Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
Mark CHAP. 6
6:6–13
6. —And he went round about the villages, teaching.
7. And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
8. And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
9. But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
10. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
11. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
12. And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
THEOPHYLACT. The Lord not only preached in the cities, but also in villages, that we may learn not to despise little things, nor always to seek for great cities, but to sow the word of the Lord, in abandoned and lowly villages. Wherefore it is said, And he went round about the villages, teaching.
BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 24) Now our kind and merciful Lord and Master did not grudge His servants and their disciples His own virtues, and as He Him self had healed every sickness and every infirmity, so also He gave the same power to His disciples. Wherefore it goes on: And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits. Great is the difference between giving and receiving. Whatsoever He does, is done in His own power, as Lord; if they do any thing, they confess their own weakness and the power of the Lord, saying in the name of Jesus, Arise, and walk.
THEOPHYLACT. Again He sends the Apostles two and two that they, might become more active; for, as says the Preacher, Two are better than one. (Eccl. 4:9) But if He had sent more than two, there would not have been a sufficient number to allow of their being sent to many villages.
GREGORY. (Hom. in Evan. 17) Further, the Lord sent the disciples to preach, two and two, because there are two precepts of charity, namely, the love of God, and of our neighbour; and charity cannot be between less than two; by this therefore He implies to us, that he who has not charity towards his neighbour, ought in no way to take upon himself the office of preaching. There follows, And he commanded them, that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: but be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) For such should be the preacher’s trust in God, that, though he takes no thought for supplying his own wants in this present world, yet he should feel most certain that these will not be left unsatisfied, lest whilst his mind is taken up with temporal things, he should provide less of eternal things to others.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) The Lord also gives them this command, that they might shew by their mode of life, how far removed they were from the desire of riches.
THEOPHYLACT. Instructing them also by this means not to be fond of receiving gifts, in order too that those, who saw them proclaim poverty, might be reconciled to it, when they saw that the Apostles themselves possessed nothing.
AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Evan. 2, 30.) Or else; according to Matthew (Matt. 10:19), the Lord immediately subjoined, The workman is worthy of his meat, which sufficiently proves why He forbade their carrying or possessing such things; not because they were not necessary, but because He sent them in such a way as to shew, that they were due to them from the faithful, to whom they preached the Gospel. From this it is evident, that the Lord did not mean by this precept that the Evangelists ought to live only on the gifts of those to whom they preach the Gospel, else the Apostle transgressed this precept, when he procured his livelihood, by the labour of his own hands, but He meant that He had given them a power, in virtue of which, they might be assured, these things were due to them. It is also often asked, how it comes that Matthew and Luke have related that the Lord commanded His disciples not to carry even a staff, whilst Mark says, And he commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only. Which question is solved, by supposing that the word ‘staff’ has a meaning in Mark, who says that it ought to be carried, different from that which it bears in Matthew and Luke, who affirm the contrary. For in a concise way one might say, Take none of the necessaries of life with you, nay, not a staff, save a staff only; so that the saying, nay not a staff, may mean, nay not the smallest thing; but that which is added, save a staff only, may mean that, through the power received by them from the Lord, of which a rod is the ensign, nothing, even of those things which they do not carry, will be wanting to them. The Lord therefore said both, but because one Evangelist has not given both, men suppose, that he who has said that the staff, in one sense, should be taken, is contrary to him who again has declared, that, in another sense, it should be left behind: now however that a reason has been given, let no one think so. So also when Matthew declares that shoes are not to be worn on the journey, he forbids anxiety about them, for the reason why men are anxious about carrying them, is that they may not be without them. This is also to be understood of the two coats, that no man should be troubled about having only that with which he is clad, from anxiety lest he should need another, when he could always obtain one from the power given by the Lord. In like manner Mark, by saying that they are to be shod with sandals or soles, warns us that this mode of protecting the feet has a mystical signification, that the foot should neither be covered above nor be naked on the ground, that is, that the Gospel should neither be hid, nor rest upon earthly comforts; and in that He forbids their possessing or taking with them, or more expressly their wearing, two coats, He bids them walk simply, not with duplicity. But whosoever thinks that the Lord could not in the same discourse say some things figuratively, others in a literal sense, let him look into His other discourses, and he shall see, how rash and ignorant is his judgment.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Again, by the two tunics He seems to me to mean two sets of clothes; not that in places like Scythia, covered with the ice and snow, a man should be content with only one garment, but by coat, I think a suit of clothing is implied, that being clad with one, we should not keep another through anxiety as to what may happen.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Or else, Matthew and Luke neither allow shoes nor staff, which is meant to point out the highest perfection. But Mark bids them take a staff and be shod with sandals, which (1 Cor. 7:6) is spoken by permission.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Again, allegorically; under the figure of a scrip is pointed out the burdens of this world, by bread is meant temporal delights, by money in the purse, the hiding of wisdom; because he who receives the office of a doctor, should neither be weighed down by the burden of worldly affairs, nor be made soft by carnal desires, nor hide the talent of the word committed to him under the ease of an inactive body. It goes on, And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. Where He gives a general precept of constancy, that they should look to what is due to the tie of hospitality, adding, that it is inconsistent with the preaching of the kingdom of heaven to run about from house to house.
THEOPHYLACT. That is, lest they should be accused of gluttony in passing from one to another. It goes on, And whoever shall not receive you, &c. This the Lord commanded them, that they might shew that they had walked a long way for their sakes, and to no purpose. Or, because they received nothing from them, not even dust, which they shake off, that it might be a testimony against them, that is, by way of convicting themv.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Or else, that it might be a witness of the toil of the way, which they sustained for them; or as if the dust of the sins of the preachers was turned against themselves. It goes on, And they went and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. Mark alone mentions their anointing with oil. James however, in his canonical Epistle, says a thing similar. For oil both refreshes our labours, and gives us light and joy; but again, oil signifies the mercy of the unction of God, the healing of infirmity, and the enlightening of the heart, the whole of which is worked by prayer.
THEOPHYLACT. It also means, the grace of the Holy Ghost, by which we are eased from our labours, and receive light and spiritual joy.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Wherefore it is evident from the Apostles themselves, that it is an ancient custom of the holy Church that persons possessed or afflicted with any disease whatever, should be anointed with oil consecrated by priestly blessing.
Catena Aurea Mark 6
Second Reading: From: Ephesians 1:3-14
Hymn of Praise
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[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. [5] He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace [8] which he lavished upon us. [9] For he had made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ [10] a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
[11] In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, [12] we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. [13] In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
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Commentary:
3-14. Verses 3-14 are a hymn of praise to God for the plan of salvation he has devised and brought to fulfillment in benefit of men and all creation. It is written in a liturgical style of rhythmic prose, similar to that in Colossians 1:15-20. In the Greek it is one long complex sentence full of relative pronouns and clauses which give it a designed unity; we can, however, distinguish two main sections.
The first (v. 3-10), divided into four stanzas, describes the blessings contained in God's salvific plan; St Paul terms this plan the "mystery" of God's will. The section begins by praising God for his eternal design, a plan, pre-dating creation, to call us to the Church, to form a community of saints (first stanza: vv. 3f) and receive the grace of being children of God through Jesus Christ (second stanza: vv. 5f). It then reflects on Christ's work of redemption which brings this eternal plan of God to fulfillment (third stanza: vv. 7f). This section reaches its climax in the fourth stanza (vv. 9f) which proclaims Christ as Lord of all creation, thereby revealing the full development of God's salvific plan.
The second section, which divides into two stanzas, deals with the application of this plan--first to the Jews (fifth stanza: vv. 11f) and then to the Gentiles, who are also called to share what God has promised: Jews and Gentiles join to form a single people, the Church (sixth stanza: vv. 13f).
Hymns in praise of God, or "eulogies", occur in many parts of Sacred Scripture (cf. Ps 8; Ps 19; Dan 2:20-23; Lk 1:46-54, 68-78; etc.); they praise the Lord for the wonders of creation or for spectacular interventions on behalf of his people. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St Paul here praises God the Father for all Christ's saving work, which extends from God's original plan which he made before he created the world, right up to the very end of time and the recapitulation of all things in Christ.
We too should always have this same attitude of praise of the Lord. "Our entire life on earth should take the form of praise of God, for the never-ending joy of our future life consists in praising God, and no one can become fit for that future life unless he train himself to render that praise now" (St Augustine, "Enarrationes in Psalmos", 148).
Praise is in fact the most appropriate attitude for man to have towards God: "How can you dare use that spark of divine intelligence—your mind--in anything but in giving glory to your Lord?" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 782).
3. St Paul blesses God as Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because it is through Christ that all God's blessings and gifts reach us. God's actions in favor of man are actions of all three divine Persons; the divine plan which the Apostle considers here has its origin in the Blessed Trinity; it is eternal. "These three Persons are not to be considered separable," the Eleventh Council of Toledo teaches, "since we believe that not one of them existed or at any time effected anything before the other, after the other, or without the other. For in existence and operation they are found to be inseparable" ("De Trinitate" Creed, "Dz-Sch", 531).
In the implementation of this divine plan of salvation, the work of Redemption is attributed to the Son and that of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. "To help us grasp in some measure this unfathomable mystery, we might imagine the Blessed Trinity taking counsel together in their uninterrupted intimate relationship of infinite love. As a result of their eternal decision, the only-begotten Son of God the Father takes on our human condition and bears the burden of our wretchedness and sorrows, to end up sewn with nails to a piece of wood" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 95).
St Paul describes as "spiritual blessings" all the gifts which the implementation of God's plan implies, gifts which are distributed by the Holy Spirit. When he speaks of them as being "in the heavenly places" and "in Christ", he is saying that through Christ who has risen from the dead and ascended on high we too have been inserted into the world of God (cf. 1:20; 2:6).
When man describes God as "blessed it means he recognizes God's greatness and goodness, and rejoices over the divine gifts he has received (cf. Lk 1:46, 68). Here is what St Thomas Aquinas has to say about the meaning of this passage: "The Apostle says, 'Benedictus' [Blessed be the God ...], that is, may I, and you, and everyone bless him, with our heart, our mouth, our actions--praising him as God and as Father, for he is God because of his essence and Father because of his power to generate" ("Commentary on Eph.", 1, 6).
Sacred Scripture very often invites us to praise God our Lord (cf. Ps 8:19; 33; 46-48; etc.); this is not a matter only of verbal praise: our actions should prove that we mean what we say: "He who does good with his hands praises the Lord, and he who confesses the Lord with his mouth praises the Lord. Praise him by your actions" (St Augustine, "Enarrationes in Psalmos", 91, 2).
4. As the hymn develops, the Apostle details each of the blessings contained in God's eternal plan. The first of these is his choice, before the foundation of the world, of those who would become part of the Church. The word he uses, translated here as "chose", is the same one as used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to God's election of Israel. The Church, the new people of God, is constituted by assembling in and around Christ those who have been chosen and called to holiness. This implies that although the Church was founded by Christ at a particular point in history, its origin goes right back to the eternal divine plan. 'The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, ... 'predestined (the elect) to be conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren' (Rom 8:29). He determined to call together in a holy Church those who believe in Christ. Already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and in the Old Alliance. Established in this last age of the world, and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 2).
God's choice seeks to have us become "holy and blameless before him". In the same way as in the Old Testament a victim offered to God had to be unblemished, blameless (cf. Gen 17:1), the blameless holiness to which God has destined us admits of no imperfection. By the very fact of being baptized we are made holy (cf. note on 1: 1), and during our lifetime we try to grow holier with the help of God; however, complete holiness is something we shall attain only in heaven.
The holiness with which we have been endowed is an undeserved gift from God: it is not a reward for any merit on our part: even before we were created God chose us to be his: "'He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.' I know that such thoughts don't fill you with pride or lead you to think yourself better than others. That choice, the root of your vocation, should be the basis of your humility. Do we build monuments to an artist's paintbrush? Granted the brush had a part in creating masterpieces, but we give credit only to the painter. We Christians are nothing more than instruments in the hands of the Creator of the world, the Redeemer of all men" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 1).
"He destined us in love": the loving initiative is God's. "If God has honored us with countless gifts it is thanks to his love, not to our merits. Our fervor, our strength, our faith and our unity are the fruit of God's benevolence and our response to his goodness" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on Eph, ad loc".).
God's election of Christians and their vocation to holiness, as also the gift of divine filiation, reveals that God is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8); we have become partakers of God's very nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4), sharers, that is, in the love of God.
"He destined us in love", therefore, also includes the Christian's love of God and of others: charity is a sharing in God's own love; it is the essence of holiness, the Christian's law; nothing has any value if it is not inspired by charity (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3).
5. The Apostle goes on to explore the further implications of God's eternal plan: those chosen to form part of the Church have been given a second blessing, as it were, by being predestined to be adoptive children of God. 'The state of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium, 9).
This predestination to which the Apostle refers means that God determined from all eternity that the members of the new people of God should attain holiness through his gift of adoptive sonship. It is God's desire that all be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4) and he gives each person the means necessary for obtaining eternal life. Therefore, no one is predestined to damnation (cf. Third Council of Valence, "De Praedestinatione", can. 3).
The source of the Christian's divine sonship is Jesus Christ. God's only Son, one in substance with the Father, took on human nature in order to make us sons and daughters of God by adoption (cf. Rom 8:15, 29; 9:4; Gal 4:5). This is why every member of the Church can say: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" (1 Jn 3:1).
What is involved here is not simply formal adoption, which is something external and does not affect the very person of the child. Divine adoption affects man's entire being, it inserts him into God's own life; for Baptism makes us truly his children, partakers of the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). Divine sonship is therefore the greatest of the gifts God bestows on man during his life on earth. It is indeed right to exclaim "Blessed be God" (v. 3) when one reflects on this great gift: it is right for children openly to acknowledge their father and show their love for him.
Divine filiation has many rich effects as far as the spiritual life is concerned. "A child of God treats the Lord as his Father. He is not obsequious and servile; he is not merely formal and well-mannered: he is completely sincere and trusting. God is not shocked by what we do. Our infidelities do not wear him out. our Father in heaven pardons any offense when his child returns to him, when he repents and asks for pardon. The Lord is such a good father that he anticipates our desire to be pardoned and comes forward to us, opening his arms laden with grace" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 64). See the notes on Jn 1:12.
6. The gift of divine filiation is the greatest expression of the glory of God (ef. note on 1:17 below), because it reveals the full extent of God's love for man. St Paul stresses what the purpose of this eternal divine plan is-to promote "the praise of his glorious grace". God's glory has been made manifest through his merciful love, which has led him to make us his children in accordance with the eternal purpose of his will. This eternal design "flows from 'fountain-like love', the love of God the Father [...]. God in his great and merciful kindness freely creates us and, moreover, graciously calls us to share in his life and glory. He generously pours out, and never ceases to pour out, his divine goodness, so that he who is Creator of all things might at last become 'everything to everyone' (1 Cor 15:28), thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our happiness" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 2).
The grace which St Paul speaks of here and which manifests the glory of God refers first to the fact that God's blessings are totally unmerited by us and include the grace-conferring gifts of holiness and divine filiation.
"In the Beloved": the Old Testament stresses again and again that God loves his people and that Israel is that cherished people (cf. Deut 33:12; is 5:1, 7; 1 Mac 6:11; etc.). In the New Testament Christians are called "beloved by God" (1 Thess 1:4; cf. Col 3:12). However, there is only one "Beloved", strictly speaking, Jesus Christ our Lord--as God revealed from the bright cloud at the Transfiguration: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt 17:5). The Son of his love has obtained man's redemption and brought forgiveness of sins (cf. Col 1:13ff), and it is through his grace that we become pleasing to God, lovable by him with the same love with which he loves his Son. At the Last Supper, Jesus asked his Father for this very thing--"so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me" (Jn 17:23). "Notice", St John Chrysostom points out, "that Paul does not say that this grace has been given us for no purpose but that it has been given us to make us pleasing and lovable in his eyes, now that we are purified of our sins" ("Hom. on Eph, ad loc.").
7-8. St Paul now centers his attention on the redemptive work of Christ--the third blessing--which has implemented the eternal divine plan described in the preceding verses.
Redemption means "setting free". God's redemptive action began in the Old Testament, when he set the people of Israel free from their enslavement in Egypt (cf. Ex 11:7ff): by smearing the lintels of their doors with the blood of the lamb, their first-born were protected from death. In memory of this salvation God ordained the celebration of the rite of the passover lamb (cf. Ex 12:47). However, this redemption from Egyptian slavery was but a prefigurement of the Redemption Christ would bring about. "Christ our Lord achieved this task [of redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God] principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead, and glorious ascension" (Vatican II, "Sacrosanctum Concilium", 5). By shedding his blood on the Cross, Christ has redeemed us from the slavery of sin, from the power of the devil, and from death (cf. note on Rom 3:24-25). He is the true passover Lamb (cf. Jn 1:29). "When we reflect that we have been ransomed 'not with perishable things such as silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot' (1 Pet 1:18f), we are naturally led to conclude that we could have received no gift more salutary than this power [given to the Church] of forgiving sins, which proclaims the ineffable providence of God and the excess of his love towards us" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 11, 10).
The Redemption wrought by Christ frees us from the worst of all slaveries--that of sin. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, "Man finds that he is unable of himself to overcome the assaults of evil successfully, so that everyone feels as though bound by chains. But the Lord himself came to free and strengthen man, renewing him inwardly and casting out the 'ruler of this world' (Jn 12:31), who held him in the bondage of sin. For sin brought man to a lower state, forcing him away from the completeness that is his to attain" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 13).
In carrying out this Redemption, our Lord was motivated by his infinite love for man. This love, which far exceeds anything man could hope for, or could merit, is to be seen above all in the universal generosity of God's forgiveness, for though "sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom 5:20); this forgiveness, achieved by Christ's death on the cross, is the supreme sign of God's love for us, for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). If God the Father gave up his Son to death for the remission of men's sins, "it was to reveal the love that is always greater than the whole of creation, the love that is he himself, since 'God is love' (1 Jn 4:8, 16)", John Paul II reminds us. "Above all, love is greater than sin, than weakness, than 'the futility of creation' (cf. Rom 8:20); it is stronger than death" (Redemptor Hominis", 9).
By enabling our sins to be forgiven, the Redemption brought about by Christ has restored man's dignity. "Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitely restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin" ("Redemptor Hominis", 10). This action on God's part reveals his wisdom and prudence.
9. Through Christ's redemptive action, God has not only pardoned sin: he has also shown that his salvific plan embraces all history and all creation. This plan, which was revealed in Jesus Christ, St Paul calls "the mystery" of God's will; its revelation is a further divine blessing. The entire mystery embraces the establishment of the Church and the gift of divine filiation (vv. 4-7), the recapitulation of all things in Christ (v. 10), and the convoking of Jews and Gentiles to form part of the Church (vv. 11-14; cf. 3:4-7). All this has been revealed in Christ, in whom, therefore, God's revelation reaches its climax. Christ "did this by the total fact of his presence and self-manifestation--by words and works, signs and miracles, but above all by his death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God is with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 4).
The fact that God reveals his plans of salvation is a further proof of his love and mercy, for it enables man to recognize God's infinite wisdom and goodness and to hear his invitation to take part in these plans. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that man should have access to the Father through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pet 1:4). By this revelation, then, the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17), from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14f), and moves among them (cf. Bar 3:38), in order to invite and receive them into his own company" ("Dei Verbum", 2).
On the meaning of the word "mystery" in St Paul, see the notes on 1:26, 28; 2:9.
10. The "mystery" revealed by God in his love takes shape in a harmonious way, in different stages or moments ("kairoi") as history progresses. The fullness of time came with the Incarnation (cf. Gal 4:4) and it will last until the End. Through the Redemption, Christ has rechannelled history towards God; he rules over all human history in a supernatural way. Not only have God's mysterious plans begun to take effect: they have been revealed to the Church, which God uses to implement these plans. "Already the final age of the world is with us (cf. 1 Cor 10:11) and the renewal of the world is irrevocably underway; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect. However, until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells (cf. 2 Pet 3:13) the pilgrim Church, in its sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God (cf. Rom 8:19-22)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 48).
The climax of God's pre-creation plan involves "uniting" ("recapitulating") all things in Christ: Christ is to be the cornerstone and head of all creation. This means that, through his redemptive activity, Christ unites and leads the created world back to God. Its unity had been destroyed as a result of sin, but now Christ binds it together, uniting heavenly things as well as mankind and other earthly things. St John Chrysostom teaches that "since heavenly things and earthly things were torn apart from each other, they had no head [...]. (God) made Christ according to the flesh the sole head of all things, of angels and of men; that is, he provided one single principle for angels and for men [...]; for all things will be perfectly united as they ought to be when they are gathered together under one head, linked by a bond which must come from on high" ("Hom. on Eph, ad loc.").
Christ's being head of all things--as will be made manifest at the end of time--stems from the fact that he is true God and true man, the head and first-born of all creation. By rising from the dead, he has overcome the power of sin and death, and has become Lord of all creation (cf. Acts 2:36; Rom 1:4; Eph 1:19-23); all other things, invisible as well as invisible, come under his sway.
The motto taken by Pius X when he became Pope echoes this idea of Christ's Lordship: "If someone were to ask us for a motto which conveys our purpose we would always reply, 'Reinstating all things in Christ' [...], trying to bring all men to return to divine obedience" ("E supremi apostolatus").
"Uniting all things in Christ": this includes putting Christ at the summit of human activities, as the founder of Opus Dei points out: "St Paul gave a motto to the Christians at Ephesus: 'Instaurare omnia in Christo' (Eph 1:10), to fill everything with the spirit of Jesus, placing Christ at the center of everything. 'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself' (Jn 12:32). Through his incarnation, through his work at Nazareth and his preaching and miracles in the land of Judea and Galilee, through his death on the cross, and through his resurrection, Christ is the center of the universe, the first-born and Lord of all creation.
"Our task as Christians is to proclaim this kingship of Christ, announcing it through what we say and do. Our Lord wants men and women of his own in all walks of life. Some he calls away from society, asking them to give up involvement in the world, so that they remind the rest of us by their example that God exists. To others he entrusts the priestly ministry. But he wants the vast majority to stay right where they are, in all earthly occupations in which they work--in the factory, the laboratory, the farm, the trades, the streets of the big cities and the trails of the mountains" ("Christ Is Passing By", 105).
The fact that God reveals his plans of salvation is a further proof of his love and mercy, for it enables man to recognize God's infinite wisdom and goodness and to hear his invitation to take part in these plans. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that man should have access to the Father through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pet 1:4). By this revelation, then, the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17), from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14f), and moves among them (cf. Bar 3:38), in order to invite and receive them into his own company" ("Dei Verbum", 2).
11-14. The Apostle now contemplates a further divine blessing—the implementation of the "mystery" through the Redemption wrought by Christ: God calls the Jews (vv. 11f) and the Gentiles (v. 13) together, to form a single people (v. 14). Paul first refers to the Jewish people, of which he himself is a member, which is why he uses the term "we" (v. 12). He then speaks of the Gentile Christians and refers to them as "you" (v. 13).
11-12. The Jewish people's expectations have been fulfilled in Christ: he has brought the Kingdom of God and the messianic gifts, designed in the first instance for Israel as its inheritance (cf. Mt 4:17; 12:28; Lk 4:16-22). God's intention in selecting Israel was to form a people of his own (cf. Ex 19:5) that would glorify him and proclaim to the nations its hope in a coming Messiah. "God, with loving concern contemplating, and making preparation for, the salvation of the whole human race, in a singular undertaking chose for himself a people to whom he would entrust his promises. By his covenant with Abraham (cf. Gen 15:18) and, through Moses, with the race of Israel (cf. Ex 24:8), he did acquire a people for himself, and to them he revealed himself in words and deeds as the one, true, living God, so that Israel might experience the ways of God with men. Moreover, by listening to the voice of God speaking to them through the prophets, they had steadily to understand his ways more fully and more clearly, and make them more widely known among the nations (cf. Ps 21:28-9; 95:1-3; Is 2:1-4; Jer 3:17)" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 14).
St Paul emphasizes that even before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the just of the Old Testament acted in line with their belief in the promised Messiah (cf. Gal 3:11; Rom 1:17); not only did they look forward to his coming but their hope was nourished by faith in Christ as a result of their acceptance of God's promise. As later examples of this same faith we might mention Zechariah and Elizabeth; Simeon and Anna; and, above all, St Joseph. St Joseph's faith was "full, confident, complete", St J. Escriva comments. "It expressed itself in an effective dedication to the will of God and an intelligent obedience. With faith went love. His faith nurtured his love of God, who was fulfilling the promises made to Abraham, Jacob and Moses, and his affection for Mary his wife and his fatherly affection for Jesus. This faith, hope and love would further the great mission which God was beginning in the world through, among others, a carpenter in Galilee--the redemption of mankind" ("Christ Is Passing By", 42).
13-14. If St Paul recognizes the magnificence of God's saving plan in the fulfillment, through Jesus, of the ancient promises to the Jews, he is even more awed by the fact that the Gentiles are being called to share in God's largesse. This call of the Gentiles is, as it were, a further blessing from God.
It is through the preaching of the Gospel that the Gentiles come to form part of the Church: faith coming initially through hearing the word of God (cf. Rom 10:17). Once a person has accepted that word, God seals the believer with the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 3:14); this seal is the pledge or guarantee of divine inheritance and proves that we have been accepted by God, incorporated into his Church, and given access to that salvation which had previously been reserved to Israel. Here we can see a parallelism between the "seal" of circumcision which made the Old Covenant believer a member of the people of Israel, and the "seal" of the Holy Spirit in Baptism which, in the New Testament, makes people members of the Church (Rom 4:22; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 4:30). The "efficient cause" of our justification is "the merciful God, who freely washes and sanctifies (cf. 1 Cor 6:11), sealing and anointing with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance" (Council of Trent, "De Justificatione", chap. 7).
A seal or pledge was the mark used in business to betoken or guarantee future payment of the agreed price in full. In this case it represents a firm commitment on God's part, to grant the believer full and permanent possession of eternal blessedness, an anticipation of which is given at Baptism and thereafter (cf. 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5). Through Christ, St Basil comments, "Paradise is restored to us; we are enabled to ascend to the kingdom of heaven; we are given back our adoption as sons, our confidence to call God himself our Father; we become partakers of Christ's grace, and are called children of light; we are enabled to share in the glory of heaven, to be enveloped in a plenitude of blessings both in this world and in the world to come [...]. If this be the promise, what will the final outcome not be? If this, the beginning, is so wonderful, what will the final consummation not be?" ("De Spiritu Sancto", 15, 36).
The gift of the Holy Spirit, who, through faith, dwells in the soul of the Christian in grace, represents, in this last stanza of the hymn, the high point in the implementation of God's salvific plan. The Holy Spirit, who gathered together the Church at Pentecost (cf. Acts 2: 14), continues to guide and inspire the apostolate of the members of the new people of God down through the centuries. The Magisterium of the Church reminds us that "throughout the ages the Holy Spirit makes the entire Church 'one in communion and ministry; and provides her with different hierarchical and charismatic gifts' ("Lumen Gentium", 4), giving life to ecclesiastical structures, being as it were their soul, and inspiring in the hearts of the faithful that same spirit of mission which impelled Christ himself. He even at times visibly anticipates apostolic action, just as in various ways he unceasingly accompanies and directs it" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 4). God has acquired his new people at the cost of his Son's blood. This people made up of believers in Christ has replaced the people of the Old Testament, regardless of background. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, "As Israel according to the flesh which wandered in the desert was already called the Church of God (cf. 2 Ezra 13:1; Num 20:4; Deut 23:1ff), so too, the new Israel, which advances in this present era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called also the Church of Christ (cf. Mt 16:18). It is Christ indeed who has purchased it with his own blood (cf. Acts 20:28); he has filled it with his spirit; he has provided means adapted to its visible and social union. All those who in faith look towards Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace, God has gathered together and established as the Church, that it may be for each and every one the visible sacrament of this saving unity" ("Lumen Gentium", 9).
