Replies

From: Ephesians 1:15-23

Thanksgiving. The Supremacy of Christ

[15] For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love toward all the saints, [16] I do not cease to give
thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17] that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom
and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your
hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has
called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
saints, [19] and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us
who believe, according to the working of his great might [20] which he
accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him
sit at the right hand in the heavenly places, [2I] far above all rule
and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; [22] and
he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all
things for the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills all in all.

Commentary:

15-23. The news the Apostle has received moves him to thanksgiving and
prayer (vv. 15-16). But he immediately returns to contemplate how
wonderful it is to know God's goodness, and he asks God to give this
gift to the readers of his letter (vv. 17-19). His petition hinges on
Jesus Christ, through whom God has revealed his power by giving him
dominion (vv. 20-21) and establishing him as head of the Church (vv.
22-23).

15-16. St Paul's solicitude sets a wonderful example, especially for
those whose responsibility it is to give Christian instruction to
others. Like him, they should pray for those entrusted to their care;
they should thank God for their spiritual progress and ask the Holy
Spirit to give them the gift of wisdom and understanding. "Fulfill the
task entrusted to you with all diligence of body and soul", St Ignatius
of Antioch exhorts Polycarp. "Pay special attention to unity for there
is nothing more important than this. Make yourself the support of all
and sundry, as the Lord is to you. Bear lovingly with them all, as you
are doing at present. Pray constantly and beg for ever greater gifts of
wisdom. Be watchful and always awake in spirit. Address yourself to
people personally, as is the way of God himself' ("Letter to Polycarp",
I, 2-3).

This "faith in the Lord Jesus" is not just a matter of believing in
Jesus Christ full stop; it is a complete system of belief which is
founded on Jesus Christ: those who have received the gift of faith live
in Christ, and this life in Christ means that their faith is truly a
living faith, one which expresses itself in "love towards all the
saints". Faith makes us discover that every baptized person is a son or
daughter of God, and thus Christians' fraternal love is a logical
consequence of this insight.

17. The God whom St Paul addresses is "the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ", that is, the God who has revealed himself through Christ and
to whom Jesus himself, as man, prays and asks for help (cf. Lk 22:42).
The same God as was described in the Old Testament as "the God of
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob" is now defined as "the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ". He is the personal God recognized by his relationship
with Christ, his Son, who as mediator of the New Covenant obtains from
God the Father everything he asks for. This will be our own experience
too if we are united to Christ, for he promised that "if you ask
anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name" (Jn 16:23;
15:16).

The founder of Opus Dei reminds us that "Jesus is the way, the
mediator. In him are all things; outside of him is nothing. In Christ,
taught by him, we dare to call Almighty God 'our Father': he who
created heaven and earth is a loving Father" ("Christ Is Passing By",
91).

The Apostle also calls God "the Father of glory". The glory of God
means his greatness, his power, the infinite richness of his
personality, which when it is revealed inspires man with awe. Already,
in the history of Israel, God revealed himself through his saving
actions in favor of his people. Asking God to glorify his name is the
same as asking him to show himself as our Savior and to give us his
gifts. But the greatest manifestation of God's glory, of his power, was
the raising of Jesus from the dead, and the raising, with him, of the
Christian (cf. Rom 6:4; 1 Cor 6:14). In this passage St Paul asks God
"the Father of glory" to grant Christians supernatural wisdom to
recognize the greatness of the blessings he has given them through his
Son; that is, to acknowledge that he is their Father and the origin of
glory. By asking for a "spirit of wisdom and revelation" the Apostle is
seeking special gifts--on the one hand, wisdom, that gift of the Holy
Spirit which enables one to penetrate the mystery of God: "Who has
learned thy counsel, unless thou hast given wisdom and sent thy holy
Spirit from on high?" (Wis 9:17). This wisdom which the Church has been
given (cf. Eph l:8) can be communicated to Christians in a special
way, as a special gift or charism of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle also
asks God to give them a spirit "of revelation", that is, the grace of
personal revelations, such as he himself (cf. 1 Cor 14:6) and other
Christians (cf. 1 Cor 14:26) received. It is not a matter of revelation
or recognition of new truths, but rather of special light from the Holy
Spirit so as to have a deeper appreciation of the truth of faith, or of
the will of God in a particular situation.

18-19. Along with this deeper knowledge of God, St Paul asks that
Christians be given a fuller and livelier hope, because God and hope
are inseparable. He recognizes the faith and charity of the faithful to
whom he is writing (cf. 1:15); now he wants hope to shine more
brightly for them; he wants God to enlighten their minds and make them
realize the consequences of their election, their calling, to be
members of the holy people of God, the Church. Hope, therefore, is a
gift from God. "Hope is a supernatural virtue, infused by God into our
soul, by which we desire and expect eternal life, promised by God to
his servants, and the means necessary to obtain it" ("St Pius X
Catechism", 893).

The ground for hope lies in God's love and power which have been
manifested in the resurrection of Christ. This same power is at work in
the Christian. Because God's plan for our salvation is an eternal one,
he who has called us will lead us to an immortal life in heaven. The
fact that God's power is at work in us (cf. Rom 5:5) does not mean that
we encounter no difficulties. Monsignor Escriva reminds us that "as we
fight this battle, which will last until the day we die, we cannot
exclude the possibility that enemies both within and without may attack
with violent force. As if that were not enough, you may at times be
assailed by the memory of your own past errors, which may have been
very many. I tell you now, in God's name: do not despair. Should this
happen (it need not happen; nor will it usually happen), then turn it
into another motive for uniting yourself more closely to the Lord, for
he has chosen you as his child and he will not abandon you. He has
allowed this trial to befall you so as to have you love him the more
and discover even more clearly his constant protection and love"
("Friends of God", 214).

20-21. The Apostle is in awe at the marvels which God's power has
worked in Jesus Christ. He sees Christ as the source and model of our
hope. "For, just as Christ's life is the model and exemplar of our
holiness, so is the glory and exaltation of Christ the form and
exemplar of our glory and exaltation" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary
on Eph, ad. Ioc".).

As elsewhere in the New Testament (cf. Acts 7:56; Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 3:22),
the fact that the risen Christ is seated "at the right hand" of the
Father means that he shares in God's kingly authority. The Apostle is
using a comparison with which people of his time were very familiar--
that of the emperor seated on his throne. The throne has always been
the symbol of supreme authority and power. Thus, the "St Pius V
Catechism" explains that being seated at the right hand "does not
imply position or posture of body, but expresses the firm and permanent
possession of royal and supreme power and glory, which he received from
the Father" (I, 7, 3).

Christ's pre-eminence is absolute: he is Lord of all creation, material
as well as spiritual, earthly as well as heavenly. "All rule and
authority and power and dominion": this refers to the angelic spirits
(cf. note on Eph 3:10), whom the false preachers were presenting as
superior to Christ. St Paul argues against them: Jesus Christ at his
resurrection was raised by God above all created beings.

22-23. In previous letters St Paul described the Church as a body (cf.
Rom 12:4f; 1 Cor 12:12ff). Here, and in Colossians 1:18, he pursues
this comparison and says that it is the body of Christ, and that Christ
is its head. He returns to this teaching elsewhere in the Captivity
Epistles (cf. Col 1:18; Eph 5:23f). The image of body and head
highlights the life-giving and salvific influence of Christ on the
Church, and at the same time emphasizes his supremacy over the Church
(cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc.", and also the note
on Col 1:18). This fact fills Christians with joy: by joining the
Church through Baptism, they have become truly members of our Lord's
body. "No, it is not pride", Paul VI says, " nor arrogance nor
obstinacy nor stupidity nor folly that makes us so sure of being
living, genuine members of Christ's body, the authentic heirs of his
Gospel" ("Ecclesiam Suam", 33).

This image also reveals Christ's close union with his Church and his
deep love for her: "he loved her so much", St John of Avila observes,
"that although what normally happens is that a person raises his arm to
take a blow and protect his head, this blessed Lord, who is the head,
put himself forward to receive the blow of divine justice, and died on
the Cross to give life to his body, that is, us. And after giving us
life, through penance and the sacraments, he endows us, defends and
keeps us as something so very much his own, that he is not content with
calling us his servants, friends, brethren or children: the better to
show his love and render us honor, he gives us his name. For, by means
of this ineffable union of Christ the head with the Church his body, he
and we are together called 'Christ"' ("Audi, Filia", chap. 84).

The Apostle also describes the Church, the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor
12:12) as his "fullness" (cf. note on Col 1:19). What he means is that,
through the Church, Christ becomes present in and fills the entire
universe and extends to it the fruits of his redemptive activity. By
being the vehicle which Christ uses to distribute his grace to all, the
Church is different from the Israel of the Old Testament: it is not
confined to a particular geographical location.

Because the Church has limitless grace, its call is addressed to all
mankind: all men are invited to attain salvation in Christ. "For many
centuries now, the Church has been spread throughout the world,"
Monsignor Escriva comments, "and it numbers persons of all races and
walks of life. But the universality of the Church does not depend on
its geographical extension, even though that is a visible sign and a
motive of credibility. The Church was catholic already at Pentecost; it
was born catholic from the wounded heart of Jesus, as a fire which the
Holy Spirit enkindles [...]. 'We call it catholic', writes St Cyril,
'not only because it is spread throughout the whole world, from one
extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and without defect
it teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, of both the visible
and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because it
draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and those who
are ruled, the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because it cures
and makes healthy all kinds of sins, whether of the soul or of the
body, possessing in addition--by whatever name it may be called--all
the forms of virtue, in deeds and in words and in every kind of
spiritual gift' ("Catechesis", 18, 23)" ("In Love with the Church", 9).

All grace reaches the Church through Christ. The Second Vatican Council
reminds us: "He continually endows his body, that is, the Church, with
gifts of ministries through which, by his power, we serve each other
unto salvation so that, carrying out the truth in love, we may through
all things grow into him who is our head" ("Lumen Gentium", 7). This is
why St Paul calls the Church the "body" of Christ; and it is in this
sense that it is the "fullness" ("pleroma") of Christ--not because it in
any way fills out or completes Christ but because it is filled with
Christ, full of Christ, forming a single body with him, a single
spiritual organism, whose unifying and life-giving principle is Christ,
its head. This demonstrates Christ's absolute supremacy; his unifying
and life-giving influence extends from God to Christ, from Christ to
the Church, and from the Church to all men. It is he in fact who fills
all in all (cf. Eph 4:10; Col 1:17-19; 2:9f).

The fact that the Church is the body of Christ is a further reason why
we should love it and serve it. As Pope Pius XII wrote: "To ensure that
this genuine and whole-hearted love will reign in our hearts and grow
every day, we must accustom ourselves to see Christ himself in the
Church. For it is indeed Christ who lives in the Church, and through
her teaches, governs and sanctifies; and it is also Christ who
manifests himself in manifold disguise in the various members of his
society" ("Mystici Corporis", 43).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Luke 12:8-12

Various Teachings of Jesus (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [8] "And I tell you, every one who
acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before
the angels of God; [9] but he who denies Me before men will be denied
before the angels of God. [10] And every one who speaks a word against
the Son of Man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit will not be forgiven. [11] And when they bring you before the
synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or
what you are to answer or what you are to say; [12] for the Holy Spirit
will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Commentary:

8-9. This follows logically from Christ's previous teaching: worse than
physical evils, worse even than death, are evils of the soul, that is,
sin. Those who out of fear of temporal suffering deny our Lord and are
unfaithful to the demands of the faith will fall into a greater evil
still: they will be denied by Christ Himself on the Day of Judgment;
whereas those who are penalized in this life because of their
faithfulness to Christ will receive the eternal reward of being
recognized by Him and will come to share His glory.

10. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists in maliciously
attributing to the devil actions which have God as their origin. A
person who does that prevents God's pardon from reaching him: that is
why he cannot obtain forgiveness (cf. Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:28-30).
Jesus understands and excuses the weakness of a person who makes a
moral mistake, but He is not similarly indulgent to someone who shuts
his eyes and his heart to the wonderful things the Spirit does; that
was the way these Pharisees acted who accused Jesus of casting out
demons in the name of Beelzebul; it is the way unbelieving people act
who refuse to see in Christ's work a sign of the goodness of God, who
reject the invitation God offers them and who thereby put themselves
outside the reach of salvation (cf. Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-31). See the
note on Mark 3:28-30.

[The note on Mark 3:28-30 states:

28-30. Jesus has just worked a miracle but the scribes refuse to
recognize it "for they had said `He has an unclean spirit'" (verse
30). They do not want to admit that God is the author of the miracle.
In this attitude lies the special gravity of blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit--attributing to the prince of evil, to Satan, the good works
performed by God Himself. Anyone acting in this way will become like
the sick person who has so lost confidence in the doctor that he
rejects him as if an enemy and regards as poison the medicine that can
save his life. That is why our Lord says that he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not forgiven: not because God cannot
forgive all sins, but because that person, in his blindness towards
God, rejects Jesus Christ, His teaching and His miracles, and despises
the graces of the Holy Spirit as if they were designed to trap him (cf.
"St. Pius V Catechism", II, 5, 19; St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa
Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 3).]