Community in Mission

The second reading from last Sunday’s Mass (5th Sunday of Easter) is very Catholic, and too informative to merely pass up. It presents the Church as rather highly organized and possessed of some of the structures we know today in full form. Granted, some of these structures are in seminal form, but they are there.

We will also notice qualities of the original kerygma that are at variance with what some modern thinkers declare should be the methodology of the Church. The soft Christianity of those who replace the cross with a pillow and who insist on solely inclusion and affirmation is strangely absent in this early setting.

Let’s look the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:21-27) and see there the true path of priests, teachers, and leaders in the Church. Four steps are prescribed for our consideration, by noting that they went forth announcing, admonishing, appointing, and accounting.

I. Announcing – The text says, After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples …

Notice that the happiness is linked to the harvest. By proclaiming the Good News, they yield a great harvest. As Catholics, we are not sent out merely to proclaim a list of duties; we are sent to proclaim the Gospel. And the Gospel is this: God so loved the world that He sent his Son, who by dying and rising from the dead has purchased for us a whole new life, free from sin and the rebellious obsessions of this world. He is victorious over all the death-directed drives of this world. Simply put, he has triumphed over these forces and enabled us to walk in newness of life.

God save us from brands of the faith in which rules and obligations are all that is heard by sour-faced saints, dead disciples, fussy Pharisees, bored believers, and frozen chosen. Save us from Pharisaical philosophers who are obsessed with particulars not even commanded by God, who sneer at things they consider beneath than their preferences.

No, we are sent to announce a new life, a life free from the bondage of sin, rebellion, sensuality, greed, lust, domination, and revenge. We are sent to announce a life of joy, confidence, purity, chastity, generosity, and devotion to the truth rooted in Love.

Yes, here is a joyful announcement rooted in the cry Anastasis (Resurrection)! New Life! The old order of sin is gone and a new life of freedom from sin is here!

Did everyone accept this as good news? No. Some, indeed many, were offended and sought to convict Christians as “disturbers of the peace.” Some don’t like to have their sin and bondage called out as such. They prefer bondage, sin, and darkness to light, holiness, and freedom.

As Catholics, we announce what is intrinsically good news, and we ought to start sounding like it by proclaiming it with joy. We must proclaim it without the bitterness and anger that are indicative of those who are more interested in winning an argument than in joyfully announcing something wonderful, freeing, and true.

II. Admonishing – The text says, … they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Preaching/teaching is a process. You don’t just preach or teach once and then move on; you return and reiterate. Paul and Barnabas are retracing their steps back through towns they have already evangelized. They do not just come, have a tent revival, and move on. They return and, as we shall see, they establish the Church.

Notice what they do:

1. Encourage – They strengthened the spirits of the disciples.
2. Exhort – They exhorted them to persevere in the faith.
3. Explain – They explained by saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Let’s focus especially on the last the point. Paul and Barnabas teach that if you’re not willing to endure the cross, no crown will come your way. If you can’t stand a little disappointment, if you can’t stand being talked about, if you think you should always be up and never down, then I’ve come to remind you: No cross, no crown.

Yes, beware of “cross-less” Christianity. We do have good news to proclaim but there is also the truth that we get to the resurrection and the glory through the cross. There is a test in every testimony, a trial in every triumph. There are demands of discipleship, requirements for renewal, laws of love, and sufferings set forth for Saints.

Good preaching combines the hardship and the happiness in one message. It is a joy to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, who endured hostility, hardship, and the horrors of the cross but still triumphed and showed that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. Yes, He caught the wise in their craftiness and showed that the thoughts of the wise in this word are futile (cf 1 Cor 3:20). He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them (paradoxically) by the cross (cf Col 2:15).

Thus, St. Paul and Barnabas announce the cross, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (cf 1 Cor 1:23). Many today insist that the Church soft-pedal the cross, that she use honey, not vinegar. No can do. We joyfully announce and uphold the paradox of the cross. We must be willing to be a sign of contradiction to this world, which sees only pleasure and the indulgence of sinful drives as the way forward, which exalts freedom without truth or obedience, and which calls good what God calls sinful.

Too many so-called Christian denominations have adopted the pillow as their image and have a “give the people what they want” mentality. That is 180 degrees out of phase with the cross.

The Catholic Church does not exist to reflect the views of its members, but to reflect the views of its founder and head, Jesus Christ. As He went out to die, Jesus announced the cross without ambiguity, saying, Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me (John 12:31-32).

And so we announce the cross not merely as suffering, but as life, power, and love. By the power of the cross, it is possible to live without sin, to overcome rebellion, pride, lust, and greed; it is possible to learn to forgive and to live the truth in love.

The world will hate us for this. But such hardships, such crosses, are necessary preludes to the hallelujah of Heaven. The Church can do no less than to point to the cross. The center of our faith is a cross not a pillow. And the cross is our only hope (Ave Crux spes unica nostra (Hail, O Cross, our only hope).

Yes, the Church announces the cross and admonishes a world obsessed with pleasure and with passing, fake happiness.

III. Appointing – The text says, They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.

And thus we see the ordination of priest leaders in every place. “Priest” is just an English mispronunciation of the word “presbyter.” Paul and Barnabas did not simply go about vaguely preaching and then moving on. They established local churches with a structure of authority. The whole Pauline corpus of writings indicates a need to continue oversight of these local churches and to stay in touch with the priest leaders established to lead these local parishes.

Later, St. Paul spoke of the need for this structure in other places when he wrote (to Titus),

This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint presbyters in every town as I directed you (Titus 1:5).

This appointment was done through the laying on of hands and is called ordination today. It was a way of establishing order and office in the Church to make sure that the work continued and that the Church was governed by order. This is why we call the sacrament involved here the “Sacrament of Holy Orders.”

Note, too, that a critical task for leaders in the Church is to develop and train new leaders. Too many parishes depend on individual charismatic and gifted leaders whose inevitable departure leaves a void, not an ongoing ministry or organization. This should not be so. Good leaders train new leaders.

IV. Accounting – The text says, From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Note that Paul and Barnabas are now returning to render an account for what they have done. Accountability is part of a healthy Church. Every priest should render an account to his bishop, every bishop to his metropolitan and to the Pope. Today’s ad limina visits of bishops to the Pope is the way this is done. Further, priests are accountable to their bishop through various mechanisms such as yearly reports and other meetings.

A further background to this text is that Paul and Barnabas are returning to Antioch because it was from there that they were sent forth by the local bishops and priests on this missionary task.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2).

Thus St. Paul was not the lone ranger that some think him to be. He was sent and was accountable.

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days (Gal 1:15-18).

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain (Gal 2:1).

The preacher and teacher must be accountable: For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So each of us shall give account of himself to God (Rom 14:10-12).

And thus we see some paths for priests, preachers, teachers, and leaders. We must announce the Gospel as good news, with joy and confidence. We must admonish a world obsessed with pleasures to embrace the cross as our only hope. We must continue to develop, train, and appoint leaders to follow after us. And we must be accountable to one another.

A nice and quick portrait of some healthy traits for the Church!

This post is based on a talk I gave to a group of men in Scranton, PA. I preached out of a text from St. Paul to Timothy, whom St. Paul considered a son in the faith:

But as for you, O man of God … Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen (1 Tim 6:11-16).

I. Our Chase – But as for you, O man of God … Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. First of all, note that the personal pronoun used is “you.” I even looked this up in the Greek text to verify the translation. So “you” here means you, you personally. This mandate is for you, not merely for others who don’t have their act together as well as you do and who need to hear stuff like this. So, man of God, pay attention, God the Holy Spirit is speaking to you.

Note, too, the phrase “man of God.” Our world often values a concept of manhood that is very different from what God expects. In this world, men are often esteemed for being rich, physically powerful, or socially well-connected. But what does it mean to be a man of God? As you might expect, it means something far richer and deeper than the externalities of the world. The Man of God is to be strong by being “of God,” by having his heart and soul anchored in the Lord and what the Lord expects of him. In so doing, he will be strong and an anchor for those he loves; they are depending on him to be a true man, not a passive husband or father, not a weak leader. Inner strength needed for this.

What are some of the qualities that God the Holy Spirit emphasizes in this passage? What are we to pursue? Let’s look at the initial list in this verse:

Righteousness (δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosune)) – When we hear words like righteousness or justice, we tend to think only in a legal sense. But in the New Testament righteousness has a more of a relational sense.

Righteousness is the gift of God whereby we are restored to a right relationship with God. It is the state of him who, by God’s grace, is as he ought to be. The righteous man has his heart set on God. He wants what God wants. He loves and desires God. He loves who and what God loves.

In so doing, his relationships with others are also right, proper, and just.

But at its heart don’t miss the relational dimension of this. Righteousness is no mere legal imputation. It is being in a right relationship with God. And relationship change us. Who of us has not met someone who changed our life? Maybe it was a teacher who inspired us, a co-worker or employer who opened doors for us, a woman whom we later married. If mere human relationships can be life-changing, how much more so can being in a right relationship with God!

Pay attention here: the normal Christian life is to be in a life-changing, transformative relationship with God. It is to be in living, conscious contact with God and through that to be changed by into the very holiness and righteousness of God, with whom we walk in an increasingly close, tender, and powerful way.

Jesus knew his Father and tenderly called him “Abba.” Because of this, Jesus feared no other man. He was strong, steadfast, loving, and clear. He was merciful but uncompromising. Jesus loved what His Father loved, whom His Father loved, and in the way His Father loved. This relationship (I refer here to his human nature) is what made Him strong, and a man among men. He was not, as some are, easily swayed, confused, or conflicted. Jesus’ firm and clear relationship with His Father steadied and made proper all His relationships with human beings.

Strong men are in a clear and deepening relationship with the Lord God. And by this they are in proper and right relationships with others.

Godliness (eusebeia) – This means piety or reverence (from eu (well) + sebomai (venerate)). The Godly man walks with a reverence, with a proper and holy fear of God. The Fear here is a holy fear, not merely a cringing fear. It is a fear that holds God in awe and deeply respects Him. Out of love and respect, a man does not want to offend God; and so he walks in reverence among his family, friends, and co-workers.

Out of deep love for His Father and (humanly speaking) a holy reverence, Jesus walked among His people with an absence of human fear and without the need to flatter others. Even His enemies said of Him, Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances (Matt 22:16).

If we want to be men like Jesus, we must first have a holy fear, a reverence. If we fear God in this way, we will increasingly fear no man nor will we fear any weapon drawn against us.

 

Faith (πίστις (pistis)) – This means to believe, to be persuaded. The root meaning of the Greek word pistis here is to be persuaded, to be moved to conclude something based on sound reasoning and proper judgment. God engages our intellect with His truth. The man of faith, through the gift of faith, rightly assents to these truths.

But note, too, that a merely intellectual assent, if it is true Faith, leads the man of God to trust. For if what God has said is true, then we are called to base our whole life on it and to walk in that faith. The truth, the Word of God, is not merely informative; it is transformative. And thus, to the degree that we accept it, our life and what we do begin to change.

The man of faith says, “Lord it is enough for me to know that you have said this. And even if it is hard or if I don’t always know every detail or outcome, I am going to follow you and obey you. Lord, I trust in you and the surety of your word and your promises.

So true faith results in the obedience of faith (Rom 1:5) and will thereby change our life by increasingly conforming it to the truth of faith.

Though He did not need faith, Jesus surely showed forth the obedience of faith. He never sinned and He kept His Father’s will, even when that obedience cost Him His life.

How about you?

Love – The gift of love (agape) is the gift to have a divine affection for God. By this gift, the man of God loves Him with reverence, but also with a tender and filial affection. God is my Father and I love Him! I really love the Lord. I know what my Heavenly Father has done for me and I am moved to great affection for Him who has been so very good to me.

This gift unburdens our walk. We do what God wants not because we have to but because we want to. Love lightens every load. By this gift, the man of God loves Him as well as what and whom He loves. If God wants it, I want it.

Most of us know the power of romantic love, which can move us to make great sacrifices and overlook many faults! How much more does divine love (agape) move us to undertake any number of things simply because we love God.

As He went forth to die, Jesus said, The world must know that I love the Father, and I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, then let us go from here (Jn 14:31).

Is your love this real and this practical? Does your love provoke you to sacrificial acts for God and for others? Do you love God more than your own comfort and your own prosperity? Do you love God more than your very self?

Steadfastness (ὑπομονή (hupomone)) – This literally means to remain under. And thus God enables the believer to remain under or endure the challenges He allots in life.

Life is hard and the challenges are many. We will either meet those challenges or cave under them. In this sense, life is a test. In hardship, we discover what we are made of; we learn where we are strong and where we need growth.

Our culture prefers to remove or defer challenges. Many parents are too protective. Schools want to remove tests and have reward ceremonies in which no one is overlooked. Ordinary boys are restless and full of “spit and vinegar,” but they are pressured to be more like girls and are medicated if they do not comply. Competition and winning are downplayed. Many never reach maturity or purity in their life let alone their faith.

But God, as a good Father, still extends challenges to us. Even if the world no longer esteems mature manhood or challenges us to be men, God does. But this means challenges, and it requires of us a steadfastness that produces greater perfection.

Jesus had much to endure and labor under in this world. But as a true and perfect man, He persevered and never wavered—all the way through to the end. And from His glorious throne Jesus says to us, In this world you shall have tribulation. But have courage, I have overcome the world (John 16:33). And we read in the Gospel of Matthew, He who perseveres to the end shall be saved (Mat 24:13).

Are you steadfast? Can you remain under burdens until the Lord shall deliver?

Gentleness/Meekness (πρᾳΰτης (prautes)) – This is a virtue whereby we master anger and do not compromise justice or truth (though in a meek or gentle way). Aristotle described this virtue as the proper middle ground between too much anger and not enough anger.

Indeed, there are some things that we should be angry about. But we must master our anger and direct its energy toward the good. Our anger must be our passion to set things right.

The meek and gentle are not weak; they are strong and can master anger and direct it to good ends.

Jesus was angry a lot. But it was a productive anger, whereby He manfully set His face to Jerusalem like flint and would not turn back until He had vanquished pride by His humility. Scripture says of Jesus that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).

Yes, out of anger (a productive and pure anger) Jesus took up the battle for us. He scorned the threat of suffering and led us over the hill of Calvary to Glory.

Have you found a good fight? Are you “angry” enough to endure it?

II. Our Contest – The text says, Fight the good fight of the faith. The Greek word used here for fight is πρᾳΰτης (agonizomai), which means to struggle as if engaged in an intense athletic contest or warfare.

We have already set the stage for this in the discussion on gentleness/meekness above. The point here is to understand the good fight. We are very quick to debate and to get passionate about sports, politics, issues at work, etc. But most of this is a “yawn fest” compared to the true battle between Satan, the Red Dragon, and the people you know and love. Satan is after your wife and children. He wants their souls and is working hard to corrupt them and rob them of faith. He is subjecting them to endless temptations. He is seeking to corrupt their minds; and frankly he’s pretty good at it. What are you doing about this? What are you doing about your own mind and the battle for your own soul? This is the good fight. If you find a good fight, get in it.

Scripture says that Jesus saw a large crowd and pitied them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. He taught them at great length and went out to the cross for them.

What is your fight? Are you fighting for your children and family? Are you fighting for people you love? Are you growing in your own faith and helping others to do so?

This is the good fight, the fight for faith!

III. Our Cause – The text says, lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In other words, actively work to acquire the life that Jesus died to give you. Seize it and don’t let go. As a servant leader and as the high priest of your family, help others to do so as well. Imbue your children with the faith. Read Bible stories; teach the faith; insist on what is good. Be the spiritual leader of your home.

IV. Our Charge – The text says, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach.

Repent of your sins and allow the Lord to purify your life. The commandments are not mere abstract rules. The Commandments and the whole moral tradition are a picture that the Lord is painting of the transformed human person.

Therefore, let the Lord transform you and present you to others as “free from reproach,” that is, free from criticisms of hypocrisy. Let the Lord paint the picture of holiness and transformation in your life.

V. Our Crown – The text says, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

We have a King who is all-glorious and who has shown us the way. We must make this journey unto the end when we shall see Him in all His glory.

Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such are the men who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob (Ps 24:3-6).

We live in times of great ingenuity; we have a lot of smarts. We’ve been to the moon and back. Our computers can do more and more amazing things, even as we are able to make them smaller and smaller. We can see farther than ever into outer space and look more deeply than ever into “inner space,” doing microsurgery and studying the human genome.

Yet although we have become technological giants, at the same time we’ve become moral midgets. Though able to solve complex technical problems, we can’t figure how to stay faithful to our commitments or keep our families together. The churches that once dominated our skylines are now dwarfed by buildings dedicated to banking, insurance, and other passing worldly affairs. 

Our houses, with their great rooms, cathedral ceilings, and granite countertops, are monuments to our wealth. But inside, these houses are not homes; they are often filled with division and sterility.

Despite all our monetary wealth there is little wisdom; despite all our power there is little prudence.

From an eternal perspective our smarts amount to sandcastles on the beach that are sure to be washed away. Ultimately they cannot stand any more than can we.

Scripture warns of the human tendency to maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum. We are smart, but about the wrong things. Our priorities are misguided.

1. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel (Matt 23:22-24).
2. But God said to [the rich man who built barns], “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in what matters to God (Luke 12:20-21).
3. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light (Lk 16:8).
4. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (Phil 2:21).
5. But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people (2 Tim 3:1-5).
6. How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more elaborate their pagan pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars (Hosea 10:1-2).
7. A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth (Proverbs 17:24).
8. They are ingenious in their wickedness (Romans 1:30).

In other words, we humans tend to get smartest about the least important things, and are foolishly forgetful of eternal things—the things that matter most. Yes, we maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum. There are some who know everything there is to know about football, or who’s who in Hollywood or politics, but are at a loss when it comes to the most basic spiritual concepts, biblical stories, or moral teachings. Hours are consumed by sports, television, and politics, but there is no time for prayer.

Well, you get the point. We are smart, but about the wrong things. Meanwhile we remain foolishly out of touch with the things that matter to God and that last unto life eternal.

I thought of all this when I saw the following commercial, which appeared recently in my YouTube queue. It features men who have developed every talent imaginable related to beer.

Now I have nothing against beer in moderation. But allow the beer to represent the things of this world. And thus we see humorously illustrated our tendency and capacity to become very talented in worldly things. But at the end of the day, it’s just beer; it’s just the world, a world that is passing away.

Are we as talented and ingenious about spiritual things?

Judas Maccabeus was Handel’s most famous oratorio during his lifetime, more popular than the Messiah. There are many wonderful moments in it, especially its bold and brave choruses. Written in 1746, it covers the biblical events of 170–160 B.C., when Judea was ruled by the Seleucids and the people were compelled to worship Zeus. Some resisted; others obeyed. The priest Mattathias went to the hills and gathered others who were willing to fight for their faith. This is all recounted in the First Book of Maccabees in the (complete) Catholic Bible. The words to Judas Maccabeus largely paraphrase the biblical text and were written by Thomas Morell.

Of all the arias in the oratorio, I’ve often thought that this one should be more well known, due to its keen reminders to us:

Wise men, flattering, may deceive us;
With their vain, mysterious art;
Magic charms can ne’er relieve us,
Nor can heal the wounded heart.
But true wisdom can relieve us,
Godlike wisdom from above;
This alone can ne’er deceive us,
This alone all pains remove.

It’s a simple teaching, but so easily forgotten. In a world of false prophets and hucksters with empty promises of what are (at best) passing comforts, we need to recall that we are easily deceived; in fact, we seem to enjoy being deceived more than we’d probably like to admit.

Flattery refers to excessive and insincere praise, especially praise given to another in order to further one’s own interests. It is used to beguile or to gain another person’s attention. It is likely of Germanic origin, stemming from a word that meant to stroke or caress repeatedly.

Many, from marketers to politicians to ideologues, seek to ingratiate themselves to us in order to sell products, ideas, or philosophies. The ideologues, especially, try to present themselves as great humanitarians, caring more than others do. They use euphemisms such as choice, progress, death with dignity, tolerance, and so forth. But such terms are meant to stroke us to sleep, to beguile us, to hide the ugly reality (often the death of other human beings) of what these things actually produce.

So easily do they deceive us. I have noted in other posts that to be deceived is to be picked up and carried off. The image that comes to mind is that of limp prey in the mouth of a lion as it is carried off to be consumed.

Strangely, we often seem to like being deceived. Sometimes lies and euphemism help to hide uglier realities we would rather not face. It’s as if we say to the flatterers and liars, “It’s OK, lie to me. It’s just too much trouble to look at what’s really going on behind the veiled language.”

The text of the oratorio speaks of vain, mysterious art. Something that is vain is ultimately empty on the inside even if on the outside all seems wonderful and in good order.

The phrase mysterious art does not necessarily refer to magic, but to that which is unknown. Some flatterers like to use fancy terms, photos, movies, colorful graphs, and the like to impress us with their knowledge or to mesmerize us so that we dare not protest what they say.

But as the text goes on to say, none of this can really help us. There may be momentary comforts, but soon they are gone. Satan (and to a large degree, the world) promises happiness now, but the bill comes later. In contrast, God often asks for sacrifices, discipline, and perseverance through difficulty up front and then lets us reap the reward later. Indeed, the cross produces glory far beyond the sufferings it brings: For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor 4:17).

The text goes on to teach that our wounded hearts need more than relief; they need healing. And only Godlike Wisdom from above can accomplish this. Why? Well, God himself says why:

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind (Jer 17:9-10).

To find healing, go to God and to His revealed Word and sacred teachings. He knows your heart because He made you. He knows what will really heal and nourish your heart. Be not deceived and mesmerized by false prophets, hucksters, and merchants of the mediocre; God alone can fill the God-sized space in your heart. Only God, who made us for Himself, can satisfy our longings.

Enjoy the aria!

During Eastertide we continue to read from the Book of Revelation and meditate on Jesus as the Lord of history and the Victor over sin and death. As Revelation moves to its conclusion, it points forward to the Parousia (the magnificent second coming of the Lord). We do well to allow our imaginations to be engaged in contemplating the glory that awaits those who are faithful, to meditate on the joy and ecstasy of the culmination of all things!

However, we must also soberly meditate on the need to be ready and on the great danger that many who are not serious may be lost. But the great and terrible day of the Lord will indeed be great for those who have allowed the Lord to prepare them.

There is a magnificent book by Cardinal Jean Daniélou on angelology (the study of angels) entitled The Angels and their Mission: According to the Fathers of the Church. It is a must read and is very accessible—a mere 114 pages. It is packed full of stirring and edifying accounts of the wonderful works of the angels, according to Scripture and the Fathers of the Church.

The final chapters, on the eschaton (the last things) and the Parousia, are particularly magnificent. I would like to distill them here, adding some material and reworking it just a bit. However, the research is that of Cardinal Daniélou. I hope that you will be stirred with as much joy and zeal as I was in reading and preparing this material.

As a beginning point, let us ponder what happens to the ministry of our Guardian Angel when we die. Even if our souls are in Heaven, our bodies are still awaiting the resurrection. Ancient Christian tradition maintains that during this time the angels keep watch over the tombs of the saints. In the Jewish apocalyptic book, The Assumption of Moses, it is said that Joshua saw Moses’ soul rising to Heaven with the angels (40:1–7). However, the Epistle of Jude also says that the Archangel Michael fiercely disputed with the devil about the body of Moses (cf Jude 1:9). Stories such as these, combined with the ancient Christian practice of frequently depicting angels in cemetery art and funeral monuments, indicate a role for the angels in guarding the bodily remains of the elect, even those sadly scattered about or buried in the depths of the sea.

Scripture is replete with descriptions of the role of angels in the great second coming of the Lord. In the Gospel of Matthew there is a text that may refer to 70 A.D., but surely also describes the end of time:

Then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matt 24:30-31).

The first epistle to the Thessalonians also says,

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise … (1 Thess 4:16).

St. Cyril goes on to describe the extraordinary magnificence that the presence of the multitude of angels gives to the final judgment. He considers how the great depth and breadth of the spiritual world has been invisible until now (except to the eyes of faith) but suddenly is made manifest! He asks us to try to imagine the immensity of the multitude of angels by considering the vast numbers of human beings who ever existed, from the time of Adam to the present day, all standing before the Lord Jesus. And then he asks us to consider that the angels are vastly more numerous than we are, for they are the 99 sheep whereas humanity is but the one sheep! Such numbers can only be spoken of as myriads and myriads! Or as Daniel poetically says,

Thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took his throne. His clothing was white as snow, the hair on his head like pure wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A river of fire surged forth, flowing from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads stood before him (Dan 7:9-10).

Such a vision and such multitudes can hardly be imagined.

The first step in assembling this great Judgement is waking the dead, and the angels surely play a part in this.

The second Sibylline book, a Christian work, describes the archangels shattering the gates of death, raising up the bodies of even those who had been drowned in the sea or whom savage beasts had devoured (Sib, 2:214–235).

St. Ephrem speaks of the angels waking the dead:

Then the Lord will appear in the heavens like lightning with an unspeakable glory. The Angels and the Archangels will go on before his glory like flames of fire, like a mighty torrent. The Cherubim will turn their faces and the Seraphim will fly ahead crying out in fear: “Arise, you who sleep. Behold the bridegroom is coming!” Then the tombs will be opened and in the flash of an eye all the people will rise and behold the beauty of the Bridegroom.

St. Paul says that our bodies—truly our bodies—will rise, but they will be gloriously transformed:

He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself (Phil 3:21).

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power (1 Cor 15:42).

Then, of course, comes the Judgment by Christ. Here, too, the angels play a role.

Matthew 13 describes the angels as separating the wicked from the just:

The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Mat 13:41-43).

And Matthew 25 describes the angels as with Christ when He takes His judgment seat:

When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (Matt 25:31-32).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes of the angels leading the sinners away, body and soul, “in the full sight of the armies of heaven and they will be unable to escape.” But the angels are also uniting the just.

So, on the one hand, Matthew 13 describes the angels leading evildoers away:

The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire … (Mat 13:41-42).

And on the other hand, St. Ephrem also describes the angels leading the elect to paradise:

Then the angels will come together from all sides and take up the holy and faithful people into the glory of the clouds above, to their meeting place with Christ.

Origen also speaks of the angels escorting the blessed to paradise:

When … we have begun to enter the holy place and pass on to the promised land, those who are really holy and whose place is the Holy of Holies will make their way, supported by the angels and unto the tabernacle of God … They will be carried on [the angels’] shoulders and raised up by their hands.

St. Paul seems to speak to the same glory when he writes to the Thessalonians,

The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

The Fathers of the Church then consider and imagine the joy (and relief) of the angels, whose long work is now done. Of this final culmination, Scripture says,

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. “For God has put all things in subjection under [Jesus’] feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection under him,” it is plain that he [the Father] is excepted who put all things under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to everyone (1 Cor 15:26-28).

And thus, having gone forth to execute Judgment, Jesus now returns to His Father’s right, in the Holy of Holies. He ascends there, now with all the members of His body (body and soul) joined to Him. He ascends to the throne as Unus Christus, amans seipsum (one Christ, loving Himself). And though equal to His Father in glory and majesty, He is delighted to hand over the Kingdom of His Body, the Church, to His Father, who is, as Father, the Principium Deitatis.

And at this ascension, the Fathers ponder that the angels will make the same declaration, the heavens echoing with their cry:

 Lift up your heads, O gates; and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates; and be lifted up, O ancient doors; that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory (Psalm 24: 7-10).

And there shall then come to pass the transformation of all creation and the fulfillment of its longing for its share in the glorious freedom of the Children of God, as prophesied through St. Paul:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it [because of our sins]. But the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies … (Rom 8:19-25).

And now it comes! Heaven and earth are united. Creation receives its original glory and more besides, for the heavenly realities are now joined to the earth, beautifully restored and raised.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:1-5).

Cardinal Daniélou beautifully concludes,

On that day, the joy of the friends of the Bridegroom, [the angels] will be complete. They have led to paradise the souls of the just who are entrusted to them. They have kept watch over their mortal remains. But [for now] they still await the day in which the Bridegroom will come to look for his Bride, when her beauty is finally perfect, in order to lead her into the House of his Father for the eternal wedding feast (p. 114).

Of this magnificent beauty, St. Methodius says to us,

Oh dearly beloved, [the angels] burn to see the day of your marriage, all the angels Christ has called from heaven. They will come, O Lord, O Word, and they will carry with them mighty gifts, in their spotless robes.

Thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:17).

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come” … He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen (Rev 22:17; 20-21).

Some of you who follow me on Facebook know that I just lost a beloved pet, Daniel, our rectory cat. Losing a pet is not to be equated with losing a spouse, sibling, or friend, but it remains a painful loss. Part of the reason for this, I am convinced, is that we cannot communicate with animals as we do with one another. We cannot know what they are experiencing “inside” and so cannot reassure them or be reassured by them that they are still well despite the suffering that dying brings. We have to make decisions for them without really knowing much about what they are experiencing. At any rate, Daniel’s journey and sufferings are over. Mine will linger a little longer, but I am well and content that we did what we could for him.

Permit me, then, to republish a prior article in today’s post. It is about St. Thomas Aquinas’ remedy for sin. I have newer pieces in the hopper but it will take me a day or two to get back up to speed. Meanwhile, I pray that you will find this article from my “best of” file helpful in your own sufferings.

One doesn’t usually go to the St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica for advice on emotional matters. Yet in this post we shall indeed go there to seek advice on sorrow and consider some of St. Thomas’ remedies for it. (His advice is contained primarily in the Prima Secundae questions 35 – 37.)

St. Thomas follows some of the Eastern fathers in naming four kinds of sorrow (cf I IIae 35:8): anxiety, torpor, pity, and envy. Let’s look at each before examining some of the remedies he suggests:

1. Anxiety – This is a kind of sorrow that emerges when the mind is so weighed down by something that escape seem impossible. St. Thomas’ definition is likely rooted in the Latin word angustia, which is a narrow pass or straight. And thus anxiety tends to arise when we experience stress over a situation and find no room to maneuver, no way out. Anxiety tends to pertain to the future, in contrast with pain, which generally pertains to the present. With pain, one can suffer about a situation in the moment yet recognize that it will pass. Anxiety arises when we sense no definitive end to the painful situation.

St. Thomas calls anxiety a form of sadness. In modern culture we often link anxiety and depression. This is because anxiety, as a sorrow, weighs us down. And just as joy and hope tend to expand and lighten, the sorrow of anxiety tends to crush and turn us inward. It makes us feel limited, hemmed in, confined, and heavily weighed down.

Someone once said that depression is anger turned inward. This makes sense because anger results from fear and anxiety, and anger that cannot be expressed or managed becomes like a heavy weight or depression.

2. Torpor – This word is not used very frequently today. Literally, it refers to slowness of movement. When one is sorrowful or depressed, one is less motivated to move. St. Thomas says, “If, however, the mind be weighed down so much, even the limbs become motionless, which belongs to ‘torpor’” (I IIae 35.8). Even ordinary conversation with others, which is a kind of movement, can seem difficult. The sorrow we call torpor slows us down and makes us feel rundown and sluggish.

Inactivity tends to build. The less motivated we feel, the less we move; the less we move, the less motivated we feel. It’s a kind of downward spiral.

This is why those who are experiencing depression are often encouraged to find friends that will make them move, make them go places—even if they don’t feel like it. This helps to stave off the downward spiral that torpor can cause.

The second two types of sorrow (pity and envy) relate more to our experience of other people’s circumstances.

3. Pity – This is the sorrow that we feel for the evil or misfortune endured by another person. But it is deeper than mere regret or perturbation. Pity is experiencing the misfortune of another as though it were our own.

Pity, therefore, implies a felt relationship. Perhaps it involves a close friend or family member, but it can also be the felt relationship of common humanity with the one who suffers.

Of itself, pity is a proper and good sorrow born out of love. And yet, like any common human emotion or passion, it can be tainted by sinfulness. For example, sometimes pity results more from egotistical needs, wherein one develops a sort of condescending attitude, needing to see others as beneath him or worse off than he is.

And thus what masquerades as pity is too easily merely the drive to be in a superior position with respect to another person. Patronizing attitudes are a misguided form of pity such that we do for people what they should rightfully do for themselves, thus robbing them of their dignity and their call to live responsible lives.

Hence pity, like any sorrow, has to be moderated and helped by reason and by the understanding that it is not always possible or even helpful to assist everyone in every circumstance simply because we feel sorrow for their condition. Sometimes the best we can do is to listen to them and pray for them.

Properly understood, pity is a very beautiful emotion rooted in love for others.

4. Envy – On the other hand, envy is a very dark sorrow and is rooted in sin. I have written more extensively on envy here: Envy Is a Diabolical Sin. For this reflection, however, I will just summarize by saying that envy is a form of sorrow or anger at the excellence of another person, because I take it as lessening my own.

Envy is a particularly dark sin because it seeks to destroy the goodness in others rather than to celebrate it. If I am jealous of you, you have something I want. But when I am envious of you, I seek to destroy that in you which is good. That is why St. Augustine called envy the diabolical sin.

While discussing these four types of sorrow, St. Thomas also discusses some ways to overcome them. We will look at remedies for all four of them. Because envy stands apart from the other sorrows due to its sinful quality, the remedies for it are quite different. The remedies for envy are the gifts of joy and zeal. When someone else possesses goodness or excellence, the proper response is to rejoice with them and for them, as members of one body. When one member is praised, all members are praised; when one member is blessed, all members are blessed. This is rational and reasonable; we should seek from God the gift of joy at the goodness or excellence of another person. We should also seek from God the virtue of zeal, wherein we seek to imitate, where possible, the goodness or excellence we observe in others.

Remedies – As for the other forms of sorrow (anxiety, torpor, and pity), St. Thomas advises some of the following remedies:

1. Weeping – St. Thomas makes the very interesting observation that where there is laughter and smiling there is increased joy. But weeping, rather than increasing sorrow, actually diminishes it. How is this? He says, “First, because a hurtful thing hurts yet more if we keep it shut up, because the soul is more intent on it: whereas if it be allowed to escape, the soul’s intention is dispersed as it were on outward things, so that the inward sorrow is lessened” (I IIae 38.2). Thus tears are the soul’s way to exhale sorrow. For when we weep, we release sorrow. Tears have a way of flushing it from our system.

It is a rather beautiful and freeing insight, especially for some of us who were raised with more stoic sensibilities. Many of us, especially men, were told not to cry, not to show our emotions. But of course such an approach seldom works, for the more we shut up our sorrow, the more the mind ruminates on it. Better to weep and let it run out through our tears.

2. Sharing our sorrows with friends – Scripture says, Woe to the solitary man, for if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up (Eccl 4:10-11). Aristotle also said, “A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.”

The danger to avoid in sorrow is turning in on ourselves. We often need the perspective of others. And even if they don’t have many answers to give us, simply talking to them about our sorrow is itself a form of release. St. Thomas also adds, when a man’s friends condole with him, he sees that he is loved by them, and this affords him pleasure… [and] every pleasure assuages sorrow (Ibid).

3. Contemplating the truth – The word philosophy literally means “the love of wisdom,” and for those schooled in it, it can provide great consolation. St. Thomas says, the greatest of all pleasures consists in the contemplation of truth. Now every pleasure assuages pain … hence the contemplation of truth assuages pain or sorrow, and the more so, the more perfectly one is a lover of wisdom (I IIae 38.4).

This is even more so with the contemplation of sacred truth, wherein we are reminded of our final glory and happiness if we persevere. We are given perspective and reminded of the passing quality of sorrow in this life, that “trouble don’t last always,” and that the sufferings of this world cannot compare with the glory that is to be revealed.

4. Pleasure – We have already seen that St. Thomas says, “pleasure assuages pain.” If one is physically tired, then sleep is a solution. If one is in pain or sorrow, pleasure is also helpful remedy.

In sudden and heavy loss or sorrow, some period of quiet convalescence maybe called for. But there comes a time when one must go forth and savor the better things in life once again.

The Book of Psalms says, When sorrow was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul (Ps 94:19). In the midst of pain, God will often send consoling pleasures, which should be appreciated and savored (with proper moderation, of course).

As a priest, I sometimes minister to those who have suddenly lost a spouse or other beloved family member. In these situations, I find that some of those who mourn feel almost guilty about venturing out into the world again to enjoy the better things: laughter, good company, entertainment, etc. But for the survivors to cease living does little to honor those who died. There comes a time, after a suitable period of mourning, when one must go forth and reclaim the joy of life again.

5. A warm bath and a nap – This is a rather charming remedy recommended by St. Thomas. And it is actually very good advice, for we are not simply soul; we are also body. And our body and soul interact with and influence each other. Sometimes if the soul is vexed, caring for the body will bring soothing to both body and soul. St. Thomas says, Sorrow, by reason of its specific nature, is repugnant to the vital movement of the body; and consequently whatever restores the bodily nature to its due state of vital movement, is opposed to sorrow and assuages it (I IIae 38.5).

We live in a culture that tends to overindulge the body. And yet to do so is not really to care for it. Frankly, some of our overindulgence actually stress the body, which thereby vexes the soul.

Surely what St. Thomas has in mind here is the proper care of the body. Whether that means a warm bath, a leisurely walk, or a nap, the soothing care of the body can help to alleviate sorrow.

Sorrow! It does find us. But in the midst of it, there are still some gifts. Learning these simple truths can be a gift:  that tears are the soul’s way to exhale, that we ought to reach out and stay in communion with others who can help us, that meditating on eternal truth is important, and that proper soothing care of ourselves has its place.

Sorrow also reminds us that this world is not our home, that we ought to set our gaze on the place where joy shall never end, even as we must journey through what is often a “valley of tears.” And finally, the Book of Revelation reminds us to regard what the Lord will do for those who die in Him:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Rev 21:4).

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!