The Best of the Best

Are We Doing Enough?

Yesterday was the feast day of St. Cecilia and as a musician and priest I could not help but reflect on the Church’s interest in offering God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Are we offering God the first fruits of each congregation’s musical skills, or artistic skills, or technological skills, or ANY skills? I walk into churches where it becomes painfully clear that the music program has not changed or improved in decades. Preaching skills are certainly lacking. A recent survey in Maine showed the average prep time for a Sunday sermon is 38 minutes. This begs the question, “Are we offering God our best?” Technology is an interesting question as one may attend an evening vigil Mass only to find a much darkened church. In an age where we have advanced in electronics can there ever be an excuse for a dimly lit church? On the same level as lighting, I have spoken to pastors, priests, and rectors that cringe at the possibility of large computer screens projecting words and images to better the music program, a sermon, prayers, or even multimedia productions. Where once the Church was the premier voice of art, science, and literature, we live in an age where mediocrity is the rule and the Church is the last place one can expect excellence in any of these disciplines.

St. Augustine warned us of this in today’s Divine Office, “Praise the Lord with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song. Rid yourself of what is old and worn out, for you know a new song. A new man, a new covenant‚ – a new song. This new song does not belong to the old man. Only the new man learns it: the man restored from his fallen condition through the grace of God, and now sharing in the new covenant, that is, the kingdom of heaven. To it all our love now aspires and sings a new song. Let us sing a new song not with our lips but with our lives. Sing to him a new song, sing to him with joyful melody. Every one of us tries to discover how to sing to God. You must sing to him, but you must sing well. He does not want your voice to come harshly to his ears, so sing well, brothers! If you were asked, “Sing to please this musician,” you would not like to do so without having taken some instruction in music, because you would not like to offend an expert in the art. An untrained listener does not notice the faults a musician would point out to you. Who, then, will offer to sing well for God, the great artist whose discrimination is faultless, whose attention is on the minutest detail, whose ear nothing escapes? When will you be able to offer him a perfect performance that you will in no way displease such a supremely discerning listener? See how he himself provides you with a way of singing. Do not search for words, as if you could find a lyric which would give God pleasure. Sing to him “with songs of joy.” This is singing well to God, just singing with songs of joy. But how is this done? You must first understand that words cannot express the things that are sung by the heart. Take the case of people singing while harvesting in the fields or in the vineyards or when any other strenuous work is in progress. Although they begin by giving expression to their happiness in sung words, yet shortly there is a change. As if so happy that words can no longer express what they feel, they discard the restricting syllables. They burst out into a simple sound of joy, of jubilation. Such a cry of joy is a sound signifying that the heart is bringing to birth what it cannot utter in words. Now, who is more worthy of such a cry of jubilation than God himself, whom all words fail to describe? If words will not serve, and yet you must not remain silent, what else can you do but cry out for joy? Your heart must rejoice beyond words, soaring into an immensity of gladness, unrestrained by syllabic bonds. Sing to him with songs of joy.”

I implore you O Church of God, let us consider a movement that will define culture as opposed to allowing secular humanist culture to define us. I beg you leaders of the Church to never settle for mediocrity but always strive for excellence. Ask St. Cecilia to intercede for us to make our music better, our preaching compelling, and our churches buildings people want to see, enjoy, and feel comfortable in. Let us celebrate our God by offering our best sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving and using each member’s best in the Spirit-given gifts each person is divinely endowed with. Praise God! Amen!

Happy Saint Charles Borromeo Day

From Him, “I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. One priest may wish to lead a good, holy life, as he knows he should. He may wish to be chaste and to reflect heavenly virtues in the way he lives. Yet he does not resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships. Another priest complains that as soon as he comes into church to pray the office or to celebrate Mass, a thousand thoughts fill his mind and distract him from God. But what was he doing in the sacristy before he came out for the office or for Mass? How did he prepare? What means did he use to collect his thoughts and to remain recollected?

Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and how, if you are already recollected at prayer, you can be even more attentive next time, and so give God more pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.

If teaching and preaching is your job, then study diligently and apply yourself to whatever is necessary for doing the job well. Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.

Are you in charge of a parish? If so, do not neglect the parish of your own soul, do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself. You have to be mindful of your people without becoming forgetful of yourself.

My brothers, you must realize that for us churchmen nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand. When you administer the sacraments, meditate on what you are doing. When you celebrate Mass, reflect on the sacrifice you are offering. When you pray the office, think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of your people, meditate on the Lord’s blood that has washed them clean. In this way, all that you do becomes a work of love.

This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.”

Today’s Feast

October 01
Theresa of the Child Jesus, virgin
Memorial
Memorial, 1969 Calendar, celebration October 1
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus or St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the patron saint of aviators, florists, illnesses, missions and, alongside St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France.
The Little Flower of Jesus or the greatest saint of modern time as she was called, St. Thérèse of Lisieux lived a short life dedicated intensely to God.
She was born on January 2, 1873 at Alençon France into a very religious family, and her vocation manifested itself early in her life when she was just a child.
At age fifteen, she became a Carmelite nun after a personal appeal to Pope Leon XIII for the permission to enter the Carmelite order.
She sought to develop an approach to the spiritual life that was understandable and imitable by all who chose to do so, regardless of their level of sophistication or education.
This is evident in her approach to prayer: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God…. I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers…. I do as a child who has not learned to read, I just tell our Lord all that I want and He understands.”
St. Thérèse is known today for her spiritual memoir, “Story of a Soul”. This document and her letters, poems, and prayers were made public after her death in 1897. Pope Pius XI beatified her in April 1923 and after two years, she was canonized, on May 17, 1925.
Holy Face For Sinners
by St. Therese of Lisieux
ETERNAL FATHER, since Thou hast given me for my inheritance the Adorable Face of Thy Divine Son, I offer that face to Thee and I beg Thee, in exchange for this coin of infinite value, to forget the ingratitude of souls dedicated to Thee and to pardon all poor sinners.
Prayer source:”The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse”, Publisher: Project Gutenberg, Rights: GNU General Public License
Prayer: Dear Little Flower of Lisieux, how wonderful was the short life you led. Though cloistered, you went far and wide through fervent prayers and great sufferings. You obtained from God untold helps and graces for his evangelists. Help all missionaries in their work and teach all of us to spread Christianity in our own neighborhoods and family circles. Amen.
O Little Flower of Jesus, ever consoling troubled souls with heavenly graces, in your unfailing intercession I place my trust. From the Heart of Our Blessed Savior petition these blessing of which I stand in greatest need (mention here). Shower upon me your promised roses of virtue and grace, dear Saint Therese, so that swiftly advancing in sanctity and in perfect love of neighbor, I may someday receive the crown of eternal life. Amen.
O Lord, Who has said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, so to follow in humility and simplicity of heart the footsteps of Saint Teresa, the Virgin, that we may obtain everlasting rewards: Who livest and reignest.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal.

I read this today…

From a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine, bishop
On weak Christians

You have failed to strengthen the weak, says the Lord. He is speaking to wicked shepherds, false shepherds, shepherds who seek their own concerns and not those of Christ. They enjoy the bounty of milk and wool, but they take no care at all of the sheep, and they make no effort to heal those who are ill. I think there is a difference between one who is weak (that is, not strong) and one who is ill, although we often say that the weak are also suffering from illness.

My brothers, when I try to make that distinction, perhaps I could do it better and with greater precision, or perhaps someone with more experience and insight could do so. But when it comes to the words of Scripture, I say what I think so that in the meantime you will not be deprived of all profit. In the case of the weak sheep, it is to be feared that the temptation, when it comes, may break him. The sick person, however, is already ill by reason of some illicit desire or other, and this is keeping him from entering God’s path and submitting to Christ’s yoke.

There are men who want to live a good life and have already decided to do so, but are not capable of bearing sufferings even though they are ready to do good. Now it is a part of the Christian’s strength not only to do good works but also to endure evil. Weak men are those who appear to be zealous in doing good works but are unwilling or unable to endure the sufferings that threaten. Lovers of the world, however, who are kept from good works by some evil desire, lie sick and listless, and it is this sickness that deprives them of any strength to accomplish good works.

The paralytic was like that. When his bearers could not bring him in to the Lord, they opened the roof and lowered him down to the feet of Christ. Perhaps you wish to do this in spirit: to open the roof and to lower a paralytic soul down to the Lord. All its limbs are lifeless, it is empty of every good work, burdened with its sins, and weak from the illness brought on by its evil desires. Since all its limbs are helpless, and the paralysis is interior, you cannot come to the physician. But perhaps the physician himself is concealed within; for the true understanding of Scripture is hidden. Reveal therefore what is hidden, and thus you will open the roof and lower the paralytic to the feet of Christ.

As for those who fail to do this and those who are negligent, you have heard what was said to them: You have failed to heal the sick; you have failed to bind up what was broken. Of this we have already spoken. Man was broken by terrible temptations. But there is at hand a consolation that will bind what was broken: God is faithful. He does not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Reflection on Our Lady of Sorrows

STABAT Mater dolorosa
iuxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.
AT, the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.
Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.
O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta,
mater Unigeniti!
O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.
Quae maerebat et dolebat,
pia Mater, dum videbat
nati poenas inclyti.
Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.
Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?
Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?
Quis non posset contristari
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?
Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother’s pain untold?
Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
she beheld her tender Child
All with scourges rent:
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
For the sins of His own nation,
saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.
Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:
Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.
Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.
Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:
Iuxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.
By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.
Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.
Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.
Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;
Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
by Thy Mother my defense,
by Thy Cross my victory;
Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria. Amen.
While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
safe in paradise with Thee. Amen.

My Patron Saint

Recently was my Feast Day, the celebration of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on June 29th. When I was in Italy they commemorated this more triumphantly than my birthday. I was gifted with gold crosses and jewelry ending with a special dinner. If only everybody celebrated the lives of the Saints in this manned; every day would be a triumph for the Church! I remember the six years at the Bangor Theological Seminary en route to getting a Masters in Divinity and the protestant inquiry into the Primacy of Saint Peter. Of course they would never refer to him as a saint as in this particular tradition, we are all saints. As true as this may be, and for the brevity of this reflection, I will not get into the saints with the lower case letter and the ones with the capital letter. Suffice to say, the Catholic-Orthodox tradition of venerating Saints is simply a respect for God, the Church, and the individuals that we know gave their lives for the Faith. Devaluing this is simply disrespectful and a bit arrogant. So what about Saint Peter? As one protestant student interpreted, “Perhaps Jesus was referring to his head as the Rock as Peter was certainly stubborn at times.” As the student went forward to hypothesize, Jesus even knocked on Peter’s head to demonstrate the Rock-like substance, He was describing. How foolish! The simple response would have been that the context of renaming Simon does not in any way lend itself to this conclusion. Furthermore the context most certainly suggests the building of a Church; if not THE Church. Regardless, the ordination name of Peter places him above the other apostles as the one Jesus chooses to focus in maintaining His tradition. The protestant denomination that I served in most recently, suggested that the Primacy of Peter in no way reflected the supremacy of the Roman Church, however, was foundational to all churches. Perhaps, this is true in many ways, but thankfully the direction in which our Lord led Saint Peter was certainly to proclaim the Gospel to ends of the earth which focused Peter’s attention on Rome where he was subsequently martyred. Of course in the evangelical world the account of Peter being crucified is ignored as it is not “biblical” which proves the inadequacy of any movement that refuses to acknowledge 2000 years of Christian tradition. I want to end this reflection by reminding all movements and all denominations, even Rome, that regardless of the numbers in the movement, or the desire in which God wishes to use the movement, we need to be weary and respectful of the traditions of all Christian churches especially if we seek unity in community. The lesson I have in my patron Saint Peter is that he was always willing to do what Christ instructed him to do and to be self-critical when he failed.

Unity Obligation

From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
[Whether they like it or not, those who are outside the Church are our brothers]
We entreat you, brothers, as earnestly as we are able, to have charity, not only for one another, but also for those who are outside the Church. Of these some are still pagans, who have not yet made an act of faith in Christ. Others are separated, insofar as they are joined with us in professing faith in Christ, our head, but are yet divided from the unity of his body. My friends, we must grieve over these as over our brothers; and they will only cease to be so when they no longer say our Father.
The prophet refers to some men saying: When they say to you: You are not our brothers, you are to tell them: You are our brothers. Consider whom he intended by these words. Were they the pagans? Hardly; for nowhere either in Scripture or in our traditional manner of speaking do we find them called our brothers. Nor could it refer to the Jews, who do not believe in Christ. Read Saint Paul and you will see that when he speaks of “brothers,” without any qualification, he refers always to Christians. For example, he says: Why do you judge your brother or why do you despise your brother? And again: You perform iniquity and common fraud, and this against your brothers.
Those then who tell us: You are not our brothers, are saying that we are pagans. That is why they want to baptize us again, claiming that we do not have what they can give. Hence their error of denying that we are their brothers. Why then did the prophet tell us: Say to them: You are our brothers? It is because we acknowledge in them that which we do not repeat. By not recognizing our baptism, they deny that we are their brothers; on the other hand, when we do not repeat their baptism but acknowledge it to be our own, we are saying to them: You are our brothers.
If they say, “Why do you seek us? What do you want of us?” we should reply: You are our brothers. They may say, “Leave us alone. We have nothing to do with you.” But we have everything to do with
you, for we are one in our belief in Christ; and so we should be in one body, under one head.
And so, dear brothers, we entreat you on their behalf, in the name of the very source of our love, by whose milk we are nourished, and whose bread is our strength, in the name of Christ our Lord and his gentle love. For it is time now for us to show them great love and abundant compassion by praying to God for them. May he one day give them a clear mind to repent and to realize that they have nothing now but the sickness of their hatred, and the stronger they think they are, the weaker they become. We entreat you then to pray for them, for they are weak, given to the wisdom of the flesh, to fleshly and carnal things, but yet they are our brothers. They celebrate the same sacraments as we, not indeed with us, but still the same. They respond with the same Amen, not with us, but still the same. And so pour out your hearts for them in prayer to God.

The Primacy of Peter

Recently was my Feast Day, the celebration of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on June 29th. When I was in Italy they commemorated this more triumphantly than my birthday for I was named after this great Saint. I was gifted with gold crosses and jewelry ending with a special dinner. If only everybody celebrated the lives of the Saints in this manned; every day would be a triumph for the Church! I remember the six years at the Bangor Theological Seminary en route to getting a Masters in Divinity and the protestant inquiry into the Primacy of Saint Peter. Of course they would never refer to him as a saint because in this particular tradition, they consider (and somewhat rightly) all Christians are saints. As true as this may be, and for the brevity of this reflection, I will not get into the saints with the lower case letter and the ones with the capital letter. Suffice to say, the Catholic-Orthodox tradition of venerating Saints is simply a respect for God, the Church, and the individuals that we are certain gave their lives for the Faith. Devaluing this is simply disrespectful and a bit arrogant. So what about Saint Peter? As one protestant student interpreted, “Perhaps Jesus was referring to his head as the Rock as Peter was certainly stubborn at times.” As the student imaginatively went on to hypothesize, Jesus even knocked on Peter’s head to demonstrate the Rock-like substance, He was describing. How foolish! The simple response would have been that the context of renaming Simon does not in any way lend itself to this conclusion. Furthermore the context most certainly suggests the building of a Church; if not THE Church. Regardless, the ordination name of Peter places him above the other apostles as the one Jesus chooses to focus on maintaining His tradition. The protestant denomination that I served in most recently, which became a educational stepping stone back into the Church God has placed me in now (back home to Rome), suggested that the Primacy of Peter in no way reflected the supremacy of the Roman Church, however, was foundational to all churches. Perhaps, this is true in many ways but thankfully the direction in which our Lord led Saint Peter was certainly to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth which focused Peter’s attention on Rome where he was subsequently martyred. Of course in the evangelical world the account of Peter being crucified is ignored as it is not “biblical,” which proves the inadequacy of a movement that centers fully on the evangelical, ignoring the charismatic and the sacramental streams. Peter was indeed crucified in Rome and when he deemed himself unworthy to die as the savior died, the soldiers turned the cross upside down. I suppose an interesting sideline and research paper would be about how Peter’s wife died but I digress. Biblically, however, when Jesus’ inner circle of three is mentioned throughout Scripture, Peter is always mentioned first. This reflection is not meant to be “in your face” as it is to focus in on what we have. Peter is the Rock; Peter is the first amongst equals; and Peter accomplished his goal to center the Church in Rome. This is NOT a critique against other churches or denomination as Jesus Himself claims that if they are not against us then they are on our side. The Christian confession, after all, is Jesus, my Lord and my God. If anything the implication of Peter as Rock and Rome his episcopacy obliges the Roman church to not only acknowledge her primacy, but her humility to be equal. The onus is on Rome. The pontifical call by definition requires her to build bridges amongst all Christians. Simply said, let us not continue the debate over the Primacy of Peter, but let us move forward to establish unity in a Church that needs leadership, but as Saint Peter manifested in his life, a Church that exists to serve.

Corpus Christi 2011

I was reflecting today on the Feast of Corpus Christi and the necessity of this most precious Sacrament. First, it is necessary to stand the Faith on the three pillars that are essential to being a Christian. We are a Sacrament-fed, Spirit-gifted, and Scripture-based people. Alliteration aside, these three equal pillars feed on each other as equally as the unity in the community of the Trinity. This perfect equilateral triangle creates a platform that stands perfectly solid, perfectly stable, and perfectly secure. Any other formula such as the case with the three legged stool whereas one leg is taller than the other two, does not work. This is evident in denominations that attempt this deformation and subsequently topple. The Church must embrace the triadic formula set forth by God Himself. This being said, we focus today on the more prolific of the Sacraments, the receiving of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. I suppose one of the best examples a parent can offer the necessary recurrence of the reception of this rite is the daily, if not hourly affirmation of the parent-child relationship. One cannot feed her child once and for all. One cannot hug his child once and for all. One cannot provide for her child once and for all. These acts need constant daily reminding in order to raise a stable child who knows that she is loved and cared for. This environment produces the best possibility of normalcy, success, and formation. God, the greatest image of the Parent-Child relationship knows that His creation must follow suit. The Sacrament of Corpus Christi was initiated and instituted by our Lord in order for us to be fed, to be provided for, and to know for certain that we know the parental love that permeates our Creator and His Bride, the Church, our Mother on earth. We are fortunate here in North America that all opportunities are given to us to experience this love and understand this Presence for as one can easily find, there is a sacramental church available to every citizen without persecution, without difficulty, and without defamation. I would be remiss in not mentioning that today is the seventeenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, and though, thanks to the Church, Her perseverance and Her gentle care, things are better now, a yearly memoriam is necessary in order to prevent something like this from ever happening again. All this teaches us that God loves us, that God constantly provides for us, and God awaits each and everyone us as we seek to spend eternity in God’s Kingdom, celebrating around the Heavenly table where we are filled with provision, plenty, and pleasure.

Squashing the Gifts

I have been reflecting a lot lately on how Christian leaders choose agenda based decisions to squash the spiritual gifts that all God’s children are endowed with. I was part of a self-proclaimed “Move of God” that subsequently became nothing more than a seeker sensitive, mainline Protestant denomination, counting on the self esteem issues of charismatic rich folk in order to make money. When serious theological issues arose, those who sought to listen to what the Holy Spirit was doing, were pushed out in favor of affluent voices, people with property or money. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit can NOT be squashed and thus God can anoint a movement and God can lift that anointing unto another movement. The fallacy of those who believe in “once saved always saved” reflects similarly with those who misunderstand the sacraments as a means to at least purgatory. The importance of being “born again” or being born of water and Spirit has been limited to simply water. We need the Spirit in order to find our way to the Kingdom. Please allow me during these days before Pentecost to journey with the Church Fathers who surely understood that having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit governs one’s workplace life, one’s sacramental life, one’s ecclesiastical life, one’s relationships, and one’s journey to God. The first excerpt is from yesterday’s Divine Office. Hear how our sacramental life is governed by our relationship with the Spirit.

From the commentary on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop (God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation). “Those who have a sure hope, guaranteed by the Spirit, that they will rise again lay hold of what lies in the future as though it were already present. They say: Outward appearances will no longer be our standard in judging other men. Our lives are all controlled by the Spirit now, and are not confined to this physical world that is subject to corruption. The light of the Only-begotten has shone on us, and we have been transformed into the Word, the source of all life. While sin was still our master, the bonds of death had a firm hold on us, but now that the righteousness of Christ has found a place in our hearts we have freed ourselves from our former condition of corruptibility. This means that none of us lives in the flesh anymore, at least not in so far as living in the flesh means being subject to the weaknesses of the flesh, which include corruptibility. Once we thought of Christ as being in the flesh, but we do not do so any longer, says Saint Paul. By this he meant that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; he suffered death in the flesh in order to give all men life. It was in this flesh that we knew him before, but we do so no longer. Even though he remains in the flesh, since he came to life again on the third day and is now with his Father in heaven, we know that he has passed beyond the life of the flesh; for having died once, he will never die again, death has no power over him anymore. His death was a death to sin, which he died once for all; his life is life with God. Since Christ has in this way become the source of life for us, we who follow in his footsteps must not think of ourselves as living in the flesh any longer, but as having passed beyond it. Saint Paul’s saying is absolutely true that when anyone is in Christ he becomes a completely different person: his old life is over and a new life has begun. We have been justified by our faith in Christ and the power of the curse has been broken. Christ’s coming to life again for our sake has put an end to the sovereignty of death. We have come to know the true God and to worship him in spirit and in truth, through the Son, our mediator, who sends down upon the world the Father’s blessings. And so Saint Paul shows deep insight when he says: This is all God’s doing: it is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ. For the mystery of the incarnation and the renewal it accomplished could not have taken place without the Father’s will. Through Christ we have gained access to the Father, for as Christ himself says, no one comes to the Father except through him. This is all God’s doing, then. It is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”