Have you asked yourself: What is the oldest piece of Christian art in the world today? I have. AND reading UK’s Telegraph online I found out the answer to my question. A page in the famous Garima gospel collection was identified and re-dated.
Facing our own reality, as it is present to us right now, can be an extraordinarily painful experience. Living in either the past or the future is not of the Holy Spirit. But we sometimes find ourselves nursing old wounds, angers, being scared by weaknesses. However, experience tells us if we look carefully, that living reality is superbly beautiful and freeing and loving, too. Fr Giussani points us to keep life real, to be faithful to life and to accept the grace of recognizing that Christ is in the center of life. Easier said than done most days. One’s sin can be overwhelming and it has the ability to define our being if we are not careful. I found the following paragraph of Abbot Alban’s to be helpful and real; he names the virtues we need to live as God wants us to live. Perhaps you’ll take some solace from Abbot Alban’s brief note, too,
Time and again, during our life, we shall meet with
hardships which are the inevitable accompaniment of any attempt to lead a
supernatural life on this earth. These will arise not only from the temptations
which … are the consequence of our own weakness and fault but also from all
those trials and problems that arise from circumstances and people beyond our
own control, things which will demand from us much humility, fortitude,
generosity, forgiveness, patience with the “personality problems” [of others],
patience with ourselves…. Only the spirit of compunction of heart will enable
us to accept them … [and] to transform them from bitter frustrations into a
patient and even joyful sharing of the sufferings of Christ.
Alban Boultwood,
Alive to God: Meditations for Everyone (Baltimore: Helicon, 1964), 64.
Eternal Shepherd, you made Blessed Benedict known for his great love of the brethren and his service to Your flock. By the help of his prayers may we ever be ardent in our fellowship and with one heart be steadfast in the household of the Church.
In the days leading up to the feast of Saint Benedict (Jul 11) I thought I’d look at some reflections on his influence on us today. The Saint has set the stage for so much in the Church today, especially for the spiritual life, that we need to pay clear attention to what he has to say.
Living in the presence of God, according to Benedict, shapes
all realms of human life: prayer, work, interaction with creation, and
relationships with other people. “Fellowship,” that great slogan of
our time, was for Benedict no contradiction to a devout love of God. The social
dimension is always already religious, for in the brother as in the sister we
encounter Christ himself.
Faith in God is made concrete for Benedict in a
belief in the good core of the fellow human being. There faith is expressed in
a new way of being with one another. That, for Benedict, is the basis of true
humanity. It is not an uplifting ideal, but reality that confronts us again and
again in daily situations.
Thus Benedict says in the chapter on the monastic
counsel that the abbot is to call all the brothers to counsel because “the
Lord often reveals what is better to the younger.” For Benedict, then, it
is clear that the Lord speaks to us through people, that he can speak to us
through anyone, even a younger person who may have less experience and
knowledge.
Anselm Grun, OSB, Benedict of Nursia: His Message For Today
“What does this fra
gile but christianly mature girl say to today’s young people, through her life and above all through her heroic death?” Pope John Paul II asked on her feast day in 2003.
The Pope went on to say: “Marietta, as she was lovingly called, reminds the youth of the third millennium that true happiness demands courage and a spirit of sacrifice, refusing every compromise with evil and having the disposition to pay personally, even with death, faithful to God and his commandments. How timely this message is.
Today, pleasure, selfishness and directly immoral actions are often exalted in the name of the false ideals of liberty and happiness. It is essential to reaffirm clearly that purity of heart and of body go together, because chastity ‘is the custodian’ of authentic love.”
St Thomas Aquinas didn’t have a theological opinion on America’s Independence for obvious reasons, but he did have at least two thoughts on the virtue of the fatherland and a Catholic’s perspective in honoring one’s homeland. He sets in clear terms the proper order of our praise for our origins. Aquinas wrote:
“The virtue of
piety helps us pay worship not only to one’s father but also to one’s
fatherland” (II-II, Q. 102, a3).
And in another place he said, “Our existence and guidance in life come
primarily from God, secondarily from our parents and our native country.
Religion gives expression to the faith, hope and charity which fundamentally
unite us to God; in the same way loyalty expresses the love we have for our
parents and native country” (II-II, Q101, a2).
Read Pope John Paul II’s homily at the beatification of Pier Giorgio.
Mary, humble servant of God Most High, the Son to whom you gave birth has made you the servant of humanity. Your life was a humble and generous service. You were servant of the Word when the angel announced to you the divine plan of salvation. You were servant of the Son, giving him life and remaining opening to his mystery. You were servant of redemption, standing courageously at the foot of the cross, close to the Suffering Servant and Lamb, who was sacrificing himself for love of us. You were servant of the Church on the day of Pentecost and with your intercession you continue to generate her in every believer, even in these our difficult and troubled times. Let the young people of the third millennium look to you, young daughter of Israel, who have known the agitation of a young heart when faced with the plan of the Eternal God. Make them able to accept the invitation of your Son to give their lives wholly for the glory of God. Make them understand that to serve God satisfies the heart, and that only in the service of God and of his Kingdom do we realize ourselves in accordance with the divine plan, and life becomes a hymn a glory to the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Taking the extraordinary example of faith Thomas has, let live as though the real Presence meant something: My Lord and my God.
With the Church we pray:
Almighty Father, as we honor Thomas the apostle, let us always experience the help of his prayers. May we have eternal life by believing in Jesus, whom Thomas acknowledge as Lord, for He lives and reigns with Your and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.