not meaning to bury itself, but only to defer its manifestation, till its suffering in the body, for the ransoming of the body of sin, had taken place.

CHRYS. Or, You shall know the truth, i.e. Me: for I am the truth. The Jewish was a typical dispensation; the reality you can only know from Me.

AUG. Some one might say perhaps, And what does it profit me to know the truth? So our Lord adds, And the truth shall free you; as if to say, If the truth does not delight you, liberty, will. To be freed is to be made free, as to be healed is to be made whole. This is plainer in the Greek; in the Latin we use the word free chiefly in the sense of escape of danger, relief from care, and the like.

THEOPHYL. As He said to the unbelievers alone, You shall die in your sin, so now to them who continue in the faith He proclaims absolution.

AUG. From what shall the truth free us, but from death, corruption, mutability, itself being immortal, uncorrupt, immutable? Absolute immutability is in itself eternity.

CHRYS. Men who really believed could have borne to he rebuked. But these men began immediately to show anger. Indeed if they had been disturbed at His former saying, they had much more reason to be so now. For they might argue; If He says we shall know the truth, He must mean that we do not know it now: so then the law is a lie, our knowledge a delusion. But their thoughts took no such direction: their grief is wholly worldly; they know of no other servitude, but that of this world: They answered Him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How say you then, we shall be made free? As if to say, They of Abraham's stock are free, and ought not to be called slaves: we have never been in bondage to any one.

AUG. Or it was not those who believed, but the unbelieving multitude that made this answer. But how could they say with truth, taking only secular bondage into account, that we have never been in bondage to any man? Was not Joseph sold? were not the holy prophets carried into captivity? Ungrateful people! Why does God remind you so continually of His having taken you out of the house of bondage if you never were in bondage? Why do you who are now talking, pay tribute to the Romans, if you never were in bondage?

CHRYS. Christ then, who speaks for their good, not to gratify their vainglory, explains His meaning to have been that they were the servants not of men, but of sin, the hardest kind of servitude, from which God only can rescue: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin.

AUG. This asseveration is important: it is, if one may say so, His oath. Amen means true, but is not translated. Neither the Greek nor the Latin Translator have dared to translate it. It is a Hebrew word; and men have abstained from translating it, in order to throw a reverential veil over so mysterious a word: not that they wished to lock it up, but only to prevent it from becoming despised by being exposed. How important the word is, you may see from its being repeated. Verily I say to you, says Verity itself; which could not be, even though it said not verily. Our Lord however has recourse to this mode of enforcing His words, in order to rouse men from their state of sleep and indifference. Whosoever, He said, commits sin, whether Jew or Greek, rich or poor, king or beggar, is the servant of sin.

GREG. Because whoever yields to wrong desires, puts his hitherto free soul under the yoke of the evil one, and takes him for his master. But we oppose this master, when we struggle against the wickedness which has laid hold upon us, when we strongly resist habit, when we pierce sin with repentance, and wash away the spots of filth With tears.

GREG. And the more freely men follow their perverse desires, the more closely are they in bondage to them.

AUG. O miserable bondage! The slave of a human master when wearied with the hardness of his tasks, sometimes takes refuge in flight. But whither does the slave of sin flee? He takes it along with him, wherever he goes; for his sin is within him. The pleasure passes away, but the sin does not pass away: its delight goes, its sting remains behind. He alone can free from sin, who came without sin, and was made a sacrifice for sin. And thus it follows: The servant abides not in the house for ever. The Church is the house: the servant is the sinner; and many sinners enter into the Church. So He does not say, The servant is, not in the house; but, The servant abides not in the house for ever. If a time then is to come, when there shall be no servant in the house; who will there be there? Who will boast that he is pure from sin? Christ's are fearful words. But He adds, The Son abides for ever. So then Christ will live alone in His house. Or does not the word Son, imply both the body and the head? Christ purposely alarms us first, and then gives us hope. He alarms us, that we may not love sin; He gives us hope, that we may not despair of the absolution of our sin. Our hope then is this, that we shall be freed by Him who is free. He has paid the price for us, not in money, but in His own blood: If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

AUG. Not from the barbarians, but from the devil; not from the captivity of the body, but from the wickedness of the soul.

AUG. The first stage of freedom' is, the abstaining from sin. But that is only incipient, it is not perfect freedom: for the flesh still lusts against the spirit, so that you do not do the things that you would. Full and perfect freedom will only be, when the contest is over, and the last enemy, death, is destroyed.

CHRYS, Or thus: Having said that whosoever commits sin, is the servant of sin, He anticipates the answer that their sacrifices saved them, by saying, The servant abides not in the house for ever, but the Son abides ever. The house, He says, meaning the Father's house on high; in which, to draw a comparison from the world, He Himself had all the power, just as a man has all the power in his own house. Abides not, means, has not the power of giving; which the Son, who is the master of the house, has. The priests of the old law had not the power of remitting sins by the sacraments of the law; for all were sinners. Even the priests, who, as the Apostle says, were obliged to offer up sacrifices for themselves. But the Son has this power; and therefore our Lord concludes: If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed; implying that that earthly freedom, of which men boasted so much, was not true freedom.

AUG. Do not then abuse your freedom, for the purpose of sinning freely; but use it in order not to sin at all. Your will will be free, if it be merciful: you will be free, if you become the servant of righteousness.

37. I know that you are Abraham's seed; but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you.
38. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do that which you have seen with your father.
39. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40. But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
41. You do the deeds of your father.

AUG. The Jews had asserted they were free, because they were Abraham's seed. Our Lord replies, I know that you are Abraham's seed; as if to say, I know that you are the sons of Abraham, but according to the flesh, not spiritually and by faith. So He adds, But you seek to kill Me.

CHRYS. He says this, that they might not attempt to answer, that they had no sin. He reminds them of a present sin; a sin which they had been meditating for some time past, and which was actually at this moment in their thoughts: putting out of the question their general course of life. He thus removes them by degrees out of their relationship to Abraham, teaching them not to pride themselves so much upon it: for that, as bondage and freedom were the consequences of works, so was relationship. And that they might not say, We do so justly, He adds the reason why they did so; Because My word has no place in you.

AUG. That is, has not place in your hearts, because your heart does not take it in. The word of God to the believing, is like the hook to the fish; it takes when it is taken: and that not to the injury of those who are caught by it. They are caught for their salvation, not for their destruction.

CHRYS He does not say, you do not take in My word, but My word has not room in you; showing the depth of His doctrines. But they might say; What if you speak of yourself? So He adds, I speak that which I have seen of My Father; for I have not only the Father's substance, but His truth.

AUG. Our Lord by His Father wishes us to understand God: as if to say, I have seen the truth, I speak the truth, because I am the truth. If our Lord then speaks the truth which He saw with the Father, it is Himself that He saw, Himself that He speaks; He being Himself the truth of the Father.

ORIGEN. This is proof that our Savior was witness to what was done with the Father: whereas men, to whom the revelation is made, were not witnesses.

THEOPHYL. But when you hear, I speak that which I have seen, do not think it means bodily vision, but innate knowledge, sure, and approved. For as the eyes when they see an object, see it wholly and correctly; so I speak with certainty what I know from My Father.

And, you do that which you have seen with your father.

ORIGEN. As yet He has not named their father; He mentioned Abraham indeed a little above, but now He is going to mention another father, viz. the devil: whose sons they were, in so far as they were wicked, not as being men. Our Lord is reproaching them for their evil deeds.

CHRYS. Another reading has, And do you do that which you have seen with your father; as if to say, As I both in word and deed declare to you the Father, so do you by your works show forth Abraham.

ORIGEN. Also another reading has; And, do you do what you have heard from the Father. All that was written in the Law and the Prophets they had heard from the Father. He who takes this reading, may use it to prove against them who hold otherwise, that the God who gave the Law and the Prophets, was none other than Christ's Father. And we use it too as an answer to those who maintain two original natures in men, and explain the words, My word has no place in you, to mean that these were by nature incapable of receiving the word. How could those be of an incapable nature, who had heard from the Father? And how again could they be of a blessed nature, who sought to kill our Savior, and would not receive His words. They answered and said to Him, Abraham is our father. This answer of the Jews is a great falling off from our Lord's meaning. He had referred to God, but they take Father in the sense of the father of their nature, Abraham.

AUG. As if to say, What are you going to say against Abraham? They seem to be inviting Him to say something in disparagement of Abraham; and so to give them an opportunity of executing their purpose.

ORIGEN. Our Savior denies that Abraham is their father: Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.

AUG. And yet He says above, I know that you are Abraham's seed. So He does not deny their origin, but condemns their deeds. Their flesh was from him; their life was not.

ORIGEN. Or we may explain the difficulty thus. Above it is in the Greek, I know that you are Abraham's seed. So let us examine whether there is not a difference between a bodily seed and a child. It is evident that a seed contains in itself all the proportions of him whose seed it is, as yet however dormant, and waiting to be developed; when the seed first has changed and molded the material it meets within the woman, derived nourishment from thence and gone through a process in the womb, it becomes a child, the likeness of its begetter. So then a child is formed from the seed: but the seed is not necessarily a child. Now with reference to those who are from their works judged to be the seed of Abraham, may we not conceive that they are so from certain seminal proportions implanted in their souls? All men are not the seed of Abraham, for all have not these proportions implanted in their souls. But he who is the seed of Abraham, has yet to become his child by likeness. And it is possible for him by negligence and indolence even to cease to be the seed. But those to whom these words were addressed, were not yet cut off from hope: and therefore Jesus acknowledged that they were as yet the seed of Abraham, and had still the power of becoming children of Abraham. So He says, If you are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. If as the seed of Abraham, they had attained to their proper sign and growth, they would have taken in our Lord's words. But not having grown to be children, they cared not; but wish to kill the Word, and as it were break it in pieces, since it was too great for them to take in. If any of you then be the seed of Abraham, and as yet do not take in the word of God, let him not seek to kill the word; but rather change himself into being a son of Abraham, and then he will be able to take in the Son of God. Some select one of the works of Abraham, viz. that in Genesis, And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. But even granting to them that faith is a work, if this were so, why was it not, Do the work of Abraham: using the singular number, instead of the plural? The expression as it stands is, I think, equivalent to saying, Do all the works of Abraham: i.e. in the spiritual sense, interpreting Abraham's history allegorically. For it is not incumbent on one, who would be a son of Abraham, to marry his maidservants, or after his wife's death, to marry another in his old age.

But now you seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth.

CHRYS. This truth, that is, that He was equal to the Father: for it was this that moved the Jews to kill Him. To show, however, that this doctrine is not opposed to the Father, He adds, Which I have heard from God.

ALCUIN. Because He Himself, Who is the truth, was begotten of God the Father, to hear, being in fact the same with to be from the Father.

ORIGEN. To kill Me, He says, a man. I say nothing now of the Son of God, nothing of the Word, because the Word cannot die; I speak only of that which you see. It is in your power to kill that which you see, and offend Him Whom you see not.

This did not Abraham.

ALCUIN. As if to say, By this you prove that you are not the sons of Abraham; that you do works contrary to those of Abraham.

ORIGEN. It might seem to some, that it were superfluous to say that Abraham did not this; for it were impossible that it should be; Christ was not born at that time. But we may remind them, that in Abraham's time there was a man born who spoke the truth, which he heard from God, and that this man's life was not sought for by Abraham. Know too that the Saints were never without the spiritual advent of Christ. I understand then from this passage, that every one who, after regeneration, and other divine graces bestowed upon him, commits sin, does by this return to evil incur the guilt of crucifying the Son of God, which Abraham did not do.

You do the works of your father.

AUG. He does not say as yet who is their father.

CHRYS. Our Lord says this with a view to put down their vain boasting of their descent; and persuade them to rest their hopes of salvation no longer on the natural relationship, but on the adoption. For this it was which prevented them from coming to Christ; viz. their thinking that their relationship to Abraham was sufficient for their salvation.

41. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.


AUG. The Jews had begun to understand that our Lord was not speaking of sonship according to the flesh, but of manner of life. Scripture often speaks of spiritual fornication, with many gods, and of the soul being prostituted, as it were, by paying worship to false gods. This explains what follows: Then said they to Him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

THEOPHYL. As if their motive against Him was a desire to avenge God's honor.

ORIGEN. Or their sonship to Abraham having been disproved, they reply by bitterly insinuating, that our Savior was the offspring of adultery. But perhaps the tone of the answer is disputatious, more than any thing else. For whereas they have said shortly before, We have Abraham for our father, and had been told in reply, If you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham; they declare in return that they have a greater Father than Abraham, i.e. God; and that they were not derived from fornication. For the devil, who has no power of creating any thing from himself, begets not from a spouse, but a harlot, i.e. matter, those who give themselves up to carnal things, that is, cleave to matter.

CHRYS. But what say you? Have you God for your Father, and do you blame Christ for speaking thus? Yet true it was, that many of them were born of fornication, for people then used to form unlawful connections. But this is not the thing our Lord has in view. He is bent on proving that they are not from God. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.

HILARY. It was not that the Son of God condemned the assumption of so religious a name; that is, condemned them for professing to be the sons of God, and calling God the Father; but that He blamed the rash presumption of the Jews in claiming God for their Father, when they did not love the Son. For I proceeded forth, and came from God. To proceed forth is not the same with to come. When our Lord says that those who called God their Father, ought to love Him, because He came forth from God, He means that His being born of God was the reason why He should be loved: the proceeding forth, having reference to His incorporeal birth. Their claim to be the sons of God, was to be made good by their loving Christ, Who was begotten from God. For a true worshiper of God the Father must love the Son, as being from God. And he only can love the Father, who believes that the Son is from Him.

AUG. This then is the eternal procession, the proceeding forth of the Word from God: from Him. It proceeded as the Word of the Father, and came to us: The Word was made flesh. His advent is His humanity: His staying, His divinity. You call God your Father; acknowledge Me at least to be a brother.

HILARY. In what follows, He teaches that His origin is not in Himself; Neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me.

ORIGEN. This was said, I think, in allusion to some who came without being sent by the Father, of whom it is said in Jeremiah, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. Some, however, use this passage to prove the existence of two natures. To these we may reply, Paul hated Jesus when he persecuted the Church of God, at the time, viz. that our Lord said, Why persecute you Me? Now if it is true, as is here said, If God were your Father, you would love Me; the converse is true, If you do not love Me, God is not your Father. And Paul for some time did not love Jesus. There was a time when God was not Paul's father. Paul therefore was not by nature the son of God, but afterwards was made so. And when does God become any one's Father, except when he keeps His commandments?

Catena Aurea John 8
34 posted on 04/09/2014 5:14:07 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


Descent into Limbo

Giotto di Bondone

1320-25
Tempera on wood, 45 x 44 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

35 posted on 04/09/2014 5:14:29 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: All

Day 121 - What happens to us when we celebrate the liturgy? // What is the most profound origin of the liturgy?

 

What happens to us when we celebrate the liturgy?

When we celebrate the liturgy, we are drawn into the love of God, healed, and transformed.

The sole purpose of all liturgies of the Church and all her sacraments is that we might have life and have it abundantly. When we celebrate the liturgy, we encounter the One who said about himself, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). Someone who is forsaken and goes to Mass receives protection and consolation from God. Someone who feels lost and goes to Mass finds a God who is waiting for him.


What is the most profound origin of the liturgy?

The most profound origin of the liturgy is God, in whom there is an eternal, heavenly banquet of lovethe joy of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because God is love, he would like to let us participate in the feast of his joy and to grant us his blessings.

Our earthly liturgies must be celebrations full of beauty and power: Feasts of the Father who created usthat is why the gifts of the earth play such a great part: the bread, the wine, oil and light, incense, sacred music, and splendid colors. Feasts of the Son who redeemed usthat is why we rejoice in our liberation, breathe deeply in listening to the Word, and are strengthened in eating the Eucharistic Gifts. Feasts of the Holy Spirit who lives in usthat is why there is a wealth of consolation, knowledge, courage, strength, and blessing that flows from these sacred assemblies. (YOUCAT questions 169-170)


Dig Deeper: CCC section (1076-1109) and other references here.


36 posted on 04/09/2014 9:34:44 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)

Section 1: The Sacramental Economy (1076 - 1209)

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The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.1 The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the mystery" the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, "until he comes."2 In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls "the sacramental economy"; this is the communication (or "dispensation") of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's "sacramental" liturgy.

It is therefore important first to explain this "sacramental dispensation" (chapter one). The nature and essential features of liturgical celebration will then appear more clearly (chapter two).

1.

Cf. SC 6; LG 2.

2.

1 Cor 11:26.

Chapter 1: The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church (1077 - 1134)

Article 1: The Liturgy — Work of the Holy Trinity (1077 - 1112)

I. THE FATHER — SOURCE AND GOAL OF THE LITURGY

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"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us before him in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."3

3.

Eph 1:3-6.

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Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift.4 When applied to man, the word "blessing" means adoration and surrender to his Creator in thanksgiving.

4.

eu-logia, bene-dictio.

1079

From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blessing. From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the canticles of the heavenly Jerusalem, the inspired authors proclaim the plan of salvation as one vast divine blessing.

1080

From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman. The covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed this blessing of fruitfulness despite man's sin which had brought a curse on the ground. But with Abraham, the divine blessing entered into human history which was moving toward death, to redirect it toward life, toward its source. By the faith of "the father of all believers," who embraced the blessing, the history of salvation is inaugurated.

1081

The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus), the gift of the promised land, the election of David, the presence of God in the Temple, the purifying exile, and return of a "small remnant." The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, interwoven in the liturgy of the Chosen People, recall these divine blessings and at the same time respond to them with blessings of praise and thanksgiving.

1082

In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated. The Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.

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The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us is thus evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and "in the Holy Spirit,"5 blesses the Father "for his inexpressible gift6 in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. On the other hand, until the consummation of God's plan, the Church never ceases to present to the Father the offering of his own gifts and to beg him to send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the faithful, and upon the whole world, so that through communion in the death and resurrection of Christ the Priest, and by the power of the Spirit, these divine blessings will bring forth the fruits of life "to the praise of his glorious grace."7

5.

Lk 10:21.

6.

2 Cor 9:15.

7.

Eph 1:6.

II. CHRIST'S WORK IN THE LITURGY

Christ glorified...

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"Seated at the right hand of the Father" and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature. By the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present efficaciously the grace that they signify.

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In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly life Jesus announced his Paschal mystery by his teaching and anticipated it by his actions. When his Hour comes, he lives out the unique event of history which does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father "once for all."8 His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is — all that he did and suffered for all men — participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life.

8.

Rom 6:10; Heb 7:27; 9:12; cf. Jn 13:1; 17:1.

... from the time of the Church of the Apostles...

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1086

"Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might preach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his death and resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan and from death and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that the work of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves."9

9.

SC 6.

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1

 

1087

Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying:10 they became sacramental signs of Christ. By the power of the same Holy Spirit they entrusted this power to their successors. This "apostolic succession" structures the whole liturgical life of the Church and is itself sacramental, handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders.

10.

Cf. Jn 20:21-23.

... is present in the earthly liturgy...

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"To accomplish so great a work" — the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation — "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them."'11

11.

SC 7; Mt 18:20.

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1089

"Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. The Church is his beloved Bride who calls to her Lord and through him offers worship to the eternal Father."12

12.

SC 7.

... which participates in the liturgy of heaven

1090

"In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory."13

13.

SC 8; cf. LG 50.

III. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH IN THE LITURGY

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In the liturgy the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the sacraments of the New Covenant. The desire and work of the Spirit in the heart of the Church is that we may live from the life of the risen Christ. When the Spirit encounters in us the response of faith which he has aroused in us, he brings about genuine cooperation. Through it, the liturgy becomes the common work of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

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In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation: he prepares the Church to encounter her Lord; he recalls and makes Christ manifest to the faith of the assembly. By his transforming power, he makes the mystery of Christ present here and now. Finally the Spirit of communion unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ.

The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ

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In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's Church was "prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and in the Old Covenant,"14 the Church's liturgy has retained certain elements of the worship of the Old Covenant as integral and irreplaceable, adopting them as her own:

14.

LG 2.

1094

It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built,15 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the mystery of Christ. It is called "typological" because it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled.16 Thus the flood and Noah's ark prefigured salvation by Baptism,17 as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, "the true bread from heaven."18

15.

Cf. DV 14-16; Lk 24:13-49.

16.

Cf. 2 Cor 3:14-16.

17.

Cf. 1 Pet 3:21.

18.

Jn 6:32; cf. 1 Cor 10:1-6.

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For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the "today" of her liturgy. But this also demands that catechesis help the faithful to open themselves to this spiritual understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it and enables us to live it.


37 posted on 04/09/2014 9:38:04 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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