Resurrection Appearance at TABGHA

Thank you, William,
for taking a great interest.
Note the correction of my reading of the book of Ronald Knox's 'Gospel Story'.
The volume is actually two books in parallel, continuous narrative on the left page, the explanation on the right page.
The work of Knox was astonishing, from the complete Bible translation to the revealing workings of his studies.
Eastertide good wishes.
Donald

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: William J . . .
To: Donald
Sent: Sun, 18 April, 2010 7:44:26
Subject: Re: [Blog] TABGHA

Dear Donald,

You have laid out a veritable feast to celebrate this special day, and I feel like a guest invited to a banquet by the shore of the lake [Tabgha, the stone you brought back for me]. The 'telling' Knox translation ("You can tell that I love you") and commentary, the Vulgate and Greek (into which I peer to discern the words used!), and the sheer delight of the Today's Good News (which is a new website for me and a real discovery!). This is the CLIMAX of my Easter journey. I can now rest on the shoreline and gaze out across the water in the release of this moment.

Thank you .

With my love in Our Risen Lord,

William

18 April [3rd Sunday of Easter]
Jn 21:15-17

Knox ‘The Gospel Story’ p.422 (left hand page continuous, right hand page Italic explanation) JOHN 21.15-17 Jesus appears to five Apostles, Tabgha Feed My Lambs, Feed My Sheep And when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you care for me more than these others?' 'Yes, Lord,' he told him, 'you know well that I love you.' And he said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' And again, a second time, he asked him, 'Simon, son of John, do you care for me?' 'Yes, Lord,' he told him, 'you know well that I love you.' He said to him, Tend my shearlings.' Then he asked him a third question, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was deeply moved when he was asked a third time, 'Do you love me?' and said to him, 'Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Believe me when I tell you this; as a young man, you would gird yourself and walk where you had the will to go, but when you have grown old, you shall stretch out your hands, and another shall gird you, and lead you where you go, not of your own will.' (Italic print opposite page explanation) . . .p.425 A shepherd must love his sheep (p. 214); but love of the neighbour will soon grow cold unless it is based on the love of God (p. 318). Peter's love for the Lord must be strong, and deep, and courageous. Three times in the one night his devotion to his Master had been found wanting (p. 382); he now makes amends by a threefold declaration at affection. The first two times, Jesus uses the word agapao ('do you care for me'); it is an act of the will, supernatural love (p. 92). Peter, in his humility, does not lay claim to such exalted love; the word he uses, phileo (‘l love you'), is the natural affection of the heart. He no longer boasts of the superiority of his devotion, as he did at the Last Supper (p. 352); he knows now how weak and unreliable man is without divine help. When Jesus uses the word phileo for his third question, Peter is distressed almost to tears; he makes no attempt to vindicate his profession of love, he appeals only to the divine knowledge of the Master. To this new, humble, contrite Peter, Jesus can safely confide his sheep. He now promises his vicar on earth that he will not only live his life; he will die his death. This is the final seal of divine approval. Ronald Knox Commentary p.271 Peter as Shepherd In verses 15-I7, the distinction between two Greek verbs has been marked by a distinction between "care for" and "love" in the rendering given. But it is very doubtful whether any distinction is intended, either in the Greek or in the Latin. Nor is it by any means certain which of the two verbs is the stronger or the more intimate. The probability is that our Lord used the same word, and St Peter answered him in the same word, three times over, but John (or his Greek amanuensis) introduced a second word in the Greek from a natural (though mistaken) desire to avoid monotony. I t is conceivable, too, that our Lord used the same word three times over for "sheep". Over this, the manuscripts give a wide range of variants; probably the original text had three different words, (i) little lambs, (ii) little sheep, (iii) sheep. The classification thus becomes progressive, and it is even possible to suggest that the use of the word "tend" instead of " feed" in the second category only was intentional-the yearlings being more apt to stray than either the mothers or the new-born lambs.

Knox Bible (‘you’ version). Joh 21:15 And when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you care for me more than these others? Yes, Lord, he told them, you know well that I love you. And he said to him, Feed my lambs. Joh 21:16 And again, a second time, he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you care for me? Yes, Lord, he told him, you know well that I love you. He said to him, Tend my shearlings. Joh 21:16 Then he asked him a third question, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was deeply moved when he was asked a third time, Do you love me? and said to him, Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Vulgate Joh 21:15 cum ergo prandissent dicit Simoni Petro Iesus Simon Iohannis diligis me plus his dicit ei etiam Domine tu scis quia amo te dicit ei pasce agnos meos Joh 21:16 dicit ei iterum Simon Iohannis diligis me ait illi etiam Domine tu scis quia amo te dicit ei pasce agnos meos Joh 21:17 dicit ei tertio Simon Iohannis amas me contristatus est Petrus quia dixit ei tertio amas me et dicit ei Domine tu omnia scis tu scis quia amo te dicit ei pasce oves meas.

Greek New Testament Joh 21:15 ῞Οτε οὖν ἡρίστησαν, λέγει τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρῳ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων; λέγει αὐτῷ· ναί, Κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ· βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου. Joh 21:16 λέγει αὐτῷ πάλιν δεύτερον· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με; λέγει αὐτῷ· ναί, Κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ· ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου. Joh 21:17 λέγει αὐτῷ τὸ τρίτον· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, φιλεῖς με; ἐλυπήθη ὁ Πέτρος ὅτι εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὸ τρίτον· φιλεῖς με; καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Κύριε, σὺ πάντα οἶδας, σὺ γινώσκεις ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· βόσκε τὰ πρόβατά μου.

Toay's Good News There on the shore of the lake Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” People like to connect this with Peter’s triple denial of Jesus: he was being given a chance to undo the damage, layer by layer. In addition, something else is happening in the original language, something that doesn’t appear in English. There are several words for ‘love’ in Greek. Look at two of them. ‘Philein’ means to love someone as a friend; ‘agapan’ is more intensive; it means to love someone in the distinctive way that Jesus loved: unselfishly, creatively, unconditionally, endlessly. This second kind is deeper and wider than the first, because it doesn’t depend on like-mindedness as friendship does; it can even reach out to include one's enemies. Now, Jesus first asked Peter, ‘Agapas me?’ (Do you love me with this kind of love?) Peter replies, ‘Philo se’. (I love you as a friend.) The second time the words are the same. But the third time, Jesus asks him, “Phileis me?’ And Peter answers as before, ‘Philo se’. Peter wasn’t yet able to love Jesus in that heroic way; he could love him only as the friend he had known for three years. But the third time around, Jesus steps down, as it were, to accept what Peter was able to offer at that time. Can we put it this way: all forms of love and friendship are capable of advancing gradually towards ‘agapè’, the heroic kind of love Jesus shows. (It is pronounced 'agga-pay'). How do we go along that road? By doing the best we can at the time. Peter was not able to rise to heroic love on that occasion. But he understood friendship. Friendship is the best rehearsal for agapè. It is a deep mystery in itself. “I have called you friends,” Jesus said (John 15:15). But agapè is even deeper. (Web site: goodnews.ie)

Adoration of the Cross

At the Night Office Reading this morning, I was gripped by the reader's speaking - or, again, the Holy Spirit rousing my attention.
A beautiful prayer by Theodore of Studios.

Thursday - SECOND WEEK OF EASTER Prayer in Adoration of the Cross Year I First Reading From the book of Revelation (4:1-11) Responsory Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:3 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come; - all the earth is full of his glory, alleluia. The seraphim cried out to one another. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. All the earth is full of his glory, alleluia. Second Reading From a sermon by Saint Theodore of Studios (Oratio in adorationem crucis: PG 99, 691‑694.695.698-699) In the following reading Theodore exalts the power of the cross in true Byzantine fashion. He lists the Old Testament types of the cross and reminds us that for us the cross means dying to self and putting on Christ How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return. This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot;, destroyed the devil, the lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and 1 to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom's pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness. The wonders accomplished through this tree were fore­shadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God's command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons' wives, and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh's magicians, divided the sea at one stroke, and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God's own people? Aaron's rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood? By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock destined for the sheepfolds of heaven. Responsory This most worthy tree stands in the center of paradise; - on it by his own death our Savior overcame death for us, alleluia. Of all the trees in the forest, this one is the most noble. —On it by...

a question of the QUALITY of love

Thank you, William, for your very concentrated searching for the Resurrection "loves" that Jesus draws from Peter.

As you are "wondering if you know of any writings that can take me further…", I am remembering C.S. Lewis's...

THE FOUR LOVES, C.S.Lewis. The Four Loves the author distinguishes are Affection, Friendship, Eros and Charity; and while each has been examined sufficiently often, from Ovid to St. Bernard and from St. Paul to Stendhal, there have been few advocates to do justice to them all. Professor Lewis sees how each merges into another, how one can even become another, without losing sight of the necessary and real differentiation between them. He knows the peculiar values of each without supposing any to be all in all or self-sufficient; and he discerns too the deceptions and distortions which, can render the first three, the natural loves, dangerous without the sweetening grace of Charity, the divine love which must be the sum and goal of all. This anatomy of love is illuminated and enlivened by Professor Lewis's gifts of immediacy, lucidity and aptness of expression and illustration. "He has never written better. Nearly every page scintillates with observations which are illuminating, provocative and original." (Church Times) Collins 1960

---- Forwarded Message ----
From: William J . . .
To: Donald . . .
Sent: Mon, 12 April, 2010 16:31:39
Subject: Fw: [Blog] Mary Magdalene... and a question of the QUALITY of love

Dear Donald,
What an extraordinarily beautiful sermon illustrating and employing the devotion of Mary Magdalene, by one whose writings I am now discovering on the 'outward' trail of Meister Eckhart! "God is infinite and without end, but the soul's desire is an abyss which cannot be filled except by a Good which is infinite"... And what an emotive painting.. the expressions on the face of the Risen Lord and of Mary...
This is truly a delight to come home to, and how it drives me on! Thank you!
With my love in the Risen Lord,
William

PS ...see below
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
May I write of another 'moment' that has had me 'jotting' for hours.... John 21:15-17.... I am still on the lake shore, the dawn encounter with the Risen Lord, His questions of Peter haunting me… especially as I have read something intriguing with regard to the meaning of the word used for “love” in the original Greek. But do I read too much into the use of the meaning of the word? I was wondering if you know of any writings that can take me further…
____________________________________________________________________

NJB commentary: "Love" is expressed in the text by two different verbs which denote respectively love and friendship or cherishing. But it is unclear whether this is anything more than a stylistic variation.

NRSV commentary: The first two times Jesus asks the question, the Greek verb for "love" is agapan. The third time, and in all of Peter's replies, the Greek verb for "love" is philein, sometimes said to represent a lesser type of love. However, the two may be interchangeable.

AMP text (Amplified Bible):

(15) When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do--with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]". He said to him, "Feed My lambs".

(16) Again He said to him the second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]". He said to him, "Shepherd (tend) My sheep".

(17) He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?" Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]". Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep".

Do I read too much into the use of the meaning of the word? Perhaps the first two questions demanded a reply too personal and emotionally urgent for Peter to answer in the same terms used by Jesus. Jesus knew that Peter loved Him and His Father with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, and was seeking confession from Peter as to the quality of Peter's love for Him, as well as of his belief in Him and devotion to Him, in order to confirm Peter in his love for Jesus and to release the distress that had burdened Peter ever since the moment of his denial of Jesus. Peter's replies are wonderfully honest and direct, straight from his heart, expressing that his love is not the impersonal love of some of Jesus' followers, a creedal love established solely by 'reasoning' and 'intention' on the plane of purely 'spiritual devotion'. Peter's love for Jesus is more intensely personal than their love for Him (excluding John who was not present at that moment, following on behind), and for the Father (thinking of Philip's request as spokesman on one occasion, Jn 14:8 "Lord, show us the Father"). One can imagine Jesus delighting in this intensely personal expression of love, so much so, rephrasing and softening the third question; for Peter had twice declared how he loved Jesus with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Him as for a close friend, seeking thereby to confirm Peter in the depth of his love for Jesus by asking him in the same terms in which he had made his two replies, "Do you love Me with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend?" Peter's final reply says it all, "Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you".

Mary Magdalene

Reflection: Gospel John 20:11-18 --------------------------------------- The Desire of Mary Magdalene You will notice that as long as Mary stood gazing into the empty tomb and looked at the angels, Jesus stood behind her and concealed himself from her. This means that our Lord God hides himself from those who are busied with creatures, absorbed and distressed about created things. The moment the soul turns away from them and goes in search of God, then God reveals himself ... Whosoever longs for the sight of God must soar aloft like a star, and must have an aversion for all transitory things: he must be much enlightened by God if he would behold heavenly sights. Mary recognized her Lord when he called her name, and she answered instantly, Rabbouni (Master). That was the name she and his other disciples usually addressed him with ... He is the Master of all truth, and there­fore we must contemplate him. He is Master of the highest perfection, and therefore we must follow him without ever looking backward. Master of the supreme good: such is his true name, and it entitles him to our love above all things. But you might say: God being infinite good and the soul finite, how can the soul love him or even know him? Ah, mark well that, although God be infinite good and the soul finite, yet the soul's longing is an abyss without limit; the human soul can never be content, except with the possession of an infinite good. And the more the soul longs for God, the more does it yearn for deeper longings; the more we love God, the more we yearn to love him with yet greater intensity ... It is a characteristic trait of the soul to have a longing to love him who is God, who is Supreme Good - to love him without limits to its love, him and none other except for his sake, him to love with increasing praise ... Rightly did Magdalene exclaim, Master! For Christ is, indeed, Master of all good, and therefore he must have our supreme love. But over love our Savior has a triple sovereignty. For as our sovereign Master he rewards us for nothing but for our love for him; he rewards us on account of nothing but his own love for us; and he rewards us with nothing but with the gift of his love for us. Every way we look at his reward to us it is love. (Johannes Tauler O.P. + 1361 popular preacher, mystical theologian. From The Sermons and Conferences of John Tauler, Very Rev. Walter Elliott, Tr. Apostolic Mission House, 1910.

TAULER'S SERMONS

XIV Sermon for Thursday in Easter Week How we ought to love God, and how Christ is a Master of the Eternal Good, wherefore we ought to love Him above all things; a Master of the Highest Truth, wherefore we ought to contemplate Him; and a Master of the Highest Perfectness, wherefore we ought to follow after Him without let or hindrance. JOHN xx, 16.-" She turned herself and said unto Him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." WHEN our Lord had risen from the dead, Mary Magdalene desired with her whole heart to behold our blessed Lord; and he revealed Himself to her in the form of a gardener, and so she did not know Him. Then our Lord said unto her “Mary;" and with that word she knew Him, and said, Rabboni! that is to say, Master. Now mark, so long as Mary stood by the grave looking at the angels, Christ stood behind her, con­cealing Himself from her. For the Lord our God hideth Himself from those who are full of care about the creatures, and grieving over the loss of earthly things and creatures; but as soon as man turns from the creatures to find God, God reveals Himself unto the soul. Thus, when Mary turned to the grave of Christ, it was said unto her, "Mary," which name signifies a star of the sea, a queen of the world, and one who is illuminated by the Holy Spirit. He who desireth to see God, must be as a star in the firmament, severed from and spurning all the things of time, and illuminated to see all heavenly things. When she heard the word that Christ spoke, "Mary," she knew our Lord, and said, Rabboni, which is to say, Master; for she and His other dis­ciples and followers commonly address Him with this title, as He says: "Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am." For He is truly a Master of the Highest Good, and therefore should we love Him above all things. He is a Master of Truth, and therefore should we contemplate Him. He is a Master of the Highest Perfectness, and therefore should we follow Him without any looking backwards behind us. He is (as I said first) a Master of the Highest Good, and therefore should we love Him above all things. Now, thou mightest say, " God is infinite, a supreme Good without limits, and the soul and all creatures are finite and bounded; how, then, can the soul love and know God ?" Hearken: God is infinite and without end, but the soul's desire is an abyss which cannot be filled except by a Good which is infinite; and the more ardently the soul longeth after God, the more she wills to long after Him; for God is a Good without drawback, and a well of living water without bottom, and the soul is made in the image of God, and therefore it is created to know and love God. So, because Christ is a Master of the Highest Good, the soul ought to love Him above all things; for He is love, and from Him doth love flow into us, as out of a well of life. The well of life is love; and he who dwelleth not in love is dead, as St. John says in his Epistle. Now, forasmuch as Christ is a well­spring and Master of the Highest Good, therefore shall the soul love Him without resistance. For it is her property that she must love that which is God ; and therefore must she love that which is the Highest Good, without measure, without rival, and without ceasing to utter forth His praise. Without measure shall the soul love God; concerning which St. Bernard says: "The cause wherefore the soul shall love God, is God; but the measure of this love is without measure, for God is an im­measurable Good, because His benefits are without number or end: wherefore the soul shall love God without measure." Hence St. Paul says: "I pray God that your love may increase and abound yet more and more." And St. Bernard says: "In our love to God we have no rule nor direction to observe, but that we love Him as He hath loved us. He hath loved us unto the end that we might love Him world without end. Therefore, our inward desire ought ever to increase so long as we are here on earth; but although the inward work of our love to God ought ever to increase, yet the outward works of love ought to be meted out with due wisdom, that we so exercise ourselves as not to injure nature, but to subdue it unto the spirit." In the second place, the soul shall love God without a fellow; that is to say, in that degree of love with which the soul loveth God, shall no creature stand; and all whom the soul loves, she shall love in God and to God. Furthermore, she shall love the creatures for God's sake, to God and in God. She loves them for God's sake, when she loves them for that cause which is God; she loves them to God, when she loveth them for that goodness which is God; she loves them in God, when she seeks no other delight nor end in them but God; and thus she loveth the creatures in God, and God in the creatures. Hence Christ tells us: "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," which words are thus expounded by St. Augustine: " Our Lord saith that we are to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, to the intent that man should have no single faculty within his soul that is empty or barren of the love of God; that is, from which the love of God is absent; and that all which it comes into our heart to love, we may love for God's sake, and enjoy in godly love; for God loveth the soul, and therefore shall the soul love Him without a fellow." In the third place, the soul shall love God without silence; for he who is in love cannot be silent, but must proclaim and utter forth his love. St. Gregory speaks of two sorts of crying aloud: the one is that of the mouth, the other that of the works. He says of the voice of the deeds, that it is louder than that of the mouth. Of the latter, David says: "I have cried unto God with my voice, and He hath heard my prayer." Chrysostom says: "It is the habit and custom of loving souls that they cannot hide their love, nor forbear to speak of it, but they tell it to their familiar friends, and describe the inward flames of love; and the faults which they have com­mitted against God they tell to those whom they love, and cannot keep silence about them, but often speak of them, that they may obtain relief and re­freshment thereby." The second cry is that of the actions, -the way in which a man proves his inward love by his outward works. St. Gregory says the witness of love is the proof given by the works; for where love is, it works great things; but if it work not, it is a sure sign that it is not there. Thus Mary Magdalene had good reason to exclaim" Master!" for Christ is a Master of all Good. Therefore we ought to love Him above all things. And rightly is He called a Master of Love, for three causes ; for He rewards nothing but love, He rewards only out of love, and He rewards with love. First, I say that He rewards nothing but love. By three things may a man win reward: by outward acts, by inward contemplation, and by inward as­piration and love. The outward act has no merit unless it be wrought in love; for the outward act perishes and is over, and cannot merit that which is eternal. For Paul says: "Charity never ceases;" wherefore a man can never win eternal life by any works except they be done in love; «Od hence he who truly loveth God separates himself from all that is not God; for he who loves the uncreated good, despises the created. In the second place, I said that God only rewards out of love. For from the love wherewith He loveth man, He giveth Himself, He giveth His very self as a reward, He giveth Himself wholly, and not in part; for God hath loved man with an eternal love, and He gives a man nothing less than Himself. He said to Abraham : "Fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." In the third place, He rewards a man with love. For this reward consists in being able to behold God in His clearness without a veil, and to enjoy the fruition of His love, and keep it for all eternity. Wherefore it was not without reason that Mary exclaimed " Master!" And thou too, 0 man, cry unto Him devoutly from the bottom of thy heart; "0 Master of the Highest Good, and my God, by the love which Thou art, draw me to Thyself, I long after Thy favour, and that I may love Thee above all things." Now when I began I mentioned two other points: first, how that Christ is a Master of the Highest Truth, and therefore we ought to contemplate Him. Here take note that thou canst contemplate God in His creatures, which He has made out of nothing, whereby thou art able to discover His omnipotence. But when thou seest and considerest how admirably the creatures are fashioned and put together, and in what wonderful order they are arranged, thou art able to perceive and trace the Wisdom of God, which is ascribed to the Son. And when further thou comest to perceive the gentleness of the creatures, and how all creatures have something loving in them, then thou perceivest the loving­kindness of the Holy Spirit. Thus St. Paul tells the Romans that men are able to behold the invisible goodness of God through the things that they can see; that is to say, the creatures which He has made. We are also able to perceive God by the light of grace, as the Prophet says: "Lord, in Thy light shall we see the light;" that is, God Himself; for "God is light, and in Him is no darkness anywhere." Moreover we shall at the last behold God in the light of His glory, and there shall we see Him without a veil, bright as He is; for He is a Master of Truth, who giveth us to know all truth. In the third place, Christ is a Master of Perfection; wherefore a man shall leave all things to follow Him, for in God he shall find all things united in one perfectness which are scattered abroad among the creatures. Therefore, 0 man, if thou wilt be perfect, be a follower of Christ. He says: "Whoso will not forsake father and mother, and sisters and brothers, and all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." For father and mother, sisters and brothers, and all creatures, are a man's enemies if they keep him back from God and hinder him from treading the straight path to eternal blessedness. Therefore forsake the creatures, and follow after the Master of Perfection, even Jesus Christ, blessed for ever. May He grant us by His grace to do so! Amen.

Background Review.

Good collection of Tauler's works, March 6, 2007

By	Greg (Australia) -

This review is from: Johannes Tauler: Sermons (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

Johannes Tauler was one of the famous trio of 'Rhineland mystics' who flourished in the 13th century in Germany, the other two being Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso.

Tauler was, like Eckhart and Suso, a Dominican preacher whose calling involved both contemplation, prayer, study, but most importantly of all, going from place to place and preaching the word of God to all people in need of spiritual nourishment.

After Eckhart Tauler is certainly the most noble and great of the Rhineland mystics. While deeply influenced by many of Eckhart's ideas and notions, especially the 'ground' where the soul unites mysteriously to God, Tauler distanced himself somewhat from Eckhart after his condemnation for heresy and cautiously re-phrased or re-stated many of his ideas so they were more in line with the Church orthodoxy of the time. Tauler combined Eckhart's mysticism with excellent spiritual discernment and an extraordinary talent for pastoral care, and his warmth and impartiality in his preaching to both the lowest and highest in society attests to his great humulity, decent sense, and groundedness which is often lost by many mystics.

Tauler also had powerful mystical experiences of his own, revolving around experiencing God in the ground of his being, and while Tauler often uses extraordinary language to describe his experience, he is always careful to emphasize it cannot be achieved without the moral life of virtue and being grounded in the sacramental life of the Church, something Eckhart tended to de-emphasize more in favour of a profound sense of total oneness with God via a vigorous process of emptying the mind of ego, self, images and will.

Tauler's approach however is far more realistic and practical, and he counsels no-one under the age of 50 years will achieve these sorts of unitive experiences, and even only then if they are purified morally and in very good standing in terms of inward holiness.

This in my view, makes Tauler one of the fouyr greatest mystics of medieval times, along with Eckhart himself, the writer of the Cloud of Unknowing, and the Flemish mystic Ruysbroeck.

James Quinn SJ

Edinburgh Jesuit Community
On Fri, 9/4/10,
From: Chris Boles SJ
Subject: Fr James Quinn
Date: Friday, 9 April, 2010, 16:17

Fr. James Quinn SJ - R.I.P.

• I am sorry to be writing to let you know that Fr James Quinn SJ died last night, April 8^th, at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Gilmore Place . He was 90 years old, and had been ill for the last few weeks.
  
  

• He was well known here in the archdiocese and throughout Scotland because of his hymn writing, his work in ecumenism, his work with ICEL, and his being vice postulator for the cause for canonisation of John Ogilvie.
  
  

• He was born in Glasgow on 21 April 1919, educated at St Aloysius’ College and Glasgow University, and joined the Society of Jesus in 1939. After studying at Heythrop College , Oxfordshire, he taught at St Wilfrid’s School in Preston before being ordained in 1950. He also taught at Wimbledon College in South London, but served most of his working life here in Edinburgh, at the Sacred Heart, and a the old novitiate in Woodhall, Juniper Green. His time in Edinburgh was only interrupted by a few years serving as spiritual father to the Beda College in Rome .
  
  

• His funeral will be on Thursday April 15^th at 12.00 noon at the Sacred Heart, and his body will be received into the Sacred Heart on Wednesday evening at 5.15 p.m. prior to our evening mass. You are most warmly welcome to concelebrate at the requiem or at the evening mass, if you are able to do so.
  
  

• Please keep him, his family and the Jesuit community in your prayers.

Every blessing,

Chris Boles SJ

Superior of the Community

Easter Saturday

Mass Entrance Words

This morning we remember the death of Fr. James Quinn SJ (90)

We come to mind the Edinburgh theology friends, James Quinn and Thomas Torrance. They are famous for the correspondence in the Scotsman on the questions on the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Assumption of BVM.

James could always be counted on to attend the Ecumenical Meetings at Nunraw.

We pray for the soul of James and of Thomas Torrance.

+ + +

On this Low Saturday of Easter Octave, in the Gospel, St. Mark rebukes the unbelief of the disciples. Mark speaks almost staccato in the abruptness of the three appearances of the Resurrection of Jesus.
- Mary Magdalene reporting to the disciples,
- the partners on the road to Emmaus,
and at last, the appearance to the Eleven.

Mark is reproachful of the disciples compared to Luke and John.

Luke narrates of Peace and eating, John greets Pease and climaxes to Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit.

The ‘harmony’ of the Appearances in the three Gospels gives us the inner faith of the Resurrection.

PS. Jesus words, “those who saw him after he had been raised”, Mk 16:14, so simple, are manifold in strands of accepting.

The quotation from the mystic, Saint John of the Cross, throws light on the words, "He rebuked them for their unbelief " (see below)

(NAB) (But) later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.	(NJB) Lastly, he showed himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy, because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.	(NRSV) Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.	(RSV) Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.	(Vulgate) novissime recumbentibus illis undecim apparuit et exprobravit incredulitatem illorum et duritiam cordis quia his qui viderant eum resurrexisse non crediderant
Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church The Ascent of Mount Carmel, 3,31 (trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez) "He rebuked them for their unbelief " Where signs and testimonies abound, there is less merit in believing. God never works marvels except when they are a necessity for belief. Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him. Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: «Faith comes through hearing» (Rom10,17) . And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking And the women were sent to tell the disciples first... And journeying incognito to Emmaus with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see him. Finally he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection. And announcing to Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing (Jn 20,29), he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds.

Anticipation

Thank you, William.
Your Easter Greetings opened up the way of Holy Week and the encounters of Resurrection.
Your reflection casts a spotlight again on this Friday of the Octave of Easter.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: William . . .
Sent: Sat, 27 March, 2010 19:41:55
Subject: Of anticipation

I am enclosing a ‘virtual’ version of my Easter card as I write to say that my hope to be now asking to come for a retreat just after Easter is to be on hold until a little later.

The original of my Easter card is on its way to you with its theme of "anticipation" that has carried me throughout Lent, a time that bears an intensity that heightens everything. I came upon a painting (below) and I have been imagining how Peter must have felt after he realized what he had said on that fateful night when he heard the cock crow, since which time he would have lived with but one thought in his mind… little surprise that he leapt into the water to be first ashore to gain a private moment with Jesus… “Lord, you know all things”. That shoreline has been the horizon of my desires these last weeks.

. . .

Yours

William

_______________________________________________

Christ at the Sea of Galilee
Joseph Tintoretto - Italian 1518-1594

The Venetian master [Tintoretto 1518-1594] marshalled the unstable forces of nature to heighten the drama of this scene from John's Gospel; the wind that fills the sail and bends the mast also agitates the sea and sky, and the rocky waves meet the low clouds that blow onto the land. Christ's outstretched arm draws Peter like a magnet, the charge between them creating a dynamic link between the center of the picture and the left foreground.

John 21:

Jesus appeared to his disciples again afterwards, at the sea of Tiberias, and this is how he appeared to them. Simon Peter was there, and with him were Thomas, who is also called Didymus, and Nathanael, from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two more of his disciples. Simon Peter told them, “I am going out fishing”; and they went out and embarked on the boat, and all that night they caught nothing. But when morning came, there was Jesus standing on the shore; only the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. “Have you caught anything, friends”, Jesus asked them, “to season your bread with?” And when they answered “No”, he said to them, “Cast to the right of the boat, and you will have a catch”. So they cast the net, and found before long they had no strength to haul it in, such a shoal of fish was in it. Whereupon the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord”. And Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, girded up the fisherman's coat, which was all he wore, and sprang into the sea…

“Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you”. [Ronald A Knox translation]

Reflection and Meditation

It is the Lord

We are often unable to console ourselves when our emotions run cold and we lose our sense of the loving presence of the Lord. Like the disciples, we often go fishing all night to no purpose. Fulfilment in the spiritual life and in prayer is only possible if we allow ourselves "to let be" and become aware that we are not spiritually alone, that Jesus is standing on the shore waiting for us: then indeed will we hear the cry,"It is the Lord". Each time we recognize him, we will be aware that we will thrice hear His question echoing in the stillness of our hearts, "Do you love Me?", seeking our response: "Lord,You can tell that I love You".

I love the reassurance in the silence of the dawn
When alone I sit in quietude aware of Your presence
Standing on the shore, calling over the water
To discover and release the desires of my heart

There had been no consolation as I cast about all night
For lost in distraction I had stared into the darkness
Empty of all emotion, searching in the depths
For a thought that might season food for my soul

Suddenly my heart cries out "It is the Lord!”
Covering my nakedness, chilled by despair
I hasten to the shore to be there with You my Lord
As You end my night-time fast with the breaking of the bread

But fearfully I tremble recalling another dawn
For You ask a haunting question of the ground of my heart
Words thrice echoing in the stillness "Do you love Me?”
Drawing my sorrowed cry "Lord, You can tell that I love You"

John 21 Jesus appeared to his disciples...…standing upon the shore...…
“Lord, you know all things; you can tell that I love you"”
(Ronald A Knox translation)