Day19 Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 3/18/09
St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): 10-18
Day 19 Lite Version
St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): 10-18
Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF
Well worth the effort to get to this pearl:
After I had received the Sacrament of life, and had retired to the place where I pray, it seemed to me that I saw a ray of light like an arrow coming forth from the Wound of the right side of the crucifix, which was in an elevated place, and it continued, as it were, to advance and retire for some time, sweetly attracting my cold affections. But my desire was not entirely satisfied with these things until the following Wednesday, when after the Mass, the faithful meditated on Thy adorable Incarnation and Annunciation, in which I joined, however imperfectly. And, behold, Thou camest suddenly before me, and didst imprint a wound in my heart, saying these words: May the full tide of your affections flow hither, so that all your pleasure, your hope, your joy, your grief, your fear, and every other feeling may be sustained by My love! And I immediately remembered that I had heard a wound should be bathed, anointed and bandaged. But Thou didst not teach me then in what manner I should perform these things, for Thou didst defer it to discover it to me more clearly in the end by means of another person, who had accustomed the ears of her soul to discern far more exactly and delicately than I do the sweet mummers of Thy love.
She advised me to reflect devoutly upon the love of Thy Heart when hanging on the Cross, and to draw from this fountain the waters of true devotion, to wash away all my offenses; to take from the unction of mercy the oil of gratitude, which the sweetness of this inestimable love has produced as a remedy for all adversities, and to use this efficacious charity and the strength of this consummate love as a ligament of justification to unite all my thoughts, words and works, indissolubly and powerfully to Thee. May all the deprivation of those things which my malice and wickedness has caused be supplied through that love whose plenitude abides in Him Who being seated on Thy right hand, has become “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh!” As it is by Him, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, that Thou hast placed in me this noble virtue of compassion, humility and reverence, to enable me to speak to Thee, it is also by Him that I present to Thee my complaint of the miseries I endure, which are so great in number, and which have caused me to offend Thy Divine goodness in so many ways by my thoughts, words and actions, but principally by the bad use which I have made of the aforesaid graces, by my unfaithfulness, my negligence and my irreverence. For if Thou hast given to one so unworthy even a thread of flax as a remembrance of Thee, I should have been bound to respect it more than I have done all these favors.
Day18 Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 3/17/09
St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): section 1-9
Day 18Lite Version
St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): section 1-9
Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF
"Sun Of Justice" ----- joann nelander
Day17 Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 3/16/09
St. Justin Martyr: First Apology: chapters 60-68
Day 17 Lite Version
St. Justin Martyr: First Apology: 61-68
Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF
Beginning another day and trying to get some perspective.
My Imitation of Christ Book I, chapter2:
Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life eases the mind and a clean conscience inspires great trust in God.
The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you. If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know. Hence, do not affect wisdom, but admit your ignorance. Why prefer yourself to anyone else when many are more learned, more cultured than you?
If you wish to learn and appreciate something worth while, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing. Truly to know and despise self is the best and most perfect counsel. To think of oneself as nothing, and always to think well and highly of others is the best and most perfect wisdom. Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.
“In Lent, we grasp our humanity” says Fr. Jeffrey Whorton. That we need a reminder at all amazes me. I am in awe of the fact that I, a soft bodied creature, am still alive, after more than half a century, in this universe of whirling planets, exploding stars and expanding space. Extrapolating from today’s Gospel, Fr. Whorton points to the hedges God places around us for our survival. In Jesus’ parable, He tells of a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it (Matthew 31: 23)
Pieta Icon
In nature and the Cosmos, Earth is protected by natural laws which set the rhythms of the tides, confine the seas to their basins and keep the very air we breath from drifting off into space. While in the spiritual life, God’s children also have a hedge. Before we knew the Grace of God, we were given the Law of God. God’s people were to live not unfettered by human respect but by a Golden Rule which revealed the freedom of morally. When the Grace of God arrived incarnated in Jesus Christ, love went beyond this Law to lead us to lay down our lives for one another, the supernature wed to the natural. Lent points to our failure in this respect. It is precisely here, that we find another hedge protecting us from the Accuser and self-condemnation by an Incarnated Mercy, Whose love and forgiveness knows no bounds.
In daily life, the teachings of the Church provide a hedge against a license and an immorality that would favor the animal side of our natures. Without the hedge of revealed Truth and instruction, we are deprived, and left to our sinfulness, which is more an inhuman nature. Our humanity was glorified by Christ once Jesus put it on as a mantle clothing His Divinity. However, it still needs the individual response of our consent and cooperation. Now, we are hedged by the very flesh of our Savior, and called to be truly human as revealed by Christ.
According to Fr.Whorton, “The glory and the tragedy of the Church is that the Church is on display.” In our world of brute forces and competing philosophies and errors, we are called to shine like stars (Phil.2: 15), like sparks among the stubble (Wisdom 3:7). Fr. Whorton asks, as does Lent, itself, “Am I displaying the glory or the tragedy?”
Be Holy! 