Patristic Lectionary, Eastertide Night OPffice,
COMMENT: I would like to hear other interesting words of "Christ lives in his Church - sermon by Saint Leo the Great".........
iBreviary
Office of Readings
From the Book of Revelation
2:12-29
To the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira
I, John, heard the Lord saying to me: “To the presiding spirit of the church in Pergamum, write this:
“‘The One with the sharp, two-edged sword has this to say: I know you live in the very place where Satan’s throne is erected; ....
RESPONSORY
Revelation 2:18, 23; 22:12
These are the words of the Son of God
whose eyes are like flames of fire:
I search the mind and the heart,
– and I will repay each one as his deeds deserve, alleluia.
Behold I am coming soon
and I bring my reward with me.
– And I will repay each one as his deeds deserve, alleluia.
SECOND READING
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Sermo 12 de Passione, 3, 6-7: PL 54, 355-357)
Christ lives in his Church
My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.
But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.
RESPONSORY
John 10:14; Ezekiel 34:11, 13
I am the good shepherd;
– I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.
I shall look after my sheep
and seek them out.
I shall bring them out from among the peoples
and lead them to pasture.
– I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Let us pray.
God of mercy,
you have filled us with the hope of resurrection
by restoring man to his original dignity.
May we who relive this mystery each year
come to share it in perpetual love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Sermo 12 de Passione, 3, 6-7: PL 54, 355-357)
Christ lives in his Church
My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.
But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.
RESPONSORY
John 10:14; Ezekiel 34:11, 13
I am the good shepherd;
– I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.
I shall look after my sheep
and seek them out.
I shall bring them out from among the peoples
and lead them to pasture.
– I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Let us pray.
God of mercy,
you have filled us with the hope of resurrection
by restoring man to his original dignity.
May we who relive this mystery each year
come to share it in perpetual love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
Paschal Message of Three Syrian Patriarchs
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 10:27 am
In a powerful Easter Message from Damascus, the three Syrian Patriarchs: Patriarch Gregorios III, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and Patriarch John X rejoice in the Good News of the Resurrection and then call for an end to the violence in the Middle East, especially Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine. They appeal for greater support for Christians struggling to survive in the birthplace of Christianity and urge world governments and international organisations to assist in the search for kidnapped church leaders...
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