Tag Archives: God

Pope Leo XIV: Catechesis 7

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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

Continuing in our reflection on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium (LG), today we will look at the second chapter, dedicated to the People of God.

God, who created the world and humanity, and who wishes to save every man, carries out his work of salvation in history, choosing a real people and dwelling among them. For this reason, He calls Abraham and promises him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (cf. Gen 22:17-18). With Abraham’s children, after freeing them from slavery, God makes a covenant with them, accompanies them, cares for them, and gathers them together whenever they stray. Therefore, the identity of this people is given by God’s action and by faith in Him. They are called to become a light for other nations, like a beacon that will draw all peoples, the whole of humanity, to itself (cf. Is 2:1-5).

The Council affirms that “All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made flesh” ( LG, 9). Indeed, it is Christ who, in giving His Body and His Blood, unites this people in Himself and in a definitive way. It is a people now made up of members of every nation; it is united by faith in Him, by adherence to Him, by living the same life as Him, animated by the Spirit of the Risen One. This is the Church: the people of God who draw their existence from the body of Christ [1] and who are themselves the body of Christ; [2] not a people like any other, but the People of God, called together by Him and made up of women and men from all the peoples of the earth. Its unifying principle is not a language, a culture, an ethnicity, but faith in Christ: the Church is therefore – according to a splendid expression of the Council – the assembly of “all those who in faith look upon Jesus” ( LG, 9).

It is a messianic people, precisely because it has Christ, the Messiah, as its head. Those who belong to it do not pride themselves on merits or titles, but only on the gift of being, in Christ and through Him, daughters and sons of God. Above any task or function, therefore, what really matters in the Church is to be grafted onto Christ, to be children of God by grace. This is also the only honorary title we should seek as Christians. We are in the Church in order to receive life from the Father unceasingly and to live as His children and brothers and sisters among ourselves. Consequently, the law that animates relationships in the Church is love, as we receive and experience it in Jesus; and her goal is the Kingdom of God, towards which she walks together with all humanity.

Unified in Christ, Lord and Saviour of every man and woman, the Church can never turn inwards on herself, but is open to everyone and is for everyone. If believers in Christ belong to it, the Council reminds us that “All men are called to belong to the new people of God. Wherefore this people, remaining one and unique, must extend to the whole world and to all ages, so that the intention of God’s will may be fulfilled, who in the beginning created human nature as one and wants to gather together his children who were scattered” (LG, 13). Even those who have not yet received the Gospel are therefore, in some way, oriented towards the people of God, and the Church, cooperating in Christ’s mission, is called upon to spread the Gospel everywhere and to everyone (cf. LG 17), so that every person may enter into contact with Christ. This means that in the Church there is, and there must be, a place for everyone, and that every Christian is called to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness in every environment in which he or she lives and works. Thus, this people shows its catholicity, welcoming the wealth and resources of different cultures and, at the same time, offering them the newness of the Gospel to purify them and to raise them up (cf. LG, 13).

In this regard, the Church is one but includes everyone. A great theologian described it thus: “The unique Ark of Salvation must welcome all human diversity into its vast nave. The only banquet hall, the food it distributes is drawn from all of creation. The seamless garment of Christ, it is also – and it is the same thing – the garment of Joseph, with its many colours”. [3]

It is a great sign of hope – especially in our times, traversed by so many conflicts and wars – to know that the Church is a people in which women and men of different nationalities, languages and cultures live together in faith: it is a sign placed in the very heart of humanity, a reminder and prophecy of that unity and peace to which God the Father calls all his children.

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[1] Cf. J. Ratzinger, The New People of God, Brescia 1992, 97.

[2] Cf. Y. M.-J. Congar, A Messianic People, Brescia 1976, 75.

[3] Cf. H. de Lubac, Catholicism: A study of dogma in relation to the corporate destiny of mankind (Catholicisme: Les aspects sociaux du dogme).Ca

Leaven of the Pharisees, Leaven of Herod;Mark 8:14-21

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Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod. …
Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened?…
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? Do you still not understand?”      

(Mark 8:14-21)

Harsh words of Jesus to his disciples. They occur, not early in Mark’s Gospel, but as they prepare to go up to Jerusalem, after many miracles Jesus has done and many times he has taught. Yet they do not understand.

Is this still true for his disciples today? Mark’s Gospel reminds us how much, like them, we don’t know.

How should we guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod? I suppose that means the corruption that can take place in religion and in politics. We live in an imperfect world. 

If Mark is writing in Rome –and I think he is– he would have to be careful about criticizing the government, especially in the wake of Nero’s persecution. Mark writes more of the scribes and pharisees who oppose Jesus. He speaks less about Herod; he has to be discreet. 

So every time I hear about Herod and the Herodians in Mark’s Gospel I hear him talking about Nero and Rome’s rulers. His description of John the Baptist’s death and the absurd circumstances that brought it on– Herodias’ vindictiveness, Herod’s care for his reputation, the cowardly compliance of his court– are not limited to that event from the time of Jesus. Mark is alluding to Nero’s cruel attack on the Christians of Rome who, like John, were innocent. 

When he tells the story of the passion of Jesus Mark is also telling the Christians of Rome their story. Jesus was there with them. Jesus is there with them.

Let’s not stop at the early Christians of Rome, however. He’s also talking to us in our world.

Scripture and Tradition

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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).”

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[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!  

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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

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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. 

   

The Whole World Comes to a Manger

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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. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Immigrants

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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

No Stone Will be Left: 34th Week

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Enrique Simonet, Jesus over Jerusalem

We read Luke’s Gospel this week, the 34th week of the year. Luke  follows Mark’s Gospel closely in describing Jesus as he arrives in Jerusalem from Galilee, but he makes some simple, yet significant changes to Mark’s account. 

Mark’s account says that Jesus went back and forth to Bethany each day while teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. Luke’s account doesn’t mention Jesus’ stay in Bethany at all. Jesus comes to Jerusalem to enter the temple of God. 

The temple has great significance in Luke’s gospel.  Earlier in his gospel, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus there after his birth. His identity is validated there. For Jesus the temple is his Father’s house, where he belongs. It’s his home, where he teaches with authority, confronts his enemies and gives hope to those like the poor widow.

In Luke’s extension of his gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, the temple is also significant because the church is born there. For Luke, a disciple of Paul, we are also the temples of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus teaches about the end times in the temple area about the end ; in Mark’s gospel he teaches about it from the Mount of Olives. Though the temple stones be cast down, Jesus is the cornerstone, and so when “ powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky,” he remains our Rock.  

In this week’s readings, Luke adds some  important words to Mark’s fearful account of the end time. The end is coming soon. Mark seems to say. The end waits “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” Luke’s account says.(Luke 21:24)  The last times are delayed, not imminent. They will come at an indeterminate time, after the gentile world receives the gospel.

Yet, because Mark’s account was held by other followers of Jesus, Luke does not dismiss it.

Perhaps because the trees are shedding their leaves now in this part of the world, I notice another small change Luke makes to Mark’s gospel. “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates” Jesus says in Mark. (Mark 13: 28-29)

Luke adds to the fig tree “and all the other trees.” (Luke 21:29-31) Why all the other trees? Was Luke adapting the message of Jesus to those forested regions in Asia Minor unlike Palestine, where creation in its many trees spoke of Word made flesh as well?

The gospel writers struggled with the great mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and tried to adapt it to their times and place. We struggle with these mysteries too.

Pope Francis, in a letter on the study of history, said we need to read the fundamental texts of Christianity and understand them without “ideological filters or theoretical preconceptions” . “A study of history protects us from ‘ecclesiological monophysitism’, that is, from an overly angelic conception of the Church, a Church without spots and wrinkles…  A proper sense of history can help us develop a better sense of proportion and perspective in coming to understand reality as it is and not as we imagine it or would prefer reality to be.”

Like us, Luke and Mark struggled to understand.

The Kingdom among us: Luke 17: 20-25

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Where is God?

God is everywhere.

That was one of the first question and answer I learned from my catechism many years ago. 

The Pharisees ask a question somewhat like that as Jesus approaches Jerusalem with his followers:

 “When is the kingdom of God coming?”

Jesus responds: “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17:20-25)

The catechism of the scriptures, which we listen to now, says “The kingdom of God is among you.” The Greek word translated “among” can also be translated “within” so some translations have “The kingdom of God is within you.” But commentators say it’s better we look for the kingdom of God among us than simply within us. 

Yes, God who is everywhere is within us, holding us and all things in being. God makes a home in us, Jesus says, but we should not limit God’s presence to human beings or see God working only in us. God is among us, in others and in the universe we are part of. God is not present among us as an observer, God is building a kingdom that we may not observe. We can miss it, the parables of Jesus indicate.

Especially in times like our, the kingdom that’s coming is hard to see.  

It’s hard to see Jesus in the bread and wine, in his followers, in the wars and the destruction happening in our environment.

That’s what eyes of faith are for. Lord, that we may see.

When we think of saints, we may think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, apostles like Peter and Paul, or extraordinary individuals like Mother Teresa.  True friends of God.

Besides those saints – shining lights of faith– there are unnumbered others in God’s company, the Feast of All Saints says. In a vision of heaven, St. John saw  “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” {Revelations 7, 9-13} We hope to be with them one day.

Our hope rests on a promise Jesus made, the same apostle says:

 “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are…Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” (1 John 3,1-3)

How shall we reach that place where we’ll be revealed as children of God?  Jesus said to follow him and live as he taught. He offers the way in his Sermon on the Mount, our gospel reading for this feast says. He will be the way, the truth and the life.

We haven’t seen yet that life we hope for or what God intends us to be. Life does not end; it changes. This feast invites us to trust in God’s promise and hope for the day it’s revealed. 

Extraordinary saints are not the only ones in heaven. There won’t be just a few either. Countless others are in God’s company: saints unnoticed here on earth, saints with little to show, saints who were sinners. People like us.

As we celebrate this feast, St. Bernard says:

“Rise again with Christ and seek the world above and set your mind on heaven. Long for those who are longing for us; hasten to those who are waiting for us, ask those who are looking for our coming to intercede for us. Desire their company and seek a share in their glory. There’s no harm in being ambitious for this. No danger in setting your heart on such glory. Remembering the saints inflames us with a yearning that Christ our life may appear to us as he appeared to them and that one day we may share in his glory.”