Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 05-15-2021, 7th Sunday of Easter

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

17:1–5

1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxx) After having said, In the world ye shall have tribulation, our Lord turns from admonition to prayer; thus teaching us in our tribulations to abandon all other things, and flee to God.

BEDE. These things spake Jesus, those things that He had said at the supper, partly sitting as far as the words, Arise, let us go hence; (c. 14:31.) and thence standing, up to the end of the hymn which now commences, And lifted up His eyes and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxx. 1) He lifted up His eyes to heaven to teach us intentness in our prayers: that we should stand with uplifted eyes, not of the body only, but of the mind.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. civ) Our Lord, in the form of a servant, could have prayed in silence had He pleased; but He remembered that He had not only to pray, but to teach. For not only His discourse, but His prayer also, was for His disciples’ edification, yea and for ours who read the same. Father, the hour is come, shews that all time, and every thing that He did or suffered to be done, was at His disposing, Who is not subject to time. Not that we must suppose that this hour came by any fatal necessity, but rather by God’s ordering. Away with the notion, that the stars could doom to death the Creator of the stars.

HILARY. (iii. Tr. c. 10) He doth not say that the day, or the time, but that the hour is come. An hour contains a portion of a day. What was this hour? He was now to be spit upon, scourged, crucified. But the Father glorifies the Son. The sun failed in his course, and with him all the other elements felt that death. The earth trembled under the weight of our Lord hanging on the Cross, and testified that it had not power to hold within it Him who was dying. The Centurion proclaimed, Truly this was the Son of God. (Matt. 27:54) The event answered the prediction. Our Lord had said, Glorify Thy Son, testifying that He was not the Son in name only, but properly the Son. Thy Son, He saith. Many of us are sons of God; but not such is the Son. For He is the proper, true Son by nature, not by adoption, in truth, not in name, by birth, not by creation. Therefore after His glorifying, to the manifestation of the truth there succeeded confession. The Centurion confesses Him to be the true Son of God, that so none of His believers might doubt what one of His persecutors could not deny.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. civ) But if He was glorified by His Passion, how much more by His Resurrection? For His Passion rather shewed His humility than His glory. So we must understand, Father, the hour is come, glorify Thy Son, to mean, the hour is come for sowing the seed, humility; defer not the fruit, glory.

HILARY. (iii. de. Trin) But perhaps this proves weakness in the Son; His waiting to be glorified by one superior to Himself. And who does not confess that the Father is superior, seeing that He Himself saith, The Father is greater than I? But beware lest the honour of the Father impair the glory of the Son. It follows: That Thy Son also may glorify Thee. So then the Son is not weak, inasmuch as He gives back in His turn glory for the glory which He receives. This petition for glory to be given and repaid, shews the same divinity to be in both.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cv) But it is justly asked, how the Son can glorify the Father, when the eternal glory of the Father never experienced abasement in the form of man, and in respect of its own Divine perfection, does not admit of being added to. But among men this glory was less when God was only known in Judæa; and therefore the Son glorified the Father, when the Gospel of Christ spread the knowledge of the Father among the Gentiles. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee; i. e. Raise Me from the dead, that by Me Thou mayest be known to the whole world. Then He unfolds further the manner in which the Son glorifies the Father; As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. All flesh signifies all mankind, the part being put for the whole. And this power which is given to Christ by the Father over all flesh, must be understood with reference to His human nature.

HILARY. (iii. de Trin) For being made flesh Himself, He was about to restore eternal life to frail, corporeal, and mortal man.

HILARY. (ix. de Trin. 31) If Christ be God, not begotten, but unbegotten, then let this receiving be thought weakness. But not if His receiving of power signifies His begetting, in which He received what He is. This gift cannot be counted for weakness. For the Father is such in that He gives; the Son remains God in that He hath received the power of giving eternal life.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxx) He saith, Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, to shew that His preaching extended not to the Jews only, but to the whole world. But what is all flesh? For all did not believe? So far as lay with Him, all did. If they did not attend to His words, it was not His fault who spoke, but theirs who did not receive.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cv. 2) He saith, As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, so the Son may glorify Thee, i. e. make Thee known to all flesh which Thou hast given Him; for Thou hast so given it to Him, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.

HILARY. (iii. de Tr. c. 14) And in what eternal life is, He then shews: And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God. To know the only true God is life, but this alone does not constitute life. What else then is added? And Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

HILARY. (iv. de Tr. c. 9) The Arians hold, that as the Father is the only true, only just, only wise God, the Son hath no communion of these attributes; for that which is proper to one, cannot be partaken of by another. And as these are as they think in the Father alone, and not in the Son, they necessarily consider the Son a false and vain God.

HILARY. (v. de Tr. 3) But it must be clear to every one that the reality of any thing is evidenced by its power. For that is true wheat, which when rising with grain and fenced with ears, and shaken out by the winnowing machine, and ground into corn, and baked into bread, and taken for food, fulfils the nature and function of bread. I ask then wherein the truth of Divinity is wanting to the Son, Who hath the nature and virtue of Divinity. For He so made use of the virtue of His nature, as to cause to be things which were not, and to do every thing which seemed good to Him.

HILARY. (ix. de Trin) Because He says, Thee the only, does He separate Himself from communion and unity with God? He doth separate Himself, but that He adds immediately, And Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. For the Catholic faith confesses Christ to be true God, in that it confesses the Father to be the only true God; for natural birth did not introduce any change of nature into the Only-Begotten God.

AUGUSTINE. (vi. de Tr. c. 9) Dismissing then the Arians, let us see if we are forced to confess, that by the words, That they may know Thee to be the only true God, He means us to understand that the Father only is the true God, in such sense as that only the Three together, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are to be called God? Does our Lord’s testimony authorize us to say that the Father is the only true God, the Son the only true God, and the Holy Ghost the only true God, and at the same time, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost together, i. e. the Trinity, are not three Gods, but onea true God?

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. c. 5) Or is not the order of the words, That they may know Thee and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent, to be the only true God? the Holy Spirit being necessarily understood, because the Spirit is only the love of the Father and the Son, consubstantial with both. If then the Son so glorifies Thee as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, and Thou hast given Him the power, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him, and, This is life eternal, to know Thee, it follows that He glorifies Thee by making Thee known to all whom Thou hast given Him. Moreover, if the knowledge of God is life eternal, the more advance we make in this knowledge, the more we make in life eternal. But in life eternal we shall never die. Where then there is no death, there will then be perfect knowledge of God; there will God be most glorified1, because His glory will be greatest. Glory was defined among the ancients to be fame accompanied with praise. But if man is praised in dependence on what is said of him, how will God be praised when He shall be seen? as in the Psalm, Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house: they will be alway praising Thee. (Ps. 83:4) There will be praise of God without end, where will be full knowledge of God. There then shall be heard the everlasting praise of God, for there will there be full knowledge of God, and therefore full glorifying of Him.

AUGUSTINE. (i. de Trin. c. viii) What He said to His servant Moses, I am that I am; (Exod. 3) this we shall contemplate in the life eternal.

AUGUSTINE. (iv. de Trin. c. xviii) For when sight has made our faith truth, then eternity shall take possession of and displace our mortality.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cv) But God is first glorified here, when He is proclaimed, made known to, and believed in, by men: I have glorified Thee on the earth.

HILARY. (iii. de Trin) This new glory with which our Lord had glorified the Father, does not imply any advancement2 in Godhead, but refers to the honour received from those who are converted from ignorance to knowledge.

CHRYSOSTOM. He says, on the earth; for He had been glorified in heaven, both in respect of the glory of His own nature, and of the adoration of the Angels. The glory therefore here spoken of is not that which belongeth to His substance, but that which pertaineth to the worship of man: wherefore it follows, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cv) Not Thou commandest Me, but, Thou gavest Me, implying evidently grace. For what hath human nature, even in the Only-Begotten, what it hath not received? But how had He finished the work which had been given Him to do, when there yet remained His passion to undergo? He says He has finished it, i. e. He knows for certain that He will.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxx) Or, I have finished, i. e. He had done all His own part, or had done the chief of it, that standing for the whole; (for the root of good was planted:) or He connects Himself with the future, as if it were already present.

HILARY. (ix. de Trin) After which, that we may understand the reward of His obedience, and the mystery of the whole dispensation, He adds, And now glorify Me with the glory with Thine own Self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cv. 5) He had said above, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: the order of which words shews that the Son was first to be glorified by the Father, that the Father might be glorified by the Son. But now He says, I have glorified Thee; and now glorify Me; as if He had first glorified the Father, and then asked to be glorified by Him. We must understand that the first is the order in which one was to succeed the other, but that He afterwards uses a past tense, to express a thing future; the meaning being, I will glorify Thee on the earth, by finishing the work Thou hast given Me to do: and now, Father, glorify Me, which is quite the same sentence with the first one, except that He adds here the mode in which He is to be glorified; with the glory which I had before the world was, with Thee. The order of the words is, The glory which I had with Thee before the world was. This has been taken by some to mean, that the human nature which was assumed by the Word, would be changed into the Word, that man would be changed into God, or, to speak more correctly, be lost in God. For no one would say that the Word of God would by that change be doubled, or even made at all greater. But we avoid this error, if we take the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, to be the glory which He predestined for Him on earth: (for if we believe Him to be the Son of man, we need not be afraid to say that He was predestinated.) This predestined time of His being glorified, He now saw was arrived, that He might now receive what had been aforetime predestined, He prayed accordingly: And now, Father, glorify Me, &c. i. e. that glory which I had with Thee by Thy predestination, it is now time that I should have at Thy right hand.

HILARY. (iii. de Trin) Or He prayed that that which was mortal, might receive the glory immortal, that the corruption of the flesh might be transformed and absorbed into the incorruption of the Spirit.

17:6–8

6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me: and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) Having said, I have finished My work, He shews what kind of work it was, viz. that He should make known the name of God: I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi) If He speaks of the disciples only with whom He supped, this has nothing to do with that glorifying of which He spoke above, wherewith the Son glorified the Father; for what glory is it to be known to twelve or eleven men? But if by the men which were given to Him out of the world, He means all those who should believe in Him afterwards, this is without doubt the glory wherewith the Son glorifies the Father; and, I have manifested Thy name, is the same as what He said before, I have glorified Thee; the past being put for the future both there and here. But what follows shews that He is speaking here of those who were already His disciples, not of all who should afterwards believe on Him. At the beginning of His prayer then our Lord is speaking of all believers, all to whom He should make known the Father, thereby glorifying Him: for after saying, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, in shewing how that was to be done, He says, As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh. Now let us hear what He says to the disciples: I have manifested Thy name to the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Had they not known the name of God then, when they were Jews? We read in the Psalms, In Jewry is God known; His name is great in Israel. (Ps. 76:1) I have manifested Thy name, then, must be understood not of the name of God, but of the Father’s name, which name could not be manifested without the manifestation of the Son. For God’s name, as the God of the whole creation, could not have been entirely unknown to any nation. As the Maker then of the world, He was known among all nations, even before the spread of the Gospel. In Jewry He was known as a God, Who was not to be worshipped with the false gods: but as the Father of that Christ, by whom He took away the sins of the world, His name was unknown; which name Christ now manifesteth to those whom the Father had given Him out of the world. But how did He manifest it, when the hour had not come of which He said above, The hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs. We must understand the past to be put for the future.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) That He was the Son of the Father, Christ had already manifested to them by words and deeds.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi) Which Thou hast given Me out of the world: i. e. who were not of the world. But this they were by regeneration, not by nature. What is meant by, Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me? Had ever the Father any thing without the Son? God forbid. But the Son of God had that sometimes, which He had not as Son of man; for He had the universe with His Father, while He was still in His mother’s womb. Wherefore by saying, They were Thine, the Son of God does not separate Himself from the Father; but only attributes all His power to Him, from whom He is, and hath the same. And Thou gavest them Me, then, means that He had received as man the power to have them; nay, that He Himself had given them to Himself, i. e. Christ as God with the Father, to Christ as man not with the Father. His purpose here is to shew His unanimity with the Father, and how that it was the Father’s pleasure that they should believe in Him.

BEDE. And they have kept Thy word. He calls Himself the Word of the Father, because the Father by Him created all things, and because He contains in Himself all words: as if to say, They have committed Me to memory so well, that they never will forget Me. Or, They have kept Thy word, i. e. in that they have believed in Me: as it follows, Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me, are of Thee. Some read, Now I have known, &c. But this cannot be correct. For how could the Son be ignorant of what was the Father’s? It is the disciples He is speaking of; as if to say, They have learnt that there is nothing in Me alien from Thee, and that whatever I teach cometh from Thee.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi) The Father gave Him all things, when having all things He begat Him.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) And whence have they learned? From My words, wherein I taught them that I came forth from Thee. For this was what He has been labouring to shew throughout the whole of the Gospel: For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me, and they have received them.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi. c. 6) i. e. have understood and remembered them. For then is a word received, when the mind apprehends it; as it follows, And have known surely that I came out from Thee. And that none might imagine that that knowledge was one of sight, not of faith, He adds, And they hare believed (surely, is understood) that Thou didst send Me. What they believed surely, was what they knew surely; for, I came out from Thee, is the same with, Thou didst send Me. They believed surely, i. e. not as He said above they believed1, but surely, i. e. as they were about to believe firmly, steadily, unwaveringly: never any more to be scattered to their own, and leave Christ. The disciples as yet were not such as He describes them to be in the past tense, meaning such as they were to be when they had received the Holy Ghost. The question how the Father gave those words to the Son, is easier to solve, if we suppose Him to have received them from the Father as Son of man. But if we understand it to be as the Begotten of the Father, let there be no time supposed previous to His having them, as if He once existed without them: for whatever God the Father gave God the Son, He gave in begetting.

17:9–13

9. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

10. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

11. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) As the disciples were still sad in spite of all our Lord’s consolations, henceforth He addresses Himself to the Father to shew the love which He had for them; I pray for them; He not only gives them what He has of His own, but entreats another for them, as a still further proof of His love.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi) When He adds, I pray not for the world, by the world He means those who live according to the lust of the world, and have not the lot to be chosen by grace out of the world, as those had for whom He prayed: But for them which Thou hast given Me. It was because the Father had given Him them, that they did not belong to the world. Nor yet had the Father, in giving them to the Son, lost what He had given: For they are Thine.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi. 1) He often repeats, Thou hast given Me, to impress on them that it was all according to the Father’s will, and that He did not come to rob another, but to take unto Him His own. Then to shew them that this power1 had not been lately received from the Father, He adds, And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine: as if to say, Let no one, hearing Me say, Them which Thou hast given Me, suppose that they are separated from the Father; for Mine are His: nor because I said, They are Thine, suppose that they are separate from Me: for whatever is His is Mine.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi. 6) It is sufficiently apparent from hence, that all things which the Father hath, the Only-Begotten Son hath; hath in that He is God, born from the Father, and equal with the Father; not in the sense in which the elder son is told, All that I have is thine. (Luke 15:31) For all there means all creatures below the holy rational creature, but here it means the very rational creature itself, which is only subjected to God. Since this is God the Father’s, it could not at the same time be God the Son’s, unless the Son were equal to the Father. For it is impossible that saints, of whom this is said, should be the property of any one, except Him who created and sanctified them. When He says above in speaking of the Holy Spirit, All things that the Father hath are Mine, (c. 16:15) He means all things which pertain to the divinity of the Father; for He adds, He (the Holy Ghost) shall receive of Mine; and the Holy Ghost would not receive from a creature which was subject to the Father and the Son.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) Then He gives proof of this, I am glorified in them. If they glorify Me, believing in Me and Thee, it is certain that I have power over them: for no one is glorified by those amongst whom he has no power.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii. 3) He speaks of this as already done, meaning that it was predestined, and sure to be. But is this the glorifying of which He speaks above, And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self? If then with Thyself, what meaneth here, In them? Perhaps that this very thing, i. e. His glory with the Father, was made known to them, and through them to all that believe.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) And now I am no more in the world: i. e. though I no longer appear in the flesh, I am glorified by those who die for Me, as for the Father, and preach Me as the Father.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii. 4) At the time at which He was speaking, both were still in the world. Yet we must not understand, I am no more in the world, metaphorically of the heart and life; for could there ever have been a time when He loved the things of the world? It remains then that He means that He was not in the world, as He had been before; i. e. that He was soon going away. Do we not say every day, when any one is going to leave us, or going to die, such an one is gone? This is shewn to be the sense by what follows; for He adds, And now I come to Thee. And then He commends to His Father those whom He was about to leave: Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. As man He prays God for His disciples, whom He received from God. But mark what follows: That they may be one, as We are: He does not say, That they may be one with Us, as We are one; but, that they may be one: that they may be one in their nature, as We are one in Ours. For, in that He was God and man in one person, as man He prayed, as God He was one with Him to Whom He prayed.

AUGUSTINE. (iv. de Trin. c. ix) He does not say, That I and they maybe one, though He might have said so in the sense, that He was the head of the Church, and the Church His body; not one thing, but one person: the head and the body being one Christ. But shewing something else, viz. that His divinity is consubstantial with the Father, He prays that His people may in like manner be one; but one in Christ, not only by the same nature, in which mortal man is made equal to the Angels, but also by the same will, agreeing most entirely in the same mind, and melted into one Spirit by the fire of love. This is the meaning of, That they may be one as We are: viz. that as the Father and the Son are one not only by equality of substance, but also in will, so they, between whom and God the Son is Mediator, may be one not only by the union of nature, but by the union of love.

Catena Aurea John 17

Saint of the Day – 16 May – St Brendan the Navigator (c 484–c 577) Priest, Abbot, founder of many Monasteries also known as “of Clonfert,” “the Voyager,” “the Anchorite” and “the Bold” is one of the early Irish Monastic Saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. – born in c 484 at Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland and died in c 577 at Annaghdown (Enach Duin). Patronages – boatmen, divers, mariners, sailor, travellers, whales, portaging canoes, Diocese of Clonfer, Diocese of Kerry. He is primarily renowned for his legendary quest to the “Isle of the Blessed”, also called “Saint Brendan’s Island”. header The_Voyage_of_St._Brandan_by_Edward_Reginald_Frampton,_1908,_oil_on_canvas_-_Chazen_Museum_of_Art_-_DSC02356.JPG

header The_Voyage_of_St._Brandan_by_Edward_Reginald_Frampton,_1908,_oil_on_canvas_-_Chazen_Museum_of_Art_-_DSC02356.JPG

The Voyage of Saint Brendan by Edward Reginald Frampton, 1908

Brendan was born in Tralee in what would one day be known as County Kerry, Ireland, about the year 484 (just 10 years after the death of St Patrick). He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert, by Saint Erc. He spent his first year with his parents, then he went to the home of the local chieftain, three miles to the East. He returned to his family at the end of his fifth year and completed his studies under Saint Erc, who ordained him priest in 510. final - st brendan.jpg

Between the years 510 and 530 St Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert and, at the foot of Mount Brandon, Shanakeel— Seana Cill, usually translated as “the old church”.

From here he is said to have set out on his famous seven year voyage for Paradise. The old Irish Calendars assigned a special feast and St Aengus the Culdee, in his Litany composed at the close of the eighth century, invokes “the sixty who accompanied St Brendan in his quest for the “Land of Promise”.

Many versions of the legendary journey to The Isle of the Blessed exist, that tell of how he set out onto the Atlantic Ocean with sixty pilgrims (other versions have fourteen, plus three unbelievers who join at the last minute) searching for the Garden of Eden and his entire journey is based around the Liturgical year, with his landings and discovery of land, coinciding with the seasons and feasts. img-Saint-Brendan-the-Navigator1

This would have occurred sometime between 512-530, before his travel to the island of Great Britain. On his trip, Brendan is supposed to have seen St Brendan’s Island, a blessed island covered with vegetation.

The most commonly illustrated adventure is his landing on an island which turns out to be a giant sea monster called Jasconius or Jascon. This has its parallels in other stories, not only in Irish mythology but in other traditions, from Sinbad the Sailor to Pinocchio.

As the legend of the seven years voyage spread, crowds of pilgrims and students flocked to Ardfert. Religious houses were formed at Gallarus, Kilmalchedor, Brandon Hill, and Inistooskert in the Blasket Islands, in order to meet the wants of those who came for spiritual guidance from Saint Brendan.

While the story of The Voyage of Brendan is filled with wonderful images, many modern scholars believe it has a historical foundation. Some claim that Brendan’s voyage brought him to the shores of North America, making him and his companions the first Europeans to reach the continent, nearly a thousand years before Columbus. st brendan sml In 1977, a modern aviator built a replica of Brendan’s boat and retraced his route across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, proving that such a journey was indeed possible.

Whether or not Brendan’s voyage is historically factual, the story speaks to us throughout the centuries. We, too, are on a journey. God has invited us to travel with our companions and to invite others to journey with us along the way. We are cared for by the Steward and often make the journey through the years from Epiphany to Holy Thursday to Easter. We encounter many strange and wonderful things along the way. And, in the end, we, too, are promised that we will be brought safely home.

Brendan travelled to Wales and the holy island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland and finally on returning to Ireland, he founded a monastery in Annaghdown, where he spent the rest of his life. He also founded a convent at Annaghdown for his sister Briga. He died c 577 in Annaghdown, while visiting his sister Briga. Fearing that after his death his devotees might take his remains as relics, Brendan had previously arranged to have his body secretly returned to the monastery he founded in Clonfert, concealed in a luggage cart.

Saint Brendan’s most celebrated foundation was Clonfert Cathedral, in the year 563, over which he appointed St Moinenn as Prior and Head Master. St Brendan was interred in Clonfert. He was Canonised in 1284.

Let the brothers and sisters now sing
Of the holy life of Brendan,
In an old melody
Let it be kept in song.

Loving the jewel of chastity,
He was the father of monastics.
He shunned the choir of the world,
Now he sings among the angels.

Let him pray that we may be saved
As we sail upon this sea.
Let him quickly aid the fallen
Oppressed with burdensome sin.

God the Father; Most High King
Breast-fed by a virgin mother,
Holy Spirit, when They will it,
Let Them feed us divine honey.

Guido of Ivrea, 11th century

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26

The Election of Matthias
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[15] In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, [16] "Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. [17] For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry.

[20] For it is written in the Book of Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and 'His office let another take.'

[21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection."

[23] And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. [24] And they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen [25] to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place." [26] And they had cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven Apostles.

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Commentary:

15-23. "Peter is the ardent and impetuous Apostle to whom Christ entrusted the care of His flock; and since he is first in dignity, he is the first to speak" (Chrysostom, Hom. on Acts, 3).

Here we see Peter performing his ministry. Events will make for the gradual manifestation of the supreme role of government which Christ entrusted to him. His is a ministry of service--he is the "servus servorum Dei", the servant of the servants of God--a ministry given to none other, different from all other ministries in the Church. Peter will carry it out in solidarity with his brothers in the Apostolate and in close contact with the whole Church represented here in the 120 brethren around him.

This account of Peter with the other Apostles and disciples all brought together is described by St. John Chrysostom in these words: "Observe the admirable prudence of St. Peter. He begins by quoting the authority of a prophet and does not say, 'My own word suffices,' so far is he from any thought of pride. But he seeks nothing less that the election of a 12th Apostle and he presses for this. His entire behavior shows the degree of his authority and that he understood the apostolic office of government not as a position of honor but as a commitment to watch over the spiritual health of those under him.

"The disciples were one hundred and twenty, and Peter asks for one of these. But he it is who proposes the election and exercises the principal authority because he has been entrusted with the care of all" (Hom. on Acts, 3).

21-22. The Apostles are witnesses "par excellence" of Jesus' public life. The Church is "apostolic" because it relies on the solid testimony of people specially chosen to live with our Lord, witnessing His works and listening to His words. The twelve Apostles certify that Jesus of Nazareth and the risen Lord are one and the same person and that the words and actions of Jesus preserved and passed by the Church are indeed truly reported.

Everyone who maintains unity with the Pope and bishops in communion with him maintains unity with the Apostles and, through them, with Jesus Christ Himself. "Orthodox teaching has been conserved by being passed on successively since the time of the Apostles and so it has remained up to the present in all the churches. Therefore, only that teaching can be considered true which offers no discord with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition" (Origen, De Principiis, Preface, 2). See the note on Acts 1:26.

24-26. Verses 24-25 record the first prayer of the Church, which is linked with what we were told in verse 14--"all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer"--and shows the disciples' firm belief that God rules over all things and all events and looks after the Church in a very special way.

The Christian community leaves in God's hands the choice as to who will fill the empty place in the Twelve. It does this by using traditional Hebrew method of casting lots, the outcome of which will reveal God's will. This method of divining God's will is to be found quite a number of times in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Samuel 14:41f); its use was restricted to Levites, to prevent it degenerating into a superstitious practice. In casting lots the Jews used dice, sticks, pieces of paper, etc. each bearing the name of the candidate for an office, or of people suspected of having committed some crime, etc. Lots were cast as often as necessary to fill the number of places to be filled or the suspected number of criminals.

In this instance they decide to cast lots because they consider that God has already made His choice and all that remains is for Him to make His will known: His decision can be ascertained unerringly by using this simple human device. This method of appointing people, borrowed from Judaism, did not continue to be used in the church for very long.

Now that Matthias has been appointed the Twelve is complete again. The Apostolic College is now ready to receive the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to send, and to go on to bear universal witness to the Good News.

26. St. Luke usually applies the term "apostles" only to the Twelve (cf., for example, Acts 6:6), or the Eleven plus Peter, who appears as head of the Apostolic College (cf. 2:14). Except in Acts 14:14, Luke never describes St. Paul as an Apostle--not because he minimizes Paul's role (indeed, half the chapters of Acts deal with Paul) but because he reserves to the Twelve the specific function of being witnesses to our Lord's life on earth.

This apostolic character or apostolicity is one of the marks of the true Church of Christ--a Church built, by the express wish of its Founder, on the solid basis of the Twelve.

The "St. Pius V Catechism" (I, 10, 17) teaches that "the true Church is also to be recognized from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. [...] That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word 'apostolic'. For the Holy Spirit, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church."

The principal role of the Apostles is to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus (cf. 1:22). They perform it through the ministry of the word (6:4), which takes various forms, such as preaching to the people (cf. 2:14-40; 3:12-26; 4:2, 33; 5:20-21), teaching the disciples within the Christian community itself (2:42), and declarations uttered fearlessly against the enemies and persecutors of the Gospel of Jesus (4:5-31; 5;27-41). Like the word of the Lord, that of the Apostles is supported by signs and wonders, which render visible the salvation which they proclaim (2:14-21, 43; 3:1-11, 16; 4:8-12, 30; 5:12, 15-16; 9:31-43).

The Twelve also perform a role of government in the Church. When the members of the community at Jerusalem give up their property to help their brothers in need, they lay the money "at the Apostles' feet" (4:35). When the Hellenist Christians need to be reassured, the Twelve summon the assembly to establish the ministry of the diaconate (6:2). When Saul goes up to Jerusalem after his conversion, he is introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas (9:26-28). The Apostles quite evidently exercise an authority given them by our Lord who invested them with untransferable responsibilities and duties connected with service to the entire Church.

The Apostles also intervene outside Jerusalem as guarantors of internal and external unity, which is also an essential distinguishing mark of the Church. After Philip baptizes some Samaritans, the Apostles Peter and John travel from Jerusalem to give them the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (8:14-17).

After the baptism of the pagan Cornelius, the Apostles study the situation with Peter, to ascertain more exactly the designs of God and the details of the new economy of salvation (11:1-18). Apropos of the debate in Antioch about the circumcision of baptized pagans, the community decides to consult the Apostles (15:2) to obtain a final decision on this delicate matter.

Most of St. Luke's attention is concentrated on the figure of Peter, whom he mentions 56 times in Acts. Peter is always the center of those scenes or episodes in which he appears with other Apostles or disciples. In matters to do with the community at Jerusalem Peter acts as the spokesman of the Twelve (2:14, 37; 5:29) and plays a key role in the opening up of the Gospel to pagans.

The College of the twelve Apostles, whose head is Peter, endures in the Episcopacy of the Church, whose head is the Pope, the bishop of Rome, successor of Peter and vicar of Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council proposes this once again when it teaches that the "Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17)" (Lumen Gentium, 19).

"Just as, in accordance with the Lord's decree, St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles constitute a unique apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, are related and united to one another. [...]

"In it the bishops, whilst loyally respecting the primacy and pre-eminence of their head, exercise their own proper authority for the good of their faithful, indeed even for the good of the whole Church, the organic structure and harmony of which are strengthened by the continued influence of the Holy Spirit. The supreme authority over the whole Church, which this college possesses, is exercised in a solemn way in an ecumenical council. [...] And it is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke such councils, to preside over them and to confirm them" (ibid., 22).

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.

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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).

From: Mark 16:15-20

The Apostle's Mission
---------------------
[15] And He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. [16] He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. [17] And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; [18] they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

The Ascension
-------------
[19] So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

The Apostles Go Forth and Preach
--------------------------------
[20] And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.

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Commentary:

15. This verse contains what is called the "universal apostolic mandate" (paralleled by Matthew 28:19-20 and Luke 24:46-48). This is an imperative command from Christ to His Apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole world. This same apostolic mission applies, especially, to the Apostles' successors, the bishops in communion with Peter's successor, the Pope.

But this mission extends further: the whole "Church was founded to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the Earth for the glory of God the Father, to make all men partakers in redemption and salvation.... Every activity of the Mystical Body with this in view goes by the name of `apostolate'; the Church exercises it through all its members, though in various ways. In fact, the Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well. In the organism of a living body no member plays a purely passive part, sharing in the life of the body it shares at the same time in its activity. The same is true for the body of Christ, the Church: `the whole body achieves full growth in dependence on the full functioning of each part' (Ephesians 4:16). Between the members of this body there exists, further, such a unity and solidarity (cf. Ephesians 4:16) that a member who does not work at the growth of the body to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself.

"In the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To the Apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in His name and by His power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole people of God" (Vatican II, "Apostolicam Actuositatem", 2).

It is true that God acts directly on each person's soul through grace, but it must also be said that it is Christ's will (expressed here and elsewhere) that men should be an instrument or vehicle of salvation for others.

Vatican II also teaches this: "On all Christians, accordingly, rests the noble obligation of working to bring all men throughout the whole world to hear and accept the divine message of salvation" ("ibid"., 3).

16. This verse teaches that, as a consequence of the proclamation of the Good News, faith and Baptism are indispensable pre-requisites for attaining salvation. Conversion to the faith of Jesus Christ should lead directly to Baptism, which confers on us "the first sanctifying grace, by which original sin is forgiven, and which also forgives any actual sins there may be; it remits all punishment due for these sins; it impresses on the soul the mark of the Christian; it makes us children of God, members of the Church and heirs to Heaven, and enables us to receive the other sacraments" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 553).

Baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation, as we can see from these words of the Lord. But physical impossibility of receiving the rite of Baptism can be replaced by either martyrdom (called, therefore "baptism of blood") or by a perfect act of love of God and of contrition, together with an at least implicit desire to be baptized: this is called "baptism of desire" (cf. "ibid"., 567-568).

Regarding infant Baptism, St. Augustine taught that "the custom of our Mother the Church of infant Baptism is in no way to be rejected or considered unnecessary; on the contrary, it is to be believed on the ground that it is a tradition from the Apostles" ("De Gen. ad litt"., 10, 23, 39). The new "Code of Canon Law" also stresses the need to baptize infants: "Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptized within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their child, and to be themselves duly prepare for it" (Canon 867).

Another consequence of the proclamation of the Gospel, closely linked with the previous one, is that "the Church is necessary", as Vatican II declares: "Christ is the one mediator and way of salvation; He is present to us in His body which is the Church. He Himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse to enter it, or to remain in it" ("Lumen Gentium", 14; cf. "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 4; "Ad Gentes", 1-3; "Dignitatis Humanae", 11).

17-18. In the early days of the Church, public miracles of this kind happened frequently. There are numerous historical records of these events in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Acts 3:1-11; 28:3-6) and in other ancient Christian writings. It was very fitting that this should be so, for it gave visible proof or the truth of Christianity. Miracles of this type still occur, but much more seldom; they are very exceptional. This, too, is fitting because, on the one hand, the truth of Christianity has been attested to enough; and, on the other, it leaves room for us to merit through faith. St. Jerome comments: "Miracles were necessary at the beginning to confirm people in the faith. But, once the faith of the Church is confirmed, miracles are not necessary" ("Comm. in Marcum, in loc."). However, God still works miracles through saints in every generation, including our own.

19. The Lord's ascension into Heaven and His sitting at the right hand of the Father is the sixth article of faith confessed in the Creed. Jesus Christ went up into Heaven body and soul, to take possession of the Kingdom He won through His death, to prepare for us a place in Heaven (cf. Revelation 3:21) and to send the Holy Spirit to His Church (cf. "St. Pius X Cathechism", 123).

To say that He "sat at the right hand of God" means that Jesus Christ, including His humanity, has taken eternal possession of Heaven and that, being the equal of His Father in that He is God, He occupies the place of highest honor beside Him in His human capacity (cf. "St. Pius V Catechism", I, 7, 2-3). Already in the Old Testament the Messiah is spoken of as seated at the right hand of the Almighty, thereby showing the supreme dignity of Yahweh's Annointed (cf. Psalm 110:1). The New Testament records this truth here and also in many other passages (cf. Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:13).

As the "St. Pius V Catechism" adds, Jesus went up to Heaven by His own power and not by any other. Nor was it only as God that He ascended, but also as man.

20. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the evangelist attests that the words of Christ have already begun to be fulfilled by the time of writing. The Apostles, in other words, were faithfully carrying out the mission of our Lord entrusted to them. They begin to preach the Good News of salvation throughout the known world. Their preaching was accompanied by the signs and wonders the Lord had promised, which lent authority to their witness and their teaching. Yet, we know that their apostolic work was always hard, involving much effort, danger, misunderstanding, persecution and even martyrdom--like our Lord's own life.

Thanks to God and also to the Apostles, the strength and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ has reached as far as us. But every Christian generation, every man and woman, has to receive the preaching of the Gospel and, in turn, pass it on. The grace of God will always be available to us: "Non est abbreviata manus Domini" (Isaiah 59:1), the power of the Lord has not diminished.

Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary

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John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 17
1.	THESE things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.	Hæc locutus est Jesus : et sublevatis oculis in cælum, dixit : Pater, venit hora : clarifica Filium tuum, ut Filius tuus clarificet te :	ταυτα ελαλησεν ο ιησους και επηρεν τους οφθαλμους αυτου εις τον ουρανον και ειπεν πατερ εληλυθεν η ωρα δοξασον σου τον υιον ινα και ο υιος σου δοξαση σε
2.	As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.	sicut dedisti ei potestatem omnis carnis, ut omne, quod dedisti ei, det eis vitam æternam.	καθως εδωκας αυτω εξουσιαν πασης σαρκος ινα παν ο δεδωκας αυτω δωσει αυτοις ζωην αιωνιον
3.	Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.	Hæc est autem vita æterna : ut cognoscant te, solum Deum verum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum.	αυτη δε εστιν η αιωνιος ζωη ινα γινωσκωσιν σε τον μονον αληθινον θεον και ον απεστειλας ιησουν χριστον
4.	I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.	Ego te clarificavi super terram : opus consummavi, quod dedisti mihi ut faciam :	εγω σε εδοξασα επι της γης το εργον ετελειωσα ο δεδωκας μοι ινα ποιησω
5.	And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee.	et nunc clarifica me tu, Pater, apud temetipsum, claritate quam habui, prius quam mundus esset, apud te.	και νυν δοξασον με συ πατερ παρα σεαυτω τη δοξη η ειχον προ του τον κοσμον ειναι παρα σοι
6.	I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them; and they have kept thy word.	Manifestavi nomen tuum hominibus, quos dedisti mihi de mundo : tui erant, et mihi eos dedisti : et sermonem tuum servaverunt.	εφανερωσα σου το ονομα τοις ανθρωποις ους δεδωκας μοι εκ του κοσμου σοι ησαν και εμοι αυτους δεδωκας και τον λογον σου τετηρηκασιν
7.	Now they have known, that all things which thou hast given me, are from thee:	Nunc cognoverunt quia omnia quæ dedisti mihi, abs te sunt :	νυν εγνωκαν οτι παντα οσα δεδωκας μοι παρα σου εστιν
8.	Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.	quia verba quæ dedisti mihi, dedi eis : et ipsi acceperunt, et cognoverunt vere quia a te exivi, et crediderunt quia tu me misisti.	οτι τα ρηματα α δεδωκας μοι δεδωκα αυτοις και αυτοι ελαβον και εγνωσαν αληθως οτι παρα σου εξηλθον και επιστευσαν οτι συ με απεστειλας
9.	I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine:	Ego pro eis rogo ; non pro mundo rogo, sed pro his quos dedisti mihi : quia tui sunt :	εγω περι αυτων ερωτω ου περι του κοσμου ερωτω αλλα περι ων δεδωκας μοι οτι σοι εισιν
10.	And all my things are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.	et mea omnia tua sunt, et tua mea sunt : et clarificatus sum in eis.	και τα εμα παντα σα εστιν και τα σα εμα και δεδοξασμαι εν αυτοις
11.	And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; that they may be one, as we also are.	Et jam non sum in mundo, et hi in mundo sunt, et ego ad te venio. Pater sancte, serva eos in nomine tuo, quos dedisti mihi : ut sint unum, sicut et nos.	και ουκετι ειμι εν τω κοσμω και ουτοι εν τω κοσμω εισιν και εγω προς σε ερχομαι πατερ αγιε τηρησον αυτους εν τω ονοματι σου ω δεδωκας μοι ινα ωσιν εν καθως ημεις

Readings at Mass

'Let someone else take his office'

Anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him

Father, keep those you have given me true to your name

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas