The Beauty of Thorns

Cursed is the ground because of you!  In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life.  Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.^[1]

            Mostly, when we read of thorns in Scripture, it is not in a good sense, e.g. the godless are all like thorns.^[2]  Nonetheless, because they are part of God’s creation, there must be a good in them also.  Thorns were created before the Fall; however, they would have easily been kept under control.  After the Fall, they grow with surprising exuberantly, and the necessaries of life can be procured only with much labor.^[3]  Thorns guarded the good from harm prior to the Fall.  Afterwards, thorns “guarded” evil against the penetration of good.  The reverse occurred.  God telling Adam, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die,”^[4] was the “thorn” to guard Adam and that which was under his dominion from evil.  Sin does not come about by striving after what is evil but by the desertion of that which is better.  Therefore, it is the deed itself that is evil, not the nature which the sinner uses amiss—his humanity--for it is evil to use amiss that which is good.^[5]  Adam, in his disobedience, deserted that which is better, that which is good.  He deserted Life, which absence causes Death.  He misused the purpose of the will and intellect which he had been given.  Of its own, good cannot come of misuse or the desertion of what is better.

            Thorn bushes are found throughout Palestine. They are an annoyance to farmers, who try to keep their fields clear of such weeds.^[6]  They “guard” against crops growing in the area.  Therefore, they had to be removed in order for there to be agriculture.  On the other hand, vineyards and gardens were surrounded by hedges of thorns (Isa. 5:5).^[7]  This is for good.  It was to protect the vineyards and gardens.

            On the one hand, we can--from carelessness on our part, when through our own faults, coldness has come upon us, and we have behaved carelessly and hastily, and owing to slothful idleness have fed on bad thoughts--make the ground of our hearts bring forth thorns and thistles and consequently make us sterile and powerless as regards all spiritual fruit and meditation;^[8] or, on the other, we can allow the outside thorns to teach us.  Succoth—which means “booths,”—was the first encampment of the Israelites after leaving Ramesses (Ex. 12:37).  Also, Succoth--a city on the east of Jordan—was a city in which Gideon visited the rulers of the city with severe punishment, beating them with thorns and thistles, in order to teach the men of the city (Judg. 8:13–16).  At this place were erected the foundries for casting the metal-work for the temple (1 Kings 7:46).^[9]  In this case, thorns—although painful—were utilized for good.

            We, perhaps, daily meet with domestic persecutions and contradictions and look upon them as obstacles to our progress in the way of perfection, as thorns in our road.  They may, indeed, be called thorns; but they produce and guard the sweetest and most beautiful flowers of virtue.  It is owing to our sloth, cowardice, and impatience--it is our fault--if they are hindrances of what they are designed by God to advance and perfect in our souls.^[10]

            St. Basil teaches us that all who are attached to the rose--as might be expected in the case of lovers of the beautiful--are not displeased at the thorns from out of which the flower grows. He states, “I have even heard it said about roses--by someone, perhaps in jest, or it may be even in earnest, that nature has furnished the bloom with those delicate thorns, like stings of love to lovers, to excite those who pluck them to [a more intense] longing by these ingeniously adapted pricks.^[11]

            The picture on the left is “Behold the Man.”  On Jesus was placed a crown of thorns.  In the Markan context, the “crown” was more a part of the mockery of Jesus as King of the Jews than an instrument of torture.  However, there is also a meaning behind it.  The thorns can also symbolize kingship (“rays” emanating from the king’s head).^[12]  The “crown” can also be paying honor to a “victor” (Weissenrieder, “Crown of Thorns,” 118).  “An examination of the use of this motif over time reflects an association of the crown/wreath with the divine, the victors, the [heads] of competition, and the collective community that is honored by them.  In a sporting competition, the hosts wearing the crown ‘were more honored in the wearing of these bust wreaths or garlands rather than the [victor] himself’ (Weissenrieder, ‘Crown of Thorns,’ 119).  Bringing this analysis into conversation with the crown of thorns ... from the perspective of pagan understanding, the coronal wreath can be understood as a sign either of death or collective victory.  A Christian understanding is able to combine both death and victory: death becomes victory for many … as a victor, Christ engages this contest for the deity and the people’ (Weissenrieder, ‘Crown of Thorns,’ 121, 135). … It can also be understood as an intentional deviation from the crown of rays belonging to Caesar and thus can depict the humiliation of Christ or serve as an explicit statement of Christ’s divine status.”^[13]  This is the flesh subdued.  Jesus submitted to others, not only for his good but for the good of humanity.

            “What sort of garland, however, I pray you, did He who is the Head of the man and the glory of the woman, Christ Jesus, the Husband of the Church, submit to in behalf of both sexes? Of thorns, I think, and thistles—a figure of the sins which the soil of the flesh brought forth for us, but which the power of the cross removed, blunting, in its endurance by the head of our Lord, death’s every sting.  Yes, and besides the figure, there is [abusive language], and dishonor, and infamy, and the ferocity involved in the cruel things which then disfigured and lacerated the temples of the Lord, that you may now be crowned with laurel, and myrtle, and olive, and any famous branch, and which is of more use, with hundred-leaved roses too, culled from the garden of Midas, and with both kinds of lily, and with violets of all sorts, perhaps also with gems and gold, so as even to rival that crown of Christ which He afterwards obtained.  For it was after the gall [that] He tasted the honeycomb (a very striking collocation of Matt. 27:34 and Luke 24:42), and He was not greeted as King of Glory in heavenly places till He had been condemned to the cross as King of the Jews, having first been made by the Father for a time a little less than the angels, and so crowned with glory and honor.  If for these things, you owe your own head to Him, repay it if you can, such as He presented His for yours; or be not crowned with flowers at all, if you cannot be with thorns, because you may not be with flowers.”^[14]

            Our fleshly desires are one type of “thorns” which attempt to dissuade us from good virtues, trying to “protect” the fallenness in us.  This is our fallen human nature.  Another type of “thorn” is other human beings.  The Son of God, Jesus, became Man; and, because he had no sin, he is the “victor” of humanity—albeit with pain and suffering.  In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life, meaning that only by toil will we eat the fruit of eternal life.  Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  Human nature, because of concupiscence, will bear thorns and thistles for us; however, by perseverance, we shall eat the [wheat] of the field, the Eucharist.  By the sweat of our brow, we shall eat Bread—the Eucharist, the Body of Christ—until we return to the ground, from which we were taken.  “There is no one … who does not take the bread mentioned above with[out] the sweat of his brow and anxious efforts of his heart.”^[15]  “For this law is spiritual which bids us [to] eat in the sweat of our brow that ‘true bread which comes down from heaven.”^[16]

            “With a crown of thorns was He crowned, to signify that He took the diadem of the kingdom, of the house of David.  With a crown of thorns was He crowned, [He who was] the King of kings; but He took the diadem of the king of those that shamed him.”^[17]  We must train ourselves—by the grace of God—to do likewise.  It is very difficult because the natural tendency is to strike out on those who do harm to us.  When we do, we show that we are just as they are: thorns striking out to prevent the growth of goodness of taking place, refusing to take the gall in order that we may eat of the honeycomb, preventing others to enjoy the rose.  Humanity (the earth) shall bear for us thorns and thistles; but, if we persevere by the grace of God, we shall eat of the Bread of Life.  “We are His chosen lilies. He dwells as a King in our midst—He lets us share the honors of His Royalty—His Divine Blood bedews our petals—and His Thorns as they wound us spread abroad the perfume of our love.”^[18] 

            “[The] tree is a cross—and thus has become an altar. The child bears the cross and the crown of thorns in his hands. These are the signs of the love that transforms the tree into a cross and the cross into the table of eternal life.  The true tree of life is not far from us, somewhere in a world that we have lost. It has been established in our midst, not only as an image and sign, but in reality. Jesus, who is himself the fruit of the tree of life, and life itself, has become so small that our hands can enclose him. He makes himself dependent upon us in order to make us free and to raise us up from our “sickness where we fall down”. Let us not disappoint the trust he places in us. Let us place ourselves in his hands, just as he has placed himself in our hands!”^[19]

            Our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds may very well be thorns and thistles.  These are the thorns and thistles we must run away from, fight against.  From these, we can cannot bear good fruit.  The thorns from the outside, these are the ones that allow the love of God to flourish.  They prick; they are extremely painful; nonetheless, they allow beauty to flourish.  The beauty of the thorn.

            In conclusion, I want to share from the Shepherd of Hermas:

                       

                        And he said to me, “Do you see this shepherd?” “I see him, sir,” I said. “This,” he answered, “is the angel of luxury and deceit.  He wears out the souls of the servants of God and perverts them from the truth, deceiving them with wicked desires, through which they will perish, for they forget the commandments of the living God and walk in deceits and empty luxuries; and they are ruined by the angel--some being brought to death, others to corruption.”  I said to him, “Sir, I do not know the meaning of these words, ‘to death, and to corruption’.” “Listen,” he said.  “The sheep which you saw merry and leaping about are those which have took themselves away from God forever and have delivered themselves over to luxuries and deceits of this world.  Among them, there is no return to life through repentance because they have added to their other sins and blasphemed the name of the Lord.  Such men, therefore, are appointed unto death.  And the sheep which you saw not leaping but feeding in one place are they who have delivered themselves over to luxury and deceit but have committed no blasphemy against the Lord.  These have been perverted from the truth.  Among them there is the hope of repentance by which it is possible to live.  Corruption, then, has a hope of a kind of renewal, but death has everlasting ruin.”  

                        Again, I went forward a little way, and he showed me a tall shepherd, somewhat savage in his appearance, clothed in a white goatskin, and having a wallet on his shoulders, and a very hard staff with branches and a large whip.  And he had a very sour look, so that I was afraid of him, so forbidding was his aspect.  This shepherd, accordingly, was receiving the sheep from the young shepherd, those, viz., that were rioting and luxuriating but not leaping; and he cast them into a precipitous place, full of thistles and thorns, so that it was impossible to extricate the sheep from the thorns and thistles; but they were completely entangled amongst them.  These, accordingly, thus entangled, pastured amongst the thorns and thistles and were exceedingly miserable, being beaten by him; and he drove them hither and thither and gave them no rest; and, altogether, these sheep were in a wretched plight.

                        Seeing them, therefore, so beaten and so badly used, I was grieved for them, because they were so tormented and had no rest at all.  And I said to the Shepherd who talked with me, “Sir, who is this shepherd who is so pitiless and severe and so completely devoid of compassion for these sheep?”  “This,” he replied, “is the angel of punishment; and he belongs to the just angels and is appointed to punish.  He accordingly takes those who wander away from God and who have walked in the desires and deceits of this world and chastises them as they deserve with terrible and diverse punishments.”  “I would know, sir,” I said, “Of what nature are these diverse tortures and punishments?”  “Hear,” he said, “the various tortures and punishments. The tortures are such as occur during life.   For some are punished with losses, others with want, others with sicknesses of various kinds, and others with all kinds of disorder and confusion.  Others are insulted by unworthy persons, and exposed to suffering in many other ways, for many--becoming unstable in their plans--try many things, and none of them at all succeed, and they say they are not prosperous in their undertakings; and it does not occur to their minds that they have done evil deeds, but they blame the Lord.  When, therefore, they have been afflicted with all kinds of affliction, then are they delivered unto me for good training, and they are made strong in the faith of the Lord; and, for the rest of the days of their life, they are subject to the Lord with pure hearts, and are successful in all their undertakings, obtaining from the Lord everything they ask; and then they glorify the Lord that they were delivered to me and no longer suffer any evil.”^[20]

            The beauty of thorns.

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^[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ge 3:17–19.

^[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993), 2 Sa 23:6.

^[3] George Leo Haydock, Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary, (New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1859), Ge 3:18.

^[4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993), Ge 2:16–17.

^[5] Augustine of Hippo, St. Augustin: The Writings against the Manichaeans and against the Donatists, 1887, 4, 359.

^[6] Scott Hahn, Ed., Catholic Bible Dictionary, 2009, 909.

^[7] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible dictionary, 1893.

^[8] John Cassian, Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lérins, John Cassian, 1894, 11, 331.

^[9] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible dictionary, 1893.

^[10] Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, (New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1903), 2:134.

^[11] Basil of Caesarea, St. Basil: Letters and Select Works, 1895, 8, 323.

^[12] John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark, ed. Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), 2:435.

^[13] Christina Bosserman, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016.

^[14] Tertullian, Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, 1885, 3, 102.

^[15] John Cassian, Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lérins, John Cassian, 1894, 11, 525–526.

^[16] John Cassian, Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lérins, John Cassian, 1894, 11, 526.

^[17] Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory the Great (Part II), Ephraim Syrus, Aphrahat, 1898, 13, 211.

^[18] Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and T. N. Taylor, The Story of a Soul, (London: Burns and Oates, 1912), 269.

^[19] Benedict XVI, The Blessing of Christmas, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), 59–60.

^[20] Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, Eds., Fathers of the Second Century: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Clement of Alexandria (Entire), 1885, 2, 36–37.

Never Stop Loving, and Love Will Never Stop

            My wife and I, as I have stated previously, enjoy watching the Taiwanese TV shows on Netflix because they have more morality in them than Hollywood movies or American TV shows.  We are currently watching “Inborn Pair;” and, in it, they have the line—for the fifteenth rule of the Daughter-in-Law’s Guidebook: “Never stop loving, and the loving will never stop.”  This caused me to think of God’s love for us.  We do not see ourselves as rebellious; nevertheless, that does not negate the fact that we are extremely rebellious; and they saying applies to us directly: This is indeed a stiff-necked people.^[1]  I think we all know pretty well how God wants us to live, but we live as we desire to live, our will be done.  We live by what pleases me, what makes me happy.

            I know there are some who disagree with me when I use all-inclusive words such as “we.”  They say, “Well, that does not include me,” or “It does not include all.”  We are one type of being: human.  We are also one Body because of Baptism.  Do we commit sin?  Yes.  Then this applies to all.  Everything we see someone doing, whether good or evil, is also in each of us.  It may be dormant, but it’s there.  Often, it is whether we have it under control, cooperating with the grace God has given us. 

            Everything God tells us to do and not do is love, goodness, justice, and happiness.  We are rebellious and stiff-necked because we want to do what pleases us.  It is just as it was with a friend of mine.  He was an Anglican, but believed the Catholic Church was THE Church.  Therefore, I asked him why didn’t he become Catholic.  His response was, “I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.”  Of course, there are people who are obedient to the Church.  Would this not also apply to them?  This does apply to us also because: We are obedient because God is changing us; we are cooperating with his grace.  We are still rebellious and stiff-necked because concupiscence still lies within us to some degree.  Otherwise, we would not have to go to Confession, and the Church states that everyone has to go to Confession once a year.  Of course, God tells us, “If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”^[2]

            The evidence to prove how hard-hearted we are, somewhere there will be someone who brings up our Lord and Mary, the Blessed Virgin.  Does not the Church state that Mary was without sin?  Absolutely.  The Church teaches she was immaculate from birth.  Mary, I believe, would be first in line for Confession because she knew this was because of the grace of God, not of herself.  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior (emphasis added).  For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness…”^[3]  Jesus took our sins upon himself in the Incarnation.  In my opinion, concupiscence was in him also because, otherwise, he would not have been human.  This applies to Mary also.  Although he is God the Son, in his humanity he cooperated with the grace of the Father, overcoming concupiscence.

            Jesus did not commit sin in thought, word, or deed; nevertheless, he would also be first in line for Confession because he knew that he did not sin by virtue of his Divinity, his cooperation with that Divinity: not what I will but what you will.^[4]  One reason he underwent baptism was because he was a human being, sinful flesh—although he committed no sin. 

            Moses told the Israelites: For I already know how rebellious and stiff-necked you will be. Why, even now, while I am alive among you, you have been rebels against the Lord! How much more, then, after I am dead!^[5]  Consider, Israel was worshipping God, following Moses; nevertheless, Moses had that to say of them.  Moses was a type of the One to come after him; therefore, we see Jesus saying this of us. 

            In another place, we find: Moses at once knelt and bowed down to the ground. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, Lord, please, Lord, come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and claim us as your own.”^[6]  How many times do we find Jesus praying?  Was he praying for himself or for humanity?  For humanity. 

            “Never stop loving, and the loving will never stop.”  God never stops loving us; and, because he never stops loving us, the loving will never stop.”  Regardless of how we react to his love, he never stops loving.  This is evidenced by the fact that, every time we reject life by sinning, we do not immediately die.  Every time we sin, we are rejecting life, but we continue to live. 

            In the show, “Inborn Pair,” the mother-in-law is very prideful, not liking the daughter-in-law.  The daughter-in-law continues to love her.  “Never stop loving, and the loving will never stop.”  Love will soften many hard hearts.  In the end, the mother-in-law returns that love.  In another show, “Miss Rose,” when asked why she told the man she loved to marry another, she replied—paraphrasing: “When you love someone, you do what is best for them and their happiness.”  When I was courting my wife: If I was competing with someone for her hand in marriage, I don’t think I could have willingly come to that conclusion.  It would have to be God working in me.  I would have been selfish and fought for her love, even if the other individual was a better person and more prosperous.

            Because of God’s love and his grace, somewhere that love is being reciprocated, which is being proved by love of neighbor.  There is absolutely no way to love God and hate neighbor.  God creates out of love.  Human beings were created by the love of God.  How can we hate God’s works and love him?  If we love God, we also love what and whom he loves.  As stated previously, even when we don’t love God, he continues to love us, continues to persuade us to return to him.

            As I had stated in another meditation, love must flow outwards because self-love will drown us, smother us.  It is as if we are digging a deep hole and the dirt collapses upon us.  It has nowhere else to go.  God created each of us for a purpose, and that purpose is always for good, not evil.  Self-love hardens.

            Oh, that today you would hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts...^[7]  St. Augustine reminds us: “Therefore, ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’  O my people, the people of God!  God addresses His people.”^[8]  God is not speaking to non-believers here; he is speaking to the baptized, his people.  We harden our hearts when we do our will, not his. 

            …as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert.  There your ancestors tested me; they tried me though they had seen my works.  Forty years I loathed that generation; I said: “This people’s heart goes astray; they do not know my ways.”^[9]  Augustine explains: “Let such be no more your fathers: imitate them not.  They were your fathers; but, if you do not imitate them, they shall not be your fathers.”^[10]  In Baptism, we are born of God.  Let us now imitate our Father.  We are prone, as the Israelites were, to allow our hearts to go astray.  We imitate them when we desire the things that humanity at large desires.  That love does not keep loving.  Love can only keep loving when it is focused outward, and then it is powerful. 

            Johnny Cash had a song, A Thing Called Love, which I think is a quite fitting conclusion:

Six foot six he stood on the ground,
He weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds,
But I saw that giant of a man brought down to his knees by love.
He was the kind of a man that would gamble on luck,
Look you in the eye and never back up,
But I saw him crying like a little whipped pup because of love.
You can't see it with your eyes,
Hold it in your hand.
But like the wind, it covers our land,
Strong enough to move the heart of any man,
This thing called love.
It can lift you up,
Never let you down,
Take your world and turn it all around,
Ever since time, nothing's ever been found,
That's stronger than love.
Most men are like me, they struggle in doubt,
They trouble their minds day in and day out,
Too busy with living to worry about a little word like love.
But when I see a mother's tenderness,
As she holds her young close to her breast,
Then I thank God that the world's been blessed with a thing called love.
You can't see it with your eyes,
Hold it in your hand.
But like the wind, it covers our land,
Strong enough to move the heart of any man,
This thing called love.
It can lift you up,
Never let you down,
Take your world and turn it all around,
Ever since time, nothing's ever been found,
That's stronger than love.
Ever since time, nothing's ever been found,
That's stronger than love.

            Jesus was a giant of a man because he never sinned.  Everything he did was out of love for the Father and for his neighbor.  Love of Father and neighbor brought him all the way down to becoming man, clothing himself with our sinful flesh.  He wept for us; he died for us.  He never stopped loving; therefore, love never stopped.  We have the power to “deflect” that love, desiring not to be the recipient of it because of the pain and rejection that comes with it, but we cannot stop it.  A woman can reject a man’s love or a man, a woman’s.  However, they cannot stop that individual from loving them.  In the same way we can reject God’s love, but we cannot stop him from loving us.  Because of sin, we have difficulty many times in “seeing” that love, and therefor we reject it, not perceiving that it exists.  We must “train” ourselves to “see” it in everything, especially in rejections, pain, suffering, and death.  God never stops loving; therefore, love never stops.  We must “learn” to do likewise.  We “learn” by exercising love.  Never stop loving, and love will never stop.

---

^[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ex 34:9.

^[2] Ibid., 1 Jn 1:8.

^[3] Ibid., Lk 1:46–48.

^[4] Ibid., Mk 14:36.

^[5] Ibid., Dt 31:27.

^[6] Ibid., Ex 34:8–9.

^[7] Ibid., Ps 95:7–8.

^[8] Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin: Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 469.

^[9] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ps 95:8–10.

^[10] Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin: Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 1888, 8, 469.

Does the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares Apply to Me?

He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn’.”^[1]

            When I read parables, one of the first thoughts that come to mind is: In what way does this parable apply to me.  In the case of this parable, the thought becomes: Does this parable even apply to me?  After all, I am baptized; I believe in Christ; I try to obedient to the Word and the principles set forth by the Church.  Does this parable not deal with others in the Church, not me?  In order for this parable to be of benefit, we must make it apply to each of us.

            In order to do this, it is beneficial to focus upon our Lord’s words of explanation: The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.^[2]  Venerable George Haydock, in his commentary, tells us that our Lord “speaks of those who receive the corrupted word.”^[3]  We receive the Word corrupted, most often, when we lessen the severity of the Word to justify our deeds or believing that there will be no penalty attached to our sins.

            For example, how many of us have lied or told truths that would lead someone to believe something that is not true?  We, perhaps, might think, “This is wrong, so I’ll go to Confession later.”  We are not repentant.  We lie to remove the trial that we are faced with, thinking, “All I have to do is go to Confession.”  When we sin, can these words not apply to us: You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies?^[4]  Since Satan is the father of lies, when we speak lies are we not exhibiting his nature, making him our father?

            What of the times we get angry?  We attempt to justify those times by saying, “He made me mad.”  Another person may be the contributing cause of our anger; nevertheless, it is us who make the determination to be angry or not.  When our Lord was falsely accused, he spoke not a word.  Our Lord, of course, tells us: “I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”^[5]  He goes on to make this cutting statement: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy.”^[6]  Since these are attributes of Satan, what does that speak regarding us?  Can we be of the nature of God and Satan at the same time?  Then our Lord tells us through the pen of St. James: “Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.  The tongue is also a fire.  It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  This need not be so, my brothers.  Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water?  Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs?  Neither can salt water yield fresh.”^[7]  What does this reveal to us about our hearts?

            St. James gives us a “key” to the treasure box when he says, “No human being can tame the tongue.”  If our tongue is a “selfie” of what our heart is and we are unable to tame it, then help must come from without, from the outside.  Lord, you are good and forgiving, most merciful to all who call on you.^[8]  You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and truth.  Turn to me, be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the son of your handmaid.^[9]  You gave your children reason to hope that you would allow them to repent for their sins. ^[10]

            We know that we look at ourselves in the best light, and we are prone to be presumptuous.  We know that God will answer our prayers when we voice these prayers.  However, we learn obedience from what we suffer.  In the days when he was in the flesh, [Jesus] offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…^[11]  Although Jesus is the Son of God, he is also wholly man.  Being wholly man, he had a will.  He could have used that will to be as we are, to allow temptations to overcome him.  Because he chose to obey God and offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  He was saved from eternal death.  When God answers our prayers, most often it is progressive.  Iron sharpens iron.  In the back of our minds, we should be seeing how our sins reflect the attributes of Satan, causing us to offer prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save [us] from death.  [Jesus] he was heard because of his reverence, and we also will be heard—if we keep seeking, keep asking.  If it was necessary for Jesus, who was without sin, to offer prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, how much more so for us who are prone to yield to temptations?  God allows this in order that we realize how much we need him and to know that we have not “arrived” yet.  In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.^[12]

            The disciples did not question Jesus regarding the parable of the mustard seed nor the parable of the woman mixing yeast in the three measures of wheat, which—which I find much more difficult to understand; they questioned our Lord about the one, seemingly, most easily understood.  This should cause us to pause and contemplate what is behind this parable.  Are we truly wheat, or are we tares which resemble wheat?  We are not the Judge who is going to make the determination.

            However, this should not cause us to despair.  As I have just stated, we know the One who can change us, and will change us.  Because the transformation is progressive, we mourn while we rejoice.  We rejoice because He is changing us and will change us, but we groan (mourn) because the transformation seems to take so long and we desire to be rid of sin, desiring to be the image of our Savior.  At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.^[13]

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^[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Mt 13:24–30.

^[2] Ibid., Mt 13:38–39.

^[3] George Leo Haydock, Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary, (New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1859), Mt 13:24.

^[4] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Jn 8:44.

^[5] Ibid., Mt 5:22.

^[6] Ibid., Mt 15:19.

^[7] Ibid., Jas 3:5–12.

^[8] Ibid., Ps 86:5.

^[9] Ibid., Ps 86:15–16.

^[10] Ibid, Wis 12:19.

^[11] Ibid., Heb 5:7–9.

^[12] Ibid., Ro 8:26–27.

^[13] Ibid., Mt 11:25.

The Plow is Hard and Sharp

You visit the earth and water it,

make it abundantly fertile.

God’s stream is filled with water;

you supply their grain.

Thus do you prepare it:

you drench its plowed furrows,

and level its ridges.

With showers you keep it soft,

blessing its young sprouts.

You adorn the year with your bounty;

your paths drip with fruitful rain.

The meadows of the wilderness also drip;

the hills are robed with joy.

The pastures are clothed with flocks,

the valleys blanketed with grain;

they cheer and sing for joy.^[1]

            What do you do with this reading?  The notes in the NAB tells us this refers to agriculture, as do some commentaries.  Therefore, such passages as these, we normally read and dismiss, deeming there is nothing here that we do not already know.  What we must meditate upon is that agriculture is an allegory of life, especially of spiritual life.

            Man was created from the earth.  In Genesis, we read, “The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground.”  This is God visiting the earth.  Because the Holy Spirit is often portrayed as water, we have God watering the earth when he says, “And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”  God made the “earth” fertile when “man became a living soul” by virtue of God breathing into him His life.  However, man preferred death to life by willingly disobeying the law of Life.

            Because of His love of mankind, God would continually visit mankind, giving him hope until He, in the fullness of time, He was to manifest Himself, by sending his Son in the flesh.  Therefore, God, the Son, “visits” the earth by means of the Incarnation.  He visits mankind’s nature.  God’s stream, Jesus, is filled with water, with the Holy Spirit, because he is Divine.  Because Jesus is the Word, he supplies mankind their grain.  It derives from seed, his Word.  The Son of God prepared our food, which automatically brings to mind the Eucharist, which he instituted at the Last Supper.  He prepared it thus: by his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  His persecutions throughout his life, especially his Passion and Death, are the “plowed furrows.” 

            Today, God visits us in the Catholic Church, his visible Body.  He visits us, the “earth,” in the Mass and the Sacraments.  In Baptism, he comes into us and we, into him.  In Baptism, he washes away original sin, making us “abundantly fertile.”  “God’s stream,” the Holy Spirit, supplies our “grain,” teaching us all things about Christ.  In order that we do not become hardened, due to concupiscence, he must constantly be “preparing” us, sometimes with the plow, sometimes with the hoe, sometimes with the rake, etc.  He also must continually “fertilize” us by virtue of the Sacraments.

            The plow causes injury to the earth, which has become hardened.  Humanity had become “hardened” by virtue of sin.  It was not receptive to God’s Word and Spirit.  When he heard the Word without understanding it, the evil one came and stole away what was sown in his heart.^[2]  If the surface soil was soft enough to receive the seed initially but, because the soil had no depth, the grain grew quickly enough; however, due to the hardness underneath, it soon died out and could not bear fruit.^[3]  God’s life is love.  Love produces if it is focused outwardly.  If love is focused inward, it becomes smothered and dies.  It is as a wide candle in which the melted wax eventually puts the flame out.  In agriculture, the soil must be continually softened in order that the grain will materialize.  In the example of the candle, the melted wax (self) must be continually poured out in order that the flame might keep producing light.  For mankind, the plow is the hardness in other human beings and other outside circumstances.  This hardness causes persecution which—if allowed—softens the soil.  Otherwise, it is as a plow striking large stones.  It is love focused outward which receives the hardness in love, knowing God is conditioning us, and not looking at the evilness of the other person’s will.

            If we are seeing only the evilness of the other individual’s will or the hardness of the trial, then this saying applies to us: “You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.  Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.”^[4]

            “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.  For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”^[5]  It is this that we know God is doing in us, the Catholic Church.  We see the end, and it is not far off.  The end is near, and we see the goal.  We can now see the Light at the end of the tunnel.  Though the plow is hard and sharp, we only have to endure it for a short while.

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^[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ps 65:10–14.

^[2] Ibid., Mt 13:19.

^[3] Ibid., Mt 13:22.

^[4] Ibid., Mt 13:14–15.

^[5] Ibid., Ro 8:18–23.

The Sanctus

            What if.  What if we went to Mass one Sunday; and, when it had concluded, we began leaving.  However, there is something different this time.  In order to leave, we had to write down what two of the readings were about.  How many of us would be able to leave?

            I say this because, for many of us—and I say “us,” including everyone, because we are one, a body—go to Mass out of obligation.  We believe we are good people.  We go to Mass not out of real need but out of a sense of duty.  We can say to others, “I go to church; I’m a church-going person.”  We go to church because that is what Christians are supposed to do.  Some receive communion in order to do something or because everyone else is doing it.  We give little thought as to what we need out of this Mass.  God commands we go to Mass because we need it, not because he derives some benefit from it.  That being said, I want to write as to just one part of the Mass, the Sanctus.

            Regis J. Flaherty, in his book Discovery the “Awe” of the Mass, writes: “It is now our turn to respond to the call—to sing with the choirs of angels! … While remaining at our pew we are called to participate in what continues in the heavenly kingdom.  With our spiritual eyes we realize that the archangels, the cherubim, the seraphim, and all the saints who have gone before us invite us to their church—into their worship service.  They are singing ‘Holy, holy, holy’ to the King of kings.  When we sing our ‘Holy, holy, holy’ we are merely joining the song already in progress.  Those saints are in such awe that they ‘fall down before’ Christ enthroned in glory. If we adjust our spiritual vision, we too will be in awe.”^[1]  When I first read this, I envisioned a choir singing, and then we just “pitched” in.  There is much more to it than that, of course.

            In our Catechism, we read: “How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah?  Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of ‘his father David.’  Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means ‘Save!’ or ‘Give salvation!’), the ‘King of glory’ enters his City ‘riding on an ass.’  Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth.  And so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God’s poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds.  Their acclamation, ‘Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord,’ is taken up by the Church in the ‘Sanctus’ of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord’s Passover.  Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection.”^[2]  It is this that I desire to speak to.

            My first thought upon reading this was: In what way is Jesus coming?  He is already there.  This is manifested by the “red” candle.  He is already present in the Tabernacle.  He is presiding over the Mass from the crucifix.  It is he who is speaking by way of the priest and in the readings.  Therefore, how is he coming when he is already present?  He is coming to us, of course, in the Eucharist.  Why is he coming?  That is the question each of us need to ask ourselves as we sing the “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  Why are we celebrating this coming, on this day?

            Scott Hahn, in his short book, Come Again? The Real Presence as Parousia, tells us that the Church sees the Eucharist as a “coming” of Christ—not the coming we commonly referring to as the Second Coming.  He states: “Our Lord promised: ‘You will not see Me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’—that is, until the [coming, the presence of Christ].  How right it is for the Church to place those words, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,’ on our lips just moments before the Eucharistic consecration in the Mass, just moments before our Lord’s Eucharistic parousia.”[3]

            This makes the Sanctus a reality.  We are eagerly anticipating what is about to momentarily occur:  Jesus coming, making His presence known, in the Eucharist.  Listen to this early Church prayer in the Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles:  “How breathes in us, O our Lord and God, the sweet fragrance of the sweetness of your love; illumined are our souls, through the knowledge of your truth: may we be rendered worthy of receiving the manifestation of your beloved from your holy heavens: there shall we render thanks unto you, and, in the meantime, glorify you without ceasing in your Church, crowned and filled with every aid and blessing, because you are Lord and Father, Creator of all.”^[4]  This is going to be fulfilled in the Eucharist.

            Only the holy sings the Sanctus.  Why would the unholy sing?  Why would one content in his sins be singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy”?  It is only the holy who would—and will—sing this.  Jesus is coming to each of us individually, not for ourselves alone but for the benefit and holiness of the Catholic Church and for humanity.  Jesus is coming to us in a few moments in the Eucharist; what is it that we desire to ask of him?

            The sun is a visible picture of God.  Without the sun, we have no life; we die.  Even on the days in which we have thunderstorms, the sun is still out, giving us life—although it is veiled by the storm clouds.  How often our daily lives veil God from us; nevertheless, he is bestowing his grace and mercy upon us.  Seeing the sun should remind us of the Incarnation, that God has made himself visible to us in and through Jesus, the Son of God.

            Although the disciples walked with Jesus, held conversations with him, and dined with him, nevertheless they were not face-to-face with him because they were not as he was, was not yet the image of him.  He taught them, molded them, causing them—through his teaching and the trials he put them through—to progressively be transformed into his image until that time that they were able to see him face-to-face.  This is what the Sanctus is anticipating.

            The heat produced by the sun should remind us of the Holy Spirit.  Imagine that it is 100-plus degrees outside and extremely humid.  It should remind us that God is a consuming fire, consuming everything that does not reflect his nature, his attributes.  He is consuming sin, everything that is death (sin) inside of us.  The intense heat is not comfortable at all.  Most of us are going to attempt to escape the heat by seeking shade or air-conditioning.  If we can’t, we allow ourselves to be irritable and quick-tempered.  We are more “comfortable” holding onto some of our sins.  We cannot withstand the heat all at once of total purification; therefore, God works in us progressively.  However, we must be desiring total purification, seeing God face-to-face.  It is this that we are yearning for when we realize Christ is coming in the Eucharist.  This causes us to sing because we know that God is granting our desire every time Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. 

            The Sanctus is a celebration.  We celebrate Jesus for who he is, what he has done, what he is doing now in purifying us, and what he will accomplish in us.  He is doing this through the Catholic Church and the Sacraments he has prepared for her.  The Eucharist makes the Sanctus a reality.  The Church is holy and will become most holy.  Christ is coming to her and in her every hour, every day.  He is doing this in order that we will be as he is.  If this is not our desire and what we are progressing towards, are we even Christian?  If God is holy, are not his children, those born of him, also holy?  Is not the earth full of his glory primarily by virtue of those born of him and everything that is good, beautiful, and wholesome?

            “Who may dwell on your holy mountain?  Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart; who does not slander with his tongue, does no harm to a friend, never defames a neighbor; who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the Lord;

who keeps an oath despite the cost, lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent.”^[5]  The Sanctus tells us this is occurring.  “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.”  Jesus is continually coming to us, fulfilling the Sanctus.  What do we desire of Him?

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^[1] Regis J. Flaherty, Discovering the “Awe” of the Mass, Faith Basics, (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road, 2012), 26–27.

^[2] Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed., (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 144–145.

[3] Hahn, Scott. Come Again? The Real Presence as Parousia: Catholic for a Reason III (Kindle Locations 221-224). Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition.

^[4] Roberts, A., Donaldson, J., & Coxe, A. C. (Eds.). (1886). The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles. In J. Donaldson (Trans.), Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies (Vol. 7, p. 561). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

^[5] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ps 15:1–5.