The Mosquito Magnet

I live on the shore of Chincoteague Island, Va. Anyone familiar with the island knows that Mosquitos are the prevailing winged creature, followed by both seagulls and egrets trailing far behind. Even this week we had our first real hot days of the year and already the mosquitos are out in force. I suppose out here there is no
easing into it.

Each year we have struggled with the insects out here. The mosquitos here do not bite...they DRILL. And the slightest nibble drives me into an itching frenzy. The investment in bug spray and itching cream is quite high. Not to mention the health problems that can happen if the pest is carrying a diseas like the West Nile Virus.

I was made aware of a product that could be a real life saver for our summer plans. I went to the website of the Mosquito Magnet for a mosquito magnet review. The site is loaded with happy testimonials and videos of satisfied customers. I was very impressed with the video showing the result of the Mosquito magnet after a month and a half. I've never been more excited about a bagful of dead mosquitoes in my life. Like the man said, "The only good mosquito is a dead mosquito."

So if you don't enjoy looking like a flesh colored raspberry, or getting the daily equivalent of the "seven year itch" every time you walk outside, stop over to the Mosquito Magnet website and check them out. Their products are reasonably priced for the comfort and enjoyment it brings. I'm definitely getting one of these.

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Ask A Platypus

click here for commentary

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The answer is blowing in the wind...

From Today’s Gospel John 3:7-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘Do not be surprised when I say:
You must be born from above.
The wind blows wherever it pleases;
you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’
‘How can that be possible?’ asked Nicodemus. ‘You, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things!’ replied Jesus.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
we speak only about what we know
and witness only to what we have seen
and yet you people reject our evidence.
If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world,
how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’

---

Touching on this dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus, we are, as yesterday, presented with the analogy of the wind. In it Jesus is giving an example of the mystery of God's movement and revelation. God does as He will. We can see the result of His work, but in the end where it begins and ends is a mystery. Read More>>

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The Bread of Heaven

From today's Office of Readings:

From the Jerusalem Catecheses

The bread of Heaven and the cup of salvation

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take, drink: this is my blood.” Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt? Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not his blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with him. Having his body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you. This horrified them and they left him. Not understanding his words in a spiritual way, they thought the Saviour wished them to practise cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation. These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.
Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness. Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen

Read commentary at the Norfolk Examiner

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Who are you looking for?

Commitments [ie my children's spring break activities :)] prevented my posting thoughts yesterday. I am including yesterday's with today's as the two are related...

Yesterday's Gospel John 20:11-18

Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

---

Who are you looking for? It seems to be a tome of this era. In it we are inundated with american "Idols", dancing "Stars", and celebrigossip, with next to nothing about Him who is the "bright morning star". Rev_22:16 A place where one has to make extra effort to hear and know the gospel. Perhaps that is why prayer and Scripture reading is indulgenced (see The Enchiridion Of Indulgences – Other Grants Of Indulgences numbers 38 and 50 “Oratio mentalis: and “Sacrae Scripturae lectio”.) Those who find Him rarely need prodding. But just in case there are graces in doing so.

But one must look. And those who do see an empty tomb and a risen Christ. They will find Him calling their name in a way that they recognize as personally as they know their own soul. His is a voice gentle and meek, uniquely recognizable for He has been speaking to you since your beginning.

---

Today's Gospel Luke 24:13-35

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’

Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.

When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’

They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.

---

The men on the road to Emmaus were confused about Jesus and the story they had heard about the tomb. As we have seen though, Jesus is very good at “opening eyes”. He had done so with Mary in the Garden, John at the tomb, Peter, and now the men on the road to Emmaus. All encountered the risen Christ in their dispair and confusion. In the end there was never any question. And there was always amazement and joy! Have you encountered Him? If so, may your days be filled with the same wonder and happiness as at the beginnings of the church..

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Two Tales Of Telling

Today's Gospel Matthew 28:8-15

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.

And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.’

While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.

---

In today's gospel we have a parallel of contemporary ideas. I'm sure the guard had told the priests and elders what really happened but intead of investigating further they went to their “war room” to spin the situation. It all sounds too much like our political system here in the US. It is not what is reported but how the truth is spun to meet an objective. The priests had everything to lose by the resurrection of Jesus. They had to lie to themselves and the Jews in order to keep their life intact. Both the women and the Roman guard were witness to the truth as were the disciples. And the twisting of the truth prevented those who might justly have freedom to remain in bondage.

There are two tales of telling here - The Guards and the women.

Thank God He reveal the truth and the truth prevailed for us.

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The God of Resurrection and Light

Today's Gospel John 20:1-9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

---

Christ the Lord is Risen today! Allelujah!

From utter disappointment to unspeakable joy. What a roller coaster ride of emotions must have overtaken the disciples upon “understanding” that Christ must rise from the dead!

It was certainly not because Jesus had not spoken of this, but men, even in the presence of God, are slow in understanding. I find this daily in my life, for it is not uncommon for God to be speaking to me and I only realize it through hindsight. And what a realization it must have been to John, to enter the empty tomb and see and believe! All of the doubt about the man who died on the Cross, in the epitome of darkness, was now proven in fact to be the God of Resurrection and Light!

May God's fullest blessing be with you all this Easter morning!

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A Great Silence

From Today's Office of Readings:

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

The Lord's descent into the underworld

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

---

From Patrologia Graeca 43, 440A, 452C this homily is handed down to us from antiquity. It is a dramatic telling of Christ's decent into hell. The Apostles' Creed confesses Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day. In his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth, as the ancient church proclaims:

Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Sripture is clear that Christ died and went to the abode of the dead from which he set free the captives and was resurrected. Eph 4:9, Act 3:14-15 ,Rom 8:11, 1Co 15:20, Heb 13:20

What happened at that time can only be left to the Holy imaginings and contemplations of the ages. And what a wonder to contemplate. That in the silence of Holy Saturday Christ is at work freeing the captives from hell those who so longed for that day. Joh 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad."

In this homily it is only fitting that Jesus should seek out the first man and woman. What a glorious sight it must have been that those who were given the promise of Christ (Gen 3:15) should finally see him. “That man, Adam, who was unborn, [who] condemn'd himself“ *is freed by the pre-existent Word of God.

And, in himself, all, who since him have lived,
His offspring: whence, below, the human kind
Lay sick in grievous error many an age;
Until it pleased the Word of God to come
Amongst them down, to His own person joining
The nature from its Maker far estranged,
By the mere act of His eternal love.
Contemplate here the wonder I unfold:
The nature with its Maker thus conjoin'd,
Created first was blameless, pure and good;
But, through itself alone, was driven forth
From Paradise, because it had eschew'd
The way of truth and life, to evil turn'd.
Ne'er then was penalty so just as that
Inflicted by the Cross, if thou regard
The nature in assumption doom'd; ne'er wrong
So great, in reference to Him, who took
Such nature on Him, and endured the doom. (*Dante, Paradise Canto 7)


Thanks be to God that not a single soul is missed and not a single error goes without correction. Great is the compassion of our God, bottomless is His mercy. Our God never sleeps nor slumbers but is always seeking us working our salvation by his love everlasting.

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Copy What I Have Done To You.

Today's Gospel John 13:1-15

Maundy Thursday

It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.

They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’

When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

---

Peter is often portrayed in the gospels as impulsive, blurting out anything that comes to mind. This same trait allowed him by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. This time, however I'm quite sure it was not the spirit asking Jesus to wash “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” It is a human trait to think that one's God should not wash feet. Apparently our conditioning about superiority and the proper caste is a little more than skin deep, as was Peter's.

Jesus tells us “ If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.” Jesus is showing that he is Master, Lord AND servant of all. St Augustine reflects,”Since the Father had given all things into His hands, He washed not His disciples' hands indeed, but their feet; and since He knew that He came from God, and went to God, He performed the work not of God and Lord, but of a man and servant.”

And in doing so he gave us a specific example to follow. Which brings us back to the Peters of the world. Before his denial and subsequent reconciliation on the seahore, Peter was impulsive, egocentric and frankly annoying. Yet afterward he became the leader of the Apostles and the first bishop of Rome. Even then he was not without problems, including a public rebuke from Paul over his behavior with the Jews. It is my belief that Peter humbly received this rebuke, never forgetting his exchange with Jesus over the foot washing and patterned his life around it.

In the Admonitions of St Francis, Francis speaks to this human condition of the desire for superiority by explicitly recalling the foot washing.

Chapter IV. That no one should appropriate to himself the office of superior

I did not come "to be ministered unto, but to minister" (cf. Mt 20:28), says the Lord. · Let those, who are set up over others, glory as much because of that office of superior, as if they had been appointed to the office of washing the feet of the brothers. · And in as much as they are more disturbed because of having lost their office of superior than because of (having lost) the office regarding feet, so much more do they assemble purses for themselves to the danger of their souls (cf. John 12:6).

In Francis' mind the purse was a sign of treachery (on account of St. John's condemnation of Judas Iscariot for stealing from the purse entrusted to him by Christ). In the early sources of St. Francis' life, the keeping of a purse is frequently the cause of condemnation and the hallmark of infidelity to the Franciscan vocation In the admonition, the symbol of the purse is used in reference to the avariciousness of human willfulness and pride, which St. Francis demanded to be rejected by the Franciscan vow of obedience.

“If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” May we practice obedience to Christ by “washing a brother or sister 's feet” today. Let us show perfect love.

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Not I Rabbi?

Today's Gospel Matthew 26:14-25

One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’ ‘Go to so-and-so in the city’ he replied ‘and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.”’ The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.

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We all like to feel we are righteous and upright before God. How eager we are to say “Not I Rabbi surely?” when enraptured in prayer or in conversation with our brothers. But these are our own words and we do betray God often. With each envious thought and in our opininons the calling and ministry of others. Opinions that often are not simple critiques but carry with them feelings of distrust and malice.

Jesus was never maliscious even toward Judas, his betrayer. He simply bade him to do what he was going to do quickly (John 13:27). This is not to say that one should not follow Matt 18 regarding the offenses of another. Yet as Jesus rebukes Peter (John 13:38) he is niether malicious nor condemning. He is only speaking the truth. And the truth about us is we are all prone to deny Christ and betray our loyalty to Him through the influences of the flesh the world and the devil.

Not I Rabbi? I'm not so sure....

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From Death To Life

St Basil says in today's office :

"To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ’s by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death. Taking Christ for his model, Paul said that he wanted to become like him in his death in the hope that he too would be raised from death to life."

It is not often that we think of imitating Christ in his death. Generally we think of his great commission, do greater things than he did, really making an impact on the world. Yet sacred theology teaches us that it is this association with Christ's death burial and resurrection at baptism that makes us a new creation (Rom 6:4).

I wonder how great an impact we would have on our societies if indeed we worshipped the Crucified Christ, in His humility and complete self-giving. Oh, how our own spiritual life would be impacted by our association with and imitation of the suffering Lord.

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By one death and resurrection the world was saved

From Today's Office Of Readings:

From the book On the Holy Spirit by Saint Basil, bishop

By one death and resurrection the world was saved

When mankind was estranged from him by disobedience, God our Saviour made a plan for raising us from our fall and restoring us to friendship with himself. According to this plan Christ came in the flesh, he showed us the gospel way of life, he suffered, died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead. He did this so that we could be saved by imitation of him, and recover our original status as sons of God by adoption.

To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ’s by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death. Taking Christ for his model, Paul said that he wanted to become like him in his death in the hope that he too would be raised from death to life.

We imitate Christ’s death by being buried with him in baptism. If we ask what this kind of burial means and what benefit we may hope to derive from it, it means first of all making a complete break with our former way of life, and our Lord himself said that this cannot be done unless a man is born again. In other words, we have to begin a new life, and we cannot do so until our previous life has been brought to an end. When runners reach the turning point on a racecourse, they have to pause briefly before they can go back in the opposite direction. So also when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.

Our descent into hell takes place when we imitate the burial of Christ by our baptism. The bodies of the baptised are in a sense buried in the water as a symbol of their renunciation of the sins of their unregenerate nature. As the Apostle says: The circumcision you have undergone is not an operation performed by human hands, but the complete stripping away of your unregenerate nature. This is the circumcision that Christ gave us, and it is accomplished by our burial with him in baptism. Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: You will wash me, says the psalmist, and I shall be whiter than snow. We receive this saving baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world, and baptism is its symbol.

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Devotion toward our Lord's Passion

Monday Of Holy Week

Random verse:

2Ch 31:20 Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what Yahweh his God regards as good and right and loyal.
2Ch 31:21 Everything that he undertook, whether in the service of the Temple of God or in connection with the law or the commandments, he did in absolute devotion to his God, and so succeeded.

Absolute devotion! How beautifully is Hezekiah spoken of in the scripture. As we enter holy week I am reminded of the devotion we have toward our Lord's Passion.

In today's Office of readings we read Augustine saying," Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

The apostle Paul saw Christ, and extolled his claim to glory. He had many great and inspired things to say about Christ, but he did not say that he boasted in Christ’s wonderful works: in creating the world, since he was God with the Father, or in ruling the world, though he was also a man like us. Rather, he said: Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We too should confess it with joy and glory. Christ was crucified for us.

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The Most Wonderful Exchange

From Today's Office Of Readings:

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

Let us too glory in the cross of the Lord

The passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.
What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?

It is a great thing that we are promised by the Lord, but far greater is what has already been done for us, and which we now commemorate. Where were the sinners, what were they, when Christ died for them? When Christ has already given us the gift of his death, who is to doubt that he will give the saints the gift of his own life? Why does our human frailty hesitate to believe that mankind will one day live with God?

Who is Christ if not the Word of God: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God? This Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. He had no power of himself to die for us: he had to take from us our mortal flesh. This was the way in which, though immortal, he was able to die; the way in which he chose to give life to mortal men: he would first share with us, and then enable us to share with him. Of ourselves we had no power to live, nor did he of himself have the power to die.

In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.

The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.

He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself?

Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

The apostle Paul saw Christ, and extolled his claim to glory. He had many great and inspired things to say about Christ, but he did not say that he boasted in Christ’s wonderful works: in creating the world, since he was God with the Father, or in ruling the world, though he was also a man like us. Rather, he said: Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Christ offered himself for us

From Today's Office of Readings:

From a treatise on faith addressed to Peter by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, bishop

Christ offered himself for us

The sacrifices of animal victims which our forefathers were commanded to offer to God by the holy Trinity itself, the one God of the old and the new testaments, foreshadowed the most acceptable gift of all. This was the offering which in his compassion the only Son of God would make of himself in his human nature for our sake.
The Apostle teaches that Christ offered himself for us to God as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. He is the true God and the true high priest who for our sake entered once for all into the holy of holies, taking with him not the blood of bulls and goats but his own blood. This was foreshadowed by the high priest of old when each year he took blood and entered the holy of holiest

Christ is therefore the one who in himself alone embodied all that he knew to be necessary to achieve our redemption. He is at once priest and sacrifice, God and temple. He is the priest through whom we have been reconciled, the sacrifice by which we have been reconciled, the temple in which we have been reconciled, the God with whom we have been reconciled. He alone is priest, sacrifice and temple because he is all these things as God in the form of a servant; but he is not alone as God, for he is this with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of God.

Hold fast to this and never doubt it: the only-begotten Son, God the Word, becoming man offered himself for us to God as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. In the time of the old testament, patriarchs, prophets and priests sacrificed animals in his honour, and in honour of the Father and the Holy Spirit as well.

Now in the time of the new testament the holy catholic Church throughout the world never ceases to offer the sacrifice of bread and wine, in faith and love, to him and to the Father and the Holy Spirit, with whom he shares one godhead.

Those animal sacrifices foreshadowed the flesh of Christ which he would offer for our sins, though himself without sin, and the blood which he would pour out for the forgiveness of our sins. In this sacrifice there is thanksgiving for, and commemoration of, the flesh of Christ that he offered for us, and the blood that the same God poured out for us. On this Saint Paul says in the Acts of the Apostles: Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as bishops to rule the Church of God, which he won for himself by his blood.

Those sacrifices of old pointed in sign to what was to be given to us. In this sacrifice we see plainly what has already been given to us. Those sacrifices foretold the death of the Son of God for sinners. In this sacrifice he is proclaimed as already slain for sinners, as the Apostle testifies: Christ died for the wicked at a time when we were still powerless, and when we were enemies we were reconciled with God through the death of his Son.

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