O sing to the Lord
a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory. The Lord has made known his victory, he has revealed
his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love
and faithfulness
I think that, upon reading this
passage, the question which stands out is: What marvelous things? Of course, the answers will begin with
salvation, blessings, etc. However, are
we really rejoicing over those things, or are they just things that we hope
fore, or perhaps even think are owed to us for believing in Christ and being
Catholic? Or is it a “forced” rejoicing, a working up of emotions by repeating
stanzas, etc., as we see televised in some Protestants broadcasts?
One of the first things that came to mind upon
meditating on this passage is what Pope Benedict XVI says in his book, Co-Workers
of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year: “Saint John Chrysostom
comments on the passage in the Acts of the Apostles that relates how Paul and
Barnabas healed the lame man in Lystra. The excited crowd saw in these strange
individuals who could exercise such power a visitation of the gods Zeus and Hermes.
They called the priests and wanted to offer a sacrifice of bullocks. But
Barnabas and Paul were appalled and called to the crowd: ‘We are mortals just
like you, and we bring you good news’ (Acts 14:15). Chrysostom remarks here:
They were, to be sure, mortals like the others, yet they were also different
from the others because tongues of fire had rested upon their human nature.
That is what distinguishes the Christian—that he has received a tongue of fire
in addition to his human nature. That is how the Church came into being. Each
person receives the tongue of fire that is wholly and personally his and, as
this person, he is a Christian in a unique and inimitable way. Admittedly, one
who encounters the average Christian today is likely to inquire: ‘But where,
then, is the tongue of fire?’ The words spoken by Christian tongues today are
unfortunately anything but fire. They taste all too much like water that has
been left standing and is barely lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. We have no
desire to burn either ourselves or others, but in not doing so we place
ourselves at a distance from the Holy Spirit and our Christian Faith
degenerates into a self-made philosophy of life that wants to disturb as few as
possible of our comfortable habits and relegates the sharpness of protest to a
place where it can cause the least inconvenience to our customary way of life.
If we elude the burning fire of the Holy Spirit, it is only at first glance
that being Christian seems easy for us. What is comfortable for the individual
is uncomfortable for the whole.”[2] For this reason, I think it is necessary to
answer the question, “What marvelous things?”
In commenting on the sentence, “O sing to the Lord a new song,” St.
Augustine correctly surmises: “The new man knows this; the old man knows it
not. The old man is the old life; and
the new man, the new life. The old life
is derived from Adam; the new life is formed in Christ.” Therefore, let us look up the difference.
St. Paul, being inspired, writes: “Now the
works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party
spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you
before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”[3] This is what we were prior to Baptism. Now, let us see what we have become—or is
being transformed into: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against
such there is no law.”[4] Are not these marvelous things that our Lord
has done for us?
Let’s look at what the Apostle says about
those who do not exhibit the traits of God, but suppresses them: “They were
filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy,
murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God,
insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that
those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve
those who practice them.”[5] Is it not marvelous what has done in us and
is doing in us? Knowing what God is
changing us into, we “who belong to Christ Jesus [are crucifying] the flesh
with its passions and desires.”[6] Because we live by the Spirit, we also walk
by the Spirit. Therefore, “let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another,
no envy of one another.”[7] Is it not marvelous what God has changed us
into and is changing us into? Does this
not cause joy to start bubbling up in us?
O sing to the Lord a new song, for
he has done marvelous things!
St. Augustine opines: “What marvelous things? Hear: ‘His own right hand, and His holy arm,
hath healed for Him.’ What is the Lord’s
holy Arm? Our Lord Jesus Christ…His holy
arm then, and His own right hand, is Himself. Our Lord Jesus Christ is therefore the arm of
God and the right hand of God. For this
reason is it said, ‘has He healed for Him.’ It is not said only, ‘His right hand has
healed the world,’ but ‘has healed for Him.’ For many are healed for themselves, not for
Him. Behold how many long for bodily
health and receive it from Him. They are
healed by Him, but not for Him. How are
they healed by Him and not for Him? When
they have received health, they become wanton.
They who when sick were chaste, when cured become adulterers. They who when in illness injured no man, on
the recovery of their strength attack and crush the innocent. They are healed, but not unto Him. Who is he who is healed unto Him? He who is healed inwardly. Who is he that is healed inwardly? He who trusts in Him that, when he shall have
been healed inwardly, reformed into a new man, afterwards this mortal flesh too,
which doth languish for a time, may in the end itself even recover its most
perfect health. Let us therefore be
healed for Him.”[8] We are healed for Christ, for God, when we
exhibit the traits of Him.
This becomes more clear from the teaching
of St. Paul: “And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses
and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world,
following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in
the sons of disobedience. Among these we
all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and
mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But
God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even
when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with
him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might
show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own
doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”[9] These are the ones who have been healed for
Him. Is this not a marvelous thing?
“If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is
our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death
therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is
coming. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all
away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie
to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices
and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the
image of its creator…Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another
and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord
has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”[10]
These are marvelous things that God has
initiated and has done—with our cooperation of a willing mind, a willing mind
working with this transformation God is working in us. It is then that we are healed for Him.
Many Protestants are concerned with the
fact: Is an individual going to heaven or hell?
And, of course, they think that they are for certain going to
heaven. If that was true, the individual
is being healed for himself. For the
Catholic, being a part of the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ, he knows
that he is being healed for God, for the benefit of all of humanity. It is recorded that God told St. Catherine of
Siena: “Your main thought should be to put an end to your selfishness, to
neither look for nor desire anything except following my sweet Truth, Christ
crucified. This is to seek only the
honor and glory of my name and the salvation of souls. Because they [sanctified children of God]
live in this soothing light, they are always peaceful and calm. None of those
things that normally cause scandal bother them, since they have subdued their
own will. They crush underfoot all those
persecutions of the world and the devil.
They calmly stand in the turbulent waters of temptation. They cannot be hurt because they are anchored
to the flaming branch of desire.
Everything is joy for them. They
judge neither my servants nor anyone else.
Instead, they find reason for joy in every situation and in every person
they encounter. They say: ‘Thank you,
eternal Father, that in your house there are so many dwellings!’ (cf. Jn
14:2). They rejoice in the great variety
of ways in which people walk, more so than if all followed a similar path. In the variety, they see a reflection of my
goodness.… This is not only true of good things, but they do not pass judgment
even on the sinful. Instead, they are
compassionate toward them. They hold
them in prayer and say: ‘Today this is true of you, but tomorrow it could be me
if I am not sustained by grace’.”[11] This is to the benefit of all of
humanity. Is this not a marvelous
thing?
The Lord has made
known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Is this not a marvelous thing?
[1]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Ps 98:1–3.
[2]
Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the
Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year, ed. Irene Grassl,
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992), 159–160.
[3]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council
of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Ga 5:19–21.
[4] Ibid.,
Ga 5:22–24.
[5] Ibid.,
Ro 1:29–32.
[6] Ibid.,
Ga 5:24.
[7] Ibid.,
Ga 5:25–26.
[8]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 480–481.
[9]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Eph 2:1–10.
[10] Ibid.,
Col 3:1–14.
[11]
Mary Lea Hill, Path of Holiness: Wisdom
from Catherine of Siena, 2011, 79–80.
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