Is it not yet a
very little while
until Lebanon
shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful
field shall be regarded as a forest?
In that day the
deaf shall hear the words of a book,
and out of their
gloom and darkness
the eyes of the
blind shall see.
The meek shall
obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among
men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the ruthless
shall come to nought and the scoffer cease,
and all who watch
to do evil shall be cut off,
who by a word make
a man out to be an offender,
and lay a snare
for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty
plea turn aside him who is in the right.
Therefore, thus
says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no
more be ashamed,
no more shall his
face grow pale.
For when he sees
his children,
the work of my
hands,
in his midst, they
will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify
the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in
awe of the God of Israel.
And those who err
in spirit will come to understanding,
Discouragement. I know what has occurred in Baptism; I know I
should be more and more growing into the likeness of Christ on account of the
Church and Sacraments our Lord has given her—especially the Eucharist. Nevertheless, what appears to be the reality is that the opposite is occurring: I am
not growing, rather it appears I am
regressing. This often raises
discouragement in me. I cannot prevent
this feeling of discouragement from occurring.
That is not within my power.
Nonetheless, how to handle this discouragement, God, by his grace, has
given us power. That power lies in the
Hope which he has placed in us.
Note that I have emphasized the word
“appear.” There are times when I feel “spiritual” (righteous), and then
there are times when I feel I am the
worst sinner in the universe. Regardless
of how I feel when it comes to spiritual matters, what appears to be reality is not reality. I may feel spiritual, may feel righteous;
however, that is not the truth, is not the reality. The reality is what God is saying he is doing
in us. Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction.[2] The harsh things we read in Scripture we must
also apply to ourselves—and not wag our finger at non-believers--in order that
we may repent. If we dismiss them as if
they do not apply to us, we will not repent.
They are written for our
instruction, not for the instruction of the non-believer. The Law was given to Israel for their
instruction, not for the instruction of the pagan nations because the pagan
nations did not believe in the God of Israel.
The pagan nations had their own gods—which were not gods at all. Israel, by obeying God’s Law, would have
drawn the other nations to God. This
applies to the Church also, of which we are members.
The reality of what is actually occurring
in us is what our Lord is proclaiming through the prophet. Is it
not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful
field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? “Lebanon” means very white; mountain of snow,
(intense form); the white (mountain).[3] This should turn our thoughts to
Baptism. “Very white” should cause us to
think of the righteousness Christ has caused us to be when he—by the hands of
man—has placed us in him and himself into us.
However, “Lebanon” is not yet fruitful, for the passage states, “Is it not yet in a little while until…” The New American Bible translates this: Surely, in a very little while…[4] The
word “surely” emphasizes that it definitely will occur. Therein lies the Hope God has placed within
us. Lebanon, at the time, did not appear
to be a fruitful field; nevertheless, the “seed” had been planted, and what was
to be in the future was coming to pass at the time. Although we do not yet see the fruition, it
will come to pass. Hope that is seen is not hope.[5]
Notwithstanding this, there exists
danger. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, “Our
faith and our love are ever incomplete as long as we walk this earth, and they
are constantly threatened with extinction.”[6] This is confirmed in Scripture, wherein St.
Mark writes, “But he who endures to the
end will be saved.”[7] Now, we know that this endurance to the end
does not mean to endure as the rest of mankind must endure the common trials
which confront all of humanity in daily life—although all of those “common”
things are sent by God in order that we may repent and turn to him, to turn
others to him, and for sanctification. Whatever was written previously was written
for our instruction, that by endurance
(emphasis added) and by the encouragement of the scriptures we
might have hope.[8] “Endure”
means to suffer patiently something painful or difficult. We suffer, desiring to be rid of the
concupiscence and sin within us. We
yearn to be as Christ is. God puts this
yearning in us. This yearning is Hope. He places his divinity in us at the time of
Baptism, and his spirit wars against our fleshly desires. The desires
of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against
the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what
you would.[9]
Pope Benedict continues in his meditation:
“For this is, in truth, the time of Advent. Nobody can claim, ‘I am redeemed once and for
all.’ In this temporal world, we do not
find redemption as a completed fact of the past, nor redemption as a completed,
final fact of the present; rather, redemption is found only in the manner of
hope.”[10]
This hope will come to past on that day. That
day will either be Advent, when Christ comes to us, removing us from this
mortal life through death, or when Jesus arrives in his Second Coming, Second
Advent. Whichever event it will be, it
should be a day we can look forward to, not dread. St. Ambrose gives us this encouragement: “Death
is given for a remedy, because it is the end of evils.”[11] He goes on to say: “We see, then, that this
death is a gain and life a penalty, so that Paul says: ‘To me to live is Christ
and to die is gain’ (cf. Phil 1:21). What is Christ but the death of the body, the
breath of life? And, so, let us die with
Him that we may live with Him. Let there
then be in us, as it were, a daily practice and inclination to dying, that by
this separation from bodily desires, of which we have spoken, our soul may
learn to withdraw itself and, as it were, placed on high, when earthly lusts
cannot approach and attach it to themselves, may take upon herself the likeness
of death, that she incur not the penalty of death. For the law of the flesh wars against the law
of the mind and makes it over to the law of error, as the Apostle has made
known to us, saying: ‘For I see a law of the flesh in my members warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity in the law of sin’
(cf. Ro 7:23). We are all attached; we
all feel this; but we are not all delivered. And, so, a miserable man am I,
unless I seek the remedy.”[12] Hence, we can look forward to Advent,
regardless of how it occurs, for it is the end of sin for us, allowing us to be
transformed perfectly, being as Christ is.
May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of
the holy Spirit.[13] Hope
does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit[14] Our hope, which will not disappoint, is
that day when Christ transforms us, removing all sin.
Advent is a short season, for
Christ’s coming is near. Our hope is
near. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand ... behold, the Judge is standing at the doors.[15] The Judge is also the Physician. Lebanon will soon be fruitful. Is it
not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful
field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day, the deaf shall hear the words of
a book; and, out of their gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. On the day of our Lord’s Second Advent,
the Church will be holy. So, for us as
individuals and as a Church, Advent is a season of penance (discouragement) and
rejoicing. We are discouraged because of
sin; nevertheless, we rejoice because of the hope within us. For this reason, we are in the day, not in
the night.
We are not in the night because of the
light of Hope. Returning to the thoughts
of Pope Benedict: “In this temporal world, we do not find redemption as a
completed fact of the past, nor redemption as a completed, final fact of the
present; rather, redemption is found only in the manner of hope. God’s light illuminated this world in no other
way than in the lights of hope, put by his loving kindness as guides on our
way. How often are we saddened by this:
we long for more, we desire the full, complete, incontestable reality here and
now.”[16] This keeps us looking forward to Christ. It is this Hope which keeps us from “drunkenness.” This “drunkenness” is not referring to an
over-indulgence of alcohol but is that state wherein we lose hope, looking for
our happiness in the world and its material things. We arrive at this conclusion from the fifth
chapter of 1 Thessalonians:
But
you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and
children of the day. We are not of the
night or of darkness. Therefore, let us
not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. Those who sleep go to sleep at night, and
those who are drunk get drunk at night. But
since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith
and love and the helmet that is hope for salvation.[17]
St. John Chrysostom teaches: “Here [the
apostle] shows, that to be in the day depends on ourselves. For here, indeed, in the case of the present
day and night, it does not depend on ourselves. But night comes even against our will, and
sleep overtakes us when we do not wish it. But with respect to that night and that sleep,
it is not so, but it is in our power always to have it day, it is in our power
always to watch. For to shut the eyes of
the soul, and to bring on the sleep of wickedness, is not of nature but of our
own choice. ‘But let us watch,’ he says,
‘and be sober.’ For it is possible to
sleep while awake: by doing nothing good. Wherefore he has added, ‘and be sober.’ For even by day, if anyone watches but is not
sober, he will fall into numberless dangers, so that sobriety is the intensity
of watchfulness.”[18]
Chrysostom explains: “’They that sleep,’
he says, ‘sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night.’ The drunkenness [the apostle]
here speaks of is not that from wine only but that also which comes of all
vices. For riches and the desire of
wealth is a drunkenness of the soul, and so carnal lust and every sin you can
name is a drunkenness of the soul. On
what account then has he called vice sleep? Because in the first place the vicious man is
inactive with respect to virtue. Again,
because [the vicious man] sees everything as a vision, he views nothing in its
true light but is full of dreams and oftentimes of unreasonable actions. And, if he sees anything good, it has no
firmness, no fixedness. Such is the
present life. It is full of dreams and
of fantasy. Riches are a dream, and
glory, and everything of that sort. He
who sleeps sees not things that are and have a real subsistence, but things
that are not he fancies as things that are. Such is vice and the life that is passed in
vice. It sees not things that are--that
is, spiritual, heavenly, abiding things--but things that are fleeting and fly
away and that soon recede from us.”[19]
The Church fathers in many places inform
us that wine was given to us by God for the sake of cheerfulness. However, over-indulgence in that which is
lawful leads to debauchery. Likewise,
beauty in the world should give us a taste of the beauty of God. Beauty should always turn our minds to God,
praising him. Beauty can also
“intoxicate” us, leading us to the point we want to possess it as our own. “I want” means “I lack.” Because we feel that we are lacking something
good, we have made it to mean “I desire.”
When we say we lack, and it is not a need, we fall into sin. We have allowed our senses to “intoxicate”
us. It can “intoxicate” us to the point
that we get upset if we don’t possess it, or we rationalize, saying, “But I
don’t love it.” “I want (lack)” can show
us clearly the concupiscence in us. “I
want;” therefore, I should have it. We
reveal that we act as though we “sit in the seat of gods.” Our minds are no longer looking to God and
his greatness, praising him, but has turned in on ourselves: “I like it; I want
it.” We are no longer “sober;” we are
“drunk.” That which we truly do lack—that
is, holiness—we do not feel that we do lack; we do not yearn for it. Our
Lord says to us what he said to St. Peter: “So you could not keep watch with me
for one hour? Watch and pray that you
may not undergo the test. The spirit is
willing, but the flesh is weak.”[20] If we feel at a loss what
to confess at the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can always confess our
inordinate desires and confess that we do not yearn for that which we do lack. The inordinate desires arise from the pride
which is in us, and this pride keeps us from being humble, desiring that which
only God can give us: holiness. Because
we often fail because of concupiscence, the giving into of these desires should
cause discouragement within us. That
would be a good thing. Then, that
discouragement should cause us to pray.
However, that discouragement should not cause us to despair or to give
up. Because we are repenting and
confessing, praying, we can rejoice because we are assured that, as long as we
endure in prayer, he is healing us.
This Hope which God gives is our helmet of
salvation. Chrysostom states: “And for a
helmet the hope of salvation.” For as
the helmet guards the vital part in us, surrounding the head and covering it on
every side, so also this hope does not suffer the reason to falter but sets it
upright as the head, not permitting anything from [outside] to fall upon it. And while nothing falls on it, neither does it
slip of itself, for it is not possible that one who is fortified with such arms
as these, should ever fall.”[21]
Discouragement
is not a bad thing as long as we utilize it properly. God has allowed us to be discouraged in order
that we may be aware that we have not “arrived” yet, we have not yet attained
our goal. We utilize discouragement
properly when we allow it to turn our thoughts back to him in prayer. We do not utilize discouragement properly
when we allow it to turn into despair, thinking that God is not performing in
us what he has promised. This is falling
into unbelief. We rectify unbelief when
we cry as the father did, “I believe;
help my unbelief!”[22] Because
of this prayer that we pray out of desperation, we can actually rejoice because
God instantly restores hope. St. Paul
tells us, “Rejoice in hope, endure in
affliction, persevere in prayer.”[23] Oftentimes, we become slothful, thinking,
“God knows I…,” causing us to not pray.
It is because of this that the apostle reminds us to persevere in prayer. We persevere in prayer because of the hope
within us. We go to Mass because of the
hope within us.
St. Peter exhorts: His divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who
called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his
precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the
corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the
divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith
with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and
self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and
godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if
these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these
things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from
his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and
election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly
provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.[24]
In his first epistle, he explains: By his great mercy we have been born anew to
a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an
inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for
you, who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (emphasis
added). In this you rejoice, though now
for a little while you may have to suffer various trials so that the
genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is
tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of
Jesus Christ.[25]
Therefore,
gird up your minds, be sober, set your
hope (emphasis added) fully upon
the grace that is coming (emphasis
added) to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. As obedient children, do not be
conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is
holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, “You shall
be holy, for I am holy.” And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one
impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the
time of your exile. You know that you
were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the
world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. Through him you have confidence in God, who
raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in
God.[26]
Since
therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought,
for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for
the rest of the time in the flesh no
longer by human passions (emphasis added) but by the will of God.[27]
Beloved,
I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain
from the passions of the flesh (emphasis added) that wage war against your soul.[28]
This is impossible for us to do by
our own strength. Therefore, we must
persist in prayer, understanding that, although we will not completely overcome
in this lifetime, God is assuredly making us progress in overcoming. In this, we can rejoice, albeit at the same
time being discouraged because it has not come to fruition.
[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), Is
29:17–Is 30.
[2] New American Bible, Revised
Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
2011), Ro 15:4.
[3] Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names,
1998, 158.
[4] New American Bible, Revised
Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
2011), Is 29:17.
[5] 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), Ro 8:24.
[6] Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the
Year, ed. Irene Grassl, (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1992), 385.
[7] 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), Mk 13:13.
[8] New American Bible, Revised
Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
2011), Ro 15:4.
[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), Ga 5:17.
[10] Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the
Year, ed. Irene Grassl, (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1992), 385.
[12] Ibid., 180.
[13] New American Bible, Revised Edition.,
(Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ro
15:13.
[14] 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), Ro 5:5.
[15] Ibid., Jas 5:8–9.
[16] Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the
Year, ed. Irene Grassl, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1992), 385.
[17] New American Bible, Revised
Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
2011), 1 Th 5:4–8.
[18] John Chrysostom, Saint
Chrysostom: Homilies on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, 1889, 13, 362.
[19] Ibid., 362-363.
[20] New American Bible, Revised
Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
2011), Mt 26:40–41.
[21] John Chrysostom, Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus,
and Philemon, 1889, 13, 363.
[22] 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), Mk 9:24.
[23] New American Bible, Revised Edition.,
(Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ro
12:12.
[24] 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), 2 Pe
1:3–11.
[25] Ibid., 1 Pe 1:3–7.
[26] Ibid., 1 Pe 1:13–21.
[27] Ibid., 1 Pe 4:1–2.
[28] Ibid., 1 Pe 2:11.
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