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Second Reading special in Lectionary...
the variations of the translation, can be moving in prayer....throughout highlighted "children of God".
Second Reading From a sermon by Fulgentius of Ruspe.
TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY
TIME TUESDAY
Second Reading From
a sermon by Fulgentius of Ruspe
When
our Lord gave the commandment of love for one's enemies, his hearers may have
found it bitter: I ask you, therefore, to taste the sweetness of his promise to
those who obey. Let this sweet delight abide in your heart, and the difficulty
of that bitterness will be surmounted. People who love their enemies and do
good to those who hate them will be children of God!
The
blessed Apostle reveals the reward these children of God are to receive: The
Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God. But if
we are children then we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with
Christ. Pay heed, then, Christians; pay heed, children of God; pay heed,
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ: If you wish to receive your patrimony, love
not only your friends but also your enemies. Deny no one the love which all the
righteous have as a common possession. Let everyone have it at once, and so that
you may have it more fully, bestow it upon good and bad alike. Such a sharing
of good things in common is by no means an earthly virtue: it is heavenly.
There is therefore nothing in it to restrict those who share in it.
Love
increases as cupidity decreases; moreover, love never fails to free those whom
worldly desires do not hold captive. Love is a gift of God. As the Apostle says:
God's love has flooded our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us. Avarice is a snare of the devil, and not only a snare but a sword: by
means of it he captures poor wretches and puts them to death. Love is the root
of all good; avarice is the root of all evil.
Avarice
brings ceaseless torment because it is never satisfied with its booty. Love, on
the other hand, brings joy because the more it increases the more generously it
gives. Consequently, while their acquisitions impoverish those who desire evil,
charitable givers are enriched by their gifts. The greedy are troubled, seeking
revenge for injuries inflicted on them; the charitable are at peace, delighting
to forgive any harm done to them. The avaricious avoid practicing the works of
mercy, while the charitable perform them cheerfully.
The
object of the avaricious is to injure their neighbours; the charitable do them
no harm. By self-exaltation the greedy sink down into hell; by humbling themselves
the charitable ascend to heaven.
But
when shall I ever be able fittingly to sing the praises of love, which is not
solitary in heaven or bereft on earth? For on earth it is fed by the words of
God; in heaven it is filled by the words of God. On earth it has the company of
friends, in heaven the fellowship of angels. It toils in the world; it finds
rest in heaven.
Responsory 1 Jn 4:16.7
God
is love,
and those
who live in love live in God, + and God lives
in them.
V.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and knows God. + And God lives ...
BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH
Fulgentius of Ruspe, Saint (468-533)
Fulgentius left the Roman civil service for the monastic life at the age of twenty-one. In 508 he became bishop of Ruspe in North Africa. A faithful disciple of Saint Augustine, he was the best theologian of his time, and possessed a fluent knowledge of
Greek. Many of his writings were directed against the Arians,
from whom he suffered constant persecution.
Fulgentius of Ruspe: People who Love their Enemies will be Children of GodFriday, Sep 27 2013
PATRISTIC and MONASTIC and Early Latin Monks and Fulgentius of Ruspe charity,heaven, humility, love, angels, Holy Spirit, forgiveness, adoptive sonship 5:23 am
People who love their enemies and do good to those who hate them will be children of God! The blessed Apostle reveals the reward these children of God are to receive:
The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God. But if we are children then we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
Pay heed, then, Christians; pay heed, children of God; pay heed, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ: If you wish to receive your patrimony, love not only your friends but also your enemies.
Deny no one the love which all the righteous have as a common possession. Let everyone have it at once, and so that you may have it more fully, bestow it upon good and bad alike.
Such a sharing of good things in common is by no means an earthly virtue: it is heavenly. There is therefore nothing in it to restrict those who share in it.
Love increases as cupidity decreases; moreover, love never fails to free those whom worldly desires do not hold captive.
Love is a gift of God. As the Apostle says: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Avarice is a snare of the devil, and not only a snare but a sword: by means of it he captures poor wretches and puts them to death.
Love is the root of all good; avarice is the root of all evil. Avarice brings ceaseless torment because it is never satisfied with its booty. Love, on the other hand, brings joy because the more it increases the more generously it gives.
Consequently, while their acquisitions impoverish those who desire evil, charitable givers are enriched by their gifts. The greedy are troubled, seeking revenge for injuries inflicted on them; the charitable are at peace, delighting to forgive any harm done to them.
The avaricious avoid practising the works of mercy, while the charitable perform them cheerfully The object of the avaricious is to injure their neighbours; the charitable do them no harm. By self-exaltation the greedy sink down into hell; by humbling themselves the charitable ascend to heaven.
But when shall I ever be able fittingly to sing the praises of love, which is not solitary in heaven or bereft on earth? For on earth it is fed by the words of God; in heaven it is filled by the words of God.
On earth it has the company of friends, in heaven the fellowship of angels. It toils in the world; it finds rest in heaven.
Fulgentius of Ruspe (462/467—527/533): Sermon 5.5-6 (CCL 91A:922-923); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Tuesday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1.
_____________________________________________________________
The Feast Day of Saint Stephen,
Protomartyr
December 26, The Second Day of Christmas
 This sermon by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe for the feast of St. Stephen ( Sermo 3, 1-3, 5-6: CCL 91A, 905-909) dates from around the year 500 AD and demonstrates the ancient Catholic tradition of remembering the first martyr on the day immediately following the solemn celebration of the nativity of Christ.
Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier.
Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven. Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet he did not come empty-handed. He brought his soldiers a great gift that not only enriched them but also made them unconquerable in battle, for it was the gift of love, which was to bring men to share in his divinity. He gave of his bounty, yet without any loss to himself. In a marvellous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his faithful followers while remaining in full possession of his own inexhaustible riches. And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. In his holy and tireless love he longed to gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition. Now at last, Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he delights in the glory of Christ, with Stephen he exalts, with Stephen he reigns. Stephen went first, slain by the stones thrown by Paul, but Paul followed after, helped by the prayer of Stephen. This, surely, is the true life, my brothers, a life in which Paul feels no shame because of Stephen’s death, and Stephen delights in Paul’s companionship, for love fills them both with joy. It was Stephen’s love that prevailed over the cruelty of the mob, and it was Paul’s love that covered the multitude of his sins; it was love that won for both of them the kingdom of heaven. Love, indeed, is the source of all good things; it is an impregnable defense,- and the way that leads to heaven. He who walks in love can neither go astray nor be afraid: love guides him, protects him, and brings him to his journey’s end. My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it, and by your progress in it, make your ascent together. |
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