Tag Archives: Luminous Mysteries

Luminous Christianity (5)

06 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in Bible, Catholic Tradition, Faith, Salvation

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Eucharist

There are times when it seems as though there is nothing sacred, that is in the sense that nothing is exempt from the tendency of Christians to argue among themselves, and the subject of the fifth and final Mystery of Light, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist is one of those.

It seems simple enough on the page:

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, [a]blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the [b]new covenant, which is shed for many for the [c]remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.

St Mark’s version, upon which St Matthew’s was most probably based is typically straightforward:

22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, [a]eat; this is My body.”

23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the [b]new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

We can see from this why one of the rumours spread about the early Christians in Roman society was that they were cannibals and ate the body and drank the blood of their god.

There is no Institution narrative in St John, but what he does have to say about Jesus as the Bread of Life drives hom the sense of the words we get from SS Mark and Matthew. When teaching in Capernum, Jesus told His listeners He was the Bread of Life, they queried His words and their meaning, and Jesus was clear in His response:

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is [a]food indeed, and My blood is [b]drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

The result is worth noting: “ From that time many of His disciples went [f]back and walked with Him no more”.

The conventional Protestant explanation (this one from my NKJV Study Bible) is “Jesus was speaking figuratively, but the Jewish leaders took him literally.” But will this really do? We are told that many of His disciples turned away. If they had misunderstood, it would have been easy enough for Jesus to have stated that He was talking figuratively. Instead, He lets them go and even asks “the twelve” whether they, too, will leave Him. It seems a little feeble to explain all of this in terms of figurative speech.

It is St Luke’s versionof the words which seems to have given an excuse for the “figurative” explanation, as there the words of Institution are:

9 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Hence the explanation that the Eucharist is a “memorial” of His saving passion, as though we are presented with a binary choice. But is it a binary choice? Have we fully understood what Jesus is saying if we assume so.

As usual, the Church Fathers have been here before us and are an invaluable source of wisdom here.

St John Chysostom explained it thus in Homily 47:2:

When we converse of spiritual things, let there be nothing secular in our souls, nothing earthy, let all such thoughts retire, and be banished, and let us be entirely given up to the hearing the divine oracles only.

The argument here is that we understand Christ’s words spiritually and not carnally. It is in the same vein as St Hilary of Poitier’s statement in On the Trinity:

For as to what we say concerning the reality of Christ’s nature within us, unless we have been taught by Him, our words are foolish and impious. For He says Himself, My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. John 6:55-56 As to the verity of the flesh and blood there is no room left for doubt. For now both from the declaration of the Lord Himself and our own faith, it is verily flesh and verily blood. And these when eaten and drunk, bring it to pass that both we are in Christ and Christ in us.

Orthodox theology, untouched by the scholastic method, argues that in the Eucharist we partake not simply of the physical/material, but of the deified and glorifies Body and Blood of Christ which give resurrection life. Catholic theology expresses the same thought thus:

We believe that at every Mass, bread and wine become Jesus — his body, blood, soul and divinity — even though we can’t fully understand how it happens. The miracle of the Eucharist is a mystery, something that human reason and intelligence can never fully grasp.

The Institution of the Eucharist invites us into the heart of the mystery of God’s love for us. Like the woman at the well, we discover that Jesus is the Living Water, but oh, with what blessing we reflect that in the Eucharistic Feast we receive His Body and His Blood. In the words of the Catechism:

The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”: “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods” (CCC 460)

In His Body and Blood we are saved, redeemed and will be glorified.

 

 

Luminous Christianity (3)

23 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Catholic Tradition, Faith, Pusey

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“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Thus Jesus according to St Mark and St Matthew. Here is the start of His earthly Ministry, and already we are told that the Kingdom is at hand. When we pray the prayer He taught us, we ask “Thy kingdom come,” and for “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Often we think of this in an eschatalogical sense, but there is more to it than waiting until the end times when the Kingdom of God will come; it is closer to us than that. But there is one action we need to take first – repentance.

Here is the enlightenment which praying the mystery offers to us. It is through repentance that we are able to accept forgiveness and to forgive others; it is through repentance that we are healed. We hurt others, often without knowing it, although we are swift enough to point out to them when they have hurt us; how often are they as surprised by our reaction as we are by theirs? We need to be more mindful of the reality of others and not to see them solely in the light of their relationship with us. Being hard on ourselves for behaving poorly is not repentance, though it can be the beginning of it.

We know that sin separates us from God, and we can fall into the way of thinking that God is angry with us for this, so we feel guilty. Yet guilt itself can be a sin. It can lead us the way of Judas, who killed himself because of his sin; he could not imagine that God could forgive what he had done. How often are we like that? We can turn to God and confess our sins and know that this is the road to Him. If we surrender to Him and turn away from our sins, then we are indeed near the Kingdom of God.

We see ourselves differently in the Light of Christ, and the first fruit of repentance is change. We don’t just turn away from sin, we turn to Jesus, and this effects how we are with others and how we are in this world. We turn away from those things which bring pain to others, and so often to ourselves. We will slip on this path, but as with all paths, we slip less if we mind our footsteps and observe what we are doing.

Christ reveals to us what that Kingdom is like through His every act. He invites sinners to eat and drink with Him; He tells us there is more joy in Heaven over the lost sheep that is found than there is over the ninety-nine others; He tells us of the Father’s joy when the Prodigal Son repents and returns; He dies for all, not just His followers. Those who were outcasts in His society, the tax collectors, the Samaritans, the Gentiles, all these are received by Him through repentance. It is the most wonderful message to know this Kingdom of God is so close to us. But will we repent?

There is the heart of the Christian mystery. God loves us and wants us to love Him. He does not want to command obedience, neither does He want automatons. We have choice. We can grow in Him or away from Him; either way He is there and loves us. But He leaves it to us to repent and learn that the Kingdom is, indeed at hand, and we don’t have to wait for the next world.

Luminous Christianity (1)

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Bible, Commentaries, Faith, Homilies, Marian devotion

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2-the-light-of-the-world-william-holman-hunt9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Thus we read in St Mark, and thus did St John Paul II begin the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

One of the most frequent words used in Scripture to describe Jesus is “Light.” Jesus tells the people that He is “the light of the world,” while St John reminds us that the “light” came into the world but the world heeded it not because men preferred the darkness which hid the evil that they did. But we are told, also, that the darkness did not overcome the Light. Here, in the first of the Mysteries of Light, the Light of the World is revealed, and as we know, though the world, in the sense of the worldly, rejected Him, He prevailed and will triumph; but here, for the first time, parts of the world see Jesus for who He is – the Son of God.

And yet how strange. Isaiah told us that:

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.

But why does it dawn in this way? We are told in Hebrews:

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So why, if He is without sin is baptism the first revelation to the wider world that Jesus is the Light of the world? It is precisely because He is like us in every way, and in being baptised He makes baptism sacramental. It is our entry into His Church. Just as Jesus submitted to the humiliation of death upon the Cross for us and for our salvation, so He submits to baptism; where we go, the Incarnate Word has already been.

We see, in the Baptist’s reaction a recognition that he is not worthy to baptise the Son of God, yet Jesus insists, and John submits his will to that of God. The result of that obedience is that the Heavens are opened and God speaks. We see, here, how close Heaven is and the way to it; if we will submit our will to God’s, then the Kingdom of Heaven is, indeed, at hand.

Jesus begins His Ministry as He would continue it, identifying Himself with the sinners and the outcasts. The Baptist, like us, questions when he thinks he knows the answer. Jesus is the one for whom he has been preparing the way, so there is no way He needs to be baptised. God knows better. How often are we like the Baptist?

In Christ’s obedience the eyes of others are opened and His identity confirmed. If we love Him then we will respond to His love, and one of the fruits of that is obedience. We are not left alone, the Spirit is with us always, and the Church into which we are baptised is His Church and is here for us. The recognition of who Jesus is was the beginning of His earthly Ministry, and for us, it is the beginning of our life in Him.

I understand the arguments of those who would restrict baptism to adults, but my heart tells me that if the Apostles baptised whole families, so should we, and I know from my own experience, that the mark of infant baptism has been a gift of Grace for which I have always been grateful to my parents, well, to be honest, to my mother, as my father could not have cared one way or the other.

But Baptism is just a beginning, a vitally important one, but unless we persevere, then its fruits will be limited. How often do we wish we could see more clearly, rather than through a glass darkly? But how often do we remember that too much light in this world can be used as an instrument of torture? There is a limit to the light mankind can bear. We need faith, for, as the author of Hebrews reminds us:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2For by it the people of old received their commendation.

The Baptist is shown the Truth, we are given the assurance of hope.

So, we begin the Mysteries of Light on Jordan’s bank with the Baptist night and with the Lord setting us an example. We shall continue them with His first public miracle, which is another sign that the Dayspring from on high had dawned on the world.