Priest and Doctor of the Church
Additional Information about St. Thomas Aquinas[1]
Readings for Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible (for the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas)
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
David is anointed King, this time by the people of Judea (following the collapse of Saul’s line). He immediately he launches a campaign against the Jebusites who hold Israel, specifically Jerusalem. In spite of their resistance David was victorious and God continued to bless his efforts to lead the people of Judea and Israel (for forty more years).
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 25-26
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Psalm 89 is a song of thanksgiving. In these verses it celebrates the call of King David and recalls his anointing at Hebron (see 2 Samuel 5:1-4).
Gospel Mark 3:22-30
The conflict between Jesus and the Scribes has come out into the open. They are now openly calling him “prince of the demons”. The Lord calls them before himself and demonstrates with parables the foolishness of their claim. He first asks the ironic question that could be paraphrased “If I, who destroy unclean spirits, am from the originator of those spirits, were in league with him, he has destroyed himself.” He continues an analogy about the strong man protecting his house. In this case he, Jesus would represent the defender of the house (of Israel) and those attacking him, attempting to tie him up.
He concludes this passage with an important theological understanding. The Son of God came into the world so that sings might be forgiven (“…all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.”) He then defines the Holy Spirit and Himself as one in the same (essence) by saying the whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit (as the scribes had just done in calling Jesus an emissary of Satan) would be guilty of an everlasting sin (would never be forgiven).
Reflection:
The Holy Trinity is implicitly defined in today’s Gospel. For those of us who have wondered where it is written Sacred Scripture that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of the same essence, this is one of the most direct passages. Book mark it.
This passage also files in the face of a more prevalent idea call in some circles “Universalism”. That term us used to say that when Jesus came all sins were forgiven and there could be no lasting stain on anyone. It does not matter what translation is studied, verses 28 and 29 say clearly that anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has committed and unforgivable act. In this specific case, Jesus is called evil and an instrument of Satan. This act, un-repented, earns the perpetrator a place of eternal damnation.
This same sentiment is presented in the Gospel of St. Matthew (see Matthew 12:30ff). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of this action (interestingly it is presented in the discussion of the fallen angles):
“393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice” (Fallen Angels)”, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."[3]
In our modern age, we sometimes fall into this kind of Universalism trap, thinking that it does not matter what we do, the Divine Mercy so characteristic of God, will keep us from that eternal anguish. Here, we see, is Satan’s trap revealed. For if we are weak and in our pain lash out at God, we risk, to be quite blunt about it, taking a “dirt nap” with Satan himself.
Just as the Lord provides us a path to salvation that is sometimes very difficult to walk, Satan, eternally fallen, makes it very easy to fall into is kingdom. We have seen it often enough. It usually begins with an injured person becoming angry with God (usually for a choice either made by themselves or by the person they are mourning). They say, “How could God have let this happen?” It is an easy next step to say that God himself is evil or that His Son, because he did not create man incapable of sin, did not intervene.
We pray for those souls today who through their ignorance or through their fallen nature have committed this sin against God. We also pray for those who have been misguided and all those who are still being perfected in the process of Purgatory. We also thank God for the gift of great minds such as the one we celebrate today in St. Thomas Aquinas. They have made clear the path we follow toward salvation.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Vision of St Thomas Aquinas” by Santi Di Tito, 1593
[2] After Links Expire
[3] St. John Damascene, De Fide orth. 2,4: PG 94,877.
Additional Information about St. Thomas Aquinas[1]
Readings for Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible (for the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas)
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
David is anointed King, this time by the people of Judea (following the collapse of Saul’s line). He immediately he launches a campaign against the Jebusites who hold Israel, specifically Jerusalem. In spite of their resistance David was victorious and God continued to bless his efforts to lead the people of Judea and Israel (for forty more years).
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 25-26
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Psalm 89 is a song of thanksgiving. In these verses it celebrates the call of King David and recalls his anointing at Hebron (see 2 Samuel 5:1-4).
Gospel Mark 3:22-30
The conflict between Jesus and the Scribes has come out into the open. They are now openly calling him “prince of the demons”. The Lord calls them before himself and demonstrates with parables the foolishness of their claim. He first asks the ironic question that could be paraphrased “If I, who destroy unclean spirits, am from the originator of those spirits, were in league with him, he has destroyed himself.” He continues an analogy about the strong man protecting his house. In this case he, Jesus would represent the defender of the house (of Israel) and those attacking him, attempting to tie him up.
He concludes this passage with an important theological understanding. The Son of God came into the world so that sings might be forgiven (“…all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.”) He then defines the Holy Spirit and Himself as one in the same (essence) by saying the whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit (as the scribes had just done in calling Jesus an emissary of Satan) would be guilty of an everlasting sin (would never be forgiven).
Reflection:
The Holy Trinity is implicitly defined in today’s Gospel. For those of us who have wondered where it is written Sacred Scripture that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of the same essence, this is one of the most direct passages. Book mark it.
This passage also files in the face of a more prevalent idea call in some circles “Universalism”. That term us used to say that when Jesus came all sins were forgiven and there could be no lasting stain on anyone. It does not matter what translation is studied, verses 28 and 29 say clearly that anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has committed and unforgivable act. In this specific case, Jesus is called evil and an instrument of Satan. This act, un-repented, earns the perpetrator a place of eternal damnation.
This same sentiment is presented in the Gospel of St. Matthew (see Matthew 12:30ff). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of this action (interestingly it is presented in the discussion of the fallen angles):
“393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice” (Fallen Angels)”, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."[3]
In our modern age, we sometimes fall into this kind of Universalism trap, thinking that it does not matter what we do, the Divine Mercy so characteristic of God, will keep us from that eternal anguish. Here, we see, is Satan’s trap revealed. For if we are weak and in our pain lash out at God, we risk, to be quite blunt about it, taking a “dirt nap” with Satan himself.
Just as the Lord provides us a path to salvation that is sometimes very difficult to walk, Satan, eternally fallen, makes it very easy to fall into is kingdom. We have seen it often enough. It usually begins with an injured person becoming angry with God (usually for a choice either made by themselves or by the person they are mourning). They say, “How could God have let this happen?” It is an easy next step to say that God himself is evil or that His Son, because he did not create man incapable of sin, did not intervene.
We pray for those souls today who through their ignorance or through their fallen nature have committed this sin against God. We also pray for those who have been misguided and all those who are still being perfected in the process of Purgatory. We also thank God for the gift of great minds such as the one we celebrate today in St. Thomas Aquinas. They have made clear the path we follow toward salvation.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Vision of St Thomas Aquinas” by Santi Di Tito, 1593
[2] After Links Expire
[3] St. John Damascene, De Fide orth. 2,4: PG 94,877.
No comments:
Post a Comment