Creeds

Creeds

Introduction: “From the times of the early Church till the present day, definitely formulated confessions of faith have played a large part both in the liturgy and in the Theology of all Christian denominations. We find them in the early Church predominantly as Baptismal Confessions; i.e. as formulas, which are spoken by the candidate at the Sacrament of Baptism or confirmed by him in response to a question put by the person baptizing him.

Since the council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), however, they have served concurrently as formulas for dogmatic decisions of ecclesiastical councils; and in the early middle ages they also began in Spain and Gaul to be recited ceremonially in the Sunday worship, a custom introduced also into the Roman Mass by Pope Benedict VIII in about the year 1020 at the wish of the emperor Henry II. Since that time the creed has been an established part of the Roman liturgy and passed thence into the liturgies of the Churches of the Reformation.”[1] 

Nicaean Creed:

“The formal and orderly presentation of the chief doctrines of the Catholic Faith was formulated at the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. It established, in an authoritative and true expression of belief, the divinity of the Second Person of the Trinity by pronouncing that the Son is “ Consubstantial with the Father.”[2]

  

“We believe in One God, the Father of all governing, Creator of things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, of the same essence of the Father, through whom all things came into being, both in heaven and on earth. Who for us men and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, becoming human. He suffered, on the third day rose, and ascended into heaven. And he will come to judge both the living and the dead. And we believe in the Holy Spirit. But, those who say, once he was not, or he was not before his generation, or, he came out of nothing or, who assert that he, the Son of God, is of a different Hypostasis, or, that he is a creature, or, changeable, or mutable, the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.”

The last part of the present creed as we have in our Sunday Liturgy was added to the Nicaean creed by the council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. After condemning the doctrines of Macidonius, the early Church Fathers formulated a statement to define the nature of the Holy Spirit:

” We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life; who proceed from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen”

The Apostles Creed:

“This prayer as a profession of Faith, contains twelve articles or fundamental doctrines. It is true that even in apostolic times a profession of faith was required of persons before receiving Baptisms. Its name is not of the fact that it was written by the Apostles, but it is so called because it is a summary of Apostolic Teaching.”[3]

“ I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” 

Differences:

1.      As I study both the creeds I have realized that they are same in contents. But they are different in forms. The Nicaea Creed is rather long in forms and describes everything in detail. Whereas I found that the Apostles Creed is very short but contains all the doctrines that the Nicaean creed contains. 

2.      The Necaean Creed is the communal expression of Faith. It reads as We believe……. Whereas the Apostles Creed is a personal expression of Faith. It reads as I believe …..

3.     The use of Words: Many words have been used in the Nicaean Creed in describing the nature of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Whereas in the Apostles Creed only few words were used to describe the nature of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

4.     The words that we don’t find in the Apostles Creed are- things visible and invisible, begotten, of the same essence of the Father, one Baptism for forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the dead.

5. The words that we don’t find in the Nicaean Creed are- Jesus was born of Virgin Mary, seated at the right hand of the Father, communion of Saints and the resurrection of the body. These are few differences that I could depict from both the creeds.  

Bibliography

1.      The Catholic Encyclopedia, illustrated by Virginia Broderick S.V. “Creed” Thomas Nelson ING., Publisher, New York, 1975.

2. Encyclopedia Britannica, A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, Vol. 10, Encyclopedia Britannica LTD, London, 1958.

Grace and Trinity

Question: What is Grace? How do you see it in relation to the Scripture?

The word grace is a literal translation of Latin gratia, equivalent to the Greek Charis and derived from the Latin adj. gratus, meaning “Pleasing”. Thence is derived the sense of something granted to someone, as being pleasing to him without its being strictly his due, a gratuitous favor granted to an individual without its being an obligation, and finally a “Pardon”, a free remission of a penalty incurred.

The fundamental meaning of the word “Grace” is bound up with love. What pleases us, what we find agreeable, is what we love; but from the first form of love, which is an attraction to the loved object we pass on to a higher form of love which is a “giving” to the being loved. The lover seeks what is pleasing to the beloved. Real love is always express by giving and above all, by giving of one’s self. The gift that comes from love, all that is generosity prompted by love, such is the deepest meaning of the word “grace”. According to Christian understanding, God is the source of grace. And grace is the personal presence of God in our life. Every individual experiences different graces of God in his or her life.  Human being is created by grace and also saved by grace. And Christian religion is the religion of grace.

There are three Hebrew words that help us to understand the meaning of Grace: 1. HEN; it refers to the gift of God. 2. HESED refers not only a feeling of solidarity, a sense of belonging, fidelity or loyalty but also expresses the sense of mercy and forgiveness. 3.RACHAMIN refers to Womb, where the new life begins. It is understood as the love of a mother for her child.

As we understand the deeper meaning of the word “grace” we see that it always implies that human being are not walled up, enclosed, imprisoned in themselves in what separates them from others, with their exacting requirements and well defined rights, but there is intercourse and frankness between them: that they are open with one another, and there is some mutual self giving one to another, and a sharing of something in common.

Grace in the Scripture:

Old Testament: In the Old Testament, we often read the Jewish people or some good men or women found Grace with God. “Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8), “Abraham said, my Lord if I find favor with you do not pass by your servant.” (Gen.18: 3) Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, bring up these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet, you have said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in my sight.” (Ex.33: 12), Again Moses said, “ If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-naked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for your inheritance.” (Ex.34: 9).

The meaning is that the man or woman who has found grace in God’s sight is pleasing to him and, at the same time, that God is bestowing upon him or her a gift, a benefit, and the important thing is that these two meanings are not simply juxtaposition but inseparably connected. Left to himself, and to his own resources and potentialities, man is a sinner. Therefore, he cannot merit the benefit of God; which moreover, if it were merited would be men due and hence root a pure gift.

Sinful man cannot of himself, be pleasing to God, for that he must receive a gift from God which transform him interiorly, cleanses him and sanctifies him by adoring him with qualities that render him pleasing to his creator.

Already then, we see grace not only as a pure gift of God which man does not deserve and cannot obtain by himself, but as something which, one given, completely changes him, by purifying him inwardly from sin, and rendering him good and holy. By his grace, God communicates to man the holiness of which he is himself the fountain-the head.

The Old Testament well says that grace is the gift of God; “and I will give favor to this people” (Ex.3: 21); “and the Lord will give favor;” (Ex. 11:3) “And the Lord gave favor to the people”. (Ex. 12:36). To Judith it was said: “The God of our Fathers gives the grace” (Judith 10:8). But this grace or favor is really goodness and interior holiness. “He that is good shall draw grace from the Lord” (Proverb.12: 2) The grace of God and His mercy is with His saints. (Wis. 4:25) The most complete example in the Old Testament, although the actual word “grace” does not occur in it, is to be found in Ezekiel 36:25-26. It says, “ I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

New Testament: The Gospel in particular uses the word to express the work of God in Jesus Christ, who is stated to be “full of Grace” (Jn. 14:1) and as having the grace of God in him (Lk. 2:40) and in Mary, who is greeted as “full of Grace”. Thus it is the sanctity of Jesus and Mary that is the work of God.

But it is in the teaching of St. Paul that the word was used as a matter of course in the precise sense which came to be reserve for it in Catholic theology; that is in the sense of a holiness which sinful man can neither have by any means of his own, nor merit by his works and his virtues, but which is given or freely imparted to him, as a pure gift of God, who at the same time, both cleanses him and sanctifies him. For example St. Paul tells us that we are “justified freely by his grace” (Rom 3:24) and that we are “saved according to the election of grace, and if by grace it is not now by works: otherwise grace is no more grace. (Rom 11:5-6). To the Corinthians he writes, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1Cor 15:10) and speaks to the Ephesians of “Christ by whose grace you were saved … for by grace you are saved…. and not of yourself, for it is the gift of God. (Eph.2: 5-8) He reminds Timothy “ God has called us by his holy calling, not according to our own works but according to his own purpose and grace (2Tim. 1: 9) and again “ to every one of us is given grace according to our measure of the giving of Christ” (Eph. 4:7). The same apostle writes to Titus: “that being justified by his grace we may be heirs according to the hope of life everlasting” (Tit.3: 7) and again to the Ephesians that God has “predestinated us into the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced us in his beloved Son”. (Eph. 1:6). 

Conclusion: As I understand the relation of grace in the Scripture, it is a promise in the Old Testament. God promised of gifts to various people that found favor with him. To Abraham, the father of the nations he promised of Land, Descendant and of Blessings. Our God is generous He gives open handed. He is merciful and forgiving. In the New Testament Jesus Christ, the only Son of God is the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people. Jesus is the way, the life and the truth. He is THE GRACE.

 

Bibliography

1. Class notes given by Fr. Paul Gomes on 23 August 2005.

St. Ambrose

Father of the Church

Ambrose was first of the four great Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church. He was born in Trier, Germany in the year about 339 A.D. His father, Aurelius Ambrosins, who was praetorian prefect of Gaul, died when Ambrose was a young boy. His mother (her name is unknown) took him, his sister, Mercellina and his brother Satyrus, to Rome. Marcellina became a nun and Satyrus a provincial prefect.Their education both is the family household and at school included a thorough training in Greek, which was to stand Ambrose in good stead later. He must have received a solid training in Christian doctrine also in a household in which Christian conduct and piety were emphasized. About 365 Ambrose and his brother Satyrus entered the civil service as advocates and c. 370 both were promoted to provincial governorship. Ambrose being made consularies or governor, of Liguria and Aemilia with his residence at Milan, the imperial capital of Roman Empire.  He soon acquired a reputation for uprightedness in administration and for blameless character. On the death of Arian Bishoop Auxentus, he had to quell the violence that aroused regarding the choice of a successor among Catholics and Arians, and then, much against his will , he was unanimously chosen as Bishop by both sides. Although brought up in a Christian family , he was still a catechumen. Within few days after his Baptism he was ordained to priesthood and consecrated as bishop of Milan (Dec.7, 374).

Episcopate:

He immediately distributed his share of the family wealth to the poor and set an example of strict asceticism in the Episcopal household, which was organized on a kind of semi monastic basis. In the administration of his charities he received the enthusiastic and self-sacrificing support of his brother Satyrus (d.378). Under the tutelage of the learned priest Simplicianus, who letter succeeded him in the See of Milan, he applied himself to the systematic study of theology. In exegesis he was profoundly influenced by the allegorical method of interpretation as developed by Philo and Origen. His chief guides in Theology were St. Athanasius, Didymus the blind, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Basil, and Hippolytus. The investigation of P.Courcelle have shown too, that he was well acquainted with Plotinus and made fruitful use of Neo-Platonic ideas in his development of Christian thought. However, Ambrose remained typical Roman in thought and language, and as a man of action. In his exegesis and in his theological expositions, as well as in the homilies that underlie most of his works, and even in his letters, he exhibits a marked predilection for moral teaching and exhortation. All his writings were composed at a short notice, as the occasion demanded in the course of an extraordinarily busy and difficult episcopate.

From the day of his election, he was repeatedly involved in problems of the gravest import for the Church and for the State, and he soon came to be recognized throughout the Western Empire as the great champion of orthodoxy and of the rights of the Church.

Conflict with the Arian Empress Justina:

Despite the aid rendered to the position of Valentinian by Ambrose’s mission to the usurperMaximus at Treves in 383, Valentinian’s mother , the Empress Justina, fearing the growing ascendancy of the bishop over her son, and as a staunch Arian, organized a coalition against Ambrose. She raised an issue by demanding that one basilica in Milan, namely the basilica Portiana outside the walls, be given to Arians. Ambrose was summoned to the imperial palace near the beginning of Lent in 385, but refused to give up the basilica. The incident created a riot in the city, and Ambrose himself had to be asked to calm his people. A few weeks later, just before Easter, Justina boldly demanded that the new basilica within the walls, Ambrose’s own cathedral Church, be turned over to the Arians, but he refused with the curt statement that “a bishop cannot give up the temple of God” (Epist.20.1). Beginning on Palm Sunday there was a series of clashes between the imperial troops and Ambrose’s congregations at new and old basilicas,and at the Portiana, accompanied by destruction of property, the bishop, however, stood his ground, and on Holy Thursday news was brought to him at the Portiana that the court has abandoned its attempt to seize any of his churches at that time.

The struggle was not over. With the help of the Arian Bishop Mercurinus Auxentius, Justina had an imperial edict passed against the Catholics in January 386, and Ambrose was summoned to appear before the Emperor and his council to dispute the points at issue with Auxentius. He refused , explaining his position at length, and finally , to avoid arrest, remained within the precincts of the new basilica. For several days and nights the church was surrounded by imperial troops, but they did not force an entrance. To relieve tensions and to encourage his flock, Ambrose introduced the antiphonal singing of Psalms and of hymns of his own composition. It was on this occasion also that he delivered his sermon against Auxentius, in which, in terse juridical style, he enunciated the epoch-making principle in relation of Church and State: imperator enim intra ecclesiam, non supra ecclesiam est. 

Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius:

Only two incidents marred temporally the cordial relations of Ambrose and Theodosius, the greatest personality of their age in Church and State, namely the callinicum on the Euphrates the Christian congregation and with the cannivance of their Bishop had burned a Jewish synagogue (late in 388), and Theodosius ordered that restored the synagogue at his own expanse. Ambrose opposed this order in vehement terms on the ground that Christians, in rebuilding a synagogue, would be committing an act of apostasy, and the Emperor reluctantly withdraw his order. 

In 390 several imperial officers were killed in a riot at Thesssalonica, and Theodosius, influenced primarily by his Master of the office, Rufinus ordered a savage reprisal that led to massacre of 7000 defenseless persons in the circus of Macedonian city. Ambrose left Milan at the news, but in a letter to the Emperor he reproached him for his crime and told him that under threat of excommunication , he msst do public penance.

Ambrose as a Pastor:

Despite his heavy involvement in political affairs of concern to the Church, Ambrose was a zealous defender of orthodoxy and, above all, a zealous pastor of souls. In his homilies he attacked severely all-social abuses of his age. With courage and eloquence of a Hebrew prophet, he denounced specially evil conduct in upper classes and its deplorable results. But he also expounded theological doctrines very effectively in his homilies.

Ambrose spent much of his time in prayer, lying special stress on the duty of praye ata night. Next to prater he valued the discipline of fasting. He strongly urged his people to practice fasting, especially in Lent, and he himself was scrupulous in this observance. He also considered fine clothes unsuitable for the clergy, and he himself cultivated simplicity in attire.

St. Ambrose held daily audiences which were attended by crowds of people of all classes and conditions, even by strengers from distant countries. When the long receptions were over, he devoted himself to study.

Writings:

The volume of his extant works is noteworthy when one considers that they were all written in the midst of an extraordinarily demanding episcopate. They often reveal, on the dogmatic and spiritual side, especially a heavy dependence on Greek works, but the borrowing is freely acknowledged. Ambrose was primarily concerned not with originality but with meeting the practical needs of dogmatic and moral instruction and exhortation. For the most part of his treatises were assembled from homilies, and the revision was hastily done.However, he was spendidly trained in Latin literature, and many passages in his works exhibit Christian Latin literary style at its best. Like Leo the great, he had a happy facility for coining clear and pithy phrases and definitions.

Exegetical Works:

All his Old Testament exegesis is based essentially on Philo and Origen Even the most literal of scriptural texts is given an allegorical or typological meaning. In view of the homiletic of his exegetical works, moral application is invariably a primary concern. His major contributions are: Exzmeron (6bks), based on the corresponding work of St. Basil: Expositio evangelii secundum Lucam (10 bks) of which 1 and 2 are taken over directly from Origen); and Expositio in Psalmum 118.

Moral Ascetic Works:

The De Officio (3 bks), written for the clergy of Milan, is the most important. This work is thoroughly Christian and, as it is usual in Ambrose, relies heavily on Scripture for example and authority. The other writings in this category are: De Virginibus ad Marcellinam sorenem (3 Bks), De Viduis, De Virginitate. In these treatises Ambrose reveals greater independence in developing his argument in favor of the life of virginity.

Dogmatic Works:

Three of these are against Arianism: De fide ad Gratianum (5 Bks), on the divinity of the Son; De Spirito Sancto (3Bks), based essentially on Didymus the blind, St. Athanasius, and St. Basil; and De incarnationis dominicae sacramento. Three others deal primarily wit the exposition  of the Sacraments and of the faith to catechumens and are of great importance for the history of the liturgy. De Sacramentis (6 Bks), De martyriis; and Explantio symboli.

Ambrose’s Contribution to Music:

St. Ambrose’s contribution to the music of western Church must not be left unmentioned. He improved the song itself by introducing a more lively and melodious song, which was now rendered not by professional singers alone, but by the whole congregation, singing alternately in two choirs. He also supplied new hymns of his own composition. While Hilary of Poitiers was the first Latin hymn writer and composer of a hymnbook, he did not succeed in getting his people to sing his compositions. They were exclusively dull and ill adapted for congregational singing. Thus Ambrose may very properly be regarded as the father and the founder of Latin hymnody.

Only two years after the death of Theodosius in 395, St. Ambrose died very early in the morning of Easter eve. Within an hour after death, his body was taken to the cathedral to lie in state that day and throughout the following night. On Easter Sunday after Mass, it was taken from the cathedral to the Ambrosian Basilica, where it was buried close to the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. The Church of St. Ambrogio in Milan still shelters the dust of St. Ambrose.

 

 

The 12 Anathematisms of St. Cyril against Nestorius

1.     If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the mother of God (θεοτοκος), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh [as it is written, “the Word was made flesh”]: let him be anathema.

2.     If anyone shall not confess that the Word of God the Father is unite hypostatically to flesh, and that with that flesh of his own, he is one only Christ both God and man at the same time: let him be anathema.

3.     If anyone shall after the [hypostatic] union divide the hypostases in the one Christ, joining them by that connection alone, which happens according to worthiness, or even authority and power, and not rather by a coming together, which is made by natural union: let him be anathema.

4.     If anyone shall divide between two persons or substances those expressions which are contained in the Evangelical and Apostolical writings, or which have been said concerning Christ by the Saints, or by himself, and shall apply some to him and to a man separate from the Word of God, and shall apply others to the only Word of God the Father, on the ground that they are fit to be applied to God: let him be anathema.

5.     If anyone shall dare to say that the Christ is a Theophorus (that is God bearing) man and not rather that he is very God, as an only Son through nature, because “the Word was made flesh,” and “hath a share in flesh and blood as we do:” let him be anathema.

6.     If anyone shall dare say that the Word of God the Father is the God of Christ or the Lord of Christ, and shall not rather confess him as at the same time both God and Man, since according to the Scriptures, “ The Word was made flesh”: let him be anathema.

7. If anyone shall say that Jesus as Man is energized by the Word of God, and that the glory of the Only begotten is attributed to him as something not properly his: let him be anathema.

8. If anyone shall dare to say that this assumed man ought to be worshipped together with God the Word, and glorified together with him, and recognized together with him as God, and yet as two different things, the one with the other (for this “Together with” is added [i.e., by the Nestorians] to convey this meaning); and shall not rather with one adoration worship the Emmanuel and pay to him one glorification, as [it is written] “The Word made flesh: let him be anathema.

9. If any man shall say that the one Lord Jesus Christ was glorified by the Holy Spirit, so that he used through him  a power not his own and from him received power against unclean spirits and power to work miracles before man and shall not rather confess that it was his own Spirit through which he worked these divine signs; let him be anathema. 

10. Whosoever shall say that it is not the divine Word himself, when he was made flesh and had become man as we are, but another that he, a man born of a woman, yet different from him who is become our Great High Priest and Apostle; or of any man shall say that he offered himself in sacrifice for himself and not rather for us, whereas, being without sin, he had no need of offering or sacrifice: let him be anathema.

11. Whosoever shall not confess that the flesh of the Lord gives life and that it pertains to the Word of God the Father as his very own, but shall pretend that it belongs to another person who is united with him [i.e., the Word] only according to honor, and who has served as a dwelling for the divinity; and shall not rather confess, as we say, that that flesh gives life because it is that of the Word who gives life to all: let him be anathema.

12. Whosoever shall not recognize that the Word of God suffered in the flesh, that he was crucified in the flesh, and that likewise in that same flesh he tested death and that he is become the first –begotten of the dead, for as he is God, he is the life and it is he that gives life: let him be anathema.

Bibliography: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D. and Henry Wace, D.D. Vol.14, Hendrickson Publishers, Massachusetts, 1995.

Christ the Wisdom

The 1^st letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians clearly tells us that Christ is the Wisdom. He is both the power of God and the Wisdom of God. St. Paul also reminds us that God’s folly is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. God’s will is not of that man’s will. God chose those who by human standards are fool to shame the wise and He chose those who by human standards are weak to shame the strong.

Wisdom is relatively a recent concept in the Bible. To discern what is good from what is not; to live according to such discernment; to obey God. This is Wisdom. As discussed in the paper, there are some types of Wisdom. They are as follows:

1) Popular Wisdom:

It can be described as the ability to do well in life. Popular wisdom is informally kept and communicated through proverbs. They are simple, sometimes deep and sometimes contradictory. “If you are intelligent, you will be praised, if you are stupid people will look down on you.” Proverb; 12:8.

Again the verse 17:13 says, “If you repay good with evil, you will never get evil out of your house.”

2) Political Wisdom:

It is the wisdom of the kings. The kings are supposed to be representatives of God. Wise kings know that they need help from God. In the Book 1 King, we see King Solomon asked wisdom from God. “ Give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil.” 1 kg. 3:9. But unfortunately very few kings were wise.

Few Scriptural texts on Wisdom:

In Genesis 41, the wise men of Pharaoh cannot understand his dreams. They have to listen to a foreigner, a slave, and a prisoner. This chapter shows that God of Israel gives that true wisdom to a poor.

Mt. 2:4-5 here the wise men from the East do not have the knowledge (the Wisdom) given by the law, but they are sincerely looking for ‘the infant king of the Jews.’ And they find him. The wise men of Israel have the necessary knowledge, but they do not search sincerely. They do not have a free wisdom.

Prophet Jeremiah speaks, “the Lord says wise men should not boast of their wisdom nor strong men of their strength, nor rich men of their wealth.” Jer.9: 23.

3) The wisdom of Philosophers:

This is wisdom of wise men regarding life, the suffering in life and death etc. They try to give different explanations regarding these matters. Psalm 90 says- “ Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise.” The wise men try to find a perfect order in everything; to find justice by saying that happiness and wealth are given to those who follow God’s law and who respect justice, while troubles and sorrows are given to those who commit sin and injustice.

But the experience shows that this is not always true. We have the example of Job in the Bible.

True wisdom can be found in God alone. True wisdom belongs to God, God has wisdom from the beginning, and wisdom was the counselor of God when he wonderfully created the world.

In the New Testament, Jesus fulfills the scriptures and the promises of the prophets also by revealing himself as the true wisdom, the true word, and true light. St. Paul tells us that true wisdom can only be a free gift of God, because it cannot be understood by our minds alone. True wisdom is simplicity of heart, is being little, is giving the same salary to all the laborers, is leaving everything to follow Jesus, is to loose one’s life. True wisdom is the Beatitudes, and the cross.

The Sacraments

Introduction: The Sacrament is a work of six books, consisting of six short addresses delivered by a Bishop to the newly Baptized, on six successive days, from Tuesday of Easter week through the following Sunday. Moreover, The Sacraments contains a very interesting exposition of the Lords’ prayer and a discussion of the parts of prayer, which are entirely lacking in the Mysteries.

The Sacraments: 1

According to St. Ambrose, “To be baptized and become a member of the church is a grace”. He said, “for you would not have been called to grace if Christ had not judge you worthy of his grace.” He explains the meaning of touching the ears and nostrils by the priest to those who are to be baptized. The priest has touched the ears that their ears may be opened to the sermon and exhortation of the priest. The priest touches the nostril so that they may receive the good ardor of eternal piety.

In the chapter 2 of the First volume St. Ambrose reminds the newly baptized of their baptismal commitment. He tells them that through Baptism they have renounced the devil and his works and also the world and its pleasures. They have made the promise to God. Therefore, their surety is held not on earth but in heaven. He says, “ so you have renounces the universe; you have renounced the world; be solicitous. He who owes money always considers his bond. And you who owe Christ faith keep faith, which is much more precious than money; for faith is an eternal patrimony, money a temporal one.”

In the chapter 3, he explains the efficaciousness of the sacrament of Baptism. Outwardly it is simply water is being used during baptism. He says, “for things which are seen (water) are temporal, but things which are not seen are eternal.”

In chapter 4 he said taht through baptism we pass the passage from sin to life, from fault to grace, from defilement to sanctification. He who passes through this font does not die but rises.

Chapter 5, He explains the meaning of the text 4king; 5:1-14. He speaks about the water. Not all water cures, but the water, which has the grace of Christ cures. Water does not cure unless the Holy Spirit descends and consecrates that water.

Chapter 6, The Israelites were baptized in the cloud and in the sea. The column of cloud is the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit and the water he displayed a figure of baptism.

The Sacraments: II

In Chapter 1, Ambrose spoke about the kinds of Baptism. There are the baptisms of Gentiles but they are not baptism. He said that they are baths, but cannot be baptisms. The flesh is bathed, but fault is not washed away; rather in that bath fault is contracted.

In Chapter 2, St. Ambrose interpreted the text Jn.5:4, where it was said that an angel of the lord went down at a certain time to the pond, and as often as the angel went down the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond is made cure. St. Ambrose pointed out that Christ is the Angel.

In chapter 3, it is said that the Apostles proclaims many kinds of Baptism but one Baptism. Another Baptism is in the flood; the baptism of our forefathers in the red sea. And the Baptism in the pond where the water shakes. Trinity is always present in the baptism.

The chapter 4 speaks about the commission of Christ to his apostles.  Jesus says, “Go ye, baptize the nation in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

In the chapter 5, it is said that the words that are being used at the time of Baptism are heavenly. Because they are Christ’s that we baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 6 defines the meaning of Baptism. St. Ambrose has encouraged the faithful to hear to what Christ speaks about the Baptism; “that the Pharisees, who did not wish to be baptized by John’s Baptism despised the council of God. Then, baptism is the council of God. How great is the grace where there is the council of God!”

Chapter 7 speaks about the nature of the Baptism. Whoever is baptized is baptized in the death of Jesus. It means that just as Christ died so you also test death; just as Christ died to sin and lives unto God, so you too, died to the former allurements of sin through the sacrament of Baptism and rose again through the grace of Christ.

The Sacraments: III

There are only two chapters in this section. The first chapter answers to some basic questions regarding the Sacrament of Baptism; such as why myrrh is to be applied upon the head, what is regeneration? etc.

The second Chapter also develops some other basic knowledge about the sacrament of Baptism. 

The Sacraments IV

Chapter 1 pointed out that through baptism everyone is anointed into the priesthood, is anointed to the kingdom. Everyone becomes the good odor of Christ.

In chapter 2  it is said that through baptism the newly baptized have received the authority to partake in the Eucharist. The newly baptized are compared to eagles renewed by the washing away of the sins.

In chapter 3 Ambrose urges the new baptized to accept what he says: That the mysteries of Christians are earlier than those of the Jews and the sacraments of the Christians are more divine than those of the Jews.

In Chapter 4 it is said that Jesus is the author of the sacraments. Here St. Ambrose speaks about the Eucharist. The bread is bread before the words of the sacraments, when consecration has been added; from bread it becomes the flesh of Christ.

Chapter 5 pointed out that Jesus established the Sacrament of Eucharist on the eve before he suffered. He took bread in his Holy hands, looked towards the heaven, toward you, Holy Father omnipotent, eternal God, giving thanks, blessed, broke; and having broken it, gave it to the Apostles and his disciples saying: “Take and eat this, all of you, for this is my body, which shall be broken for many. He did the same with the wine.

In chapter 6 it is said that each time we take part in the Eucharist we proclaim the death of the Lord and also the remission of Sin.

The Sacraments: V

In the chapter 1 it is said that Christ is the author of everything. He has no beginning and no end. He himself is both the first and the last. First because he is the author of all; and last not because He finds the end, but because He includes in all things.

In the chapter 2 it is said that we cannot follow Christ unless he himself draws us. Finally, that we may know he says: “ If I be lifted up, I will draw all things to myself.

In the chapter 3 it is pointed out that through the Sacrament of Baptism, the Baptized ones have received the grace of Christ. They have obtained the heavenly sacraments. The Church rejoices in the redemption of many and is glad with spiritual exultation that the members of her household are at hand dressed in white.

Chapter 4, the entire chapter deals with Prayer. It is about the prayer that is taught by Christ, namely ‘The Our Father.’ St. Ambrose has explained the meaning of the prayer to the newly baptized.

The Sacrament: VI

Chapter I, tells us how Christ is the living bread. He is the true Son of God. He gave us his flesh to eat and blood to drink. He is the living bread because he is a sharer of both divinity and body; he who receives the flesh participates in the nourishment of His divine substance.

Chapter 2 indicates the work of the Trinity. Those who are baptized are baptized in the name of the Trinity. St. Paul says that there are diversities of graces, but the same spirit, there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations, but the same God who works all in all.

Chapter 3 is the direction given to us how and where we should say our prayer. It is said that we can pray everywhere, we can pray always in our chamber. Our mind is our chamber. We can pray in secrecy because God hear us in secrets also.

Chapter 4 is focused mostly on the prayer in secret. God knows what we think and what we say. He hears our prayer before it is poured forth from our mouth.

Chapter 5 speaks mostly about four parts of prayer. a) The praise of God b) The supplication c) Intercession and d) Thanksgiving.

The Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord

This work in one book is not dated with certainty. Most scholars agree in placing it after De Fide, to which Ambrose refers in chapters 62, 81, and 100 of this Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord, and even after the De Spiritu It is to be noted that this work is sometimes described in the manuscripts as book IV of De Spiritu or Book IX of the whole work: De Fide, De Spiritu, and De Incarnatione. The earliest possible date seems to be late in the year 381.

The Work is divided into three main parts:

Part 1- the Introduction, including the discussion of the sacrifice of Cain and Abel. (Chapters. 1.1-2.13).

Part 2- the sermon proper on Incarnation (Chapters. 3.14-7.78)

Part 3- the reply to the objections of Palladius of Ritiara. (Chapters. 8.79-10.16)

Part 1 (Chapters 1:1-2:13)

In chapter 1, St. Ambrose has discussed about the true meaning of Sacrifice or offering. He mentioned the offering made by Cain and Abel. The Lord said, “ If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, you have sinned.” Abel knew how to divide and offer rightly and his offering was accepted to God. Whereas, Cain did not know how to divide rightly and his offering was rejected by God.

In chapter 2, it is said that for us Christ is the suffering Lamb of God. It was written, “Behold the Lamb of God; behold he who takes away the sins of the world.” St. Ambrose also has shown some Christological heresies of his time. Namely that of Arius, Paul of Samosata, Novatus, donatus etc. “ If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, you have sinned.” This sentence is against all heresies, which under the name of brotherhood in an unbrotherly fashion persecute the Church.

Part 2 (Chapters 3:14-7:78)

Chapter 3 is the sermon proper on Incarnation. St. Ambrose quoted Jn. 1:1. John clearly declared the everlasting divinity of the Word, but yet, lest anyone might separate the eternity of the Word from the Father, John added: “ and the Word was with God.” The Word was just as was the Father; since He was together with the Father. He was also in the Father, and He was always with the Father.

Chapter 4 develops the identity of Jesus by putting the question, who is Jesus? St. Ambrose rightly quoted it to show the divinity of Jesus. Many answered wrongly, thinking that Jesus was Elias, or Jeremias. But Peter through Divine revelation proclaimed, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of living God.” Christ agreed with Peter and said to him, “For he who speaks of the true generation of the Father, received it from the Father, did not received it from the flesh.”  

In Chapter 5, He has dealt with Faith. Faith is the foundation of the Church. The faith is that Christ is the Son of God, and eternal from the Father, and born of the Virgin Mary. He assumed the Sacrament of Incarnation, not divided, but one, because He one is both, that is as regards both divinity and body. Ambrose also spoke about the suffering of Christ. His suffering was not according to the substance of eternal life, but according to the assumption of the body.

In the Chapter 6, Ambrose spoke about some heresies. He said that we should condemn those who proclaim that Jesus came in Phantasm, as well as those who in directing their line of error say that the Son of God is not one and the same; although the evangelist says that “the Word was made flesh.” So that you should believe in One Lord Jesus, not two. Ambrose strongly pointed out that it is to Jesus that it was said, “ the Word became Flesh.” “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Word is of one substance with God according to the declaration of the Father and the assertion of the Lord himself, who says- “ I and the Father are One.”

In Chapter 7, Ambrose defended the human nature of Christ. For when the Lord says, “ My soul is sorrowful even unto death” for later, O my Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt, is referred not to the suffering of the Holy Spirit but to His assumption of a rational soul and to the affection of a human nature in Christ. On the other hand, Christ does not wish us to fear for Him; the Lord does not wish us to weep for him. So He says, “ ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves. Christ was purely divine and purely human. Ambrose said that I do not divide Christ when I distinguish the substance of his flesh and divinity; but I proclaim one Christ with the Father and the Spirit of God.

Part 3 (Chapters 8:79-10:16)

In chapter 8, Ambrose continues to explain the nature of God. It is rightly said of God the Father that He is God by nature. The nature of God the Father is the same as that of the Son, is same also as that of the Holy Spirit. Christ himself has proved the unity of the divinity. He said, “ I and the Father are One” and “ All things whatsoever the Father has are mine. St. Paul by saying, “who by nature are no gods, shows that the nature of true God is one.

In Chapter 9, St. Ambrose condemned the position of Arius regarding Christ. Arius said that the Father was unbegotten, the Son both begotten and created. St. Ambrose said, “if you say ‘made’ or ‘created’ which they sometimes say of the Son, since many things have been made and created, you do not seem to have signified a property of substance, but a species of quality.

Chapter 10 is the discussion of the absurdities of those who say that the Son is like the Father but not of one substance with the Father. St. Ambrose argues that the images of God are seen in the Son, that is eternal divinity, omnipotence, and majesty. Jesus says, “ He who sees me, sees the Father also.” Thus since the Father is uncreated, the Son is also uncreated; since the Father is not lesser, the Son is not lesser; since the Father is omnipotent, so also the Son is omnipotent.

Bibliography

AMBROSE, St: Theological and Dogmatic Works, translated by Roy J. Deferrari, Ph.D., The Catholic Universty of America Press, Washington, 1963.

Matthew 9:1-8 “The Healing of the Paralytic”

Literary Criticism

Time: Unknown

Place: Capharnaum

Situation: Jesus was just coming from the country of Gadarenes.

Persons: People, Paralytic man, Scribes and Jesus.

Relationship: Listeners and Teacher.

Literary Form: Healing Miracle Story

Need: Paralytic man needs to be cured

Deed: “Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven (V. 2b)

            “Rise, take up your bed, and go home” (V.6c)

Result: He rose and went home (V.7)

Reaction: The crowd saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God.

Significant Words Used: “Your sins are forgiven”.

Style: Jesus uses questions: Why do you think evil in your heart?

For which is easier to say, ‘your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk?

Tradition History

1. The Evangelist used the Old Testament source. (Jer. 31: 34b)

“ All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”

2. Old Testament Meaning: Only God forgives Sins.

New Testament Meaning: Jesus forgives Sins.

3. The Evangelist used the text to present his massage.

4. It gives to the readers the idea of repentance in the early Christian Community. It is the sacrament of reconciliation in our days.

Redaction Criticism

1. This passage fits in the discourse transmits the gift of authority to act.

2. Similarities: Jesus came to his own city (Mt. V.1)

                        He was at home (Mk.V. 1b)

 What we have in the Gospel of Matthew we have them in the other Gospels too. But Mark and Luke have illustrated the incident.

3. Difference: Behold they brought him a paralytic (Mt.V. 2b)

                       4 men carried a paralytic (Mk.V. 3)

                        Men were bringing on the bed a man who was paralyzed. (Lk.V. 18)   

This man is blaspheming (Mt.V.3b)

Why thus this man speaks thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mk.V.7)

Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?   

Rise, take up your bed and go home (Mt. V.6c)

I say to you rise, take up your pallet and go home (Mk.V. 11)

I say to you rise, take up your bed and go home (Lk. V. 24b)

4. This text shows why Jesus was rejected, misunderstood, suffered and died.

5. Jesus is the Son of God; He has the authority to forgive sins.               

6. This narrative is trying to tell the readers that they are to forgive one another. The idea of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is being focused in this narrative.

Oblate Spirituality

Introduction:

 When the appointed time came, the Father sent Jesus Christ  “to bring the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favor” (Lk.4: 18-19). He called men to become disciples and share in his mission; in the Church he continues to call others to follow him. St. Eugene de Mazenod heard that call. He chose to become “the servant and priest of the poor” and to give his life wholly to them.

Faced with an overwhelming task, he gathered a few priest around him, men who shared his impassioned zeal for the most abandoned. “Live together as brothers,” he urged them; “strive to imitate the virtues and examples of our Savior Jesus Christ principally through preaching the word to the poor.” At his persuading, they committed themselves permanently to the preaching of mission, binding themselves by religious vows. Soon afterwards he decided to receive Brothers as true sons of the family. Thus began the congregation of the Missionary Oblates of the Most holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary. On February 17,1826, the new congregation and its Constitutions were formally approved by Pope Leo XIII.

Who is an Oblate?

St. Eugene wrote in the preface of the Constitutions and Rules: An Oblate must strive to be Saint. He must wholly renounce himself, striving solely for the glory of God, the good of the Church, and the growth and salvation of souls. He must work unremittingly to become humble, meek, obedient, lovers of poverty and penance, mortified, free from inordinate attachment to the world or to family, man filled with zeal, ready to sacrifice goods, talents, ease, self, even his life, for the love of Christ, the service of the church, and the sanctification of his brethren.

Oblate Spirituality is based on these following points:

1. To live Christ Jesus Crucified:

The cross of Christ is central to our mission. Like the Apostle Paul, “we preach Christ and him crucified”. Through the eyes of our crucified Savior we see the world, which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continue to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection.

2. Radical Discipleship:

Our mission requires that, in a radical way, we follow Jesus who was chaste and poor and who redeemed mankind by his obedience. That is why, through a gift of the Father, we chose the way of the evangelical counsels.

3. Community Life:

The Community of the Apostle with Jesus is the model of our life. Community is the life giving reality fashioned by the vows, which binds us in love to the Lord and to his people. Thus we become a living cell in the Church in which we strive together to bring the grace of our Baptism to its fullness.

4. Unity of Life:

We achieve unity in our life only in and through Jesus Christ. Our ministry involves us in a variety of tasks, yet each act in life is an occasion for personal encounter with the Lord, who through us gives himself to others and through others give himself to us.

5. Our life a prayer:

It is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for those to whom he sends us. Our life in its dimensions is a prayer that, in us and through us, God’s kingdom comes.

6. Spiritual Resources:

The Eucharist, source and summit of the Church’s life, is at the heart of our life and action. We will live such lives as to be able worthily to celebrate it everyday.

The Word of God nourishes our spiritual life and apostolate. We will not only study it diligently but also develop a listening heart, so that we may come to a deeper knowledge of the Savior whom we love and wish to reveal to the world.

The liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the Church, the spouse of Christ. In it we praise the Father for his wonderful works and invoke his blessing on our mission.

In the prolonged silent prayer we make each day, we let ourselves be molded by the Lord and find in him the inspiration of our conduct. Following our tradition, we devote an hour each day to mental prayer, part of which is spent together in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

Examination of conscience is important in helping us become aware of the ways in which the Lord calls and is present to us throughout the day. In this examine we evaluate the faithfulness of our response to him.

7. Times of Renewal:

To put ourselves increasingly at the service of God in his people, we set aside special time each month and each year for deeper personal and community prayer, for reflection and renewal. One week each year will be spent in retreat.

8. Devotion to Mother Mary:

Mary Immaculate is the patronage of our congregation. With Mary Immaculate, the faithful handmaid of the Lord, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we enter into closer union with Jesus Christ. We contemplate with her the mysteries of incarnated Word, especially in praying the Rosary. Mary Immaculate, in her faith response and total openness to the call of the Spirit, is the model and guardian of our consecrated life.

Prepared by: Bros. Sagor Rozario, Valentine Talang & Pius Pohdueng.

Luke 17:11-19 ( Cleansing of Ten Lepers)

Literary Criticism

Time:               Vague

Place:               On the way to Jerusalem

                        Passing alone between Samaria and Galilee

Situation:         Ten lepers needed healing.

Persons:           Jesus and Ten Lepers

Relations:        Physician and Patients

Lit.Form:         Healing Miracle Story

Need:              “Jesus, Master have mercy on us.” V. 13

Deed:              “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” V. 14

Result:             As they went they were healed. V. 14b

Reaction:         One of them when he saw that he was healed

                                                                               - he turned back

                                                                               - praising God with a loud voice and

                                                                               - he felt on his face at Jesus’ feet

                                                                               - giving him thanks. V. 15-16

Reaction of Jesus: Jesus said-

                                                Were not ten cleansed?

                                                Where are the nine?

                                                Was no one found to return and

                                                give praise to God except this foreigner?

Jesus said to him- “Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well”    V.17-19

Artistic Device: Questioning form.

Tradition History

1. Sources used: Old Testament (Psalm 123:3)

“Be merciful to us Lord be merciful,

We have been treated with so much contempt,

We have been mocked too long by the rich

and scorned by proud oppressors.”

2. Most commentators explain this fact by referring to the pressure that weighed heavily upon the people in the in the post-exilic times under the over lordship of Persia; it is, however, also possible that their affliction has been due to conflicts within the nation itself.

3. ………………….

4. Deep faith in Christ brings Salvation.

Redaction Criticism:

1. This passage fits into the section the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.

2. This is unique of Luke. There is no similarities and dissimilarities.

3. In larger section it fits in journeys of Jesus.

4. No unique views, since it has no parallels. 

5.  This story provides an instance of Jesus holding up a non-Jew as an example to his Jewish contemporaries. Moreover, it is the faith in Jesus manifested by the foreigner that has brought him salvation.         

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[1]Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 6, s.v “ Creeds”, London, 1958, pp 656.

[2] The Catholic encyclopaedia, edited by Robert Brodick, s.v. “Necaean Creed” Thomas Nelson ING.. Publisher, Newyork, pp 423.

[3] The Catholic Encyclopaedia, edited by Robert Broderick, s.v. “Apostles Creed” Thomas Nelson ING.. Publisher, New York  p.45.