Blog by-the-Sea

Scripture that Reminds Me How to Pray

Here are a few things from the Old Testament that help us pray:

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for thy servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the LORD came and stood forth, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for thy servant hears." (I Sam. 3:9)

Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.  Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. (I Sam. 12:23-24)

And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?"  He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Eli'jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?" (I Kings 19:11-13)

"Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!"  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:10-11)

Scriptures for Meditation on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

The USCCB website offers the readings for Mass for tomorrow, the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross (including Phil. 2:6-11 and John 3:13-16, among others).  Today's Gospel reading for Mass, Mark 8:27-35, also looks at the Cross ("Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.")

The liturgy of the hours offers additional readings for the various hours of liturgical prayer for the day.  In addition to the Psalms, the readings include I Cor. 1:23-24 (Evening Prayer I for tonight); Gal. 2:19-3:7, 13-14, 6:14-16 for the Office of Readings; Heb. 2:9-10 for Morning Prayer; I Cor. 1:23-24 for Evening Prayer II tomorrow evening; and Heb. 5:7-9, Eph 1:7-8, and I Peter 1:18-19 for the three day daytime prayers between Morning and Evening Prayer.

Crossroads Initiative has a page explaining the feast day. It says, "We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above."

Since part of my time lately has involved looking specifically at Scripture passages that I underlined in my old Bible, and transferring it to a new Bible, I thought I would look for some of those underlined passages that might be useful for meditation on tomorrow's feast day, in addition to those in the day's liturgical rayers.  Here are a few such passages:

Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.  (Luke 24:44-48, describing the resurrected Jesus)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Rom. 6:3-9)

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth." (Rev. 5:6-10)

Reading the Bible: The Catholic Bible I Wish I Had, and the Bibles I Use

I just came across this video about reading the entire Bible, hat tip to TitusOneNine.  I decided to do a post to go with it about reading the Bible since I became Catholic, and about my wish for a good Catholic Bible with extensive commentary and study aids.

When I was a Protestant, growing up in Alabama, it was not unusual for someone to read the entire Bible, perhaps even repeatedly.  As an Anglican in a Bible-oriented parish for several years, before I became Catholic, I had a priest who encouraged his congregation to read the entire Bible like that, with a lectionary in the weekly bulletin based on reading several chapters each day with morning and evening prayer.

Since I have become Catholic, a slower and more prayerful form of reading Scripture, in lectio divina, has meant that I don't read quite as much of Scripture as I once did in any one reading.  The amount that we read is less even for those who read the Office of Readings each day, giving them a Scripture reading in addition to the Psalms and short Scripture portions in lauds and vespers.

When a Catholic asked me if I had read the entire New Testament, and was told that I had done so, she reacted in apparent disbelief and anger.  All the more so about the Old Testament.  What would have been a common answer among the people I went to church with in high school is not common among Catholics, even among those who love the Bible.  Part of that is because we read Scripture much more slowly and thus would be far less likely to read an entire book, or even several chapters, in one sitting.  Part of it is because we also read saints' lives, books written by the saints, and Church documents as a great portion of our reading while Protestants would read Scripture and Scripture commentaries instead of those things. 

There are many good reasons, as well as bad ones, why Catholics read less of the Bible than Protestants do.  I have noticed that I don't read my Bible as often now as I did before I became Catholic, and yet the main reason is because I spend more time in prayer and more time reading other Catholic writings.  It is not because I am spending less time on my faith. 

I would not have time now to read the Bible all the way through, along with the other things I do, and I am glad that I read so much of it in the past.

There is a lot to be gained from sitting down with the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and reading through a book at a time, or a few chapters each day or each week to finish a book in a month or two.  There are sections that wouldn't fit well into prayer, like the one discussed in this video.

One of the most frequent comments I hear from Catholics who are reading the Bible is that they would like to have more guidance and explanation for what they are reading.  The passage mentioned in this video -- when brothers avenge their sister's rape by killing off a whole town of men -- is one of those Old Testament passages that could benefit from commentary.  It does not fit into daily prayer, and the story's cultural context begs discussion.  When asked to discuss a portion of Scripture in a group, people want to know how the theologians understand it, and what the historians and archaeologists would have to say, before they offer their own thoughts.  That sort of information is not readily available without study aids to provide it.

The Ignatius Study Bible series provides Catholic study helps for certain books of the Bible, but it is does not cover the entire Bible.  It is available for New Testament books.  The Ignatius Bible translation is the Revised Standard Version that I almost always quote from in this blog, and I carry a paper bound Ignatius Bible with me most of the time when I need a Bible for Church or other functions, primarily because the RSV translation is acceptable for Catholic use.  But, aside from the separate study volumes on books of New Testament books, it does not have the study aids that I wish I had, and that other Catholics often tell me they wish they had.

I have never settled on any one Bible that suits all purposes as a Catholic.  There seems to be a need for one that does not yet exist in English.  I don't suppose today's economy is likely to encourage any publishers to undertake such a task any time soon if there is not already such a thing in the works.  Meanwhile, I am thankful that it is easy in our day to own several Bibles used for different purposes.

The New Jerusalem Bible might be the closest thing on the market.  It dates from 1985 and includes notes from a French translation published in 1973.  However, it and its predecessor are criticized for their translation of the Old Testament, and the new one can also be criticized for minor tendencies toward "inclusive language".

The New American Bible has some study notes and is available online, but it does not have as much commentary as people want, and the translation is often criticized as awkward.  I don't have one in paper, but I often look at it online to see the comments.  The daily readings for Mass online are also helpful.

In looking for a Catholic Bible with a lot of commentary and explanatory notes, I ended up with the French ecumenical translation used in the French liturgy of the hours website, the TOB, édition intégrale.  It is more than 3000 pages in hard cover.  I suppose it is made up as much of notes as of Bible, including introductions to each book, maps, and a lot of footnotes.  I wish I had something like it in English, although it is large and heavy, difficult to carry with me.  I can't use it in group settings because I would have to translate as I go if I wanted to read anything aloud in group discussion.  It is possible to get the 2008 edition for a fairly reasonable price right now on amazon.fr. 57 Euros is less than half the list price of a year or two ago, and the notes incorporate recent archaeological research.  When I bought my copy 2 or 3 years ago, the price and the exchange rate for the 2005 edition, plus the cost of shipping the heavy book from France, came to nearly $200.  So I settled for a 1998 edition, which I could have then for half that much, figuring the difference in the archaeological notes since 1998 would not be sufficient to justify the high price for a new one.  Right now, I could get the new 2008 one for less than I paid back then for the 1998.

I still sometimes use my Cambridge reference edition of the King James Bible (not the same one as in this link) not only for the beautiful language, familiar to me, but also for its concordance, dictionary, maps and chain links that I don't have in my Catholic Bibles.  The whole King James Bible, by the way, includes all of the books, not just the Protestant books, although the "Apocrypha" is in the middle of the one I have.  I am not sure Cambridge still makes the one I bought years ago.  More than 2000 pages fit into a manageable size because of the ultra-thin India paper.  I wish I had something like it in a Catholic translation.  It was perfect for Anglican Bible studies years ago.  I felt better when Father Benedict Groeschel said something good about the translation on TV a while back.  Still, it requires explanation if I use it in any Catholic setting because of the translation's Protestant history.

So I wish I had an English language Catholic Bible with all of the study aids of the Cambridge reference Bible and all of the commentary of the TOB édition intégrale.  In today's economy, I don't expect that to happen any time soon.  I am thankful to have what I have, remembering that through most of Church history, it would have been difficult to obtain even one complete and legible copy of the Bible for personal use.

St. Jerome: Education for Progress, Peace and Reconciliation

In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI continued his catechesis on St. Jerome, begun last week.  Last week, he mentioned St. Jerome's work with Scripture.  This week, he mentioned St. Jerome's work in education in living according to the ethical teachings of Scripture: responsibility "before God and before man is the true condition for progress, peace and reconciliation and as a result the exclusion of violence."  The Pope mentioned that St. Jerome sought a broad education for the young, both men and women.

An article is available from Asia News.  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

Here is a quote from the Pope's summary in English at the end of the General Audience, as reported by Zenit:

"In this week's catechesis we continue our reflections on Saint Jerome, the priest and scholar who was responsible for the Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate. Convinced that "ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ", Jerome everywhere urged the daily, prayerful study of the word of God. He insisted that the correct interpretation of the Scriptures demands not only the interior assistance of the Holy Spirit but also conformity to the Church's authoritative teaching. Jerome stressed the importance for all Christians, but especially for preachers, of ensuring that their lives accord with the ethical teaching offered in the sacred texts. Devotion to the word of God also shaped Jerome's ascetic doctrine, which emphasized the virtue of obedience and encouraged the pious practice of pilgrimage, particularly to the Holy Land. Finally, by his spiritual counsel, especially to parents, he emphasized the importance of a broad and disciplined Christian education for the young, including women. Jerome's integration of the enduring values of classical civilization and the wisdom of the inspired word of God made him one of the great figures of the emerging Christian culture of late antiquity."

At the end of the General Audience, the Holy Father mentioned the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, which were in Rome from November 9 to 14, were brought to the patio of St. Damasus outside the papal apartments.  According to the Information Service of the Discalced Carmelite Curia, he "venerated the relics in his private chapel, remaining a long time on his knees, recollected in prayer."  Zenit also has an article about it, quoting the Pope's words about the relics:

"St. Thérèse would have liked to learn the languages of the Bible in order to better understand sacred Scripture," he said. "Following her example and that of St. Jerome, dedicate time to frequent reading of the Bible. By familiarizing yourselves with the Word of God, you will discover Christ and remain in intimate contact with him."

 

St. Jerome: The Word of God Is Eternal and Leads to Eternity

In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about St. Jerome.  He spoke of St. Jerome's love for Scripture, his work in translating the Latin Vulgate, and his work in teaching perfection to monks and classical and Christian culture to young adults.  In St. Jerome's writing, he said, "the Word of God transcends time: human opinions pass, today they are the latest trend, tomorrow they are already out of date, while the Word of God is eternal and leads to eternity."

An article is available from Asia News.  The Italian text and summaries in various languages, including English, can be found from the Vatican Press Office.  Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

This blog has a biographical post About St. Jerome and posts St. Jerome on Meditation and St. Teresa of Avila and St. Jerome.  The principle writings of St. Jerome are available on line at Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Justice and Forgiveness

A little over a week ago, I had two posts from meditations during a week-end lectio divina retreat that involved the concept of justice in the Old Testament book of Malachi and in that Sunday's Gospel reading from St. Luke's Gospel.  This post will set what was said there in the context of forgiveness, and in the context of justice viewed as one of the four cardinal virtues.

The concept of "justice" in Scripture as discussed in the earlier posts:

Those posts were A Meditation on God's Love as Seen in the Book of Malachi and More Notes from a Lectio Divina Retreat: Persistence in Prayer.  One of several words that caught my attention in Malachi 3 was "justice," from Malachi 3:19-20:

For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, And the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays; And you will gambol like calves out of the stall.

The word translated "justice" in Malachi 3:20 (4:2 in some Bibles) has the following definition in Strong's lexicon:

1.  justice, righteousness
    a.    righteousness (in government)
            1.    of judge, ruler, king
            2.    of law
            3.    of Davidic king Messiah
    b.    righteousness (of God's attribute)
    c.    righteousness (in a case or cause)
    d.    righteousness, truthfulness
    e.    righteousness (as ethically right)
    f.    righteousness (as vindicated), justification, salvation
            1.    of God
            2.    prosperity (of people)
    g.    righteous acts

From Luke 18:6-8, the concept of justice came up again:

And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

As discussed in the post on persistence in prayer, the promise of justice is in eternity, while persistence in prayer is in time.  Yet, praying "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," Christians naturally seek justice in this life, asking "How long, oh Lord."

The Greek word translated "justice" in Luke 18:6 has the following definition in the same lexicon:

a revenging, vengeance, punishment

  a.    In 2 Cor 7:11 -- meeting out of justice; doing justice to all parties. See Luke 18:3, 21:22. The word also has the sense of acquittal and carries the sense of vindication. - Vincent III p. 329.

The concept of "forgiveness" in Scripture:

The longing for justice is Christian where it falls within the desire to see God's will done for the least among us, for the widow and the orphan, the rejects of society, and the poorest of the poor.

However, the reference to justice in the previous post about persistence sets it in the context of martyrdom, quoting Revelation 6:10-11, which speaks of the persistence of the martyrs under the altar of the Lord in heaven, awaiting justice:

"They cried out in a loud voice, 'How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?'  Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been."

The context of martyrdom necessarily sets the prayer for justice in the context of forgiveness, in a way that is more clearly Christian.  Jesus on the cross forgave those who killed him ("Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."  Luke 23:34).   The Church's first martyr, St. Stephen, prayed as he was being stoned to death, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."  Acts 7:60).

The centrality of forgiveness to Christianity is shown by the emphasis placed on it by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, including the Lord's Prayer.  While we pray, in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," we also pray "And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors."  (Matt. 6:12).  Jesus added, at the end of the Lord's prayer, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14-15).

Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:38-39).

Thus, while the concept of justice appears in both the Old and New Testaments, including the words of Jesus, it is presented in the context of forgiveness in this life, with the assurance that justice has already been accomplished in eternity.

I think this makes forgiveness easier, a more obvious thing to do (although not always my initial reaction when presented with a situation that seems unfair!).  If things have already been made even, if everyone has already been squared, then there is no remaining score to settle.  There is no injustice between us and another person to be made right, as we already have the assurance that it has been made right in eternity.  There is no loss to ourselves then in granting forgiveness to the other person.  It is covered already by the grace of Jesus, by the debt that He paid for each of us on the Cross, and by the justice of God given to us in eternity and in the purification of the final Judgment -- God's gift of salvation given to those who are His.

The more we believe that we have been forgiven as an act of God's grace, the price of our sins having been paid by the death of Christ on the cross, the more compelling it is that we must forgive -- not in spite of an injustice, but rather because justice demands it.  Jesus illustrated this with a parable at Matthew 18:21-35:

Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.  "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.  When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents;  and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'  And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.'  So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'  He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt.  When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.  Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me;  and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'  And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

The parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35 is, I think, about the justice of forgiveness, which Jesus asks from each of us.

Justice as a Cardinal Virtue

As the Church's concern for the poor and for the stability of society led to Christian social action, especially as the Roman Empire declined and as educated people entered the Church, the concept of justice in Roman thought, from Greek philosophers, entered the Church.  It was, of course, a concept of social responsibility that could be shown to be consistent with Scripture.  In the thinking of Greek philosophy, justice was among the four "cardinal virtues," and the Greek philosophy concerning social justice thus informed the Early Church as to the practical implications of the Scriptural demand that Christians support justice.

The Catholic Encyclopedia traces the four cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice) back to Greek philosophy.  St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about them in Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 61, Articles 2 and 4, relying partly on the work of Pope/St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine as well as the Greek philosophers.

St. Thomas wrote, "Augustine says (De Moribus Eccl. xi) that "there are four virtues, corresponding to the various emotions of love," and he applies this to the four virtues mentioned above. Therefore the same four virtues are distinct from one another."  St. Augustine's description of justice as an emotion of love can be seen, in the Scripture quoted above, Jesus' parable of the widow appealing for justice.  Jesus' promise that God will speedily grant justice to those who persevere in prayer is clearly an aspect of God's love.  Malachi, too, speaks of "the sun of justice" as an aspect of love, in a prophetic book that begins with a reference to God's love.  Thus, the words "justice" and "healing" appeared together in the earlier post about God's love as seen in the Book of Malachi (linked above).

Agreeing with St. Augustine again, St. Thomas also wrote, "As Augustine says (De Moribus Eccl. vi), 'the soul needs to follow something in order to give birth to virtue: this something is God: if we follow Him we shall live aright.' . . . His justice is the observance of the Eternal Law in His works, as Plotinus states (Cf. Macrobius, Super Somn. Scip. 1)."

Pope Benedict XVI mentioned the commitment of the Early Church to holiness, peace and justice in his General Audience address today, speaking of St. Maximus of Turin.  In English, at the end of the Audience, he said:

"His example and teaching remind us that, whatever the age in which they live, Christian believers are called upon to carry out faithfully their duties as citizens, working to imbue temporal society with the spirit of the Gospel, and striving to achieve a vital synthesis between their duties as citizens of the earthly city and their commitment to work for the coming of God’s Kingdom of holiness, justice and peace."

He did not mention the cardinal virtues, and I do not actually know whether St. Maximus specifically mentioned the cardinal virtues in his homilies or other writings.  However, St. Maximus' work to bring the concept of the Kingdom of God into the role of Christians as "citizens of the earthly city" (Reflecting the prayer, "Thy kingdom come . . . on earth") seems to invoke the social and political value of justice within Roman thought as within Scripture.

The concepts of "justice" in Hebrew (Malachi 3), New Testament Greek (Luke 18) and Greek philosophy (the cardinal virtues) may not, in fact, be identical.  Each language, and each culture, has a slightly different meaning.  However, the Early Church saw justice in the cardinal virtues as consistent with the values of Scripture, and the application to duty as a citizen helps to clarify that the Christian commitment to justice is a matter of duty to serve society rather than a right to demand revenge without forgiveness.

In that context, forgiveness and justice work hand in hand toward virtue.

Justice and God's Grace in Spe Salvi (Added December 30)

Some of Pope Benedict's thoughts on justice and forgiveness in the encyclical Spe Salvi are important enough to this topic that I thought it best to add them to the post to set it more clearly in the context of Church teaching.  The encyclical was published November 30, 2007, after this post was originally written.

Faith in God's justice through the last Judgment, seen as an aspect of God's love, is hope.  In section 43 of Spe Salvi, the Holy Father made this point, as follows:

"This innocent sufferer has attained the certitude of hope: there is a God, and God can create justice in a way that we cannot conceive, yet we can begin to grasp it through faith. Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice. There is an “undoing” of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright. For this reason, faith in the Last Judgement is first and foremost hope—the need for which was made abundantly clear in the upheavals of recent centuries. I am convinced that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favour of faith in eternal life. The purely individual need for a fulfilment that is denied to us in this life, for an everlasting love that we await, is certainly an important motive for believing that man was made for eternity; but only in connection with the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word does the necessity for Christ's return and for new life become fully convincing."

The Holy Father's explanation here of why our faith in God's justice is hope also helps to illustrate the point that justice is an aspect of God's love for us, something for which the martyrs long.

The description in Malachi 3:19-20, quoted above, in which the evildoers will be set on fire and "there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays" can be better understood in the light of sections 46 and 47 of Spe Salvi.  There, the Holy Father discusses the connection between grace and justice in the context of the "fire that burns and saves us" in that final Judgment, as described in I Cor. 3:12-15.  The explanation there given for the inter-action of God's grace and justice has implications for how we view our forgiveness of others and God's forgiveness of them and ourselves. 

Consider the following from section 47:

"In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ's Passion. At the moment of judgement we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. . . . The judgement of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice—the crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together—judgement and grace—that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1)."

The thought of justice as having already been done in eternity, mentioned above, is reflected in the Holy Father's statement that "our defilement. . . has already been burned away through Christ's Passion."  A view of God's grace to us as warranting our mercy toward others thus does not negate the purification process of Judgment through purgatory; rather, it reflects the expectation of that process in ourselves and others.

A victim-saint's forgiveness of an evildoer, as in the case of St. Stephen, similarly arises from the hope in God's justice in the final Judgment.  It does not cancel it out.  The martyrs who have forgiven those who killed them are thus the same martyrs who cry out for God's judgment in Revelations 6 as quoted above -- for God's justice which is an aspect of His love. In section 44 of Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict wrote:

"To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful. A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Eph 2:12). Only God can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so. The image of the Last Judgement is not primarily an image of terror, but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope. Is it not also a frightening image? I would say: it is an image that evokes responsibility, an image, therefore, of that fear of which Saint Hilary spoke when he said that all our fear has its place in love. God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our hope. And in his justice there is also grace. This we know by turning our gaze to the crucified and risen Christ. Both these things—justice and grace—must be seen in their correct inner relationship. Grace does not cancel out justice. It does not make wrong into right. It is not a sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done on earth ends up being of equal value. Dostoevsky, for example, was right to protest against this kind of Heaven and this kind of grace in his novel The Brothers Karamazov. Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened."

It is that justice that makes such forgiveness a reasonable.  Faith that is hope in that justice thus enables forgiveness to be given with God's help and, indeed, such forgiveness, imitating the words of Jesus from the cross, may follow naturally from that faith. 

Conclusion

Doing justice toward others, seeking justice in society, and forgiving those who do wrong to us, all reflect love toward other people.  We need not, then, see justice and forgiveness in contrast with each other, but rather as virtuous expressions of love, and of God's will, to be done simultaneously in our daily lives.

St. Ambrose: Deep and Spiritual Reading of Sacred Scripture

In today's general audience, Pope Benedict XVI continued his catechesis on the great figures of the Early Church, this time speaking about St. Ambrose of Milan.  He spoke of St. Ambrose as a teacher and remembered that St. Augustine had written that what convinced him of the Gospel was the witness of St. Ambrose and the Church of Milan.  He said that those who teach the faith "must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head on the Master’s heart and learned therein how to think, speak and act."  He spoke about the practice of lectio divina, mentioning the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, saying that "it is necessary that all catechists and those who legitimately take part in the liturgy of the Word, engage constantly in the Scriptures, through deep and spiritual reading and careful study so they do not become a vain preacher of the Lord’s Word on the outside without ever hearing it within." (Asia News translation)

An article is available from Asia News.  Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.  The Italian text and summaries in various languages are provided by the Vatican Press Office.

This blog has a biographical post On St. Ambrose of Milan.  Selected writings of St. Ambrose are available online from Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

More Notes from a Lectio Divina Retreat: Persistence in Prayer

Updated: The following post was updated December 30, 2007 to include two new discussions based on the encyclical Spe Salvi.  The encyclical was published November 30, thus 40 days after this post was written.  The two additions are in brackets.

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I just got back from a week-end retreat at El Carmelo.  There is a choice between scheduled conferences, which this year were on the excellent theme of the theology of the body, and a semi-guided lectio divina retreat with much silence and personal quiet time.  This year, I chose the semi-guided lectio divina retreat.  Having nothing else to share yesterday, I posted my thoughts on my meditation on a reading from yesterday's Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours.

Keep in mind that I am not an exegete or priest, and that these are offered only by way of sharing my week-end.  Hopefully, there is nothing in it particularly new -- otherwise, I would be concerned about error.

Today, I reflected on the readings for Mass, and particularly on the Gospel reading from Luke 18:1-8.  Again, I am going to share my thoughts, and again ask that they be taken as simply that -- my reflections during a Sunday morning meditation, and not the product of intense theological study.  However, it did get a little more complicated than yesterday's meditation.

There is a mysterious combination of statements in Luke 18:  Initially, Luke says that Jesus told his disciples the story of a widow who repeatedly sought justice from an unjust judge in order to teach them "the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary."  So I thought that they sometimes must have been weary in much praying, or there might have been no need to tell them not to be weary.  But he then says that God "will see to it that justice is done for them speedily."  If justice is done speedily, why must they pray persistently like the widow appealing to an unjust judge?  The following verse speaks of a lack of faith to be found "when the Son of Man comes," again suggesting weariness in time.

There was a second question that caught my attention: What is it that God said he would do speedily?  In the New American Bible, the Greek is translated that God "will see to it that justice is done for them."

The reference to God's justice reminded me of my reflection from yesterday, which included God's justice is mentioned by the prophet Malachi, speaking of God's justice to those who fear him, an eschatological reference in Malachi 3:19-20:

"For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, And the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays; And you will gambol like calves out of the stall."

Revelation 6:10-11, also speaking of persistence and awaiting justice, says of the martyrs under the altar of the Lord in heaven:

"They cried out in a loud voice, 'How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?'  Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been."

So persistence in prayer is in time, while justice already is accomplished in eternity.  The justice that will be given, then, is a promise of heavenly justice -- even if we are martyred in this life.  And so one of my words from yesterday -- justice -- came into today's meditation and prayer, with an unexpectedly similar reference to eternity.

Lest I sound overconfident in my own observations during a Sunday morning meditation, I should mention that once I was home, I could check a Lexicon and a couple of other sources to make sure my observation was not off the mark.  As for the reference to "justice," the Strong's New Testament Lexicon defines the Greek word in the text as "a revenging, vengeance, punishment." In Luke 18:3, it means "meeting out of justice; doing justice to all parties."  The Lexicon also says, "The word also has the sense of acquittal and carries the sense of vindication."

[In his encyclical  Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI extensively addresses God's justice through the fire of the final Judgment mentioned in this passage from Malachi.  In Section 44, he wrote:

"Only God can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so. The image of the Last Judgement is not primarily an image of terror, but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope. Is it not also a frightening image? I would say: it is an image that evokes responsibility, an image, therefore, of that fear of which Saint Hilary spoke when he said that all our fear has its place in love. God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our hope. And in his justice there is also grace. This we know by turning our gaze to the crucified and risen Christ."] 

But I wondered, is the purpose of persistent prayer in Luke 18:1-8 spiritual warfare, the results of which we will see only in the life to come?  I didn't think that could be all it meant.  After all, there is something of heaven in us now.  I was reminded of what Jesus taught about the kingdom of God, a topic Pope Benedict XVI wrote about in his book Jesus of Nazareth.

There, the Holy Father wrote, "Jesus is the Kingdom of God in person," and "Jesus himself is 'heaven' in the deepest and truest sense of the word -- he in whom and through whom God's will is wholly done."

In his homily at vespers at the Mariazell, during his pastoral visit to Austria last month, the Holy Father also said, of the nature of mission and the Kingdom of God:

"At the heart of the mission of Jesus Christ and of every Christian is the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Proclaiming the Kingdom in the name of Christ means for the Church, for priests, men and women religious, and for all the baptized, a commitment to be present in the world as his witnesses: you testify to a “meaning” rooted in God’s creative love and opposed to every kind of meaninglessness and despair."

It occurs to me that such a message against despair is conveyed in persistence in prayer despite the injustice of our world.  I thought that some explanation incorporating that part of the Kingdom that is with us now must be part of what Jesus intended in what he said of prayer in Luke 18.

[In Spe Salvi, section 32, the Pope offered the example of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, who prayed during 13 years of imprisonment in a seemingly hopeless situation.  That prayer became for him "an increasing power of hope," making him a witness after his release to that hope that prevailed through years that might have seemed otherwise hopeless.  In sections 11, he mentioned a letter by St. Augustine on prayer in which Augustine said that "ultimately we want only one thing—'the blessed life,' the life which is simply life, simply 'happiness.' In the final analysis, there is nothing else that we ask for in prayer." In Section 33, he wrote more, which may explain the role of that persistence:

"Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched. [St. Augustine wrote,] 'By delaying [his gift], God strengthens our desire; through desire he enlarges our soul and by expanding it he increases its capacity [for receiving him]'. Augustine refers to Saint Paul, who speaks of himself as straining forward to the things that are to come (cf. Phil 3:13)."]

In an Angelus message in August, speaking on Luke 12:51-53, he also said something about the peace of Christ that I think may also apply to the justice of Christ mentioned in today's Gospel:

"Christ's words [in Luke 12] mean that the peace he came to bring us is not synonymous with the mere absence of conflicts. On the contrary, Jesus' peace is the result of a constant battle against evil. The fight that Jesus is determined to support is not against human beings or human powers, but against Satan, the enemy of God and man.

"Anyone who desires to resist this enemy by remaining faithful to God and to good, must necessarily confront misunderstandings and sometimes real persecutions.

"All, therefore, who intend to follow Jesus and to commit themselves without compromise to the truth, must know that they will encounter opposition and that in spite of themselves they will become a sign of division between people, even in their own families. In fact, love for one's parents is a holy commandment, but to be lived authentically it can never take precedence over love for God and love for Christ.

"Thus, following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, in accordance with St Francis of Assisi's famous words, Christians become "instruments of peace"; not of a peace that is inconsistent and only apparent but one that is real, pursued with courage and tenacity in the daily commitment to overcome evil with good (cf. Rom 12: 21) and paying in person the price that this entails."

Applying that concept, then, of the kingdom of God being among us in Christ, our prayer for justice is a part of our prayer "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  We know that there is justice in eternity, and we pray persistently for the kingdom of God, including the justice of God, on earth as it is in heaven.  And, with Christ within us, there is something of God's justice speedily, now, that we will see fully in the final Judgment.  And our lives, I think, must persistently pursue that justice if we persistently pray for justice, for we will not want to pray only for justice in eternity.  Nor should we, because Jesus taught us to pray for His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

The battle to overcome evil with God's justice, which Jesus said in Luke 18 would come "speedily," is thus a battle fought persistently with prayer.  That is just as peace must be, in the Pope's words just quoted from August, "pursued with courage and tenacity in the daily commitment to overcome evil with good."  We persist in that prayer and must also seek to live what we pray, seeking God's peace and His justice now, just as we know that the prayer is already answered in eternity.

A Meditation on God's Love as Seen in the Book of Malachi

The first reading today in the Office of Readings, in the Liturgy of the Hours, is the third chapter of the Old Testament Book of Malachi. In some Bibles, the same 24 verses are numbered as Chapters 3 and 4. Taking time to meditate on it today, I noticed some things that the prophet Malachi told about God's love.  Here they are:

1. LOVE: "I have loved you, says the Lord."  Mal. 1:2.

2. LISTENING: "Then they who feared the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord listened attentively." Mal. 3:16.

3. COMPASSION: "And I will ll have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his son who serves him." Mal. 3:17.

4. JUSTICE and HEALING: "But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays." Mal. 3:20 (4:2).

5. HEARTS: "Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet . . . To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." Mal. 3:23-24(4:5-6).

Seven Scriptures for Meditation Read with the Saints

Here are 7 Scriptures for Meditation (in the RSV) together with the writings of saints who wrote about them:

Yea, thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.  Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall. 

- Psalm 18:28-29 (KJV)

"For even in that wretched restlessness of the spirits who fell away, and, when unclothed of the garments of Thy light, discovered their own darkness, dost Thou sufficiently disclose how noble Thou hast made the rational creature; to which nought which is inferior to Thee will suffice to yield a happy rest, and so not even herself. For Thou, O our God, shalt enlighten our darkness; from Thee are derived our garments of light, and then shall our darkness be as the noonday.  Give Thyself unto me, O my God, restore Thyself unto me; behold, I love Thee, and if it be too little, let me love Thee more strongly."

- St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Chapter VIII.

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

- Matthew 5:8

"The contemplative life is directed primarily toward the contemplation of God.  Gregory says that it disdains all other concerns and is on fire with yearning to see the face of its Creator.  But the only way to achieve this is purity, which is caused by moral virtue, because it says in Matthew 5:8, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God.'  And in Hebrews 12:14 it says, 'Pursue peace with everyone and also holiness, without which no one will see God.'  So apparently the moral virtues do belong to the contemplative life."

- St. Thomas Aquinas, "Active and Contemplative Life," from Albert & Thomas: Selected Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

- Prov. 3:5-6

"Solomon says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Understand what He says—that we must not trust in our wisdom, but in the Lord alone, by Whom the steps of a man are directed. Lastly, we are bidden to show Him our ways, and make them known, for they are not made straight by our own labour, but by His assistance and mercy."

- St. Jerome, Against the Pelagians, Book III.

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And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.  And when Eli'jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?"  He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
 

- I Kings 19:11-14

"O, then, very delicate, exceedingly delicate touch of the Word, so much more delicate for me insofar as, after overthrowing the mountains and smashing the rocks to pieces on Mount Horeb with the shadow of might and power that went before you, you gave the prophet the sweetest and strongest experience of yourself in the gentle breeze [I Kgs. 19:11-12]!  O gentle breeze, since you are a delicate and mild breeze, tell us: How do you, the Word, the Son of God, touch mildly and gently, since you are so awesome and mighty?"

- St. John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love, Stanza 2, from The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross

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Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

- James 1:17-18

"Therefore we ought to believe that God is good, eternal, perfect, almighty, and true, such as we find Him in the Law and the Prophets, and the rest of the holy Scriptures," for otherwise there is no God. For He Who is God cannot but be good, seeing that fulness of goodness is of the nature of God: nor can God, Who made time, be in time; nor, again, can God be imperfect, for a lesser being is plainly imperfect, seeing that it lacks somewhat whereby it could be made equal to a greater. This, then, is the teaching of our faith—that God is not evil, that with God nothing is impossible, that God exists not in time, that God is beneath no being. If I am in error, let my adversaries prove it."

- St. Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith, Book I, Chapter II.

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Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

- Matt 11:29-30

"Humility is a grace in the soul and with a name known only to those who have had experience of it.  It is indescribable wealth, a name and a gift from God. 'Learn from Me,' He said; that is, not from an angel, not from a man, not from a book, but from Me," that is, from My dwelling within you, from My illumination and action within you, for 'I am gentle and meek of heart' (Matt. 11:29) in thought and in spirit, and your souls will find rest from conflicts and reflief from evil thoughts."

John Climacus, , Step 25 "On Humility," from The Ladder of Divine Ascent (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

- Isaiah 55:8-9

"Hear what he himself says to men: 'Just as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts' (Is 55:9).  We are said to love; so is God, and many more things of that sort.  But God loves as Love itself; he knows as Truth itself. He sits as Equity, rules as Majesty, governs as Prince, keeps safe as Salvation, works as Strength, reveals as Light, is with us as Holiness.  All these things the angels do, and so do we; but in a far lowlier way, and not because of the good we are but because of the good we share."

- St. Bernard of Clairvaux, "On Consideration," from Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works (Classics of Western Spirituality)