Compline

INTRODUCTION

God, + come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Examination of Conscience

A brief examination of conscience may be made. In the communal celebration of the Office, a Penitential Rite using the formulas of the Mass may be inserted here.

[I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

And, striking their breast, they say:

through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;

Then they continue:

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

The absolution by the Priest follows:

May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen..]

HYMN

At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
Praise to our victorious King,
Who has washed us in the tide
Flowing from his wounded side;
Praise the Lord, whose love divine
Gives his sacred blood for wine,
Gives his body for the feast,
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.

Where the Paschal blood is poured,
Death’s dark angel sheathes his sword;
Israel’s host in triumph go
Through the waves that drown the foe.
Christ the Lamb whose blood was shed,
Paschal victim, Paschal bread;
Let us with a fervent love
Taste the manna from above.

Mighty Victim from on high,
Pow’rs of hell now vanquished lie;
Sin is conquered in the fight:
You have brought us life and light;
Your resplendent banners wave,
You have risen from the grave;
Christ has opened Paradise,
And in him all men shall rise.

Easter triumph, Easter joy,
Sin alone can this destroy;
Souls form sin and death set free
Glory in their liberty.
Hymns of glory, hymns of praise
Father unto you we raise;
Risen Lord, for joy we sing;
Let our hymns through heaven ring.

Tune: Salzburg 77.77 D
Music: Jacob Hintze, 1622-1702
Text: Ad regias Agni dapes
Translation: Robert Campbell, 1814-1868, adapted by Geoffrey Laycock

Or:

We praise you, Father, for your gifts
Of dusk and nightfall over earth,
Foreshadowing the mystery
Of death that leads to endless day.

Within your hands we rest secure;
In quiet sleep our strength renew;
Yet give your people hearts that wake
In love to you, unsleeping Lord.

Your glory may we ever seek
In rest, as in activity,
Until its fullness is revealed,
O source of life, O Trinity.

Melody: Te lucis ante terminum (plainchant) L.M.
Music: Anonymous, Gregorian
Text: West Malling Abbey

PSALMODY

Ant. In you, my God, my body will rest in hope, alleluia.

Psalm 16
God is my portion, my inheritance

The Father raised up Jesus from the dead and broke the bonds of death (Acts 2:24).

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. †
I say to the Lord: “You are my God. *
My happiness lies in you alone.”

He has put into my heart a marvelous love *
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land.
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows. †
Never will I offer their offerings of blood. *
Never will I take their name upon my lips.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; *
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight: *
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, *
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: *
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; *
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, *
nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life, †
the fullness of joy in your presence, *
at your right hand happiness for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. In you, my God, my body will rest in hope, alleluia.

READING
1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness. May he preserve you whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

RESPONSORY

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit, alleluia, alleluia.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit, alleluia, alleluia.

You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
– Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit, alleluia, alleluia.

CANTICLE OF SIMEON

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace, alleluia.

Luke 2:29-32
Christ is the light of the nations and the glory of Israel

Lord, + now you let your servant go in peace; *
your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation *
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations *
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Lord God,
send peaceful sleep
to refresh our tired bodies.
May your help always renew us
and keep us strong in your service.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
– Amen.

BLESSING

May the all-powerful Lord
grant us a restful night
and a peaceful death.
– Amen.

Antiphon or song in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia,
has risen as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia!

Or:

Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia,
quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia;
ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.

Or:

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To you do we cry,
poor banished children of Eve.
To you do we send up our sighs
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
your eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this exile
show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.

Or:

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you!
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Or:

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve,
Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes occulos
ad nos converte.
Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exilium ostende.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

Or:

Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.

Vespers

In the United States, the Optional Memorial of Saint Damien de Veuster, Priest, may be observed today using the ferial texts with the Proper Closing Prayer. If it is desired to use any texts from the Common, these may be taken from the Common of Pastors: For Missionaries, found in the ‘Prayers’ section of the iBreviary.

INTRODUCTION

God, + come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the victor’s triumph won:
O let the song of praise be sung.
Alleluia!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On the third morn he rose again,
Glorious in majesty to reign:
O let us swell the joyful strain:
Alleluia!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
O risen Lord, all praise to thee,
Who from our sins has set us free,
That we may live eternally:
Alleluia!

Tune: Victory 888 with alleluias
Music: G.P. da Palestrina, 1588 adapted with alleluias by W.H. Monk, 1861
Text: Cologne, 1695
Translation: Francis Pott, 1861, alt.

Or:

Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands
For our offenses given:
But now at God’s right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be,
And praise the Father thankfully
With songs of Alleluia.
Alleluia.

How long and bitter was the strife
When life and death contended,
The victory remained with life,
The reign of death was ended:
Stripped of power, no more it reigns,
And empty form alone remains.
Death’s sting is lost for ever.
Alleluia.

So let us keep this festival
To which Our Lord invites us,
The Savior who is joy of all,
The Sun that warms and lights us:
By his grace he shall impart
Eternal sunshine to the heart;
The night of sin has ended.
Alleluia.

Tune: Christ lag in Todesbanden
87.87.787 with alleluia
Music: Walther’s Gesangbuchlein, 1524
Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546, based on Victimae Paschali laudes
Translation: Richard Massie, 1800-1887, adapted by Anthony G. Petti

Or:

Ad cenam Agni providi,
stolis salutis candidi,
post transitum maris Rubri
Christo canamus principi.

Cuius corpus sanctissimum
in ara crucis torridum,
sed et cruorem roseum
gustando, Deo vivimus.

Protecti paschae vespero
a devastante angelo,
de Pharaonis aspero
sumus erepti imperio.

Iam pascha nostrum Christus est,
agnus occisus innocens;
sinceritatis azyma
qui carnem suam obtulit.

O vera, digna hostia,
per quam franguntur tartara,
captiva plebs redimitur,
redduntur vitae praemia!

Consurgit Christus tumulo,
victor redit de barathro,
tyrannum trudens vinculo
et paradisum reserans.

Esto perenne mentibus
paschale, Iesu, gaudium
et nos renatos gratiae
tuis triumphis aggrega.

Iesu, tibi sit gloria,
qui morte victa praenites,
cum Patre et almo Spiritu,
in sempiterna saecula. Amen.

PSALMODY

Ant.1 You have turned my mourning into joy, alleluia.

Psalm 30
Thanksgiving for deliverance from death

Christ, risen in glory, gives continual thanks to his Father (Cassian).

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me *
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, I cried to you for help *
and you, my God, have healed me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead, *
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.

Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him, *
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts but a moment; his favor through life. *
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.

I said to myself in my good fortune: *
“Nothing will ever disturb me.”
Your favor had set me on a mountain fastness, *
then you hid your face and I was put to confusion.

To you, Lord, I cried, *
to my God I made appeal:
“What profit would my death be, my going to the grave? *
Can dust give you praise or proclaim your truth?”

The Lord listened and had pity. *
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing, *
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
So my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly. *
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm Prayer

God our Father, glorious in giving life, and even more glorious in restoring it, when his last night on earth came, your Son shed tears of blood, but dawn brought incomparable gladness. Do not turn away from us, or we shall fall back into dust, but rather turn our mourning into joy by raising us up with Christ.

Ant. You have turned my mourning into joy, alleluia.

Ant. 2 You have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son, alleluia.

Psalm 32
They are happy whose sins are forgiven

David speaks of the happiness of the man who is holy in God’s eyes not because of his own worth, but because God has justified him (Romans 4:6).

Happy the man whose offense is forgiven, *
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord †
imputes no guilt, *
in whose spirit is no guile.

I kept it secret and my frame was wasted. *
I groaned all the day long
for night and day your hand *
was heavy upon me.
Indeed, my strength was dried up *
as by the summer’s heat.

But now I have acknowledged my sins; *
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: “I will confess *
my offense to the Lord.”
And you, Lord, have forgiven *
the guilt of my sin.

So let every good man pray to you *
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high *
but him they shall not reach.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress. *
You surround me with cries of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you *
the way you should go;
I will give you counsel *
with my eye upon you.

Be not like horse and mule, unintelligent, *
needing bridle and bit,
else they will not approach you. *
Many sorrows has the wicked
but he who trusts in the Lord, *
loving mercy surrounds him.

Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, *
exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy, *
all you upright of heart.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm Prayer

You desired, Lord, to keep from us your indignation and so did not spare Jesus Christ, who was wounded for our sins. We are your prodigal children, but confessing our sins we come back to you. Embrace us that we may rejoice in your mercy together with Christ your beloved Son.

Ant. You have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son, alleluia.

Ant. 3 Lord, who is your equal in power? Who is like you, majestic in holiness? alleluia.

Canticle: Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a
The judgment of God

We praise you, the Lord God Almighty, *
who is and who was.
You have assumed your great power, *
you have begun your reign.

The nations have raged in anger, *
but then came your day of wrath
and the moment to judge the dead: *
the time to reward your servants the prophets
and the holy ones who revere you, *
the great and the small alike.

Now have salvation and power come, †
the reign of our God and the authority *
of his Anointed One.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, *
who night and day accused them before God.

They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb †
and by the word of their testimony; *
love for life did not deter them from death.
So rejoice, you heavens, *
and you that dwell therein!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Lord, who is your equal in power? Who is like you, majestic in holiness? alleluia.

READING
1 Peter 3:18, 22

The reason why Christ died for sins once for all, the just man for the sake of the unjust, was that he might lead you to God. He was put to death insofar as fleshly existence goes, but was given life in the realm of the spirit. He went to heaven and is at God’s right hand, with angelic rulers and powers subjected to him.

RESPONSORY

The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.
– The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

When they saw the risen Lord,
– alleluia, alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Ant. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete, alleluia.

Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord

My + soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, †
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: †
the Almighty has done great things for me, *
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete, alleluia.

INTERCESSIONS

Christ rose from the dead as the first fruits of those who sleep. In our joy let us praise him, and say:
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, remember your holy Church, built on the apostles and reaching to the ends of the earth,
– and let your blessing rest on all who believe in you.
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

You are the healer of soul and body,
– come to our aid, and save us in your love.
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

Raise up the sick and give them strength,
– free them from their infirmities.
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

Help those in distress of mind or body,
– and in your compassion lift up those in need.
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

Through your cross and resurrection you opened for all the way to immortality,
– grant to our deceased brothers and sisters the joys of your kingdom.
Firstborn from the dead, hear our prayer.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(Gathering our prayer and praises into one, let us offer the prayer Christ himself taught us: )

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Father,
in your love you have brought us
from evil to good and from misery to happiness.
Through your blessings
give the courage of perseverance
to those you have called and justified in faith.
Grant this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
– Amen.

Or:

O God, by whose grace,
though sinners, we are made just
and, though pitiable, made blessed,
stand, we pray, by your works,
stand by your gifts,
that those justified by faith
may not lack the courage of perseverance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord + bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.

For the Memorial of Saint Damien de Veuster:

Let us pray.

Father of mercy,
who gave us in Saint Damien
a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned,
grant that, by his intercession,
as faithful witnesses of the heart of your Son Jesus,
we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Saint Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka'i, priest

Saint Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka'i, priest
Optional Memorial
May 10th

(1840-1889) Born in Beligium, in 1860 he joined the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 1873, at his request, he was sent to the leper colony at Moloka'i. He spent the rest of his life, including the four years from his own contracting of leprosy until his death, ministering to the lepers.
Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009
Saint Jozef Damien De Veuster, ss.cc, was born at Tremelo, Belgium, on 3 January 1840. Jozef ("Jef") began his novitiate with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ("Picpus Fathers") at the beginning of 1859 and took the name Damien. He would pray every day before a picture of St Francis Xavier, patron of missionaries, to be sent on a mission. In 1863 his brother, who was to leave for a mission in the Hawaiian Islands, fell ill. Since preparations for the voyage had already been made, Damien obtained permission from the Superior General to take his brother's place. He landed in Honolulu on March 19, 1864. He was ordained to the priesthood on the following May 21.
At that time, the Hawaiian Government decided on the harsh measure of quarantine aimed at preventing the spread of leprosy: the deportation to the neighbouring Island of Molokai of all those infected by what was then thought to be an incurable disease. The entire mission was concerned about the abandoned lepers and Bishop Louis Maigret, a Picpus father, felt sure they needed priests. He did not want to send anyone "in the name of obedience" because he was aware such an assignment was a potential death sentence. Of the four brothers who volunteered, Damien was the first to leave on May 10, 1873 for Kalaupapa.
At his own request and that of the lepers, he remained on Molokai. Having contracted leprosy himself, he died on April 15, 1889, at the age of 49, after serving 16 years among the lepers. He was buried in the local cemetery under the same Pandanus tree where he had first slept upon his arrival in Molokai. His remains were exhumed in 1936 at the request of the Belgian Government and translated to a crypt of the Church of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts at Louvain. Damien is universally known for having freely shared the life of the lepers in quarantine on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokai. His departure for the "cursed isle", the announcement of his illness (leprosy) in 1884 and his subsequent death deeply impressed his contemporaries of all denominations.
Damien was above all a Catholic missionary. Fr Damien is known today as a hero of charity because he identified so closely with the victims of leprosy.
He respected the religious convictions of others; he accepted them as people and received with joy their collaboration and their help. With a heart wide open to the most abject and wretched, he showed no difference in his approach and in his care of the lepers. In his parish ministry or in his works of charity he found a place for everyone.
Among his best friends were Meyer, a Lutheran, the superintendent of the leper colony, Clifford, an Anglican, and Moritz, a painter, a free-thinker who was the doctor on Molokai and Dr Masanao Goto, a Japanese Buddhist and leprologist.
He continues to inspire thousands of believers and non-believers who wish to imitate him and to discover the source of his heroism. People of all creeds and all philosophical systems recognized in him the Servant of God which he always revealed himself to be, and respect his passion for the salvation of souls.
Pope John Paul II beatified Damien de Veuster in Brussels on June 4, 1995.

Source:Vatican Website

Collect:
Father of mercy,
who gave us in Saint Damien
a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned,
grant that, by his intercession,
as faithful witnesses of the heart of your Son Jesus,
we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

Aloha, Kamiano! The Life of Blessed (sic) Damien of Molokai
Benedict XVI urges Belgian bishops to promote vocations, highlights St. Damien (Open)
Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint
Leprosy patients from Hawaii to see canonization of Fr. Damien
A Saint on Capitol Hill
Priest Who Aided Lepers In Hawaii To Become Saint
"Lepers' Apostle" to Be Declared a Saint
Finally, It's Official: Molokai's Hero = Hawaii's Saint
A Parish of Lepers [Bl. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai]
Bld. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai

Information: St. Damien of Molokai

Feast Day:	May 10
Born:	January 3, 1840, Tremelo, Belgium
Died:	April 15, 1889 (aged 49), Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii
Beatified:	June 4, 1995, Rome by Pope John Paul II
Canonized:	October 11, 2009, Rome by Pope Benedict XVI
Major Shrine:	shrine Leuven, Belgium (bodily relics), Maui, Hawaii (relics of his hand)
Patron of:	People with leprosy, people with HIV and AIDS, outcasts, the State of Hawaii

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Antoninus

Feast Day: May 10
Born: 1389 :: Died: 1459

St. Antoninus was born at Florence in Italy. Even as a young boy he showed that he had good sense and will power. When he was just fifteen, he asked to join the Dominican order. He looked young, and he was small and not very healthy.

The prior (parish priest) studied him for a moment and then said, "I'll accept you when you know 'Gratian's Decree' by heart." "Gratian's Decree" (or the Canon law) was a book, hundreds of pages long. So, in other words, the prior was telling Antoninus that he could not join them.

But Antoninus accepted the challenge and returned one year later. It is hard to describe how surprised the prior was when he found that Antoninus had learnt by heart, the whole decree! Of course, he was accepted at once. (Though, it was not his skill to memorize that changed the prior's mind. It was because he had proved he was serious about his vocation to become a priest.)

Antoninus was just sixteen but continued to surprise everyone by the way he lived the hard life of his order. As he grew older, he was given one important position after another. He was a member of the council of Florence which tried to end the arguments between the churches of the east and west. Then he was made Bishop of the Dominicans. Diplomat. Theologian. Healer.

He was a good example for his fellow Dominicans and they loved and respected him. He had the gift of healing and was also a good teacher of religious studies and the Catholic faith. In March, 1446, Antoninus became the archbishop of Florence, Italy.

He was named "The father of the poor". He never refused to help anyone. When he had no more money, he would give his clothes, his shoes, his furniture or his one mule. Many times this mule was sold to help someone. Then it would be bought back for him by rich parishioners. Of course, he would soon sell it again to help someone else!

Often St. Antoninus would say, "A successor of the apostles should not own anything except the wealth of virtue." St. Antoninus died in 1459.

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 15
9.	As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.	Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea.	καθως ηγαπησεν με ο πατηρ καγω ηγαπησα υμας μεινατε εν τη αγαπη τη εμη
10.	If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.	Si præcepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei præcepta servavi, et maneo in ejus dilectione.	εαν τας εντολας μου τηρησητε μενειτε εν τη αγαπη μου καθως εγω τας εντολας του πατρος μου τετηρηκα και μενω αυτου εν τη αγαπη
11.	These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.	Hæc locutus sum vobis : ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα η χαρα η εμη εν υμιν μεινη και η χαρα υμων πληρωθη

9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love.
10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love--even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

AUG. Made bright or glorified; the Greek word may be translated in either way. In Greek it signifies glory; not our own glory, we must remember, as if we had it of ourselves: it is of His grace that we have it; and therefore it is not our own but His glory. For from whom shall we derive our fruitfulness, but from His mercy preventing us.

Wherefore He adds, As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you. This then is the source of our good works. Our good works proceed from faith which works by love: but we could not love unless we were loved first: As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you. This does not prove that our nature is equal to His, as His is to the Father's, but the grace, whereby He is the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The Father loves us, but in Him.

CHRYS. If then I love you, be of good cheer; if it is the Father's glory that you bring forth good fruit, bear no evil. Then to rouse them to exertion, He adds, Continue you in My love; and then shows how this is to be done: If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love.

AUG. Who doubts that love precedes the observance of the commandments? For who loves not, has not that whereby to keep the commandments. These words then do not declare whence love arises, but how it is shown, that no one might deceive himself into thinking that he loved our Lord, when he did not keep His commandments. Though the words, Continue you in My love, do not of themselves make it evident which love He means, ours to Him, or His to us, yet the preceding words do: I love you, He says: and then immediately after, Continue you in My love.

Continue you in My love, then, is, continue in My grace; and, If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, is, Your keeping of My commandments will be evidence to you that you abide in My love. It is not that we keep His commandments first, and that then He loves; but that He loves us, and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace, which is revealed to the humble, but hidden from the proud. But what means the next words, Even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love: i.e., the Father's love, wherewith He loves the Son.

Must this grace, wherewith the Father loves the Son, be understood to be like the grace wherewith the Son loves us? No; for whereas we are sons not by nature, but by grace, the Only Begotten is Son not by grace, but by nature. We must understand this then to refer to the manhood in the Son, even as the words themselves imply: As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you.

The grace of a Mediator is expressed here; and Christ is Mediator between God and man, not as God, but as man. This then we may say, that since human nature does not pertain to the nature of God, but does by grace pertain to the Person of the Son, grace also pertains to that Person: such grace as has nothing superior, nothing equal to it. For no merits on man's part preceded the assumption of that nature.

ALCUIN. Even as 1 have kept My Father's commandments. The Apostle explains what these commandments were: Christ became obedient to death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8).

CHRYS. Then because the Passion was now approaching to interrupt their joy, He adds, These things have I spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you: as if He said, And if sorrow fall upon you, I will take it away, so that you shall rejoice in the end.

AUG. And what is Christ's joy in us, but that He deigns to rejoice on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on our account, when He rejoiced in foreknowing, and predestinating us; but that joy was not in us, because then we did not exist: it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed; which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.

Catena Aurea John 15

Crucifix

Coppo di Marcovaldo

after 1261
Tempera on wood, 296 x 247 cm
Pinacoteca Civica, San Gimignano

Catholic

Almanac:

Thursday, May 10
Liturgical Color: White
Today is the optional memorial of St. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka'i, priest. He served as a missionary to Hawaii, volunteering for service in the leper colony. After 15 years he contracted the disease himself, dying in 1889.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: May 10, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Father of mercy, who gave us in Saint Damien a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned, grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witnesses of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

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LIBRARY

Easter: May 10th

Optional Memorial of St. Damien de Veuster, priest Old Calendar: St. Antoninus, bishop and confessor; Sts. Gordian and Epimachus, martyrs

Father Damien, formally Joseph de Veuster, ss.cc. and St. Damien of Molokai (January 3, 1840 - April 15, 1889), was a missionary of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who is revered primarily by Hawaii residents and Christians for having dedicated his life in service to the lepers of Molokai in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Father Damien is the spiritual patron of lepers, outcasts, and those with HIV/AIDS, and of the State of Hawaii.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is also the feast of St. Antoninus, Bishop of Florence, and a member of the Dominican Order. In the exercise of his pastoral charge he showed great charity. He died in 1459. It is also the commemoration of Sts. Gordian and Epimachus. Gordian, a Roman judge, was converted by a holy priest whom Julian, the Apostate, would have liked him to condemn. He was martyred around 360 and was buried in the crypt where already laid the remains of the martyr St. Epimachus (250), brought from Alexandria.

St. Damien of Molokai
Joseph De Veuster, the future Father Damien, was born at Tremelo in Belgium, January 3rd, 1840. His was a large family and his father was a farmer-merchant. When his oldest brother entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (called 'Picpus' after the street in Paris where its Generalate was located), his father planned that Joseph should take charge of the family business. Joseph, however, decided to become a religious. At the beginning of 1859 he entered the novitiate at Louvain, in the same house as his brother. There he took the name of Damien.

In 1863, his brother who was to leave for the mission in the Hawaiian Islands, became ill. Since preparations for the voyage had already been made, Damien obtained permission from the Superior General to take his brother's place. He arrived in Honolulu on March 19th, 1864, where he was ordained to the priesthood the following May 21st. He immediately devoted himself, body and soul, to the difficult service of a "country missionary" on the island of Hawaii, the largest in the Hawaiian group.

At that time, the Hawaiian Government decided on a very harsh measure aimed at stopping the spread of "leprosy," the deportation to the neighboring island of Molokai, of all those infected by what was thought to be an incurable disease. The entire mission was concerned about the abandoned "lepers" and the Bishop, Louis Maigret ss.cc., spoke to the priests about the problem. He did not want to send anyone "in the name of obedience," because he knew that such an order meant certain death. Four Brothers volunteered, they would take turns visiting and assisting the "lepers" in their distress. Damien was the first to leave on May 10th, 1873. At his own request and that of the lepers, he remained definitively on Molokai.

He brought hope to this hell of despair. He became a source of consolation and encouragement for the lepers, their pastor, the doctor of their souls and of their bodies, without any distinction of race or religion. He gave a voice to the voiceless, he built a community where the joy of being together and openness to the love of God gave people new reasons for living.

After Father Damien contracted the disease in 1885, he was able to identify completely with them: "We lepers." Father Damien was, above all, a witness of the love of God for His people. He got his strength from the Eucharist: "lt is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation..." It is there that he found for himself and for others the support and the encouragement, the consolation and the hope, he could, with a deep faith, communicate to the lepers. All that made him "the happiest missionary in the world," a servant of God, and a servant of humanity.

Having contracted "leprosy" himself, Fr. Damien died on April 15th, 1889, having served sixteen years among the lepers. His mortal remains were transferred in 1936 to Belgium where he was interred in the crypt of the church of the Congregation of Sacred Hearts at Louvain. His fame spread to the entire world. In 1938 the process for his beatification was introduced at Malines (Belgium): Pope Paul VI signed the Decree on the "heroicity of his virtues" on July 7th 1977. He was canonized on October 11th, 2009.

In Father Damien, the Church proposes an example to all those who find sense for their life in the Gospel and who wish to bring the Good News to the poor of our time.

Excerpted from SSCC Website

Patron: Lepers.

Things to Do:

Be adventurous and prepare a Hawaiian luau in honor of Bl. Damien.

St. Antoninus
He wanted to join the Dominicans, but he was so small he scarcely reached above the tabletop in the office of Blessed John Dominici, the Dominican prior of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. To put him off, the prior told him to go home and memorize the Decrees of Gratian, a compilation of Church law. Within a year, the boy had returned, had committed the decrees to memory, and was given the habit of a Dominican.

St. Antoninus was one of the first novices at Fiesole, which Blessed John had built, and among his fellow novices was the future artist Fra Angelico. After his ordination to the priesthood, Antoninus was made prior at Rome, Gaeta, Siena, Fiesole, and finally at Florence where he founded the famous Convento di San Marco, where Fra Angelico did some of his most memorable work.

He was summoned by Pope Eugene IV to take part in the Council of Florence in 1438, and as prior of San Marco, welcomed many of the prelates and scholars to Florence for the sessions of the council that took place there. It was at this time also that the great library of San Marco was opened to the public.

In 1446, much against his will, he was appointed archbishop of Florence but continued to live as a simple Dominican friar. Then, he became a veritable dynamo of activity: he rebuilt churches, visited parishes, preached incessantly, and brought about peace between political factions and religious orders. He was in Rome at the deathbed of Pope Eugene IV and was consulted by succeeding pontiffs in the reform of the papal curia. He was a superb theologian, his writings on moral theology and economics are considered pioneer works in the changing society of his times.

Shortly before the death of Antoninus, a plague hit Florence, decimating the city, with many of his friars dying, and the people starving from famine. He sold everything to help the hungry and destitute. When a violent earthquake hit Florence, he helped to rebuild the city, housing some of the victims in his own home. He died on May 2, 1459, and Pope Pius II himself came to attend his funeral. The people of Florence, who loved Antoninus, placed his statue in the Uffizi Palace, the city's hall of fame.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens

Patron: Those with a fever.

Symbols: Lily; pair of scales in which he weighs false merchandise against God's word; scales; wearing bishop's mitre, holding the cross, and giving the sign of blessing in absolution.

Things to Do:

Read a detailed life of St. Antoninus and see why he is a model for those in the workplace and marketplace. If you would like to read even more, Fr. Benedict M. Ashley, O.P.'s article is also worth reading.
St. Antoninus was noted for his love of people: people of all kinds, from those in high places to the poorest of the city. To help the poor, he organized the Poor Men of St. Martin, who exist to this day. What have you done for the poor lately?
Learn about the St. Antoninus Institute for Catholic Education in Business and see if you would be interested in joining.

Sts. Gordian and Epimachus
During the reign of Julian the Apostate, Januarius, a priest, was brought before the judge, Gordian, that he might be condemned; but Gordian, after being instructed in the Christian faith by this same priest, was baptized by him at Rome, together with his wife and fifty three other members of his house. Whereupon the Prefect, having sent Januarius into exile, ordered his deputy Clementianus to imprison Gordian. The deputy, after some time, had Gordian led in chains before his tribunal, and sought to induce him to deny the faith. Failing in the attempt, the deputy ordered him to be first scourged with whips laden with plummets of lead, and then beheaded. His body was exposed before the temple of Apollo, that it might be devoured by dogs; but during the night the Christians took it, and buried it on the Latin Way, in the same crypt wherein had previously been laid the relics of the holy martyr Epimachus, brought from Alexandria, in which city he had endured a long imprisonment for the Christian faith, and was finally crowned with martyrdom by being burned to death.

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 15:9-11

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” (John 15:9)

How many times have we heard these words, felt warmed by them, and yet not really grasped the radical truth behind them? Let’s take a look, for instance, at what Jesus means when he says, “As the Father has loved me.” Let’s consider a few instances in Jesus’ life where we get a glimpse into how much the Father loves his Son.

When Jesus was baptized by John, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Jesus was God’s dearest treasure, the apple of his eye, and he wanted to make sure that everyone around knew how precious he was to him.

Then again, at Jesus’ transfiguration, God announced: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). God was pleased with his Son and honored him by raising him to heavenly status that day on the mountain, making his clothes brilliant white and his face shining like the sun. Again, we get a glimpse into the purity, passion, and power in the love that the Father has for Jesus.

So what does this have to do with us? Everything! Jesus is telling us he loves us in the same way and with the same intensity that the Father loves him. He is well pleased with us; we are his beloved, dear to his heart. We are the apple of his eye, a shining jewel in his sight.

Can you believe this truth when you fail to honor him? When you fall into sin or become complacent in your faith? You certainly can! Jesus died to pay for all those times you fail him. All you have to do is turn away from whatever is drawing you away from him and turn toward the light of his love. The more we soak up his power and light, the more we will be able to understand and experience the depths of his love for us. Jesus chooses to love us every moment of every day. May we never forget this awesome truth!

“Jesus, you make my joy complete with your love. I will choose to love you today, just as you have chosen to love and keep me for the rest of my life.”

Acts 15:7-21; Psalm 96:1-3,10

“I Make Myself a Leper”: Damien of Molokai made a total gift of self

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for May 10, 2012:

A trip down Memory Lane: Recall the first full day of your marriage. Did you go on a honeymoon? Was is exhilarating or exhausting? Remember your first home together. What did you like best about it? Are you still in it? Reminisce together.

Regnum Christi

My Love for the Church

| SPIRITUAL LIFE

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Father Patrick Langan, LC

John 15: 9-11

Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father´s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for granting me the opportunity to be with you. There are things in life, Lord, that attract me, but you attract me more. I hope in you, and I love you. Maybe I don’t really understand what it means to love, and maybe I don’t love the way I should, but I do love you.

Petition: Lord, increase my love and appreciation for the Church and her leaders.

1. Christ and His Church: When Christ says, “Keep my commandments and remain in my love,” he is talking not only about the Ten Commandments but also about the Church. What is the Church? It is Christ’s extension through time. We cannot say, “Christ, yes; the Church, no,” because the Church is the mystical body of Christ; the two are inseparable as head and body. The Church, through its sacraments and its solid teachings, makes Christ present for me now, today. It is through this Church that I received the gift of faith. I want to remain in Christ. I want to remain enthusiastically in his Church.

2. God’s Chosen Ministers: You chose the Apostles to continue your work of redemption throughout the ages. Therefore, Lord, I want to love your priests and your bishops. I know how hard their job is. I see their perseverance. The Eucharist is available all over the world because of the fidelity of priests. Thank you for bishops and priests. Thank you for our parish. I want to support the parish with joy; giving of my time and my financial sacrifices.

3. The Pope: Lord, I want to love the Holy Father. He is the rock on which you chose to build your Church. Because he has kept the straight path, the world recognizes his moral authority. Lord, I want to learn more about what he is saying. Today with the Internet, it is so easy. It just takes a little interest and a little time. This is one way I can remain in your love. Thus, my joy will be complete.

Conversation with Christ: When you came, Lord, you wanted to heal us through the sacraments, and you set up the Church to administer them. Because you are present in your Church, it has lasted two thousand years. Thank you for giving us this instrument of salvation.

Resolution: I will read something Pope Benedict XVI has written. Much can be found on the Vatican website.

Love of the Father

Do you know the love that produces immeasurable joy? Jesus speaks of the love which the Father and he have for those who belong to him. We can never outgive God in love, because he has loved us without measure. Our love for him is a response to his exceeding mercy and kindness towards us. Paul the Apostle tells us that we can abound in joy and hope because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:5). In God’s love we find the fulness of grace, life, peace, and joy. Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment — a new way of love. We are to love others as Jesus has loved us. What is the essence of this new commandment? True love is sacrificial. It gives all to the beloved. And there is no greater proof in love than the sacrifice of one’s life for the sake of another. Jesus proved his love for his disciples by giving his life for them, even to death on the cross. We prove our love for God and for one another when we embrace the way of the cross. What is the cross in my life? When my will crosses with God’s will, then God’s will must be done. Do you know the joy and contentment of a life fully surrendered to God and consumed with his love?

Reflection written by Don Schwager of www.rc.net

One Bread, One Body

<< Thursday, May 10, 2012 >>

St. Damien of Molokai
Saint of the Day

Acts 15:7-21
View Readings

Psalm 96:1-3, 10

John 15:9-11

AUTHORITY OR DARKNESS?

"After much discussion, Peter took the floor." —Acts 15:7

For centuries, the Jewish people had been taught not to associate with Gentiles. This was based on the Bible (see Is 52:11). After Pentecost, the Jewish Christians were told that the Gentiles had been given the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:8). This indicated that Jewish Christians should accept Gentile Christians as brothers and sisters (see Eph 3:6). James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, said that this was based on the Bible (Acts 15:15-16; Am 9:11). Thus, there were two very different, authoritative, seemingly contradictory interpretations of the Bible on a point of extreme significance. What was the truth? What was God's will?

The early Christians were able to rise above their cultural biases and personal limitations because they were in submission to the Church. They were in submission to their local church leaders, who were in submission to Peter, the apostles, and the elders in Jerusalem (see Acts 15:2). Only in this way did the early Christians understand the Biblical revelation concerning the Gentiles' part in God's plan of salvation.

Private interpretation of the Bible did not work in critical situations of the New Testament Church. Private interpretation does not work today as very holy and learned people disagree on such important matters as the meaning of the Eucharist, the indissolubility of marriage, the nature of authority in the Church, the importance of liturgy, the role of women in the Church, etc. We need to be in submission to an authoritative Church with one final authority, the Pope. Otherwise, we cut ourselves off from the fullness of God's revelation.

Prayer: Father, may I rejoice in the light which comes from submission to the Pope and the Church.

Promise: "All this I tell you that My joy may be yours and your joy may be complete." —Jn 15:11

Praise: St. Damien gave dignity, the Eucharist, and, ultimately, his life to those lepers he served on the island of Molokai.

Will you please pray to end abortion

so that babies like me might live?

Archdiocese of Washington

The President, Gay unions, and the problem of selective Christianity

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

The President’s disclosure that he now accepts so-called “Gay marriage” has received a good bit of political analysis. I am no political prognosticator and this is not a political blog. But when the President invokes Christ and the “golden rule,” to justify his decision, now I think we have something to discuss on a blog like this.

We have discussed at great length the problem with homosexual “marriage” before HERE, HERE HERE, and HERE) there is no reason restate it all again. Just click through to read those sorts of articles. Further I make reference in this post to Scripture’s consistent teaching forbidding Homosexual acts. I do not set forth all the Scriptures here but you can read what I have set forth more fully here: Biblical Teaching on Homosexual Activity

In this post however lets consider the problematic appeal of the President to Jesus to affirm Gay “marriage.” Specifically Mr Obama said to ABC News:

…In the end the values that I care most deeply about and she [Michele] cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me….[1]

It is a common problem today that people often present simplistic portraits of Jesus Christ to support a variety of agendas. And the portraits of Jesus are not only simplistic, they are incomplete (usually intentionally so), and fail to accept that Jesus cannot be reduced to a simple sentence or two.

I would argue this is what the President is doing here. As if to say, “Jesus, was basically a nice and affirming person, who spoke of Love, and so beautifully and taught us to do unto to others as we would have them do to us. “Surely,” the thinking goes, “this Jesus would affirm and rejoice over two Gay people getting “married.”" It is as if this were all Jesus was or said, “Love…Do unto others”. Never mind that he had some pretty high standards when it came to sexuality (Matt 5:27-30; Matt 15:19; Mk 10:11; Rev 22:15; Rev 21:8) Never mind that he told his apostles he had other things to teach them and would send his Holy Spirit, and never mind that His Holy Spirit inspired the Epistles writers like Paul to speak clearly in the ancient Biblical tradition about the sinfulness of homosexual activity, fornication, and adultery [2] “Never mind all that,” says the modern world, and our President, “I chose the Jesus who said only, ‘God is love, and be kind to one another.’”

And this is the textbook definition of heresy, to pick or choose. The English word derives from the Greek word hairesis, meaning to chose.

The essence of orthodoxy is in the balance [3, 4] and maintaining the tensions inherent in Jesus and the Christian message. The essence of heresy is to pick and choose. And, as author Ross Douthat has ably demonstrated in his book Bad Religion – How we became a nation of heretics, there is a lot of heresy being peddled today. Heresy picks one, or perhaps several teachings, and emphasizes them in exclusion to other teachings which balance and complete them. And to be fair, as Douthat points out, heresy is not just a problem on the left side of the political or theological aisle. The right does it as well (e.g. prosperity gospel, easy justification for war etc).

The modern tendency on the left, from which the President speaks has been to reduce Jesus to a rather harmless hippie who went about talking about love and inclusion and healed people. Gone from this harmless and politically correct Jesus are volumes of verses that help complete the picture: a Messiah who claimed authority in our lives, who spoke quite clearly of sin, yes even sexual sin, and who warned repeatedly of the coming judgment, and the reality not only heaven, but of hell.

But Jesus is not either of these descriptions alone, he is both. Orthodoxy is in the balance, not choosing one or the other or tipping in one direction.

In a masterful description, Ross Douthot shows the paradoxes and the necessary balances about Jesus and the faith with which true orthodoxy must wrestle and hold in tension:

Christianity is a paradoxical religion because the Jew of Nazareth is a paradoxical character. No figure in history or fiction contains as many multitudes as the New Testament’s Jesus. He’s a celibate ascetic who enjoys dining with publicans and changing water into wine at weddings. He’s an apocalyptic prophet one moment, a wise ethicist the next. He’s a fierce critic of Jewish religious law who insists that he’s actually fulfilling rather than subverting it. He preaches a reversal of every social hierarchy while deliberately avoiding explicitly political claims. He promises to set parents against children and then disallows divorce; he consorts with prostitutes while denouncing even lustful thoughts. He makes wild claims about his own relationship to God, and perhaps his own divinity, without displaying any of the usual signs of megalomania or madness. He can be egalitarian and hierarchical, gentle and impatient, extraordinarily charitable and extraordinarily judgmental. He sets impossible standards and then forgives the worst of sinners. He blesses the peacemakers and then promises that he’s brought not peace but the sword. He’s superhuman one moment; the next he’s weeping. And of course the accounts of his resurrection only heighten these paradoxes, by introducing a post-crucifixion Jesus who is somehow neither a resuscitated body nor a flitting ghost but something even stranger still—a being at once fleshly and supernatural, recognizable and transfigured, bearing the wounds of the crucifixion even as he passes easily through walls. (Kindle Edition Loc. 3005-16)

Douthat goes on to conclude:

The boast of Christian orthodoxy, as codified by the councils of the early Church and expounded in the Creeds, has always been its fidelity to the whole of Jesus…..[Where heresy says which one] Both, says orthodoxy….The goal of the great heresies, on the other hand, has often been to extract from the tensions of the gospel narratives a more consistent, streamlined, and noncontradictory Jesus. (Ibid).

Indeed a remarkable passage, even if I might quibble with a few words (e.g. the standards of Jesus moral vision are not “impossible” with grace). I would highly recommend the book and will be commenting on it some more in days ahead.

Disclaimer! - In saying the President is exemplifying heresy (i.e. pick and chose Christianity), I am alleging material heresy, but I am not call him a heretic. It is not my role or in my competency to to declare someone a formal heretic.

But the President is clearly proclaiming a very partial and thus reconstructed Christ. The real Christ is, as Douthat ably notes, far more complicated and far less vague than the President would have us think. And there is far more to his teaching than the “Golden Rule.”

Another form of heresy common today is to pick and chose Scripture. The usual approach, especially in terms of homosexuality and sexual matters in general, is to reduce the entire New Testament to the verbal utterances of Jesus alone, a kind of “red letter” reductionism. This of course, denies the inspiration of the entire New Testament and, in effect, says that Acts, all the Epistles, and Revelation are not the Word of God, are not inspired, and may safely be ignored.

But this is heresy since we cannot pick and choose the books of the Bible, we cannot tear out pages, or cross out lines. Orthodoxy is to accept the whole of the Sacred Text, and to consider its claims with reference to the whole of Scripture and in keeping with its trajectory. For a Catholic, of course this is done in union with the Magisterium and Sacred Tradition.

Many supporters of homosexual behavior adopt this heresy by saying, “Jesus never said a word about or against Homosexuality.” True, but he also never said a word about a lot of things: drinking to excess, beating one’s wife, he never forbade ethnic humor, or said people should wear clothes, He never declared how big and how much money should be spent on the military etc, whether Government should provide welfare etc. Since Jesus did not say out of his own mouth we cannot beat our wives then it must be okay to beat them? Of course not. An argument from silence is very poor and unhelpful.

Further it is heresy to say divine revelation closed with the ascension of Jesus. Rather it continues unto the death of the last apostle. The Epistles are every bit the Word of the Lord, and authored by the Same Holy Spirit as are the Gospels. We cannot pick and choose what we like.

To be clear, the reading of Scripture is not a purely mechanistic endeavor. For example, merely pulling proof texts out of thin air, and out of context is wrong, for that too is often heresy – picking one thing, forgetting the rest.

Rather, Scripture is to be read in a way which respects the overall trajectory of the Scriptures as God leads his people through stages to Christ. Therefore certain things are operative early in Scripture (e.g. certain feasts, dietary laws and punitive measures) that later fall away or are fulfilled. Thus Passover is fulfilled and subsumed into the Eucharist, Jesus cancels dietary laws by declaring all foods clean, the application of stoning and other severe punishments are curtailed etc. But all these organic developments take place in Scripture itself, and can be observed there.

However, there ARE teachings (notably the Divine Moral Law) that remain unchanged and are continuously articulated at every stage of Biblical revelation. They do not undergo change or fall away.

Regarding sexuality, at no stage in the Old Testament all the way through to the end of the New Testament, is fornication or adultery affirmed. The same is true for homosexual acts. At no stage, anywhere in Sacred Scripture are homosexual acts or fornication, or adultery ever affirmed, nor are these acts described as anything but sinful (e.g. Leviticus 18: 22; Lev 20:13; Gen 19; 1 Corinthians 6-9; 1 Tim 1:8-11; Rom 1:19ff, inter al).

Thus orthodoxy, which holds to the whole and does not pick and choose Scripture, must in every way accept and announce that these are sinful acts, sinful enough to exclude one from the Kingdom if they are not repented of (e.g. 1 Cor 6:9).

Simply ushering in a “Jesus is love” argument cannot override texts like these. For the same Scripture which says, God is love, also contains these teachings forbidding extra-marital sex and a host of other moral teachings. The Biblical record sees no essential conflict in saying both “God is love” and “Fornication, Adultery, and Homosexual acts are sinfully wrong.” Thus neither should we have a problem. Orthodoxy says “both.” Heresy says, “there is tension here and I am going to resolve it by picking the concept I like and excluding the other.”

The orthodox approach accepts the tension and sees a Christ who loves sinners (us) and holds them close, but who also summons us to repentance and a life that is increasingly free from sin and conformed to the truth by his grace .

I don’t know how the President will fare politically, but he has flunked theology and is, if you ask me (and even if you don’t) refashioned Jesus for his own purpose.

As for comments, I would rather not debate the whole Gay Marriage issue and/or the sinfulness of homosexuality. We’ve done that here before and the Church teaching is clear and is not going to change. I am most interested in comments that zero in on the problem of heresy – pick and choose Christianity and how it relates not only to this issue but others as well. But you decide.

May 10, 2012

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 15:7-21

Responsorial Psalm Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Gospel Jn 15:9-11

St. Antoninus

Daily Readings for: May 10, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Meditation: John 15:9-11

Love of the Father

One Bread, One Body

AUTHORITY OR DARKNESS?

The President, Gay unions, and the problem of selective Christianity

May 10, 2012

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 15:7-21

Responsorial Psalm Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Gospel Jn 15:9-11

St. Antoninus

Daily Readings for: May 10, 2012(Readings on USCCB website)

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Meditation: John 15:9-11

Love of the Father

One Bread, One Body

AUTHORITY OR DARKNESS?

The President, Gay unions, and the problem of selective Christianity

Daily Readings for: May 10, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)