Water and the Spirit, Sermon on the Epiphany attributed to Saint Hippolytus

Baptism of Christ 

iBreviary

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Weekdays - Time: christmas

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From a sermon on the Epiphany attributed to Saint Hippolytus, priest and martyr
(Nn. 2.6-8, 10: PG 10, 854. 858-859. 862)

Water and the Spirit

That Jesus should come and be baptized by John is surely cause for amazement. To think of the infinite river that gladdens the city of God being bathed in a poor little stream of the eternal, the unfathomable fountainhead that gives life to all men being immersed in the shallow waters of this transient world! He who fills all creation, leaving no place devoid of his presence, he who is incomprehensible to the angels and hidden from the sight of man, came to be baptized because it was his will. And behold, the heavens opened and a voice said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

The beloved Father begets love, and spiritual light generates light inaccessible. In his divine nature he is my only Son, though he was known as the son of Joseph. This is my beloved Son. Though hungry himself, he feeds thousands; though weary, he refreshes those who labor. He has no place to lay his head yet holds all creation in his hand. By his passion [inflicted on him by others], he frees us from the passions [unleashed by our disobedience]; by receiving a blow on the cheek he gives the world its liberty; by being pierced in the side he heals the wound of Adam.

I ask you now to pay close attention, for I want to return to that fountain of life and contemplate its healing waters at their source.

The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world; he came to us men to cleanse us with water and the Spirit. To give us a new birth that would make our bodies and souls immortal, he breathed into us the spirit of life and armed us with incorruptibility. Now if we become immortal, we shall also be divine; and if we become divine after rebirth in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we shall also be coheirs with Christ after the resurrection of the dead.

Therefore, in a herald’s voice I cry: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism. This is the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise, makes the earth fertile, gives growth to plants, and brings forth living creatures. In short, this is the water by which a man receives new birth and life, the water in which even Christ was baptized, the water into which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude, and is raised to filial status. He comes up from baptism resplendent as the sun, radiant in his purity, but above all, he comes as a son of God and a coheir with Christ. To him and to his most holy and life-giving Spirit be glory and power now and for ever. Amen.

RESPONSORY
John 1:32, 34, 33

I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove resting upon him.
– I have seen and given witness that he is the Son of God.

He who sent me to baptize said to me:
The one on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest,
this is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
– I have seen and given witness that he is the Son of God.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Father,
your Son became like us
when he revealed himself in our nature:
help us to become more like him,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Lacordaire O.P. - Night Office Reading

Lacordaire o.p.,(mononymous), pupit orator

 

Night Office

Monastic Lectionary

A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy Hours VI..

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY

First Reading   2 Kings 14:1-27

Responsonory;  Mt 24:7.11-13; Eph 6:11

Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray, and as lawlessness spreads, most people's love will grow cold. But + whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.

v. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. +Whoever perseveres ...

Second Reading   From a Letter by Lacordaire
Lacordaire, Lacordaire et ls Parole de Dieu: Etudesreligeuses 759, 66-67

If, taught gradually by the Church and imbued with her life-giving breath, we enter with facility of heart into that monument of truth built by God which is the Bible, we will pass under many shadows in its depths, passages where one has to bend one's head, and sublimities where our understanding will almost fail. However, supported by our unfailing companion, the Church herself, we will go from inspiration to inspiration under the firmament of the holy Word, rejoicing with it in the open plains of eternity, admiring Jesus Christ as he comes ever nearer, longing for him with the patriarchs, seeing him from afar with the prophets, greeting him with the harp of the psalms, until at last, on the threshold of the second temple, he appears to us wholly filled with his glory and death, predestined victim of the reconciliation of souls, and sovereign explication of all that is by all that was.

This vision of Jesus Christ not only fills the long roll of holy books; it interweaves great world events. The Christian sees these events therein under the hand of providence, guided by the laws of justice and grace. In this light he discerns the succession of empires, the rise and fall of great races. He realizes that neither chance nor fate mean anything, but that everything progresses under the twofold impulse of the freedom of man and the wisdom of God. This view of the true meaning of history enraptures the Christian. He gains an understanding of life which no experience could give him, because experience shows him only man, whereas the Bible reveals at one and the same time both God in man and man in God.

This revelation not only makes itself felt in the great moments of the Bible; it is there throughout. God is never absent from his work. He is in the field with Boaz, behind the daughter of Naomi, just as he is in Babylon at Belshazzar's feast. He sits by Abraham's tent as a traveler wearied by his journey, just as he dwells on the summit of Mount Sinai in the thunder proclaiming his presence. He helps Joseph in prison, just as he crowns Daniel in captivity. The smallest details of family or wilderness, the names, places, and events, all these are filled with God, and it is in the course of four millennia, from Eden to Calvary, from righteousness lost to righteousness regained, that one follows from beginning to end, step by step, all the movements of his mercy and all those of his might.

Who could remain unmoved by so great a pilgrimage?  Guided by faith along such paths, who could fail to return home a better man? The Bible is at one and the same time the drama of our destiny, the primitive history of the human race, the philosophy of saints, the legislation of a people chosen and governed by God; within the providence of four thousand years it is the preparation and the seed of the whole future of mankind; it is the storehouse of all the truth needed by man, the charter of his rights, the treasury of his hopes, the abyss of his consolations, the kiss of God upon his heart; finally, it is Christ the Son of God who has saved him.

                                                               Responsory     Rm 15:4; 2 Tm 3:16

All that was written long ago in scripture was written for our instruction,+ so that by its encouragement we might have hope.

V. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for refuting error, for correction, and for training in right living, +so that by its ...

Lacordaire, Henri Dominique (1802-1861) Ordained priest in 1827, he worked in association with Lammenais for the periodical L'Avenir, until its modernist teaching was condemned in the Encyclical Mirari vos in 1832. He broke with Lamennais, went to Rome and was clothed as a Dominican there in 1839. The restoration of Dominican life in France in 1850 was due to his efforts. Throughout his life he was impelled by the desire to bring Christianity to a new birth in his own age. He wrote much, including many letters to young people who sought his help. These show his skill and devotion as a spiritual director.

1 Cor 2:1-16 John Chrysostom 'Wisdom of God in a mystery'

Anne Henderson, Sculptor,

1963 - 1964 ‘They knew him in the Breaking of Bread’ (carved stone) Refectory, Nunraw Monastery, Haddington, Scotland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Henderson

Fifth In Ordinary Time Tuesday Night Office First Reading 1 Corinthians 2:1-16  From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom We impart the wisdom of God in a mystery. A mystery does not need to be proved, but simply proclaimed. It would not be a wholly divine mystery if you added to it anything of your own. Besides, the reason it is called a mystery is that we cannot penetrate its depths: what we see is one thing, what we believe is another. In this lies the very nature of our mysteries. My reactions to them are therefore different from the reactions of an unbeliever. When I hear that Christ was crucified I am filled with amazement at his love for us, but to the unbeliever this shows weakness. When I hear that Christ became a servant I am astonished at his solicitude for us, but to the unbeliever this is a disgrace. When I hear that Christ died I marvel at his power, since he was not conquered by death, but instead put an end to death. The unbeliever, however, sees Christ's death as a sign of helpless­ness. The unbeliever regards the resurrection as pure fiction, but I accept the proven facts and venerate God's saving plan. In baptism the unbeliever sees only water, but I perceive not only what meets the eye, but also the purification of the soul by the Holy Spirit. The unbeliever thinks only the body is cleansed, but I believe that the soul also is made pure and holy, and I am reminded of the tomb, the resurrection, our sanctification, justification, redemption, adoption, and inheritance, of the kingdom of heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit. I judge outward appearances not by what I see but by the eyes of the mind. When the body of Christ is mentioned, the words have one meaning for me, another for the unbeliever. Just as the letters on a page are meaningless to a child who has not learned to read, so it is with the Christian mystery. Unbelievers are deaf to what they hear, whereas the experience of the Spirit empowers believers to perceive its hidden meaning. Paul made this clear when he said: Our preaching is obscure, but only for those on the way to perdition. Something proclaimed everywhere without being understood by those lacking an upright spirit is undoubtedly a mystery. For to the extent that we are able to receive it, it is revealed not by human wisdom but by the Holy Spirit. Rightly, therefore, is the mystery said to be a secret, for even we believers have not been given a completely clear and accurate knowledge of it. As Paul said: Our knowledge and our prophesying are imperfect. We see now as it were a dim reflection in a mirror, but then face to face. This is why he said: We impart the wisdom of God in a mystery predestined by God before all ages for our glory. Responsory         Jn 14:26; 1 Cor 2:12 The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, + he will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have told you. +. We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts he has given us. t He will teach ...

25 miles distance from Nunraw. View Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh, on right Forth Bridge