Blog by-the-Sea

Rewarded or Punished for the Impact of Our Example on the Souls of Others

From the Letters of St. Boniface on responsibility for the impact our actions have on the souls of others (He does not specifically mention purgatory, a doctrine which was not fully developed until the 12th century.):

"If, then, the heathen who, as the Apostle says, know not God and have not the law carry out by instinct the injunctions of the law and show the works of the law written on their hearts, it is time now that you who are called a Christian and a worshipper of the true God should, if you have been defiled with lust in your youth, wallowed in the mire of adultery or drowned in the sea of lust as in the abyss of hell, call to mind your Lord, should escape from the snares of the devil and cleanse your soul from its foul iniquities. Now is the time for you to fear your Creator and to desist from defiling yourself by committing such crimes. Now is the time to spare the many people who, through following the example of a vicious prince, perish and fall into the pit of death. For it is certain that we shall be rewarded or punished by the eternal judge according to the number of people we have led to heaven by our good example or swept into hell by our evil courses."

- From Letter 32, a letter of admonition to King Aethelbald of Mercia (746-7), online at Medieval Sourcebook.

More on Looking Toward Heaven While on Earth: From the Saints and Blesseds

Inspired by Abbot Joseph's post on Heaven, I put together a collection of excerpts from the writings of Bl. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Anselm of Canterbury and St. Irenaeus of Lyon about their perceptions of rising to see the Lord at His Second Coming, Heaven, and the portion of God's Spirit that we have now as a downpayment toward that eternity to come:

From Bl. Hildegard of Bingen:

"Then suddenly in the east, a great flash shone forth.  And I saw the Word of God coming on a cloud with the angelic choirs.  The Word had the same facial expression and the same open wounds which the Word had while in the world.  The Word sat upon a seat of shining white flames which did not, however, burn.  Under the Word was that great storm which was cleansing the world.  The ones who had been signed in faith rushed to meet the Word in the air, as it were, in the movement within the circle where I had indeed previously seen that brilliance which indicated the mystery of the celestial creator. . . .

"Thereupon, all the elements of the world shone with great serenity, as if a very dark skin had been removed from them.  Fire no longer held heat, air no longer held density, water raging, and land frailty.  The sun, moon, and stars -- just like embellished things -- shone with a reddish gleam full of brightness and beauty.  They then became fixed and no longer went around in a circle, so that day and night were no longer distinguished. 

"There was no night, just day.  And so it ended." 

- Bl. Hildegard of Bingen, Vision 12 from Hildegard von Bingen's Mystical Visions: Translated from Scivias.

From St. Anselm of Canterbury:

"What goods and how great, belong to those who enjoy this good. --Joy is multiplied in the blessed from the blessedness and joy of others.

"WHO shall enjoy this good? And what shall belong to him, and what shall not belong to him? At any rate, whatever he shall wish shall be his, and whatever he shall not wish shall not be his. For, these goods of body and soul will be such as eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has the heart of man conceived (Isaiah Ixiv. 4; I Corinthians ii. 9).

"Why, then, do you wander abroad, slight man, in your search for the goods of your soul and your body? Love the one good in which are all goods, and it suffices. Desire the simple good which is every good, and it is enough. For, what do you love, my flesh? What do you desire, my soul? There, there is whatever you love, whatever you desire.

"If beauty delights you, there shall the righteous shine forth as the sun (Matthew xiii. 43) If swiftness or endurance, or freedom of body, which naught can withstand, delight you, they shall be as angels of God, --because it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body (I Corinthians xv. 44) --in power certainly, though not in nature. If it is a long and sound life that pleases you, there a healthful eternity is, and an eternal health. For the righteous shall live for ever (Wisdom v. 15), and the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord (Psalms xxxvii. 39) If it is satisfaction of hunger, they shall be satisfied when the glory of the Lord has appeared (Psalms xvii. 15). If it is quenching of thirst, they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house (Psalms xxxvi. 8). If it is melody, there the choirs of angels sing forever, before God. If it is any not impure, but pure, pleasure, you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures, 0 God (Psalms xxxvi. 8).

"If it is wisdom that delights you, the very wisdom of God will reveal itself to them. If friendship, they shall love God more than themselves, and one another as themselves. And God shall love them more than they themselves; for they love him, and themselves, and one another, through him, and he, himself and them, through himself. If concord, they shall all have a single will."

- St. Anselm of Canterbury, Chapter XXV, Proslogium.

From St. Irenaeus of Lyon:

"But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear God; which also the apostle terms "an earnest," that is, a part of the honour which has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, 'In which ye also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, believing in which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.'  This earnest, therefore, thus dwelling in us, renders us spiritual even now, and the mortal is swallowed up by immortality.  'For ye,' he declares, 'are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.'  This, however does not take place by a casting away of the flesh, but by the impartation of the Spirit. For those to whom he was writing were not without flesh, but they were those who had received the Spirit of God, 'by which we cry, Abba, Father.'  If therefore, at the present time, having the earnest, we do cry, 'Abba, Father,' what shall it be when, on rising again, we behold Him face to face; when all the members shall burst out into a continuous hymn of triumph, glorifying Him who raised them from the dead, and gave the gift of eternal life? For if the earnest, gathering man into itself, does even now cause him to cry, 'Abba, Father,' what shall the complete grace of the Spirit effect, which shall be given to men by God? It will render us like unto Him, and accomplish the will of the Father; for it shall make man after the image and likeness of God." 

- St. Irenaeus, Book V, Chapter VIII, paragraph 1 from Against Heresies (a Refutation and Subversion of Knowledge Falsely so Called).

Abbot Joseph Draws from Fr Charles Arminjon's Book on Heaven

In a post called "Heaven", Abbot Joseph draws from a book he recently read by 19th century Fr. Charles Arminjon called The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life.  From one of the snippets that Abbot Joseph selected from the book: "The contemplation of God will not mean immobility but, above all, activity, an ever-ascending progression, where movement and repose will be bound together in ineffable harmony." 

It is a book, Abbot Joseph says, that St. Thérèse evidently read.  Commenting, he writes, "I think it’s best to run the race with our eyes on the Lord and all that He has prepared for those who love Him."

Read all.

Religion in our hearts (from St. John Vianney)

"But, you will say to me, how can we know that we have religion in our hearts, this religion which is consistent?

"My dear brethren, this is how: listen well and you will understand if you have religion as God wants you to have it in order to lead you to Heaven. If a person has true virtue, nothing whatever can change him; he is like a rock in the midst of a tempestuous sea. If anyone scorns you, or calumniates you, if someone mocks at you or calls you a hypocrite or a sanctimonious fraud, none of this will have the least effect upon your peace of soul. You will love him just as much as you loved him when he was saying good things about you. You will not fail to do him a good turn and to help him, even if he speaks badly of your assistance. You will say your prayers, go to Confession, to Holy Communion, you will go to Mass, all according to your general custom"

- St. John Vianney, Sermon: "Have you religion in your heart?", from a collection of excerpts from the sermons of the Curé d'Ars, The Work of God website.   Read the rest.

Abbot Joseph on the Spirit of Renunciation Amid Financial Crisis

Abbot Joseph has a post on The Spirit of Renunciation (a title taken from Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis on St. Theodore the Studite) amid the current economic anxieties: "not only to ride out the present storm, but also to learn how to live in a way that is more in keeping with the simplicity enjoined by Jesus in the Gospel."  Read all.

Month of the Sacred Heart: The Future Belongs to Mercy

Futur belongs to mercy - Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial
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Since June is the Month of the Sacred Heart, here is a video about the history of the shrine city of Paray-le-Monial, where St. Marguerite-Marie Alacoque had her vision of the sacred heart of Jesus.  This video is in English.  It is available in other languages at the Paray-le-Monial website.

I have restored to the sidebar a link to pictures I took in January at the Sacred Heart Basilica at Paray-le-Monial.  The Convent of the Visitation, where St. Marguerite-Marie lived, is near the Basilica.  In the Convent's Chapel of the Apparitions, Jesus appeared to her and revealed to her His "heart burning with love".  I don't have photos from inside the Chapel of the Apparitions because photography is not permitted there.

Pictures from Ars, from the same recent trip to France, are also accessible from the sidebar.  On June 19, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Benedict is planning to begin a special Year for Priests with vespers in the presence of the relics of St. Jean Vianney, the Holy Curé d'Ars.

"Zeal for Thy House Has Consumed Me"

I guess this is a week for zeal.  On Wednesday, the Pope's General Audience spoke of St. Boniface as having an "ardent zeal for God" (text at Zenit).  Tomorrow, Sunday's Gospel reading for Mass mentions Jesus' own zeal. The meaning of this Gospel reading is one that I have misunderstood for a long time.  I hadn't planned to write about it today, but I ended up looking at it a good bit today after a discussion over it last night, so here it is.

This Sunday's Gospel reading for Mass is John 2:13-25, about Jesus' cleansing of the temple.  Angered at the money changers at the temple, Jesus told them, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."  In John 2:17, we are told that the disciples remembered Psalm 69:9/10, applied in the future tense there to Jesus, "Zeal for your house will consume me."  In the Psalm, David prayed, "Because zeal for your house consumes me, I am scorned by those who scorn you."

Different translations give different words for "consume me".  The King James Version and the Douay-Rheims both say the "zeal of" your house has "eaten me up."  Another translation says "devoured me". 

The word "zeal" in Scripture can mean both Godly zeal and jealousy -- both jealousy on God's behalf and jealousy turned against God's people.  It is often is used in Scripture for a malicious rage against Christians, as in Acts 5:17-18 (The high priest and those with him were filled with "jealousy" -- the same word as "zeal" in the original text) and Acts 17:5 ("The Jews became jealous . . . and formed a mob", again, the same word in the original language as "zeal"). 

I Kings 19:14 is the familiar passage in which Elijah says, "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." (RSV)  It is the same passage that is used in the Carmelite motto as "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts", which is just a different translation of the words of Elijah.

I suppose that distinction between jealousy/zeal for God and jealousy toward others could be the beginning of something I could write someday distinguishing the "zeal" of the Carmelite motto from the "passions" against which St. John of the Cross warns.  That will have to wait for another day, or another year. 

To be "devoured" by jealousy for the Lord of Hosts suggests all of that passionate and self-giving love for God that Pope Benedict XVI wrote about in Deux Caritas Est, 7:

"Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing near to the other, it is less and less concerned with itself, increasingly seeks the happiness of the other, is concerned more and more with the beloved, bestows itself and wants to “be there for” the other. The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros is impoverished and even loses its own nature."

Christ's consuming, jealous love for God's house is completed in the crucifixion, in His giving of Himself completely for the love of God and the love of God's people.  That is what makes Psalm 69:9 messianic and prophetic.  It is about zeal, and it is also about His being completely consumed by it to the point of acting in love for God without regard to self-interest, and giving of Himself completely.  The fulfillment of that zeal for God's house is seen both in Jesus driving the money changers from the temple (warning them against their sins out of love for His Father's house) and also in His dying for their sins.

Here are more commentaries from saints, the popes, and the Catechism, on Christ's zeal for God's house:

Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, March 19, 2006:

"The Gospel just proclaimed refers precisely to this:  Jesus drove the merchants and money-changers out of the temple. Through the verse of a Psalm:  "Zeal for your house has consumed me" (cf. Ps 69[68]: 10), the Evangelist provides a key for the interpretation of this significant episode. And Jesus was "consumed" by this "zeal" for the "house of God", which was being used for purposes other than those for which it was intended."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 584:

"Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: "You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple."

Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei on the Sacred Liturgy, 189:

"We desire to commend and urge the adornment of churches and altars. Let each one feel moved by the inspired word, "the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up"; and strive as much as in him lies that everything in the church, including vestments and liturgical furnishings, even though not rich nor lavish, be perfectly clean and appropriate, since all is consecrated to the Divine Majesty. If we have previously disapproved of the error of those who would wish to outlaw images from churches on the plea of reviving an ancient tradition, We now deem it Our duty to censure the inconsiderate zeal of those who propose for veneration in the Churches and on the altars, without any just reason, a multitude of sacred images and statues, and also those who display unauthorized relics, those who emphasize special and insignificant practices, neglecting essential and necessary things. They thus bring religion into derision and lessen the dignity of worship."

Pope John Paul II, Meeting with Polish Bishops Conference, 1999:

"Dear Brothers, fix your eyes on the shining examples of their lives, so that love of God and man may grow stronger in your hearts and in the hearts of all those whom you serve as Pastors. An indispensable condition for fruitful pastoral care is a personal relationship with Christ, which shows itself primarily in prayer and in love filled with a spirit of sacrifice for the Church, our Mother. “Zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me” (Ps 69:9)."

St. Ambrose, On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter XXX:

"Love faith. For by his devotion and faith Josiah won great love for himself from his enemies. For he celebrated the Lord’s passover when he was eighteen years old, as no one had done it before him. As then in zeal he was superior to those who went before him, so do ye, my sons, show zeal for God. Let zeal for God search you through, and devour you, so that each one of you may say: “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”  An apostle of Christ was called the zealot.  But why do I speak of an apostle? The Lord Himself said: “The zeal of thine house hath eaten Me up.” Let it then be real zeal for God, not mean earthy zeal, for that causes jealousy."

St. Augustine, Homilies on the Gospel of John:

"Then the disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up:” because by this zeal of God’s house, the Lord cast these men out of the temple. Brethren, let every Christian among the members of Christ be eaten up with zeal of God’s house. Who is eaten up with zeal of God’s house? He who exerts himself to have all that he may happen to see wrong there corrected, desires it to be mended, does not rest idle: who if he cannot mend it, endures it, laments it. . . . Therefore, let the zeal of God’s house eat thee up: let the zeal of God’s house eat up every Christian, zeal of that house of God of which he is a member. For thy own house is not more important than that wherein thou hast everlasting rest. . . . I am about to give you counsel: may He who is within give it; for though it be through me, it is He that gives it. You know what to do, each one of you, in his own house, with his friend, his tenant, his client, with greater, with less: as God grants an entrance, as He opens a door for His word, do not cease to win for Christ; because you were won by Christ."

Humility in Waiting for God's Timing

"This is a lesson in humility for us.  We have no right to demand anything from God—not only certain things we may desire, but also the timing of his plans."

- Abbot Joseph, "Not for You to Know", from Word Incarnate.   Read all.

Save Money on Books: Re-Read a Classic or Shop the Sales

There are a lot of big sales going on today, and a lot of people seeking to return to spending and savings patterns of the past, when people were more careful to avoid over-spending.

If you want to save money on books this year, my first suggestion is to re-read the books you already have, especially the Bible.  And re-read a classic, or two or three.  Or re-read the same classic several times. 

The classics, whether they are great novels or the classics of spirituality, became classics precisely because they have enough depth to be worth reading more than one time.  They were not written to be speed-read.  Many were written in an era when books had to be copied by hand, in italic script that could only be read slowly. 

In books by saints like St. Augustine and St. Teresa of Avila, there is enough complexity to find something new in them each time they are read, and benefits to be derived from reading them repeatedly that will be missed if several different books are read one time each.  The Rule of St. Benedict is read by Benedictines every day, a rule at a time.  St. Teresa of Avila is known to have read a little bit each day from St. John Cassian's Conferences.

If you read like that, a library of 5 or 10 books ought to be enough for several years or even a lifetime.

Three years ago, I posted a list of 25 Essential Books that includes at least one book from each century of Church history.  That was in response to an earlier list by Ben Myers and a list by Fr. Alvin Kimel that seems to have been lost with the end of his older blog (I did a word search for it on his present blog, and that post is not one of the ones that survived).

Some classics can be found free on the internet, at least (in some cases) if you don't mind an older translation.  Here is a short list of 10 spiritual classics available free online to print from your computer for reading and re-reading:

1. St. Augustine, Confessions

2. The Rule of St. Benedict

3. St. John Cassian, Conferences

4. St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue

5. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J., Abandonment to Divine Providence 

6. St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

7. St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises

8. St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel

9. The Life of St. Teresa of Avila by Herself

10. Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

If you want to expand your library anyway, taking advantage of low after-Christmas prices, here is one suggestion from the Barnes & Noble online sale: Geroge Weigel, Letters to a Young Catholic (82% off hardback)

And here is a list of 10 of those available 4 for 3 -- There are more than 1700 Catholic books included in amazon.com's 4 for 3 sale (buy 4 books and get the least expensive one free -- so it's a good sale if you don't pick anything really cheap):

Mitch Pacwa, S.J., St. Paul, a Bible Study Guide: Jubilee Year Edition

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The Practice of the Presence of God

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul

Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray

Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Listening at Prayer 

John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers 

St. Edith Stein, The Hidden Life, ICS Publications

Holiness Befits Your House: Canonization of Edith Stein, Documentation, ICS

The Gospel of John: Ignatius Study Bible

Unprepared for Spiritual Battle

From Father George William Rutler's article "Unprepared for Spiritual Battle", at the Catholic Education Resource Center -- hat tip Musings of a Pertinacious Papist:

"In the nineteenth century, Cardinal Newman warned that naïve Catholics would fall into "mass apostasy" through lack of preparedness in spiritual combat . . . .As with the lesson of the Kasserine Pass, we are learning that there is no place for amateur soldiers in the army of the Lord. A short time from now, many will say: "We should have listened to the warnings." The hard response will be: 'Why didn't you?'."