May 2 2025 - St. Athanasius - Light of Truth or Darkness of Error

 

For the past two weeks of the easter season, we have been reading from the acts of the apostles. We’ve heard Peter preaching in the streets of Jerusalem, and Peter and John being arrested for preaching about Jesus Christ, and how the Church began to grow as thousands and thousands of people began to believe that Jesus Christ truly rose from the dead and by believing in Him we might have eternal life.

As the Church began to grow in those early centuries, the successors of the apostles, the bishops of the Church continued to preach and teach and lead the Church in Jesus’ name. Sadly, there arose preachers and teachers who did not hold fast to the teachings of the apostles. 

Writing just a few decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus, St. Paul wrote about divisions in the Church in places like Corinth and warned the Church about deviating from the teaching of the Apostles. To depart from apostolic teaching about Jesus meant preaching a different Christ—worshipping a false notion of Christ.

Fast forward three hundred years. The Christian faith spread from Jerusalem, through Asia Minor and Greece, into Europe and Africa. With Church growth also came division. Christians, even bishops did not heed the warnings of Paul.

Things got so bad that the Roman emperor, Constantine I, who wasn’t even baptized, merely a catechumen on the road to baptism, called all the bishops of the world together in a place called Nicaea, to deal with a particularly pernicious error called Arianism, which claimed that Jesus was not God, merely a creature like us. 

And at this Council, the Council of Nicaea, one of the most important figures was today’s saint, St. Athanasius. St. Athanasius reminded the bishops, many of whom had become Arian, to hold fast to the teaching of the apostles—that Jesus Christ is truly God in the flesh, who became man, so that we can be rejoined to God. 

Athanasius, only a deacon at the time, stood up to those in error and defended the truth about Jesus Christ. Now, he made a lot of enemies because of this. After the council, Athanasius was made the Bishop of Alexandria, and his enemies would see to it that he was exiled 5 times. But even from exile, he continued to teach the fullness of the truth about Jesus Christ.

What you believe about Jesus Christ matters. Will you believe the truth about him or error? Will you allow the light of truth to fill your minds rather than the darkness of error?

May St. Athanasius help us to believe rightly, that we might walk rightly in the light of the truth, the light of Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - - 

Inspired by the courage and fidelity of St. Athanasius, we present our prayers to our Heavenly Father.

For the Church and her leaders, for teachers of the faith, theologians and catechists, that they may steadfastly proclaim the fullness of truth about Jesus Christ, faithfully teaching the Gospel received through the apostles.

For the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the college of Cardinals as they prepare for the conclave and the papal election that they may elect a Pope with courage and conviction to defend and teach the Catholic faith.

For unity within the Church, that divisions and errors may be healed through the power of the Holy Spirit and the faithful witness of believers.

For those who struggle with doubt or confusion about their faith, that the Holy Spirit may lead them into the fullness of truth revealed in Christ Jesus.

For those who suffer persecution for their commitment to Christ, and for all of the sick and suffering.

For God’s departed servant Pope Francis, and for the faithful departed, that having embraced the truth about Christ in this life, they may enter into the eternal light and peace of God's kingdom.

That during this month of May dedicated to devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, all people may come turn to her example of faith and know her heavenly intercession.

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers. Strengthen our faith and deepen our love for your Son. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

August 2 2024 - St. Eusebius of Vercelli - The truth shall set you free

 In the year 355, a council was called by Pope Liberius in Milan to address the continuing problem of Arianism. As his personal representative, the Pope sent a bishop, to defend the apostolic faith, the bishop of a place called Vercelli, bishop Eusebius, a native Sardinian.  

During the Council, the Arians were vicious in arguing that the Son of God did not always exist—that he was inferior in divinity to God the Father. Additionally, they called for the condemnation of the writings and teachings of St. Athanasius who defended the true faith at the First Council of Nicaea. On top of it all, the Roman Emperor was an Arian Heretic and placed greater pressure on Eusebius and the other loyal bishops to relent to his side. 

But Eusebius did not relent, in fact he confronted the emperor for attempting to use secular force to influence Church decisions. Eusebius laid the Nicene Creed on the table and insisted that all sign it before taking up any other matter.  

And you’d like to think Eusebius’ courage and constancy changed the emperor’s mind and converted the Arians…well, no. The emperor had Eusebius, like Athanasius before him, exiled. And in exile, the Arians continued to harass the faithful bishop, even dragging him through the streets and imprisoning him. 

Many of the saints experience tremendous suffering for the truth and integrity of the Christian faith. They experience suffering like so many of the Old Testament prophets, like our Lord himself, who in the Gospel today was rejected in his hometown. 

Wherever the truth is spoken, the devil is often right around the corner seeking to twist and pervert and incite hostility to the truth because the devil hates the truth, he is the father of lies.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The devil hates the truth because he wants us enslaved to error and sin. 

Thanks be to God for prophets and saints and martyrs who defend the truth from the devil’s lies, who help us to have courage when the world pressures us to compromise our relationship with God. 

There the Arians dragged Eusebius through the streets, imprisoned him, and continue to harass him.

We do well to pray for our bishops, that they may defend the Church’s teaching against those who seek to destroy her.  Many people would not necessarily deny the divinity of Christ formally, by becoming card-carrying Arian heretics.  But, the danger in our modern day is more subtle.  The danger is that we affirm the divinity of Christ in one breath, but ignore his divine teaching in our actions.  Our conduct, our choices, our attitudes need to all point to our faith that Christ is God.  Christ is the only way to salvation, he is the only road to the freedom and peace that the human race longs for.  

And we pray this day, through the intercession of St. Eusebius and all the saints, that the truth of Christ will permeate every dimension of our society and every human heart, that his joy and truth might be in us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - -  

For our Holy Father, bishops, and clergy: That they may have the courage and wisdom to confront falsehoods and lead the faithful in accordance with the teachings of Christ and His Church. 

For those who struggle with doubt or are led astray by false teachings: That they may encounter the truth of Christ and find their way back to the fullness of faith. And for all Christians: That our actions may consistently reflect our belief in Christ's divinity, and that we may live out our faith in every aspect of our lives. 

For our society: That it may be permeated by the truth of Christ, leading to greater justice, peace, and respect for human dignity, and that those in positions of secular authority may respect religious freedom and refrain from interfering in matters of faith and conscience. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of human trafficking, natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for the unborn, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Priest: Heavenly Father, graciously hear the prayers we bring before you. Through the intercession of St. Eusebius, grant us courage and integrity of faith in order to serve you more faithfully on earth so win a greater share of glory in heaven. Through Christ our Lord.

June 27 2023 - St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor - Champion of Truth

 In the Gospels, the blessed Lord warns his disciples against false prophets and spiritual con men. And these agents of error have plagued the Church since the beginning, just as Our Lord foretold. 

The saint we honor today, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, defended and taught the Catholic Faith in the face of a heresy which was creating great division in the Church.  Division is often one of the great fruits of false prophets.

The heresy is now called Nestorianism, named after the bishop who promoted it, named Nestorius.  Nestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople in the early 5th century.  Nestorius taught the heresy that Mary could not be given the title Theotokos, that is God-bearer, and thereby Nestorius taught that Jesus really wasn’t Truly God—a truth clear from Scripture and the Church Fathers and Church Councils like the Council of Nicea.

St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria wrote to Nestorius, reminding him of the duty of bishops to preserve sound doctrine, but Nestorius continued to teach error creating division in the Church. And the division became so great that a Church Council was needed to clarify the issue.

So in 431, the First Council of Ephesus was called to deal with this false teaching. Ephesus being the very place where Our Lady—the God Bearer—lived with St. John the Apostle before her Glorious Assumption.  St. Cyril was tasked by the Pope to preside over the Council as Papal representative. Now, many of the bishops gathered at Ephesus, some say the majority of bishops, sided with the heretic bishop Nestorius. But the Papal Representative Archbishop Cyril defended the Truth that Christ is truly God and Truly man and thereby Our Lady can rightly be called Theotokos—God-Bearer—Mother of God.

Listen to his words, from this morning’s Office of Readings from the writings of St. Cyril, “That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the mother of God fills me with astonishment. Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught us by the holy fathers” (especially St. Athanasius) 

St. Cyril sets the standard for theological questions in the Church. We must look to Scripture and Apostolic Tradition and apply clear logic. Scripture is clear that Jesus is God—the Word Made Flesh, and that he took that flesh from the Virgin Mary. As St. Paul writes “he fashioned a body for himself from a woman and shared our flesh and blood”. Cyril also looked to the Church Fathers, like St. Athanasius, who taught nothing contrary to the Scriptures. And St. Athanasius several times calls Mary, Theotokos, in his writings.

What’s the practical lesson from this? All Christians need to be discerning, using our gifts of reason and wisdom in living out the Christian faith.  Jesus warns us that there ARE false prophets.  There ARE teachings which lead us away from the true faith, that lead us away from the union of our minds and hearts with God. False teachings, especially in recent centuries, have caused terrible division in the Church. And that division has born nothing but rotten fruit: so-called Christians who promote abortion, euthanasia, sexual perversion, and adultery. There are many sects of Christians who deny the sacraments of Holy Orders, Confession, and Eucharist, and even baptism. So-called Christians who even deny the need for baptism, so clearly taught by Our Lord.

The doctors of the Church, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, equip us with doing our part to heal the divisions in the Church, to lead souls to the truth. At least one member of our RCIA last year was raised protestant but came to the Faith by reading the Fathers. 

And the doctors help us to be on guard against those false prophets about whom the Lord Himself warned us. 

May St. Cyril help us to revere Our Lady, to champion and live the truth, and to labor always for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - 

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

That this fortnight of prayer for religious freedom may help people of faith remain vigilant in defending their religious liberty and united in making their voice heard on behalf of the rights of the Church.

For all those who reject the faith, for those who show contempt for the holy word of God and the Catholic Church, for their openness to the Truth, and that all Christians may be committed to spreading the faith boldly, patiently, and clearly.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

May 2 2023 - St. Athanasius - God is accessible through Christ

 Pope Benedict XVI summarized the life of St. Athanasius, whose feast we celebrate today, by saying, “The fundamental idea of Athanasius’ [life] was precisely that God is accessible. … It is through our communion with Christ that we can truly be united to God. He has really become ‘God-with-us.'” 

We might take this fundamental truth of our faith for granted today, but during the times in which St. Athanasius lived, it was not universally acknowledged—that Jesus Christ is truly and fully God.

The first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 was convoked to deal with the teachings of the Egyptian priest named Arius who was claiming that Jesus, as Pope Benedict summarized the position, “was not a true God but a created God, a creature ‘halfway’ between God and man who hence remained forever inaccessible to us.” 

The brilliant Athanasius, still a deacon at the time, helped lead the charge against Arius’ teaching, which he persuaded the Council to condemn. But even with the heresy of Arianism condemned, their false theological ideas were not entirely extinguished. And after Nicaea, the arians gained the upper hand in civil and Church politics—including arian bishops, priests, and emperors. 

The Arians maneuvered to have St. Athanasius, now a bishop, exiled from his diocese—5 times in fact. 17 of his 45 years as Patriarch of Alexandria he spent in exile. 

But Bishop Athanasius continued to teach the fullness of truth about Christ’s Incarnation. As the Lord himself taught in today’s Gospel, “The Father and I are one”. 

Each week, we profess the dogma rightly taught and suffered for by St. Athanasius: that the Son is consubstantial with the Father.

Through Christ, God has truly made himself accessible to us. God didn’t come just symbolically in Jesus, he really came.  God really came in search of the straying sheep.  Man can really find his way to God by coming to Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. In fact, no one comes to the Father, except through Him. 

Jesus is divine.  If he were not really God, we are not really saved by his death and resurrection.

Even though Arianism was condemned by Nicaea and many times afterwards, still many of our contemporaries struggle with this heresy.  It is nearly impossible to prove that Jesus didn’t exist. Even the atheist has to acknowledge the historicity of the Jesus of Nazareth. And yet, many, even some claiming to be Christian, will claim that Jesus was not God, that he was just a holy man, a preacher, a revolutionary, or an enlightened individual with some ideas worth incorporating into one’s life. 

So may St. Athanasius lend us prudence, wisdom, knowledge, patience, and courage in teaching the fullness of faith, that unbelievers and believers as well, may draw near to God who has made himself accessible in Christ, and come to enjoy eternal life through Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

 

Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, the pope, bishops, and clergy, that grounded firmly in the Truth of the Gospel, they will assist the faithful in proclaiming the Truth with humility and conviction.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

That our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

August 2 2022 - St. Eusebius of Vercelli - Constancy to affirm the Lord's divinity

 The time was the third century, the challenge facing the Church was the heresy of Arianism which denied the Divinity of Christ.

A synod was called by Pope Liberius in 355 to help settle the growing split between loyal Catholics and the Arians, and the Pope’s delegate was the first bishop of Vercelli, Bishop Eusebius.

During the Council, the Arians were vicious in arguing that the Son of God did not always exist, that he was inferior in divinity to God the Father.  The Arians wanted their opponents to condemn the writings and teachings of St. Athanasius who defended the true faith at the First Council of Nicaea.

Eusebius and other bishops loyal to Rome refused to go along with the condemnation of Athanasius.  Instead, Eusebius laid the Nicene Creed on the table and insisted that all sign it before taking up any other matter.  The Roman Emperor, himself an Arian Heretic, began to put pressure on Eusebius and the loyal bishops.  But Eusebius did not relent, in fact he confronted the Emperor for attempting to use secular force to influence Church decisions.

And you’d like to think Eusebius’ courage and constancy changed the Emperor’s mind and converted the Arians…well, no. Eusebius, like Athanasius before him, was condemned to exile for not supporting the Emperor’s will and heretical beliefs. And In exile, the Arians continued to harass the faithful bishop, even dragging him through the streets and imprisoning him. 

This reminds me of a line of Mother Theresa: “God doesn’t call us to be successful, only to be faithful.” We might not always be successful in converting the heretical emperor or fallen away family member. But we are called to be faithful to trying.  We are to uphold Catholic teaching, when faced with pressure from the secular world; maybe some will be converted…God willing…when they witness our constancy and fortitude and patience and willingness to suffer for the truth. 

As you know, I like to use the proper readings for the saints on their memorials. I like to preach on the virtues of the saints, and those proper readings are chosen by the Church because there is some confluence between God’s word and the life of the saint, the saint in some way exemplifies and illustrates God’s word by their life. And I find it pretty noteworthy that the Gospel reading for St. Eusebius is the beatitudes. 

It's almost as if the Church is saying, take note of this saint, he exemplifies the beatitudes of Jesus Christ. He was meek as Jesus was meek, he was pure of heart as Jesus was pure of heart, he was insulted and persecuted and had every evil uttered against him because he was faithful to God, and for this, for his faithfulness, he is counting among the blessed and his honored by the Church, but also held up as an example, of what it means to be a holy bishop, and faithful Catholic.

- - - - -  

That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

For Bishop-elect Michael Woost who will be consecrated bishop this week, for blessings upon his ministry as auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Cleveland.

That politicians and government officials may protect religious freedom, promote virtue, and look to the law of Christ to guide their work for the good of nations and the human race

For all those who experience persecution for the sake of the Gospel, that they may be sustained in their faith, and bear fruit for the salvation of souls.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection, especially N. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

Trinity Sunday 2020 - Belief in the Trinity Matters

From all eternity there were certain truths so profound that they were known to God alone. Neither man nor angel could discover these truths through the use of reason nor by natural intellectual ability. Created intellects could only learn of these supernatural truths by divine revelation—by the direct activity of God revealing truth. The most profound of these supernatural truths is that God exists as Three Divine Persons sharing One Divine Nature. I speak of course of the dogma of the Blessed Trinity, which we enshrine in our liturgy today—the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

Christian belief in the Trinity—that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is evident from the very beginning of the Church, appearing in our earliest Creed, the Apostles’ Creed. The early Church councils were preoccupied with addressing confusion about this dogma or combating blatant attacks against it. The doctrine of the Trinity was so important that the Council of Constantinople in 553 declared that  “If anyone does not confess that there is one nature or substance of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and one power and one might, and that the Trinity is consubstantial, one Godhead being worshipped in three substances or persons, let such a one be anathema.” Anathema, that’s a strong word. It means officially excommunicated, outside of the body of believers, the body of Christ, outside of reasonable hope for salvation.

That God is a Trinity of Three Divine Persons is hinted at, foreshadowed, hidden in the Old Testament. On the sixth day of Creation, God says, “Let US make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” Also in Genesis we read of the three mysterious heavenly strangers sitting down to eat with Abraham and Sarah. Isaiah the prophet reports hearing the Lord say, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for US?” The Old Testament is not shy about calling God Father, but we also hear of the Son of Man coming upon the clouds on the day of judgment from the prophet Daniel, and the Spirit of God descending upon David when he was anointed in the first book of Samuel.

The monotheistic Jews had great difficulty explaining this mysterious language of plurality. But the doctrine of the Trinity becomes clear in the New Testament, in the preaching of Jesus, who speaks of his Father, his oneness with the Father, and how He and His Father Will Send The Holy Spirit Upon the Church. This doctrine was so important, that in the very last lines of the Gospel of Matthew, we find our Lord telling his disciples to go and Baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The mark of the Christian disciple is to be their baptism using the names of Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity.

When St. Paul discovers a group of believers who had only received the baptism of John the Baptist, the ritual washing for the repentance of sin, St. Paul says that John’s baptism is not enough, they must be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The great doctor St. Athanasius wrote, “Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith…And the Catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the substance.”

Why does this belief matter…that God is a Trinity? Well, for one, Our God revels in revealing Himself—he wants us to know about Him. He wants us to cultivate a relationship with Him, with each of His Three Divine persons. Jesus taught us to call upon the Father. We need to invoke the Holy Spirit throughout the day. We need to pray for Sweet Jesus, Pie Iesu, have mercy on us, poor sinners.
Secondly, this doctrine matters because the preaching of Our Lord is pretty clear, St. Paul and the Apostles are pretty clear, the early Church councils are pretty clear, belief in this doctrine is required for membership in the body of Christ and for eternal life.

St. Francis Xavier, perhaps the greatest missionary in Church history after St. Paul, baptized thousands of people. As a missionary in the far east, he wrote about the difficulty he had in catechizing all these people—preparing them for baptism. Thousands of people would be in the villages, clamoring for baptism, yearning for membership in the Church.  Francis Xavier wrote that he considered it enough if he could properly teach them that in making that sign of the cross they were professing their faith in the one true God—if he could teach them that, that God the Father, sent God His Son to die on the Cross, and that God the Holy Spirit has been sent to the Church--he felt that that was enough for baptism.

Friends, there is a terrible trend in both academic theological circles and also among laity and I dare to say even among some members of the clergy, to diminish the importance of this dogma, to seek to refashion God or redefine God using modern terms. But to do this is to essentially deny that God has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we start messing with this doctrine it leads to a sort of creedless Christianity like the Unitarian Universalists. And maybe that’s what some people want, some sort of undefined God so that they can refashion God in their own image and thereby refashion religion in their own image. But this is not the Gospel preached by Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. Creedless Christianity is not Christianity. To deny this doctrine is to be separated from the font of Divine Revelation—separated from clear Scriptural evidence and Sacred Tradition.

But O! When we cultivate a love of the Holy Trinity—when we seek to know and love the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we begin to understand who we are as adopted children of God, who we are as instruments of God in this broken world. We are marked by the trinity, changed by the trinity, forgiven by the Trinity, made fearful to the devil by the trinity, justified by the Trinity, and given hope of heaven by the Trinity.

The Father is not some psychological symbol for the unknowable origin of Creation. The Son is not merely a psychological symbol for the importance of the spirit of self-sacrifice and love of neighbor. The Holy Spirit is not merely a symbol for sociological improvement or psychological growth. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are Three Persons who love you. Who call you to believe in them and worship them to Communion with them, that you might have life. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Week of Lent 2019 - Wednesday - Why should I believe Jesus?

The past two days we have heard in our Gospel readings, two of the seven signs that testify to Jesus’ identity: monday we heard of the healing of the royal officials son, and yesterday, the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda.

Often following the miracles in John’s Gospel, Jesus gives a lengthy teaching.  He gets people’s attention through the miracle, and then he teaches them—clarifying his identity and his mission: He is the Son of God, He is here to do His Father’s work.  These teachings often deepen the antagonism between Jesus and his persecutors, as we heard today: “For this reason they tried all the more to kill him” The clearer He makes his Divine identity and mission, the more his opponents seemed to hate him for it.

Every week in the Creed, believers renew our belief that Jesus is truly God. At Easter, Catholics will renew their baptismal promises, we will state that Jesus is God.

One of my favorite Catholic apologists, Dr. Peter Kreeft, writes: “The doctrine of Christ's divinity is the central Christian doctrine, for it is like a skeleton key that opens all the others. Christians have not independently reasoned out and tested each of the teachings of Christ received via Bible and Church, but believe them all on his authority. For if Christ is divine, He can be trusted to be infallible in everything He said, even hard things like exalting suffering and poverty, forbidding divorce, giving his Church the authority to teach and forgive sins in his name, warning about hell (very often and very seriously), instituting the scandalous sacrament of eating his flesh—we often forget how many "hard sayings" he taught!”

The doctrine of Christ’s divinity is important for us to reflect upon during Lent. Because Lent is the call to follow Jesus to the Cross. Christ’s divinity is the answer to the question: “Why should I?” Why should I suffer? Why should I repent? Why should I go to the cross with him? Why should I fast? Why should I go through all the effort of changing my ways and striving for virtue? Because Jesus is God. And his promises are infallible.

This is why the early Church fathers fought so assiduously against heresies like Arianism, Adoptionism, Manicheism. They were essentially a rejection of Christ’s central truth: for to paraphrase St. Athanasius, if he wasn’t God, his death on the cross was meaningless, he had no power to save us from our sins.

But he is God, as Our Lord teaches, “The Father and I are one.” And so we follow Him, we believe Him, we abandon our lives to Him, we willingly suffer with Him, that we may be raised with Him as he promised, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
For an increase in faith for the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That the Church might be delivered and protected from all spirits of error, heresy, schism, and unbelief.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

June 27, 2017 - St. Cyril of Alexandria - Champions of the Truth

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor, and Father of the Church. He is most famous for presiding over the Council of Ephesus in 431 as Archbishop of that city and the Pope’s representative. He was the principle defender of Our Lady’s title “Mother of God”—“God bearer”—Theotokos, in the Greek.

Listen to his words, from this morning’s Office of Readings, “That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the mother of God fills me with astonishment. Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught us by the holy fathers.”

A couple things going on here. First, St. Cyril teaches us, whenever there is a theological question, to look to the scriptural and apostolic tradition. Scripture is clear that Jesus is the Word Made Flesh, and that he took that flesh from the Virgin Mary, “he fashioned a body for himself from a woman and shared our flesh and blood”. Cyril also looked to the Church Fathers, like St. Athanasius, who taught nothing contrary to the Scriptures. St. Athanasius several times calls Mary, Theotokos, in his writings.

St. Cyril shows that Mariology, the study of Mary, enshrining Mary with beautiful titles that extolling her virtues and her role in salvation history is part of our earliest Tradition.

St. Cyril also shows that good theology is an application of right reason and common sense. Jesus is God, Mary is his mother, therefore she can be called Mother of God.

Isn’t it interesting that we have as our Gospel today, on this feast of this logical, learned, holy doctor and defender of the faith, this short little passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus telling his disciples not to “throw pearls to swine”. I’ve always connected this passage with our work of evangelization.

There comes a point, when we are spreading the faith, that we come across people who show contempt for the faith, who have no interest in it, no desire for repentance or intellectual conversion. If people show open disdain for the holy word of God, then it is prudent to withdraw and take the good news elsewhere. It is unwise to waste time preaching to those who only balk at the message, and especially to lose your temper over it.

I think of St. Cyril: showing clear reasoning, pointing to scripture, apostolic tradition, the church fathers. And still, there were heretics who clung to their errors. There is a point when the discussion is over: you accept the true faith, or you don’t, and there will be eternal consequences for that. As Our Lord told his Apostles, “those who reject you, reject me”

Like St. Cyril we are called to be learned in the words of Scripture and the teachings of the church fathers, so that we can explain and spread the faith clearly and patiently, to be champions of the Truth for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - 

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel, and that our future bishop of the diocese of Cleveland may be a man of true faith and the Holy Spirit.

That this fortnight of prayer for religious freedom may help people of faith remain vigilant in defending their religious liberty and united in making their voice heard on behalf of the rights of the Church.

For all those who reject the faith, for those who show contempt for the holy word of God and the Catholic Church, for their openness to the Truth, and that all Christians may be committed to spreading the faith boldly, patiently, and clearly.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.