9th Week of OT 2018 - Tuesday - Growth in grace and knowledge of Christ

(Today, June 5, is also the Memorial of St. Boniface)

The second letter of St. Peter has a few major themes: to remind its readers of the truth of God’s Word, to warn Christians against false teachers who would lead them astray, and to rouse them to await Christ’s return by living a holy life.

Those three themes are evident in our passage today, which comprise second Peter’s final verses. These three themes also coincide with three themes of our liturgical season, of ordinary time.

During Ordinary Time, we turn to God’s word for constant reminders of who God is and who God calls us to be. Every Christian should have some exposure to the Word of God every day. The truth of the Gospels is easily forgotten, especially in times of stress, times of grief, times of temptation. Moral and theological errors bombard television and the internet, the university classrooms and social media. So when views contrary to the Gospel are actively propagated, as they are in our culture, we need to be reminded often of God’s word.

Secondly, second Peter teaches Christians to be on their guard against false teachers who introduce what he calls “destructive heresies”. In our passage today, Peter writes, “be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.” Peter recognizes that even Christians who are pretty stable in the faith, in the truth, need to be on guard. How easy it is to follow the bad example of the unprincipled!

Thirdly, Peter calls Christians to live in constant anticipation of the Lord’s return by always actively pursuing a holy way of life. “Grow in grace and knowledge” of Christ, he says today. The priest wears green during Ordinary Time, the longest season of the Church year, to remind us that we are to be always seeking to grow in grace.

We do well to ask the Holy Spirit to help us identify those virtues and gifts in which he wants to help us grow. Is he calling us to grow in patience, in gentleness and generosity, and as we heard yesterday, in self-control, devotion, mutual affection, and charity.

Peter helps us to "render to God what belongs to God", as the Lord teaches in the Gospel. So Let us, as Peter tells us, “to make every effort” to grow, to be on guard, to be reminded of Christ’s presence with the Church and his imminent return, and to be a reminder to others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all bishops and clergy will help defend the Church against error, and lead her always in the pathways of truth, righteousness, and charity.

For the conversion of all those who perpetuate error or set bad Christian example for young people and those of weak faith, and that social media may be used responsibly and for the spread of the Gospel.

For “growth in grace and knowledge of Christ” for all people.

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

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

9th Week of OT 2018 - Monday - Sharers in Divine Nature

The second letter of Peter contains one of the highest, sublime and mysterious promises found in the whole New Testament. Peter says, fidelity to the Gospel leads to us sharing in the divine nature (II Pet 1:4). We find similar promises throughout the New Testament. Hebrews says that we are called to “share” in God’s own holiness (Heb 12:10); and that we are made “partakers” of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes that we have “communion” with the Spirit (2 Cor 13:13; Phil 2:1); and “communion” with Christ in the Eucharist (1 Cor 10:16).

Peter’s promise here is quite lofty. Yes, through Christ we have friendship with God, restored communion with God, and new openness to the gifts of the Spirit. But Peter alludes to something else, doesn’t her? That through Christ we become “sharers in the divine nature.”

I don’t think I’m making a big deal about an obscure line of scripture here, either. II Peter 1:4 is cited at least eight times in the catechism. Very early on, in CCC 51, we read that God’s overall purpose for us, all his activity through history, including his incarnation, is that we can become “sharers of the divine nature.”

And Christians do not have to wait until our earthly journey has come to an end. Though, in a sense, it does begin when we begin to die to ourselves at baptism. CCC 1265 says “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature," member of Christ and coheir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

This language has even made its way into the rituals of the Mass. As the priest prepares the chalice, he pours wine into the chalice, and then adds a few drops of water, saying: “Through the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

Our “Sharing in the Divine nature” deepens as we receive the sacraments with well-disposed hearts, as we listen attentively to God’s word and become doers of the word, as we practice the virtues, as Peter says today, when you live the “faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”

What a great vocation we have, what a great new identity. May we make “every effort” as Peter says, to cooperate with God’s work within us, that his power, his grace, his life, may be manifest in us and through us, drawing all men to Himself, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Let us pray, imploring the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus..

For a deeper openness to the sanctifying grace of the Sacraments, for the return of all who have fallen away from the Church, and all those who lack faith. We pray to the Lord.

For our young people on summer vacation, that they may be kept safe from the errors of our culture and kept in close friendship with Jesus through prayer and acts of mercy.

That the protection for the unborn child may be enshrined in the laws of every nation and in every human heart.

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

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord