S. John of the Cross: "who gave you this authority?”

“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”

They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”

He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

-- Mt 21:23-27

The authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment."

-- CCC 1899

Image: Saint John of the Cross. Source: Wikipedia.

Gaudete Sunday: "Rejoice!"

Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Isaiah 12, 2-3. 4. 5-6; Philippians 4, 4-7; St. Luke 3, 10-18

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice."

What kind of rejoicing can come from hearing St. John's description of the coming of the Messiah? "...he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."(Jn 3: 16-17) And yet, St. Luke tells us we are to welcome this news as good: "So with other exhortations, he preached good news to the people." (Jn 3: 18) John's preaching about the judgment, that some souls might be lost, can hardly be considered "good news"; unless it is the truth.

The truth, however difficult though it may be for us to hear, is always good news. St. John lays bare the truth about the sins of the people, the tax collectors and the soldiers, instructing them as to how to correct their lives. This is good news, though painful to hear, for it will bring repentance, conversion and healing. Rejoicing will follow, for those who amend their lives enjoy God's mercy unto everlasting life. It is the truth which is the "Good News".

Today on Gaudete, or "rejoice", Sunday we remember that though our lives are marked by waiting and watching, by penance and prayer, we are yet people of joy. Our joy is a gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit, given to us in fullest measure, that we may love God. "The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Joy is not possible unless one receives the Spirit's gift of divine charity.

The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; (Col 3:14) it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love. (CCC 1827)

We rejoice because we are secure in the knowledge of the love of God who has truly revealed himself as our Father through the gift of his only-begotten Son at Bethlehem.
St. John foretells the coming of the Incarnate God who is Judge and Lord. The people, stricken with fear at St. John's message, ask him, "What are we to do?" He instructs them to live in charity: give a coat to him who has none, share your food, act with justice. These are the fruits of the virtue of charity.

The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion. (CCC 1829) The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.' (Gal 5:22-23) (CCC 1832)

Heaven, the union of all the saints and holy angels with the Triune God, is the only place of unending and complete joy. Hope of heaven, together with faith and charity, are the virtues by which the Holy Spirit enables us to rejoice with authentic joy flowing from and leading toward the Trinity.

We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. (Cf. Rom 8: 28-30; Mt 7:21) In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" (Mt 10:22; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1541.) and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." (1 Tim 2:4) She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven. (CCC 1821)

The virtue of hope flows from true charity, bringing rejoicing, enabling us to begin to anticipate, here on earth, the love of heaven. The life of charity enables us to look toward the second coming with joy. St. Teresa of Avila teaches Christian joy made possible through hope in God's mercy for eternal and unending joy:

Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. (CCC 1821)

Let's pray for each other until, next week, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick
(See also nos. 535, 696, 2447 in the CCC.)

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy (Publish with permission.)

Photo Source: The New Liturgical Movement

Our Lady of Guadalupe: "Rejoice, O daughter Zion!"

See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day

-- Zec 2:14-17

The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice." It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.

-- CCC 722

Photo: The tilma of Saint Juan Diego with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Friday, Advent Wk II: "this generation ... is like children"

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

-- Mt 11:16-19

Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "And God saw that it was good." "By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws." Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.

-- CCC 339

Thursday, Advent Wk II: "none greater than John the Baptist"

yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he... And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.

-- Mt 11:11-15

John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of the Consoler who is coming. As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear witness to the light." In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. . . . Behold, the Lamb of God."

-- CCC 719

S. Ambrose: "rise"

pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said,
“We have seen incredible things today.”

-- Lk 5:17-26

Sacraments are "powers that comes forth" from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting covenant.

-- CCC 1116

Art: Ambrose converting Theodosius, Pierre Subleyras,1699-1749. S. Ambrose is a patron of Meeting Christ in the Liturgy, with his words providing the inspiration for this project: "I see you, O Lord, face to face; I meet you in your sacraments."

Friday, First Wk Advent: “Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
And their eyes were opened.

-- Mt 9:27-31

Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent request of the blind men, "Have mercy on us, Son of David" or "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" has-been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Healing infirmities or forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: "Your faith has made you well; go in peace."

St. Augustine wonderfully summarizes the three dimensions of Jesus' prayer: "He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in us."

-- CCC 2616