God Became Man

Paolo de Matteis - The Annunciation

Receive, O Virgin Mary,

 the word which the Lord

has made known to you

 by the message of the angel:

 You will conceive and give birth to a son,

 both God and man,

– and you will be called blessed among women.

 

The mystery of man’s reconciliation with God

Pope Leo the Great

From a letter by Saint Leo the Great, pope

"Lowliness is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.

He who is true God was therefore born in the complete and perfect nature of a true man, whole in his own nature, whole in ours. By our nature we mean what the Creator had fashioned in us from the beginning, and took to himself in order to restore it.

For in the Savior there was no trace of what the deceiver introduced and man, being misled, allowed to enter. It does not follow that because he submitted to sharing in our human weakness he therefore shared in our sins.

He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.

Thus the Son of God enters this lowly world. He comes down from the throne of heaven, yet does not separate himself from the Father’s glory. He is born in a new condition, by a new birth.

He was born in a new condition, for, invisible in his own nature, he became visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp. Existing before time began, he began to exist at a moment in time. Lord of the universe, he hid his infinite glory and took the nature of a servant. Incapable of suffering as God, he did not refuse to be a man, capable of suffering. Immortal, he chose to be subject to the laws of death.

He who is true God is also true man. There is no falsehood in this unity as long as the lowliness of man and the pre-eminence of God coexist in mutual relationship.

As God does not change by his condescension, so man is not swallowed up by being exalted. Each nature exercises its own activity, in communion with the other. The Word does what is proper to the Word, the flesh fulfils what is proper to the flesh.

One nature is resplendent with miracles, the other falls victim to injuries. As the Word does not lose equality with the Father’s glory, so the flesh does not leave behind the nature of our race.

One and the same person — 

this must be said 
over and over again — 

is truly the Son of God 

and truly the son of man. 

He is God in virtue of the fact 

that in the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

He is man in virtue of the fact 

that the Word was made flesh, 

and dwelt among us."

O God, who willed 

that your Word should take on
the reality of human flesh 

in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray, that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may merit to become partakers 

even in his divine nature.
Who lives and reigns with you 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

-taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, Lent and Easter. 

If you would like to follow the prayers, scripture readings

 and Saints' sermons of the Divine Office, 

you can go towww.divineoffice.org 

There you will find the daily readings etc.    

Join Mother Church in praying without cease!! 

Death and Christ's Promise -- Saint Anastasius sermon

Death is not the End

I work in a funeral home - death is a daily occurrence.  Being Catholic I have the faith in Christ's promise.  And I pray for those who pass through here... and all the dead for the Mercy of God to be upon them.

Many family (and deceased) come through the doors with no faith at all - saying that death is final and there is nothing else.  What a horrible way to live thinking that there is nothing. 

Today is full of unbelievers... it seems to be an epidemic. We must do all in our power to tell the Truth... to all who will listen so that we can save souls.  

I wanted to share with you a sermon on the subject of the Resurrection of the Dead by a great saint.  I hope it inspires you as it has me.

 From a sermon by 

Saint Anastasius of Antioch, bishop

  Christ will change our lowly body

To this end Christ died and rose to life that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But God is not God of the dead, but of the living. That is why the dead, now under the dominion of one who has risen to life, are no longer dead but alive. Therefore life has dominion over them and, just as Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again, so too they will live and never fear death again. When they have been thus raised from the dead and freed from decay, they shall never again see death, for they will share in Christ’s resurrection just as he himself shared in their death.

This is why Christ descended into the underworld, with its imperishable prison bars: to shatter the doors of bronze and break the bars of iron and, from decay, to raise our life to himself by giving us freedom in place of servitude.

But if this plan does not yet appear to be perfectly realized — for men still die and bodies still decay in death — this should not occasion any loss of faith. For, in receiving the firstfruits, we have already received the pledge of all the blessings we have mentioned; with them we have reached the heights of heaven, and we have taken our place beside him who has raised us up with himself, as Paul says: In Christ God has raised us up with him, and has made us sit with him in the heavenly places.

And the fulfillment will be ours on the day predetermined by the Father, when we shall put off our childish ways and come to perfect manhood. For this is the decree of the Father of the ages: the gift, once given, is to be secure and no more to be rejected by a return to childish attitudes.

There is no need to recall that the Lord rose from the dead with a spiritual body, since Paul in speaking of our bodies bears witness that they are sown as animal bodies and raised as spiritual bodies: that is, they are transformed in accordance with the glorious transfiguration of Christ who goes before us as our leader.

The Apostle, affirming something he clearly knew, also said that this would happen to all mankind through Christ, who will change our lowly body to make it like his glorious body.

If this transformation is a change into a spiritual body and one, furthermore, like the glorious body of Christ, then Christ rose with a spiritual body, a body that was sown in dishonor, but the very body that was transformed in glory.

Having brought this body to the Father as the first-fruits of our nature, he will also bring the whole body to fulfillment. For he promised this when he said: I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself.

taken from the Liturgy of the Hours

If you don't have the books go on the web  

http://divineoffice.org/office-of-the-dead/

Through Mary by St. Sophronius

Through Mary the Father’s blessing 

has shone Forth on Mankind

A sermon by 

Saint Sophronius, bishop

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. What joy could surpass this, O Virgin Mother?  What grace can excel that which God has granted to you alone?  What could be imagined more dazzling or more delightful?  Before the miracle we witness to you, all else pales; all else is inferior when compared with the grace you have been given.  All else, even what is desirable, must take second place and enjoy a lesser importance.

The Lord is with you.  Who would dare challenge you?  You are God’s mother; who would not immediately defer to you and be glad to accord you a greater primacy and honor?  For this reason, when I look upon the privilege you have above all creatures, I extol you with the highest praise: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.  On your account joy has not only graced men, but is also granted to the powers in heaven.

Truly, you are blessed among women.  For you have changed Eve’s curse into a blessing; and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of you. 

Truly, you are blessed among women. Through you the Father’s blessing has shone forth on mankind, setting them free of their ancient curse.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because through you your forebears have found salvation. For you were to give birth to the Savior who was to win them salvation.

The Visitation: by Raphael

Truly, you are blessed among women, for without seed you have borne, as your fruit, him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems it from that curse that made it sprout thorns.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because, though a woman of nature, you will become, in reality, God’s mother.  If he whom you are to bear is truly God made flesh, then rightly do we call you God’s mother.  For you have truly given birth to God.

Enclosed within your womb is God himself.  He makes his abode in you and comes forth from you like a bridegroom, winning joy for all and bestowing God’s light on all.

You, O Virgin, are like a clear and shining sky, in which God has set his tent. From you he comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.  Like a giant running his course, he will run the course of his life which will bring salvation for all who will ever live, and extending from the highest heavens to the end of them, it will fill all things with divine warmth and with life-giving brightness.

Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours.
 

St. Joseph, Faithful Foster Father and Guardian

 Feast Day of St. Joseph

March 19th

From a sermon by Saint Bernadine of Siena, priest

The faithful foster-father and guardian

There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.

This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: Good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord.

What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him, Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to Saint Joseph.

In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.

Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy, reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his father. 


Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.

Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: Enter into the joy of your Lord. In fact, although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord preferred to say to Joseph: Enter into joy. His intention was that the words should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs him like an infinite abyss.

Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen. 

God has made me a father to the king and master of all his household.

He has raised me up, that he might save many people.

The Lord is my helper and protector; he is my savior.

He has raised me up, that he might save many people. Genesis 45:8; 50:20; Sirach 51:2

Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours.   March 19 http://divineoffice.org/

More info and prayers for St. Joseph can be found at 

 http://catholicism.about.com/od/2014calendar/f/2014_St_Joseph.htm

CONFESSION