Mercy

St. Caesarius of Arles, Bishop

From a Sermon by

Saint Caesarius of Arles, bishop

 

Divine and human mercy

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. My brothers and sisters, sweet is the thought of mercy, but even more so is mercy itself. It is what all men hope for, but unfortunately, not what all men deserve. For while all men wish to receive it, only a few are willing to give it.

How can a man ask for himself what he refuses to give to another? If he expects to receive any mercy in heaven, he should give mercy on earth. Do we all desire to receive mercy? Let us make mercy our patroness now, and she will free us in the world to come. Yes, there is mercy in heaven, but the road to it is paved by our merciful acts on earth. As Scripture says: Lord, your mercy is in heaven.

 

There is, therefore, an earthly as well as heavenly mercy, that is to say, a human and a divine mercy. Human mercy has compassion on the miseries of the poor. Divine mercy grants forgiveness of sins. Whatever human mercy bestows her on earth, divine mercy will return to us in our homeland. In this life God feels cold and hunger in all who are stricken with poverty; for, remember, he once said: What you have done to the least of my brothers you have done to me. Yes, God who sees fit to give his mercy in heaven wishes it to be a reality here on earth.

 

What kind of people are we? When God gives, we wish to receive, but when he begs, we refuse to give. Remember, it was Christ who said: I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. When the poor are starving, Christ too hungers. Do not neglect to improve the unhappy conditions of the poor, if you wish to ensure that your own sins be forgiven you. Christ hungers now, my brethren; it is he who deigns to hunger and thirst in the persons of the poor. And what he will return in heaven tomorrow is what he receives here on earth today.

 

What do you wish for, what do you pray for, my dear brothers and sisters, when you come to church? Is it mercy? How can it be anything else? Show mercy, then, while you are on earth, and mercy will be shown to you in heaven. A poor person asks you for something; you ask God for something. He begs for a morsel of food; you beg for eternal life. Give to the beggar so that you may merit to receive from Christ. For he it is who says: Give and it will be given to you. It baffles me that you have the impudence to ask for what you do not want to give. Give when you come to church. Give to the poor. Give them whatever your resources will allow.

 

St. Caesarius of Arles

 

 Archbishop and church man, the first in western Europe to receive the pallium from a pope. Caesarius was born in Chalons, Burgundy, France, in 470, of a French-Roman family. He spent a brief time as a monk in Lerins but was forced to depart from the community when he became ill. His uncle, the bishop of Arles, ordained Caesarius and sent him to reform a local monastery. He succeeded his uncle, Fonus, as bishop of ArIes in 503. Caesarius instituted many reforms, brought the Divine Office into the local parishes, and founded a convent, placing his sister St. Caesaria there as abbess, In 505, Caesarius was banished by the Gothic King Alaric II because of a lie. He was restored soon after. When Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, besieged Arles, Caesarius was arrested, but he met with Theodoric and was pardoned. He then went to Rome where Pope St. Symmachus gave him the pallium and made him the apostolic delegate to France.When the Franks captured Arles in

St. Caesarius of Arles Reliquary

536, Caesarius retired to St. John's Convent. He was revered for his more than forty years of service and for presiding over Church synods and councils, including the Council of Orange in 529. He died on August 27.

 

 http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2547

 

 

 

Storms of Life -- Trusting in God

Letting Jesus Sleep

Matthew 8:23-27

 

by Father Eamonn Shelly, LC | Source: Catholic.net

 

As Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

 

Introductory Prayer:

Lord, I come to you in this meditation ready to do whatever it is you ask. Left to myself I often take the easy and convenient path, yet I know the way of a Christian is through the narrow gate. In you I find the reason to abandon the easy path for a more perfect mission of love. I’m ready to learn the meaning of your command: “Follow me.” Lord as worries tug at my heart, let me learn to rise above them and trust in you. Master of my life, I love the goods you have placed in my hands: my health, family, mission in life…. Grant me faith that can pass through the worst of storms and come through it profoundly enriched, humanly stronger, and more deeply united to you, my protector and guide.

 Petition: Lord, grant me the grace of a mature faith.

 

 1. God’s Silence, Man’s Faith:

We can imagine ourselves in the place of the apostles, in this poor boat tossed by the turbulent waves. The situation instantly speaks to our worst of fears; yet Jesus sleeps. Our temptation is to wake him…and too many souls do so through incessant complaining incessantly, despairing attitudes, withdrawal withdrawing from prayer, or unloaded unloading anger on others. When in a moment of trial we find life is no longer under our complete control, the option of meltdown is always at hand. But I we mustn’t take that route; instead I we must contemplate the power that emanates from the sleeping Christ. Trials are intended by God to draw us closer to him and increase our dependence on him. I We have to live from faith; otherwise all that reigns is fear, insecurity and bitterness. The “Silence of Christ” is powerful. To pass over its meaning lightly is to abandon some of the deepest lessons of Christ’s heart. The “Silence of Christ” must teach us.

 

 2. The “Silence of Christ” Speaks to Our Faith:

What is Christ’s sleep like? As a young mother, Mary watched Jesus sleep many times. Archbishop Martinez writes:

“Jesus was exceedingly beautiful when he spoke the words of eternal life, accomplished wonders, looked with love, pardoned with mercy, and caressed with tenderness. But I would like to have seen him while he was sleeping because I could have contemplated him to my heart’s content, without the fascination of his gaze distracting me, without the perfection of his beauty and the glory of his splendor dazzling my eyes and enrapturing my soul. The beauty of Jesus awake is far too great for my smallness. Who could support it? I felt it more suited to me veiled by sleep, as the glory of the sun is more adapted to my eyes when I look at it through a translucent lens” (When Jesus Sleeps, p.15).

 

May I trust the power of Christ

just as much

when He chooses

not to act -- as when He does.

 

3. God’s Eternal Pedagogy: 

Water, a boat , the apostles, and Christ… this scene repeats itself over and over again in the Gospel. Water is a symbol of the experiences of life taken on a human level; the boat is the experience of faith on a supernatural level -- it is our life with Christ. Christ’s message is that I we can never let my our experiences of life overwhelm my our experience of faith. I/We have to live not from the surface level of impressions of the moment, but open myself up to/from the deep channel of faith that reveals the action of God, the wisdom of his Providence, and the ultimate destiny of eternity.

 

Faith is what reveals Christ’s presence in our boat;

faith is what makes us believe that every wave and wind

gust are blessed invitations to confide in the One who rules all.

 

Faith is what permits God to console our hearts, calm our fears, and preserve our joy in the midst of many problems and difficulties that may take months or years to run their course.

 

Conversation Dialogue with Christ: 

Lord, I know belief makes me vulnerable. To believe is to push out from shore with you in my boat, leaving behind the security I find in my talents and plans, my friends and relatives, my financial and social standing But I know. I will not know your power if I do not know how to truly leave my whole life in your hands. that I will not know your love if I do not believe that you can make me happier than I could can be by myself. I will not know your victory if I do not face the enemies of my soul and my mission with and abandonment myself to your grace, I will not know your victory.

 

 

 Resolution: 

Today I will take a recent problem and, with complete trust and confidence in him, leave it totally in God’s hands today with complete trust and confidence in him.

 

Jesus Calms the Sea

 

 http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=6393

Words of St. Ambrose regarding the Eucharist

From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop
To the newly baptized on the Eucharist

 

Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.

 

 

 

It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert.

 

 

 

 

But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.

 

Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.

 

 

 

If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow.

 

 

 

They drank, it is written,

from the rock that followed them,

and the rock was Christ.

All this took place as a symbol for us.

 

You know now what is more excellent:

light is preferable to its shadow,

reality to its symbol,

the body of the Giver

to the manna he gave from heaven.