Tag Archives: faith

Scripture and Tradition

Leave a reply

Here’s Pope Leo latest reflection of the documents of the Second Vatican Council at his Wednesday audience yesterday, on the important subject of scripture and tradition:

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

Continuing our reading of the Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation, today we will reflect on the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition. We can take two Gospel scenes as a backdrop. In the first, which takes place in the Upper Room, Jesus, in his great discourse-testament addressed to the disciples, affirms: “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. … When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13).

The second scene takes us instead to the hills of Galilee. The risen Jesus shows himself to the disciples, who are surprised and doubtful, and he advises them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). In both of these scenes, the intimate connection between the words uttered by Christ and their dissemination throughout the centuries is evident.

It is what the Second Vatican Council affirms, using an evocative image: “There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end” (Dei Verbum, 9). Ecclesial Tradition branches out throughout history through the Church, which preserves, interprets and embodies the Word of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. no. 113) refers, in this regard, to a motto of the Church Fathers: “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records”, that is, in the sacred text.

In the light of Christ’s words, quoted above, the Council affirms that “this tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit” (Dei Verbum, 8). This occurs with full comprehension through “contemplation and study made by believers”, through “a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience” and, above all, with the preaching of the successors of the apostles who have received “the sure gift of truth”. In short, “the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (ibid.).

In this regard, the expression of Saint Gregory the Great is famous: “The Sacred Scriptures grow with the one who reads them”. [1] And Saint Augustine had already remarked that “there is only one word of God that unfolds through Scripture, and there is only one Word that sounds on the lips of many saints”. [2] The Word of God, then, is not fossilized, but rather it is a living and organic reality that develops and grows in Tradition. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Tradition understands it in the richness of its truth and embodies it in the shifting coordinates of history.

In this regard, the proposal of the holy Doctor of the Church John Henry Newman in his work entitled The Development of Christian Doctrine is striking. He affirmed that Christianity, both as a communal experience and as a doctrine, is a dynamic reality, in the manner indicated by Jesus himself in the parables of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-29): a living reality that develops thanks to an inner vital force. [3]

The apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts his disciple and collaborator Timothy: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim 6:20; cf. 2 Tim 1:12-14). The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum echoes this Pauline text when it says: “Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church”, interpreted by the “living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (no. 10). “Deposit” is a term that, in its original meaning, is juridical in nature and imposes on the depositary the duty to preserve the content, which in this case is the faith, and to transmit it intact.

The “deposit” of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church today, and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence.

In conclusion, dear friends, let us listen once more to Dei Verbum, which exalts the interweaving of Sacred Scripture and Tradition: it affirms that they “are so linked and joined together that they cannot stand independently, and together, each in their own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they contribute effectively to the salvation of souls” (cf. no. 10).”

_______________________________

[1] Homiliae in Ezechielem I, VII, 8:  PL 76, 843D.

[2]  Enarrationes in Psalmos 103, IV, 1

[3] Cf. J.H. Newman,  An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Milan 2003, p. 104.

 Look to Christ!  Come closer to him!  

1 Reply

Pope Leo spoke about Christian Unity at the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity today, January 25th:  

My dear friends, every year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites us to renew our commitment to this great mission, bearing in mind that the divisions among us – while they do not prevent the light of Christ from shining – nonetheless make the face which must reflect it to the world less radiant.

Last year, we celebrated the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.  His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch, invited us to celebrate the anniversary in İznik, and I give thanks to God that so many Christian traditions were represented at that commemoration two months ago. 

 Reciting the Nicene Creed together in the very place where it was formulated was a profound and unforgettable testimony to our unity in Christ.  That moment of fraternity also allowed us to praise the Lord for what he accomplished through the Nicene Fathers, helping them to express clearly the truth of a God who drew near to us in Jesus Christ.  May the Holy Spirit find in us docile minds even today, so that we may proclaim the faith with one voice to the men and women of our time!

In the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians chosen as the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer, we repeatedly hear the adjective“one”: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (cf. Eph 4:4-6). How can these inspired words not touch us deeply?  How can our hearts not burn within us when we hear them? 

 Yes, “we share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel” (Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei, 23 November 2025, 12).  We are one!  We already are!  Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible!

As we look toward the 2,000th anniversary of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus in 2033, let us commit ourselves to further developing ecumenical synodal practices and to sharing with one another who we are, what we do and what we teach.

Lectionary and Saints

1 Reply

Our daily liturgy gives us scriptures to read and saints to celebrate. This week in our lectionary we continue to read from the Gospel of Mark and the 1st Book of Samuel. Today we remember Fabian, an early pope and  martyr, and Sebastian, a soldier saint and martyr.  Tomorrow we have Agnes, a young girl and early martyr. 

Our lectionary readings are not chosen haphazardly. After the feast of the Baptism we began reading each day from the Gospel of Mark, the first of the gospels to be written, an appropriate reading for following Jesus as he begins his ministry in Galilee. 

The saints point out how others have followed him. . The three martyrs we remember this week are examples of some who were put to death in persecutions that took place in the early church. Fabian was put to death at the beginning of the Decian persecution (250) because he was a church leader. The Roman strategy was to kill church leaders and their followers would scatter. 

Sebastian was a soldier saint martyred in the Diocletian persecution. From what we know, Christians were highly regard by the emperor when he first came to power, but then he turned against them,  especially the officer class. Like Sebastian, many of them holding influential positions in the empire were put to death for their supposed disloyalty. 

Agnes was not killed in a general persecution like Fabian and Sebastian.  She died because Christians were legally vulnerable in the centuries before Constantine. The Romans were suspicious of them. Agnes a victim of a powerful Roman man who used the Roman judicial system to punish a young Christian girl who  would not let him have his way with her. 

   

Believing for Others: Mark 2:1-12

10 Replies

Readings for the Day https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

The healing of the paralytic told in today’s gospel from Mark is a great story.(Mark 2: 1–12) Four friends bring him to the door of Peter’s house in Capernaum but the crowds are so dense that they can’t get in to see Jesus so they climb up on the roof, cut a hole in it and lower him down before Jesus. Was the paralyzed man conscious, or half conscious? We don’t know.

What ingenuity! What nerve! What determination on the part of his friends! Think of the logistics involved in it all.

The picture above show the ruins of Peter’s house in Capernaum, now enclosed in a shrine. From a chapel above you can look down into Peter’s house below –possibly just where the man was lowered down. The picture at the beginning of our blog is also from that chapel.

We know Jesus forgave the man’s sins and then healed him completely, so he left the house carrying the mat that once bore him. The gospel story tells us that Jesus the healer is Jesus who forgives sins. Some who heard his words of forgiveness that day were shocked by this action which they rightly judged was divine.

But I’m led back to the four friends who had a part in this miracle. Let’s not forget them. They believe and their belief makes them go to extraordinary lengths to help someone .  Faith reaches out; it doesn’t remain within. We believe for others as well as for ourselves.  Believing prompts us to do daring things for others.

Back to Peter’s house. Did Peter look up that day and say, “Who’s going to pay for that hole in the roof?” The story of the paralyzed man is a wonderful story. But it also has an ominous part to it. Scribes, sitting in judgment, call Jesus a blasphemer for pronouncing sins are forgiven. Opposition to Jesus begins to build and it leads to his death.

The Whole World Comes to a Manger

Leave a reply

A large painting of the Christmas mystery in the gathering space of St.Mary’s Church in Colts Neck, New Jersey, is worth a visit before its taken down soon. The artist commissioned to make the work evidently wants to expand the way we look at this mystery in the three panels he created. 

In the right panel the shepherds coming to the Child are not the usual band of men followed by their sheep. There’s one shepherd and two women and two children and a water buffalo and two other animals who look like they may be wild mountain goats. No sheep. 

Who are the women? The shepherd’s wife and maybe his sister? The women look like they’ve been summoned quickly from their homes. Did the shepherd call them to come  see what the angels proclaimed in the fields? Don’t worry how you look, and bring the kids. Come and see.

Are the animals representatives of the animal world waiting , like the human world, for the angels’ message?

In the left panel, the Magi, elegantly dressed, hold their gifts for the Child as they come from a star-filled sky. Their camels finally rest from the long journey. The three represent the young and the old, and the different races called by the star. 

In the central panel, Mary seated holds in her arms the Child whom she wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger after she gave him birth.  Joseph stands protectingly over them. They’re dark skinned and dark haired, yet it’s hard to tell what race they belong to. 

Two angels above them announce “Glory to God” and a star shines brightly over the cave dug into the mountain. 

A donkey eats the straw from the manger, and a sheep lays on the ground beneath the manger. Right at Joseph’s feet there a large pig. Why is  he there, so close to the Child?  

In those days pigs were unclean animals. The Jews refused to eat them. On a journey to Joppa, Peter had a dream in which God commanded him to eat all kinds of food. There’s no fool that’s unclean, God said. All creation is  made clean through the saving power of his Son.

The whole world is welcome to the Manger. 

Artists remind us we can never exhaust the mysteries of life and the mysteries of God. There’s always more. 

December 20: The Annunciation

1 Reply

St. Luke’s account of the Annunciation to Mary, read today at Mass,  follows the announcement of the birth of John to Zechariah in yesterday’s advent readings. Mary responds to the angel so differently than the priest Zechariah. (Luke 1, 5-25,)

In the temple where great mysteries are celebrated, the priest won’t believe he and his wife can conceive a child. They’re too old. He doubts.

In  Nazareth, an unlikely place for a great revelation, the angel approaches Mary with a message far more difficult to grasp. “ The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

Mary believes and does not doubt and by God’s power conceives a Son who will be born in Bethlehem. “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word,”

This is a golden moment, the 13th century painting above by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi indicates. Mary is at home in prayer when the angel comes. Prayer enables her to believe and accept what is revealed. That’s true for all of us: prayer helps us discern and say yes to what God reveals.

“How can this be. I do not know man?” Mary says to the angel. Our painting seems to capture that moment in our gospel passage, but Mary will go on to respond in faith, “Be it done to me according to your word.” Mary is a woman of faith; we learn from her.

Today we pray:

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. 

Readings www.usccb.org

READINGS: DECEMBER 17 TILL CHRISTMAS

Leave a reply

The Gospel of Luke is our principal guide through the final days of Advent till the feast of  Christmas. These days are our “novena” preparing for the mystery of Christmas.

 December 17th and December 18th we read Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus and his account of Jesus’ birth.

December 19 The angel’s announcement to Zechariah the priest about the birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1: 5-26)

December 20. The angel announces to Mary that she will bring “the Son of God” into the world. (Luke 26-38) 

December 21. Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth to share this Good News. ( Luke 1:39-45 )

December 22. The 4th Sunday of Advent. The gospel account of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth is repeated. ( Luke 1:46-56) 

December 23. Elizabeth gives birth to John, who will announce the coming of Jesus: (Luke 1:57-66)

December 24. Zechariah praises God’s compassion towards those who “dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” (Luke 1:67-79.)

December 25 Christmas. The evening readings for Christmas are:  

Isaiah 9: 1-6

Timothy 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-14, The story of the Birth of Jesus Christ

Old Testament readings add their voice to the gospel accounts.  A number of stories, like the unpredictable births of Sampson and Samuel accompany the story of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. They remind us that “nothing is impossible with God.” The prayers in Advent speak too of the gentle rain that makes the earth fertile and the numerous “miracles” found in the ordinary course of nature. From the created world we can gain a sense of wonder for this great wonder of God.

Our readings are stories of belief and doubt. Isaiah offers King Ahaz, the consummate doubter and cold calculator on December 20. He was mentioned on Wednesday mornings at morning prayer each week of Advent. Ahaz stands in contrast to Mary, who believes and accepts the angel’s promise. She wonders “how can this be?” before this mystery of God, but she believes. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Immigrants

Leave a reply

In our 2018 pastoral letter, “Open Wide Our Hearts,” we lamented the impact of immigration raids and mass deportations in which even those who are U.S. citizens have been caught up and deported, noting: “Today, many Hispanics are often assumed to be in this country illegally. These attitudes of cultural superiority, indifference, and racism need to be confronted; they are unworthy of any follower of Christ.”

We consistently reaffirm what the church has always taught: that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, the imago Dei, and that the dignity of the human person does not depend on a particular legal status, nationality or occupation. We also recognize that promoting public order and upholding the rule of law are necessary endeavors, especially because these measures help guard against trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

Today, however, we see aggressive approaches to immigration enforcement that inflict harm on our sisters and brothers, sometimes restricting their ability to work, live and worship in arbitrary ways. Many citizens and lawful residents have reported being detained by methods that blur the line between legitimate enforcement and discriminatory profiling. This climate of fear makes our neighbors hesitant to go to work, to attend Mass or to visit loved ones.

In light of this, we must ask again: Who is my neighbor? The answer, as always, is found in Christ. He calls us to see with the eyes of mercy, to walk with those who suffer and to build a society rooted in justice and love. As disciples, we cannot remain indifferent. We are called to advocate for a just and meaningful immigration reform that respects human dignity, upholds due process and promotes the common good.

Let us follow the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe and stand in solidarity with those who live in fear, as a testament to God’s abiding peace. Let us be beacons of Christ’s light, filled with compassion and courage. Let us raise our voices in support of a meaningful reform of our immigration system, one that recognizes, as the U.S. bishops reaffirmed last month, that ensuring national security and safeguarding human dignity are not in conflict. Let us reject dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. And let us never grow weary in the Gospel call to love without condition.

May the Lord, who is close to the brokenhearted, strengthen us in this mission. And may we, as one body of Christ, never forget who our neighbors are (Ps 34:19).

Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, NY

Feast of The Immaculate Conception

Leave a reply

Why does Mary, the Mother of Jesus, have such a big place in our church? The words of the angel in Luke’s gospel, words we often repeat in prayer, are an answer: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”

Mary is filled with God’s grace, gifted with unique spiritual gifts from her conception, because she was to be the mother of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.

She would be the “resting place of the Trinity,” and would give birth to, nourish, guide and accompany Jesus in his life and mission in this world. To fulfill that unique role she needed a unique gift. She would be free from original sin that clouds human understanding and slows the way we believe God and his plan for us.

“How slow you are to believe” Jesus said to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Jesus made that complaint repeatedly as he preached the coming of God’s kingdom. “How slow you are to believe!” “What little faith you have!” “Do you still not understand!” Human slowness to believe didn’t end in gospel times. We have it too.

Mary was freed from that slowness to believe. “Be it done to me according to your word,” she immediately says to the angel. Yet, her acceptance of God’s will does not mean she understood everything that happened to her. “How can this be?” she asks the angel about the conception of the child. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”  But the angel’s answer seems so incomplete, so mysterious.

Surely, Mary would have liked to know more, but the angel leaves, never to return. There’s no daily message, no new briefing or renewed assurance by heavenly messengers. The years go by in Nazareth as the Child grows in wisdom and age and grace, but they’re years of silence. Like the rest of us, Mary waits and wonders and keeps these things in her heart.

That’s why we welcome her as a believer walking with us. She is an assuring presence who calls us to believe as she did, without knowing all. She does not pretend to be an expert with all the answers. She has no special secrets she alone knows. “Do whatever he tells you,” is her likely advice as we ponder the mysteries of her Son.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated 9 months before the feast of the Birth of Mary (September 8). The feast  was extended to the universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1708.

 Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin” (Ineffabilis Deus, 1854)

Do Whatever He Tells you

You are a Kingly People: Do Your Job!

2 Replies

We celebrated the feast of Christ the King last Sunday. It’s hard to think of Christ as king in a world where kings are few, at least in our western world. Royal families, where they exist, have mainly ceremonial roles.

Yet, Jesus Christ is king, and what’s more we share in his kingly role. (Catholic Catechism 1546) We’re all priests, prophets and kings by our baptism. “We’re a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart,” (1 Peter 2,5)

How are we kings? The illustration of Adam, from the Book of Genesis, may tell us. Adam is given kingly powers by God in the garden, the symbol of the created world. He names the animals and is caretaker of God’s creation.

Psalms, like Psalm 8 (Saturday Morning, week 2), remind us that’s our role:
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
The moon and the stars that you arranged,
What are we that you keep us in mind,,
Mortal as we are that you care for us.

Yet you have made us little less than gods,
With glory and honor you crown us,
You have give us power over the works of your hand,
Put all things under our feet.”

This week’s readings from Daniel and Luke’s Gospel (Friday) seem to predict a world torn apart and discarded when God’s kingdom comes. But that’s not so. Creation itself awaits the promise of resurrection. Jesus Christ is our Savior and we are part of his saving work.

We have been given kingly care over creation. Let’s not forget it. We’re not here just to save ourselves nor is our purpose in life to escape from this world. We’re to care for creation and make it ready for God’s kingdom.

We have a job to do. Let’s do it.