On Charity

Without Love Everything  is in Vain

By Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot

Charity is a right attitude of mind which prefers nothing to the knowledge of God.  If a man possesses any strong attachment to the things of this earth, he cannot possess true charity.  For anyone who really loves God prefers to know and experience God rather than his creatures.  The whole set and longing of his mind is ever directed toward him.

For God is far superior to all his creation, since everything which exists has been made by God and for him.  And so, in deserting God, who is beyond compare, for the interior works of creation, a man shows that he values God, the author of creation, less than creation itself.

The Lord himself reminds us: Whoever loves me will keep my commandments.  And this is my commandment that you love one another.  So the man who does not love his neighbor does not obey God’s command.  But one who does not obey his command cannot love God.  A man is blessed if he can love all men equally.  Moreover, if he truly loves God, he must love his neighbour absolutely.  Such a man cannot hoard his wealth.  Rather, like God himself, he generously gives from his own resources to each man according to his needs.

Since he imitates God’s generosity, the only distinction he draws is the person’s need.  He does not distinguish between a good man and a bad one, a just man and one who is unjust.  Yet his own goodness of will makes him prefer the man who strives after virtue to the one who is depraved.

A charitable mind is not displayed simply in giving money; it is manifested still more by person service as well as the communication of God’s word to others.  In fact, in a man’s service toward his brothers is genuine and if he really renounces worldly concerns, he is freed from selfish desires.  For he now shares in God’s own knowledge and love.  For he now shares in God’s own knowledge and love.  Since he does possess God’s love, he does not experience weariness as he follows the Lord his God.  Rather, following the prophet Jeremiah, he withstands every type of reproach and hardship without even harboring an evil thought toward any man.

For Jeremiah warns us:  Do not say: “We are the Lord’s temple.” Neither should you say: “Faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ can save me.”  

By itself faith accomplishes nothing.  For even the devils believe and shudder.  No, faith must be joined to an active love of God which is expressed in good works.  

The charitable man is distinguished by sincere and long-suffering service to his fellow man: it also means using things aright.

Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot

Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot

Feastday: August 13

Birth: 580

Death: 662

Abbot, mystic, and Doctor of the Church, called "the Theologian," who suffered persecution from Emperor Constans II and the Monothelitist heretics. He was born to a noble family in Constantinople, modern Istanbul, about 580 and served for a time as secretary to Emperor Heraclius before becoming a monk and abbot at Chrysopolis, modern Skutori, Turkey. When Emperor Constans II favored Monothelitism, Maximus defended Pope Honorius and debated and converted Pyrrhus in 645. 

He then attended the Lateran Council in 649, convened by Pope St. Martin I, and he was taken prisoner and brought to Constantinople, where he was charged with treason. Exiled from the Empire, he spent six years at Perberis and was brought back to Constantinople with two companions - both named Anastasius - to be tortured and mutilated. Their tongues and right hands were cut off and they were sent to Skhemaris on the Black Sea, where Maximus died. 

He is venerated for his mysticism and is ranked as one of the foremost theologians of his era, being especially noted for his contributions to the theology of the Incarnation. The author of some ninety works on theology, mysticism, and dogma, he is especially known for his Opuscula Theologica et Poleinica; the Ambigua on Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Mvstagogia, an examination of symbolism.

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

 

 

 

Keep Awake!!! Homily on Matthew 25:1-13 Ten Virgins

Homily on Matthew 25:1-13

Ten Virgins

by Father Peter West

Gleaned from 

Father Peter’s Catholic Blog

http://frwest.blogspot.ca/2005/11/homily-for-thirty-second-sunday-of.html

The main lesson that Jesus gives us  is  

to be alert. 

We must keep the flame of faith alive in our heart. 

This flame is lit with the oil of charity and prayer; charity performed through and for the love of God. 

It was a great honor for the bridesmaids to be chosen to members of the bridal party, but not all the members were ready when the Bridegroom came. Their lamps were going out of oil.

The Bible often uses the symbol of a Bride and Bridegroom to symbolize the love between God and his people; between Christ and his Church. As a Bride becomes one flesh with her Bridegroom, so Christ, the Divine Bridegroom becomes one with his Church. He sacrifices himself for her, even to the point of offering his life for her. All the members of the Church form part of that Mystical Body. In this Gospel the Church is also symbolized by the whole bridal party. We are reminded of what Christ says in another Gospel passage that many are called, but few are chosen. (cf. Mt. 22, 14)

 

The Gospel reminds us that we not saved automatically

 simply by being members of the Church. 

Unless we are striving for holiness we can’t hope to enter the Kingdom of God. In his document Dominus Iesus, written when he was the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI teaches us the following:

“22. With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ,  

 

 God has willed that the Church founded by him

 be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity 

(cf. Acts 17:30-31).90 

This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism “characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another'”.91 If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.92 However, 

“all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged”.93

One understands then that, 

following the Lord's command (cf. Mt 28:19-20) and as a requirement of her love for all people, 

the Church “proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim 

without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life...

 (Jn 14:6). 

In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19), men find the fullness of their religious life”.94”

We must keep the flame of faith alive in our hearts through prayer, reception of the sacraments and works of charity, especially towards those who are least among us, so that when Christ calls us, and we never know when that time will be, we'll be ready to enter his Eternal Kingdom to take part in the Great Wedding Feast.

See the following links for more commentary on the parable of the foolish virgins: 

http://www.catholicdoors.com/homilies/205/051106.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200178.htm

http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/matt25v1.htm

http://www.stjohndc.org/russian/Parables/e_Par_3_27.htm

For Dominus Iesus see: 

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html