From a homily by a spiritual writer of the fourth century
May you be filled to the complete fullness of ChristThose who have been considered worthy to go forth as the sons of God and to be born again of the Holy Spirit from on high, and who hold within them the Christ who renews them and fills them with light, are directed by the Spirit in varied and different ways and in their spiritual repose they are led invisibly in their hearts by grace.
At times, they are like men who mourn and lament over their fellow men, and pouring forth prayers for the whole human race, they plunge into tears and lamentation, on fire with spiritual love for mankind.
At other times they are enkindled by the Spirit with love and exultation that, were it possible, they would clasp in their embrace all mankind, without discrimination, good and bad alike.
Sometimes they are cast down below all mankind in lowliness of spirit, so that they reckon theirs to be the lowest and most abject of conditions.
And sometimes they are held by the Spirit in ineffable joy.
At one time they are like a brave man who puts on the king’s full armor and goes down into battle; he fights bravely against the enemy and defeats them. In like manner, the spiritual man takes up the heavenly arms of the Spirit and marches against the enemy and engaging in battle tramples the foe beneath his feet.
At another time the soul is at rest in deepest silence, tranquility and peace, existing in sheer spiritual pleasure and in ineffable repose and a perfect state.
Again, the soul is instructed by grace in a certain understanding in the ineffable wisdom and the inscrutable knowledge of the Spirit on matters which neither tongue nor lips can utter.
Then again, the soul becomes like any ordinary man.
In such varied ways does grace work within them and many are the means by which it leads the soul, renewing it according to God’s will and training it in different ways so that it may be set before the heavenly Father pure and whole and blameless.
We, too, therefore must make our prayer to God and entreat in love and in great hope that he may bestow upon us the heavenly grace of the gift of the Spirit. We pray that we, too, may be guided by that Spirit and that he may lead us into the fullness of divine will and refresh us with the varied kinds of his repose, that by the help of this guidance, exercise of grace and spiritual advancement, we may be considered worthy to attain to the perfection of the fullness of Christ, as the Apostle says: that you may be filled to the complete fullness of Christ.
Category Archives: All Things Catholic
The Love of the Crucified Christ
From the Catecheses by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop
Even in time of persecution let the cross be your joyThe Catholic Church glories in every deed of Christ. Her supreme glory, however, is the cross. Well aware of this, Paul says: God forbid that I glory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!
At Siloam, there was a sense of wonder, and rightly so. A man born blind recovered his sight. But of what importance is this, when there are so many blind people in the world? Lazarus rose from the dead, but even this affected only Lazarus. What of those countless numbers who have died because of their sins? Those five miraculous loaves fed five thousand people. Yet this is a small number compared to those all over the world who were starved by ignorance. After eighteen years a woman was freed from the bondage of Satan. But are we not all shackled by the chains of our own sins?
For us all, however, the cross is the crown of victory! It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind!
Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it. Although it is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, the message of the cross is our salvation. Of course it is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it was not a mere man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man.
In the Mosaic law a sacrificial lamb banished the destroyer. But now it is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Will he not free us from our sins even more? The blood of an animal, a sheep, brought salvation. Will not the blood of the only-begotten Son bring us greater salvation?
He was not killed by violence, he was not forced to give up his life. His was a willing sacrifice. Listen to his own words: I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again. Yes, he willingly submitted to his own passion. He took joy in his achievement; in his crown of victory he was glad and in the salvation of man he rejoiced. He did not blush at the cross for by it he was to save the world. No, it was not a lowly man who suffered but God incarnate. He entered the contest for the reward he would win by his patient endurance.
Certainly in times of tranquility the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same faith in times of persecution. Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and his enemy during war. Now you receive the forgiveness of your sins and the generous gift of grace from your king. When war comes, fight courageously for him.
Jesus never sinned; yet he was crucified for you. Will you refuse to be crucified for him, who for your sake was nailed to the cross? You are not the one who gives the favor; you have received one first. For your sake he was crucified on Golgotha. Now you are returning his favor; you are fulfilling your debt to him.
OSV Daily Take Blog: Shaw: Lent, Ash Wednesday and getting ‘real’
OSV Daily Take Blog: Shaw: Lent, Ash Wednesday and getting ‘real’.
Why is it that Ash Wednesday and Lent remain relatively popular even in highly secularized times like these? It’s a serious question that touches on matters deeper than might at first be supposed.The popularity I speak of can be seen year after year on Ash Wednesday, when people – some of them perhaps not all that often in church – stream up the aisle to get their ashes. Not a few then return for Mass or Stations of the Cross on weekdays during Lent. How come? Read more
English: Ashes imposed on the forehead of a Christian on Ash Wednesday. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
‘Driving’ a new pair of arms: Neurology, recovery and rehabilitation
‘Driving’ a new pair of arms: Neurology, recovery and rehabilitation.
Brendan Marrocco, an Iraq War veteran who lost all four limbs in a roadside bomb attack, was recently released from a Baltimore hospital after receiving a double-arm transplant. Northeastern University news office asked Christopher Hasson, a sensorimotor control expert and a newly appointed assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, to explain the brain’s role in the long recovery and rehabilitation process.
Marrocco received the double-arm transplant six weeks ago and has already reported movement in the elbow of his left arm. What is the brain’s role in learning how to control a novel object, which in this case is a new pair of arms? A human arm is marvelously complex—and presents a formidable control problem for the brain. The scale of this problem is best illustrated by comparison with driving a car. With an automatic transmission you have three things to control: The steering wheel turns the car left or right, the gas pedal speeds up the car, and the brake slows it down. Healthy adults learn the basics of driving relatively quickly, but fine-tuning takes much longer and can only be achieved through many hours of practice. During this fine-tuning process the brain refines its knowledge of how the car responds to control actions. In Marrocco’s case, he must learn to “drive” his new arms; however, the control problem explodes in complexity. For each arm he must learn to control motions at three joints with 12 muscles; if you include the hand that adds at least 14 more joints and more than 20 more muscles. Imagine trying to learn to drive a car with more than 30 different controls! Fortunately, Marrocco has a head start, as he has had prior experience controlling arms. This may explain why he learned to perform basic movements relatively quickly. However, fine-tuning his control will take much longer. You are the principal investigator of Northeastern’s Neuromotor Systems Laboratory, in which you study how movement control in older adults is affected by age-related changes in the neuromuscular system. How will Marrocco’s relative youth—he is only 26 years old—contribute to the recovery and rehabilitation process? Although it’s natural to think that a relatively young adult such as Marrocco would have a clear advantage over someone who is older, age may not be a critical factor in terms of the motor learning aspects of recovery. It was once widely thought that after you reach adulthood the structure of your brain stabilizes and becomes fixed, and therefore older adults would have difficulty learning new skills as their brains are more resistant to change.
Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pair-arms-neurology-recovery.html#jCp
Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pair-arms-neurology-recovery.html#jCp
St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs – Memorial
St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Memorial
St. Paul Miki was born in 1580 in Japan. After the early missionary efforts of Bishop John of Albuquerque and St. Francis Xavier in 1548-1549, Christianity was on the rise in Japan. In 1587, when approximately 200,000 Christians were identified, Japan issued an edict of persecution towards Christians.
St. Paul and his Companions were a group of Franciscans, Jesuits, and Japanese Christians identified through the edict. The 26 individuals were arrested, mutilated, and martyred at the hill of Nagasaki. They are remembered for their courage, dedication, and joy despite the religious persecution they endured.
From an account of the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions, by a contemporary writer.
You shall be my witnessesThe crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behavior was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to God’s goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: “Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life.” Brother Francis Branco also thanked God in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our Father and Hail Mary.
Our brother, Paul Miki, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his “congregation” he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his “sermon” with these words: “As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.”
Then he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis’ most of all. When a Christian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven, his hands, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on him.
Anthony, hanging at Louis’ side, looked toward heaven and called upon the holy names — “Jesus, Mary!” He began to sing a psalm: “Praise the Lord, you children!” (He learned it in catechism class in Nagasaki. They take care there to teach the children some psalms to help them learn their catechism.)
Others kept repeating “Jesus, Mary!” Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die.
Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight, all the Christians cried out, “Jesus, Mary!” And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very skies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. It was over in a very short time.
