Feast of the Holy Family

Yesterday was the feast of the Holy Family. I know I am a day late on this, but I felt it was important to separate this from all the other Christmas posts that were being thrown up all around.

Smarter people than I have posted about this feast and the meaning behind the readings. But I want to give my own little take. Here is the Gospel Reading:

41 And hisparents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, 43 and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained inJerusalem. And his parents knew it not. 44 And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey and sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45 And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of thedoctors, hearing them and asking them questions.47 And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. 48 And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why have you done so to us? Behold your father and I have sought you sorrowing. 49 And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazarethand was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men.  --- Luke 2:41-52

The Catena Aurea has some interesting commentary. I will post some of the finer points below and then my commentary will be below that. [All Catena Aurea material is from Catechetics Online]

AMBROSE; Or the twelfth year was the commencement of our Lord's disputation with the doctors, for this was the number of the Evangelists necessary to preach the faith.

THEOPHYL; But some one will ask, how was it that the Son of God, brought up by His parents with such care, could be left behind from forgetfulness? To which it is answered, that the custom of the children of Israel while assembling at Jerusalem on the feast days, or returning to their homes, was for the women and men to go separately, and the infants or children to go with either parent indiscriminately. And so both Mary and Joseph each thought in turn that the Child Jesus, whom they saw not with them, was returning with the other parent. Hence it follows, But they, supposing him to have been in the company, &c

THEOPHYL; To show that He was a man, He humbly listened to the masters; but to prove that He was God, He divinely answered those who spoke.  

CHRYS. The Lord truly did no miracle in His childhood, yet this one fact St. Luke mentions, which made men look with wonder upon Him. 

ORIGEN; Let us then also ourselves be subject to our parents. But if our fathers are not let us be subject to those who are our fathers. Jesus the Son of God is subject to Joseph and Mary. But I must be subject to the Bishop who has been constituted my father. It seems that Joseph knew that Jesus was greater than he, and there fore in awe moderated his authority. But let every one see, that oftentimes he who is subject is the greater. Which if they who are higher in dignity understand they will not be elated with pride, knowing that their superior is subject to them.

I think this final commentary from Origen is the most striking. The concept of subjecting one's self to another, even when we are the 'greater' is one of humility. I wondered something while contemplating the idea of parenthood and the image of God:

If we are truly made in the image of God, then we too must go through a transformation and reformation in our souls throughout our life. When we are born, and a single person in our unity with God, we are like God the Father, sovereign over ourselves in unity with God. Sovereign in the sense that we submit ourselves to God singularly. We then get married, and subject ourselves to our spouse. We humble our soul to another in unity, or tri-unity, with God and our spouse. Much the way God sent Jesus, HIS Son in a Tri-Unity with humanity. Finally, the descending of the Holy Spirit is the creation of something separate but unified not in a neo-creative way, but instead in a pro-creative way. [Here, pro-creative not in a sexual sense, but instead a metaphysical or spiritual way.]
The Holy Spirit is the the ESSENCE of God the Father and Jesus [or of the same ESSENCE] - the third person of the Trinity both a totality of the other two and at the same time autonomous and unique. This is similar to how when a baby is born to the couple described above, that baby contains both the combined and SAME ESSENCE of the unified couple, but also its own. The man and woman in a marriage, completely submit themself to each other and their child, not in disgrace but instead in love and obedience. The man and  the woman each become the third in the tri-union within their family. Whether it be with their spouse and child or; with the tri-union with the Body of Christ [the Church] and God.

We have everything that we need in the bible and the teachings of the Catholic Church. We see the submission of both Joseph and Mary in their unique roles as individuals and as "players" in the greater cosmic and historical pageantry of the Mystery of God. We too must learn submission, not out of concession [loss] but instead out of obedience and love.

Advent Reading Sunday, December 6 & Catena Aurea Commentary (Luke 3:1-6)

Gospel, Lk 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar's reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the territories of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
2 and while the high-priesthood was held by Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah, in the desert.
3 He went through the whole Jordan area proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight!
5 Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be levelled, winding ways be straightened and rough roads made smooth,
6 and all humanity will see the salvation of God.

Catena Aurea:

GREG. It is plain to every reader that John not only preached the baptism of repentance, but to some also he gave it, yet his own baptism he could not give for the remission of sins. 

CHRYS. For as the sacrifice had not yet been offered up, nor had the holy Spirit descended, how could remission of sins be given? What is it then that St. Luke means by the words, for the remission of sins, seeing the Jews were ignorant, and knew not the weight of their sins? Because this was the cause of their evils, in order that they might be convinced of their sins and seek a Redeemer, John came exhorting them to repentance, that being thereby made better and sorrowful for their sins, they might be ready to receive pardon. Rightly then after saying, that he came preaching the baptism of repentance, he adds, for the remission of sins. As if he should say, The reason by which he persuaded them to repent was, as, that thereby they would the more easily obtain despair. For the hill produces no fruit.

[My commentary - this should not be taking as TEACHINGS; they are more of observations gleamed from the Catena Aurea and other research - therefore the weight given to my comments should weigh less than a feather]:

This Gospel is pretty straight-forward and the Church fathers treat it as such. This Gospel is appropriate for the Second Sunday of Advent; it describes the journey we all should be on, the expectation of Christ. Lent, also a journey, seems to be opposite in many ways. Here the Word is received IN THE DESERT. It then goes out all over the Jordan. In Lent, we see the opposite. We see the Word go from the area of the Jordan and go INTO THE DESERT. 

Advent Reading Sunday, November 29 & Catena Aurea Commentary

The following is the Gospel reading for Sunday, the Church fathers commentary in blue and then my comments in red.

Gospel, Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

²⁵ 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves;

²⁶ men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.

²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.'

³⁴ 'Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly,

³⁵ like a trap. For it will come down on all those living on the face of the earth.

³⁶ Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to hold your ground before the Son of man.'

The Gospel that opens Advent this year is clearly about the future coming of Christ... both in the first instance and in the future. Here is what the Church fathers say [from: http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea-Luke21.php]

Re: Verses 25-27:

EUSEBIUS: For at that time when the end of this perishing life shall be accomplished, and, as the Apostle says, The fashion of this world passes away, then shall succeed a new world in which instead of sensible light, Christ Himself shall shine as a sunbeam, and as the King of the new world, and so mighty and glorious will be His light, that the sun which now dazzles so brightly, and the moon and all the stars, shall be hidden by the coming of a far greater light.

CYRIL; Great must be understood in like manner. For His first appearance He made in our weakness and lowliness, the second He shall celebrate in all His own power.  

The coming of Christ originally came in a lowly form. His glory then was then as a man, and so his coming was signaled in a lowly way, much deserved of mankind. One star symbolized his birthplace, in a cave with animals. His birth was known to very few - only his greatest enemies and greatest believers. Saint Cyril juxtaposes this image, the one we are so familiar with in the "Little Town of Bethlehem", and makes reference to the description Eusebius gives. His second coming will be with all the Glory and Splendor of God and it will be known to all. This second coming, and its description show what a humble act God undertook by giving Jesus to us in Human form.

RE: Verses 34-36:

THEOPHYL. And because a Christian needs not only to flee evil, but to strive to obtain glory, He adds, And to stand before the Son of man. For this is the glory of angels, to stand before the Son of man, our God, and always to behold His face. 

THEOPHYL. Our Lord declared above the fearful and sensible signs of the evils which should overtake sinners, against which the only remedy is watching and prayer, as it is said, And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time,

BASIL; But carefulness, or the care of this life, although it seems to have nothing unlawful in it, nevertheless if it conduce not to religion, must be avoided. And the reason why He said this He shows by what comes next, And so that day come upon you unawares. 

These verses which follow the account of the Second Coming are a warning and guidepost for us as Christians. We are to be mindful and watchful; not necessarily over the skies for the appearance but instead over our souls and our faith. Many use these verses as an argument against drinking in total, but as the commentary explains, the danger and problem is in the indulgence and excess of such things. The excess clouds our minds and prevents us from clearly focusing on the GOOD that is GOD. Therefore during Advent, as we prepare ourselves for the "first coming" let us be mindful of such things. Let us not focus on shopping, "events" and the earthly concerns that pull us from God. All that we do for the next month and a half should always focus on Christ. If ALL of our actions don't lead back to or center on Christ, they are therefore self-indulgent and as St. Basil says, "must be avoided."

Advent Readings & The Cantena Aurea

During Advent I have decided I am going to post the readings for Sundays and possibly weekday readings along with some of the commentary from the Catena Aurea. If you are unfamiliar with the Catena Aurea, here is a description from Aquinas & More:

St. Thomas Aquinas'  Catena Aurea is a masterpiece anthology of Patristic commentary on the Gospels – it includes the work of over eighty Church Fathers.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ work demonstrates intimate acquaintance with the Church Fathers and is an excellent complement to the more recent attempts to understand the inner meaning of the Sacred Scriptures. For each of the four Gospel writers, the Catena Aurea starts by indicating the verses to be analyzed, then phrase-by-phrase, provides the early Fathers’ insights into the passage.
The unchanging rule of the Church is that “no one [is] to interpret the Sacred Scripture… contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers” (Vatican I). Just as in our own day there has been renewed interest in the Church Fathers, so in the 13th century, when the Catena Aurea was compiled, the western church was undergoing a similar revival of interest in the ancient patristic authors – and the works of many Eastern Fathers were translated from Greek to Latin for the first time. During this period there was increasing hunger for the true and authentic interpretation of Scripture, which the Church Fathers hold the key to.
St. Thomas Aquinas was commissioned to write the Catena Aurea by Pope Urban IV, in order that an orthodox Patristic commentary on the Gospels was readily available to all readers. John Henry Newman, who is widely expected to be canonized next year, was responsible for its translation into English in 1841. Cardinal Newman hoped that the Catena would become a source of catechesis within the family and the Church. Cardinal Newman’s edition of the Catena Aurea is one of the jewels of the 19th century Catholic Restoration, making the scholarship of the Fathers available to a wider audience. As with many 19th century texts it employs a sober, dignified style of English, which is eminently suitable to the unsurpassable mysteries of the Catholic Faith.

If you want a good resource for the Catena Aurea and other good Church Reference materials check out:
http://www.catecheticsonline.com/