Bright Wednesday

Then beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Luke 24:27, 30-31, 35

Recognition of Jesus is through faith stirred by grace. How often has it been said that if I receive an unmistakeable sign that faith would result? But those who knew Jesus did not recognize him after the resurrection; only by grace that prompted faith could they say it is the Lord and believe in him. We must remain mindful that no intellectual deduction will allow us to recognize him and no power of will can by itself produce faith in him; his revelation of himself is a gratuitous gift.

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum; Dat panis cœlicus figuris terminum:
The angelic bread is made the bread of men; he giveth the heavenly bread, the end of figures.

O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum pauper, servus et humilis.
O wondrous thing! The poor and humble servant consumes the Lord.

Te trina Deitas unaque poscimus: Sic nos tu visita, sicut te colimus;
Thee, three and one Deity, we beseech; do thou visit us, even as we worship.

Per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus, Ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen.
Through thy ways, lead us who draw toward the light that thou inhabitest. Amen.

Passion Thursday

"If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' You do not know him, but I know him. Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."

-John 8:54, 58

O bone Jesu, miserere nobis, quia tu creasti nos, tu redimisti nos sanguine tuo praetiosissimo.

O good Jesus, have mercy on us; because thou didst create us, thou hast redeemed us by thy most precious Blood.

It is easy for the idea of "relationship with God" to devolve into an imprecise connection with a Being who is pure spirit, and from there to become impersonal. We do not relate to concepts but to persons, and knowing a person is a mystery; we never know a person so well that we can claim to understand them entirely and exhaust their individual essence, and what is true of created persons is true of the persons of God in an infinitely greater degree.
We know God through the person of Jesus; without his manifestation to us, we do not know the other persons of the Holy Trinity and "relationship with God" becomes intangible vagueness. Jesus revealed that he is one with the Father, and that by receiving him we receive all that God is.
Let us remember in commemorating the Passion of the Lord that his suffering was not only to spare us punishment for our offenses, but to open us to faith in him so that we might receive our eternal happiness in knowing God as he is.

Lent: Finding the Promised Land

St. Andrew of Crete's reflection on Exodus explains the importance of mortification: you have an arrogant will, O my soul, preferring gluttony and self gratification to the manna from heaven; go and imitate Moses in the wilderness, that like him you may behold God present in the burning bush.
God had called us out of the slavery of sin, but the human will must be strengthened to respond to this call.



You have heard, O my soul, how the waves and waters of the river formed a protective chamber for the baby Moses, allowing his basket of reeds to escape the cruel edict of the Pharaoh.

The midwives, though instructed by Pharaoh to kill the male infants of the Hebrews, obeyed their God instead.

Now that you, my hopeless soul, have been spared death like Moses, like him also be nourished on the wisdom of the Lord.

By killing the oppressive Egyptian, Moses severed his bond to Pharaoh. But you, O my hopeless soul, have not even begun to attack the wickedness of your mind.

If you have not accomplished even this much, how can you expect to pass through the time of repentance, which alone can drive away our sinful passions?

Go, my soul, and imitate the great Moses in the wilderness, that like him you may behold God present in the burning bush.

Think of the staff that Moses stretched over the waters to divide them. It is an image of the Cross of Christ whereby you, my soul, can also accomplish great things.

Aaron’s faithfulness was shown by his offering an acceptable sacrifice to God. But you, my soul, like the priests Hophni and Phineas have offered only your deceitful and selfish life.

[...] The waves of my transgressions have turned back on me, O Saviour, just as once the Red Sea turned back to engulf the Egyptian forces.

Like Israel of old you have an arrogant will, O my soul, preferring gluttony and self gratification to the manna from heaven.

The Canaanites’ wells can be likened to worldly philosophies, from which you, my soul, have preferred to drink rather than from the rock from which when struck by Moses there poured out a river of wisdom, the knowledge of God.

Like the arrogant Israelites in the wilderness, you prefer the comforts of Egypt and unclean food to manna, the food sent from heaven.

Water pouring from the rock when struck by Your servant Moses, prefigured Your life giving side, O Saviour, from which we saw the Water of Life.

Find the Promised Land and explore it secretly as Joshua, son of Nun, once did. See what kind of land it is and settle there, obeying the Law of God.

Andrew of Crete (c.650-740): The Great Canon, Tuesday of the First Week, Odes 5

My First Kreeft Class

I know I said there would be no more posts until after my retreat, but I couldn't wait to share my felicitous tidings. I was disappointed that I would not be able to take one of Peter Kreeft's courses immediately this semester (apparently taking advanced classes out of sequence is frowned upon), but then it turned out his class Philosophy in Literature was available as an elective. It would be additional on top of my other classes (Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Latin, Logic & Epistemology, Christian Moral Living, Faith & Reason) and all Dr. Kreeft's classes are notoriously difficult, with at least one book assigned per week plus papers, but I really didn't want to wait to cut my teeth. So with only a few days of rationalizing/wheedling/haggling/pleading I prevailed upon my formation director to allow me to take the course with the upperclassmen. I am very excited for class on Tuesday. I plan to try and record the lectures, so if anyone is interested in hearing about philosophy in literature from Peter Kreeft let me know.