Today is Victoria Day in Canada. My wife and I went to Mass this morning and sang "O Canada" and "God Save the Queen". The scripture reading was taken from Acts 14:5-18 and John 14:21-26. But Father Ian's homily focused on the Responsorial Psalm which was Psalms 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16:
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
This Psalm (especially in it's original Latin translation Non nobis) has been sung throughout the ages on many great occasions when victories (military) were won and on great feasts such as on this day when we celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria.
Non nobis is the conventional title of a short Latin Christian hymn used as a prayer of thanksgiving and expression of humility:
Nōn nōbīs, Domine, nōn nōbīs, sed nōminī tuō dā glōriam
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory
The story of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:5-18) is an illustration of such humility. When the crowd wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas after they performed a miracle of healing a cripple since birth, they tore their clothes (a sign of humility) and shouted to the crowd: "Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. " (verse 15)
Our Blessed Mother Mary is another great example of humility recorded in Luke 1:39-56. When she visited Elizabeth, who upon seeing Mary, exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?". Mary's response was to burst out in a Song of Praise (The Magnificat):
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
When I think about what I should be doing for the rest of my life, this is it!!! I must not think that there is anything great, or worthwhile, that I can do for the Lord. It is He who would do His great things through me. What I need to do is to cooperate with Him. And how do I know He is telling me what to do or act? By His Spirit!! In the Gospel passage today (John 14:21-26) Jesus reminded me that "I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name--
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."
I should commit Psalms 115 to memory. And learn to pray always:
Nōn nōbīs, Domine, nōn nōbīs, sed nōminī tuō dā glōriam
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory
Monday 20 May 2019
Friday 3 May 2019
Alive or dead, we belong to the Lord
This passage of scripture came to me when I did my Morning Prayer a few days ago. It spoke deeply to my heart so I copied it for this brief blog.
"The
life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live,
we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive
or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and
came to life: it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of
the living." (Romans 14:7-9)
I have often wondered why in the Apostle Creed it is an important teaching of the church that Christ "descended into hell". Is it because "it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living"?
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell;
on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
The Christian Reformed Church has almost the same creed - except that it made a remark that the word Catholic meant "*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places". The Anglican Church of Canada also has the same creed except "He descended into hell" is replaced by "He descended to the dead". The United Methodist Church has both a Traditional version (using "He descended into hell") and an Ecumenical version (which uses "He descended to the dead"). The difference between these two expressions may reflect whether the church actually believes in the existence of a "Hell" after one's death?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a lot to say about this. "that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there". "Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell." Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him." ..."The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption... Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."... Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."... Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
So in St. Paul's writing in Roman 14, he made clear that "The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord.". This is the most liberating thing I have learned since becoming a Catholic!! That's why St Paul, after teaching about the Resurrection of the Body (1 Corinthians 15), burst into this amazing proclammation, recalling what these scriptures had predicted:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Isaiah 25:8)
and,
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea13:14)
And St. Paul concluded:
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
And the application is this:
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."
I have often wondered why in the Apostle Creed it is an important teaching of the church that Christ "descended into hell". Is it because "it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living"?
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell;
on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
The Christian Reformed Church has almost the same creed - except that it made a remark that the word Catholic meant "*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places". The Anglican Church of Canada also has the same creed except "He descended into hell" is replaced by "He descended to the dead". The United Methodist Church has both a Traditional version (using "He descended into hell") and an Ecumenical version (which uses "He descended to the dead"). The difference between these two expressions may reflect whether the church actually believes in the existence of a "Hell" after one's death?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a lot to say about this. "that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there". "Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell." Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him." ..."The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption... Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."... Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."... Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
So in St. Paul's writing in Roman 14, he made clear that "The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord.". This is the most liberating thing I have learned since becoming a Catholic!! That's why St Paul, after teaching about the Resurrection of the Body (1 Corinthians 15), burst into this amazing proclammation, recalling what these scriptures had predicted:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Isaiah 25:8)
and,
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea13:14)
And St. Paul concluded:
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
And the application is this:
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."
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