God’s Desire for Human Happiness

From the third Psalm of Sunday’s Office of Readings;

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men. (Psalm 33)

As people consider their relationship with God, many think only of their obligations and duties. (We can blame this on the philosopher Kant but that is a different subject).  Such thinking begins to focus the spiritual life around feelings of guilt, or fulfilling obligations in a legalistic or minimalist way.  If we look in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is interesting to point to point out that the moral section begins not with the duties of the Commandments but with a discussion of happiness.  What unfolds in the Catechism is not a morality of duty but of excellence.
True happiness comes from God.  This is not the fluffy happiness of self indulgence, but finding life’s deepest meaning.  God desires our integral human fulfillment.  I think that if we could even taste this happiness even for a moment we would pursue nothing else in our life.  On the surface a morality of happiness and excellence might look the same as a morality of duty, but the underlying motivation for a morality of excellence is love. It is love that give energy to our souls and provides the motive for our interior life. “They are happy, whose God is the Lord.”

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus reminds his disciples;

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.

Jesus has promised that he will guide the Church into all truth.  Although individual members of the Church may reveal their sinfulness or even at time cause scandal, the teaching office of the Church is protected by a charism of truth in the area of faith and morals. 

The Catechism refers to this point quoting from Second Vatican Council (LG 25);

Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent" [religioso animi obsequio adhaerere debent ]⁴²² which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it. CCC 892

Holy Mother Church, on her pilgrimage through the ages, has been infallibly guided by divine assistance in her magisterial teachings.  This assistance is the work of the Holy Spirit.

In the Image of Christ

Today in the Office of Morning Prayer the intercessions remind us;

You made man in your image and renewed him in Christ

--mold us into the likeness of your Son.

Not only did God create us in the image and likeness of himself but knowing full well that our first parents would fall he created us in the image of His Son.  God’s plan of love extends from the first moment of human existence into all eternity.  As St. Paul reminds us, God “chose us in him, before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4).

Who can fathom the wonder of God’s love?

Friends with a Blameless Heart

Today as I recited Psalm 101 during Morning Prayer I was struck with the theme of friendship.

The psalmist writes;

I will walk with blameless heart

within my house;

I will not set before my eyes

whatever is base.

I will hate the ways of the crooked;

they shall not be my friends.

The false-hearted must keep far away;

the wicked I disown.

Who we keep as our friends says a great deal about as. In our modern “facebook” world we tend to treat the notion of friendship lightly. The Psalmist desires to have friends with integrity who are trustworthy.  Our friends can lead us up or tear us down.

St. Augustine notes;

I would warn you never to link yourself in friendship with those shadows of the realm of darkness, and to break off without delay whatever friendship may have been begun between you and them.

The Greatness of God --Morning Prayer Week IV Monday

I was struck in today’s Morning Prayer by the grander of God in creation. As the suggested Hymn for the office puts it;

I sing the mighty power of God,

That made the mountains rise;

That spread the flowing seas abroad,

And built the lofty skies. (Issac Watts, 1715)

In Psalm 135 the Psalmist writes;

For I know the Lord is great,

that our Lord is high above all gods,

The Lord does whatever he wills,

in heaven, on earth, in the seas. (Psalm 135:6)

This is the biblical basis for the aphorism that “God can do what ever God wants to do.”  This may seem strange to us because we fear acts that are capricious but this quality of God is held in balance with all his other attributes.  God is loving and slow to anger.  He is patient with us and desires to give good gifts to his children.

 

Growth in the spiritual life involves becoming holy.

Pentecost Sunday

Growth in the spiritual life involves becoming holy. Originally the term “holy” meant simply something set apart for worship. For example, “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10). In the Sacred Scriptures the term holiness takes on a deeper significance by implying that the person “set apart” would be made special by becoming like God in a moral sense. “For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). The Lord himself becomes the definition of holiness. In essence, the word holy is a technical term for moral excellence.

The Church teaches that every baptized Christian is called to a life of holiness. Since we are all called to holiness, Christians in every walk of life should desire to be holy. Our first intuition upon thinking about becoming holy is to dismiss the thought by saying, “True holiness is for priests or religious, but not for ordinary folks in the midst of the world.”

Following up on the vision of Sacred Scripture and the later intuitions of many of the Fathers of the Church, the Second Vatican council affirmed that there is a universal call to holiness based on our baptismal vocation which results in an apostolic outlook toward the world around us (Lumen Gentium 30-36).  By calling this vocation “universal” they are underscoring that this is a common vocation for all baptized faithful of the Church.

In one sense the task of attaining holiness is beyond our power. Holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost Sunday is a special day in the Church’s liturgy when we are reminded that we are to be friends with the Holy Spirit. The graces we receive in the Sacraments and the intimate life we enjoy in our prayer are all the result of the Holy Spirit calling out in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

Because we are each totally unique, the manner in which the Holy Spirit acts to give inspirations to us varies from person to person. As each of us attempts to correspond to this calling, God deals with us in a distinctive way. We must attempt to let God have his way, to become disciples in the school of the Holy Spirit.

This does not imply that we are entirely passive. Certainly the path to holiness will require effort on our part, but it is important that the effort is directed at the right end. We must struggle to open ourselves fully to God’s grace. By means of our baptism we have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit which make our soul capable of submitting to the motions of God. These inspirations of grace should be the object of our prayer and intense desire. Although God will grant these inspirations in greater or lesser degrees, they are not an optional extra for the Christian life but the secret to holiness and the decisive means for spiritual progress.

Our life in the Spirit begins at the depth of our being. We are created in “the image and likeness” of God. The human heart was created with a God-shaped hole in it. Like the first man we are alone, like a lover seeking our beloved. When we find our beloved we break forth in spontaneous praise and thanksgiving. God has created human love to be a reflection of his own divine love. Has our love for our beloved grown cold? Let us fan the flames of this love with praise and thanksgiving in the intimacy of our prayer and in the great thanksgiving, the Eucharist.

The second principle would be to genuinely ask for holiness. Pray to God and ask Him with a sincere desire to be made holy. Invoke the intercession of the saints and of your guardian angel that you might find the path to holiness. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7). St. James writes, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2b). Let us ask God for this marvelous gift.

Finally we must renounce our tendency to manage ourselves. We might call this docility to God’s will or docility to the Holy Spirit. As we pray the words, “Come Holy Spirit,” this Sunday let us be like our Blessed Mother as we learn to trust and open ourselves up to the wonderful plan God has for our life. With her we must cry, “Lord, let it be done to me, according to your word.”

The Feast of the Ascension, May 16, 2010

The Feast of the Ascension commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven. There is evidence that this feast has been celebrated at least since the fourth century. St. Augustine says the feast is of apostolic origin. The longest scriptural account of the Ascension is found in our first reading from Acts 1:1-11, and this year our Gospel is taken from St. Luke’s account in Luke 24:46-53.

The Feast of the Ascension commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven. There is documentary evidence that this feast has been celebrated at least since the fourth century. St. Augustine says the feast is of apostolic origin. The longest scriptural account of the Ascension is found in our first reading from Acts 1:1-11, and our Gospel is taken from St. Mark's account in Mark 16:15-20. The Latin ascensio signifies that Christ was raised up by his own powers. The Feast of the Ascension ranks with Easter and Pentecost as the most solemn on the church calendar. The feast was originally celebrated as a vigil followed by an octave (the feast day and seven days following it) in anticipation of Pentecost. The feast falls on a Thursday exactly 40 days after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. In the US this feast is a Holy Day of Obligation but it has been transferred to Sunday, May 16^th.

The importance of this feast flows from its connection to the Paschal mystery. As the Catechism notes the Paschal mystery is fully understood as Christ's passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension (CCC 512). Thus the ascension is the culmination of the Paschal mystery. In the Second Vatican Council Constitution on Sacred Liturgy the council Fathers note that the purpose of the liturgy is to make present the fullness of the Paschal mystery. The council Fathers point out; "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event in their lives; they are given access to the stream of divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the passion, death, the resurrection of Christ, the font from which all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power" (SC 61).

Jesus' solidarity with all humanity in the mystery of the Incarnation is brought to completion by the substitution of his own obedience for our disobedience in the Paschal mystery (CCC 615). Because Christ is one person in two natures, everything Christ does as a man is also an act of God. By his glorious ascension, Christ has "opened the gates of heaven to receive his faithful people" (Preface for Easter II). Christ has inaugurated a New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and has become a New Adam (Romans 5:18).

The Fathers of the Church have used different scriptural images to reflect on how this solidarity with Christ takes place. Fathers of the East such as St. Gregory of Nyssa (330-395), and St. John Chrysostom (347-407) used the Old Testament image of the "firstfruits" to explain this mystery. By offering the first of the fruits and the firstborn of the herds and flocks, it was understood that the whole was contained in the part that was offered. St. John Chrysostom observes;

As it happens in a field full of corn, when a man takes a few ears of corn and makes a small sheaf and offers it to God, he blesses the whole cornfield by means of this sheaf, so Christ has done this also, and through that one flesh and firstfruits has made our race to be blessed. But why did he not offer the whole of nature? Because that is not the firstfruits if he offers the whole, but if he offers a little, preparing the whole to be blessed by the smaller amount. (Sermon on the Ascension PG, 50:441-52)

By his bodily ascension into heaven Christ becomes the firstfruits which are accepted as a representative of the whole human race. In effect Jesus becomes the font and origin of ascended and glorified life which comes to us through the Sacraments.

In the West this same truth was highlighted by St. Augustine who emphasized our communion with Christ by meditating on the image of the Body of Christ. St. Augustine comments on the deeper significance of our oneness or communion with Christ in his commentary on Psalm 26. He notes that the practice of anointing in the Old Testament was normally reserved for either the king or the priest. But Christ now holds both offices as both Priest and King in virtue of his anointing or literally being the Messiah or Anointed one. Speaking of Christ, St. Augustine observes, "But not only was our Head anointed; but his body was too, we ourselves. . . . From this it is obvious that we are the body of Christ, being all anointed. In him all of us belong to Christ, but we are Christ too, because in some sense the whole Christ is Head and body" (Exposition 2 of Psalm 26). St. Augustine comments on John 3:13, "Nobody has gone up to heaven, except the one who came down from heaven." Our ability to be reborn and to go up to heaven occurs by the grace of God and through our communion with Christ who is the Head of his Body. The risen and ascended Christ is the font and origin of our sacramental participation in his grace. The Son of man is "one person in both natures" he is both "the Son of God equal to God" and "the Son of man taking to himself a human soul and human flesh" (Sermon 294). St. Augustine notes,

If you want to go up, be in the body of Christ. If you want to go up, be a member of Christ. For just as in one body we have many members, but all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body; so also is Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12); because Christ is head and body (Sermon 294).

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) highlights three aspects which are accomplished through Christ's bodily Ascension (Summa Theologiae 3a, q. 57-59). First, by his ascension Christ prepared a way for us to heaven. Second, the presence of Jesus' human nature in heaven allows him to intercede for us. Thirdly, Christ's enthronement in heaven as God and Lord, allows him to shower his divine gifts upon us (Eph. 4:10). The second reading for this Mass emphasizes this very point. "But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." (Ephesians 4:7). Christ's bodily ascension allowed him to give the Church gifts of the Spirit "for building up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). The fullness of our participation in the Paschal mystery is made present in the Church through Christ's ascension and glorification in heaven. By our sacramental communion with Christ we become partakers in his divine life. Baptism (Romans 6:2-4); Confirmation (Ephesians 1:7-13) and Holy Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11:26) are all tied to the Paschal mystery. This is the central mystery of our faith which leads the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, in order that we might know what is "the hope that belongs to his call" (Ephesians 1:18).

Holy Mary, Gate of Heaven, pray for us.

Call No Man ‘Father’

Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 23:9; “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven,” is take by some to imply that we should call no one by the title ‘father.’ Since it is the common practice of the Catholic Church to call priests ‘father, this is seem as evidence that the Catholic Church does not follow the Bible or is not ‘biblical.’ The reality is that if this verse was taken literally it would mean that you could not even call your own earthly ‘father’ by this title. The use of the term ‘father’ in the early church originally related to the bishop as the elder or Greek presbuteroi. The title later came to be used of the bishop and then by extension to his assistants the ‘priests.’ It is interesting to note that even the Apostle Paul describes himself as a father to the Church in Corinth (1Corinthians 4:15). Later still the term came to be used of the early Fathers of the Church. [Read more about the Fathers of the Church]

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The Transmission of Divine Revelation

Chapter 2

The Transmission of Divine Revelation

As finite human creatures we cannot hope to fully understand God but we can know him by analogy and through human experience. For example God is a Father like a perfect human father. Yet God can choose to reveal to us something of His divine mystery. Divine revelation is God’s self-communication to man – the unveiling of the invisible inner life of God Himself: “The eternal life which dwelt with the Father and was made visible to us.” (DV 1, cf. 1 John 1:2) God can reveal Himself through His creation, through the words of his prophets, or ultimately though the very Person of Jesus Christ. It is the face of Christ which reveals God most fully to man.
God reveals his own inner life because He wants to share it with us! He wants us to partake of the richness of infinite love! “God’s will was that men should . . . become sharers in the divine nature” (DV 2). Specifically, this is why the Father sent His Son into the world: “For God so loved the word that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). Also, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
God’s motivation for revealing Himself is purely His own love for us. Love is the whole motive of Revelation! “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). How does God communicate this revelation to us?
To transmit means to ‘pass down’ or ‘hand on’. These expressions come from the world of discipleship. A disciple was expected to preserve and ‘pass down’ the tradition of his master or rabbi. The Apostle Paul writes; “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’ (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). The words of the Institution of the Eucharist are part of the essential apostolic tradition St. Paul ‘received’ and ‘handed on’. He writes; “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?” (Romans 10: 13b-14). While we can certainly learn that God exists from creation, we need to hear the Gospel preached to have the eyes of our heart opened to the full reality of God’s love for us. The process through which God reveals himself in special revelation is called divine inspiration. While the precise inner working remains a mystery, we have the combined activity of a normal human author and God himself who remains the primary author of what is written. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit guarantees the truth of what is said when it is understood in the context of apostolic tradition.
“For man to be able to enter into real intimacy with Him, God willed both to reveal Himself to man and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith” (CCC 35). Not only does God reveal himself in a special and clear way through divine revelation, but he also makes possible the acceptance of His revelation through the power of grace working in our souls. Without the grace to accept this revelation, it would not be a help to man. Yet, God does not merely reveal those truths which are unknowable through human reason alone, for example the Triune nature of the Godhead. He also reveals those truths knowable by reason alone that man can know them easily and surely. “Divine Revelation encompasses not only what exceeds man’s natural understanding, but religious and moral truths which, although they are not in themselves beyond the grasp of human reason, need to be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error” (CCC 38). Sacred Scripture not only speaks of creation from nothing, but also the love of God and His perfection, truths which can be discerned from reason alone.
God’s revelation includes both the written deposit found in Sacred Scripture and the living traditions pass on by the successors of the apostles in the Church. The whole content of Divine Revelation, written and oral, entrusted to the Church is called the deposit of faith. The fathers of the Second Vatican note, “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God” (DV 10). We can distinguish between Sacred Scripture as “The word of God as consigned to writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit” (DV 9) and Sacred Tradition “the Word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles” and handed on to their successors in its full purity (DV 9).
“Holy Scripture is the utterance of God, in so far as it was written down under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration; while sacred Tradition hands on in its entirety the word of God, that was committed to the apostles, by Christ our Lord and the Holy Spirit to their successors, in order that being enlightened by the Spirit of Truth, they may in their preaching faithfully preserve, set forth and disseminate it” (DV 9). Both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition “spring from the same divine fountain, and so in some manner merge into a unity, and tend towards the same end” (DV 9). Sacred Scripture was intended to be rooted and understood in the context of apostolic discipleship or the succession of the apostles.

Divine Revelation: Introduction

The word ‘revelation’ comes from the verb reveal from the Latin revēlāre ‘to unveil’ what is hidden. God has not allowed his presence to remain hidden. It was his eternal desire to reveal himself and his plan of salvation to us.
St. John notes, “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him (John 1:18). The constant desire of the Old Testament saints was to “see the face of God.”[1] Although God chose to reveal himself through both words and deeds to the people he chose for himself, our finite ability to comprehend God leaves this knowledge in a state of mystery. We can only know God by analogy. God is like the very best loving father, he is like a young groom in love with his bride. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God has communicated his truth and holiness to us by means of a wonderful “condescension” of the Eternal Wisdom.[2] God has adapted his speech to our needs so that we can know Him. As the Fathers of Second Vatican Council note: “Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men” (Dei Verbum, 13).
We can also seek to know God through creation, especially in the human person which is a reflection of the image of God. The apostle Paul notes, “Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what has been made. As a result, they have not excuse.” (Romans 1:20). God as creator leaves his mark on his creatures and through this mark we can learn something of God’s existence. God’s revelation through creation is called natural revelation (CCC 27-49, DV 3). We hold as a matter of faith that it is possible to know God through this type of revelation.[3]
Although God does reveal things about himself through his creation he has also directly revealed himself through words and deeds in history. “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Our record of this activity is found in the Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. To distinguish this activity from natural revelation we call this special revelation. The ultimate fulfillment of the desire to see God’s face occurs in the Incarnation. As Christ tells his disciples, “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7).
God has chosen to reveal himself gradually in what has been called the ‘Divine pedagogy’.[4] In the Old Testament God begins to announce prophetically the coming of Christ, Our Redeemer and the messianic kingdom. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council remind us that initially this revelation is “imperfect and ephemeral” (Dei Verbum 15). It was matched to the ability of the People of God to understand. Gradually God guided his People to a fuller understanding of himself added by the action of the Holy Spirit.
We can now behold the face of God in Christ. Christ who knows the Father as the Only Begotten Son reveals the Father to us and allows us to join in his own prayer and communion with the Father. The fullest revelation of God’s love for us is seen in the Jesus death (John 15:13) which is anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and re-presented in each Eucharistic celebration (CCC 1366).

---

[1] On this theme see Pope Benedict XVI’s essay, “The face of Christ in Sacred Scripture” in Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), On the Way to Jesus Christ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004) p. 13-31.
[2] St John Chrysostom, In Gen, 3,8 (Hom. 17:1): PG 53:134, ‘Attemperatio’; Gr. synkatábasis.
[3] Vatican Council I, DS 3004, 3026.
[4] CCC 53, n. 5.

Apostolic Fathers: Chapter 8

Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Holy Martyr

One of the more famous individuals from the close of the apostolic era was the man tradition remembers as "Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Holy Martyr.” Polycarp was born around 69-70 A.D. According to St. Irenaeus, Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Apostle and was personally appointed by Apostles as the bishop of the church in Smyrna (modern day Turkey). St. Polycarp was the leading figure among the churches in Asia in the mid second century. The Martyrdom of Polycarp records that Bishop Polycarp served faithfully for eighty-six years (Mart Pol 9.3) before being heroically martyred on February 23, 155.

Because of his long life and direct connection to the Apostles he was an important defender of orthodoxy against such heretics as Marcion and Valentinus. St. Irenaeus recounts that he knew Polycarp from his childhood, and he revered him as a holy saint. Irenaeus notes, “I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse-his going out, too, and his coming in-his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord.” He recalls the story of Marcion coming to Polycarp and asking if Polycarp would recognize him. Polycarp replies, “Of course I recognize you, the first born of Satan!” (Adv Haer 3,3,4).

St. Irenaeus relates how St. Polycarp journeyed Rome around 150-155 A.D. A dispute had arisen over the date of Easter between the church in Asia and the Church in the West. Polycarp met with Pope Anicetus. Each bishop felt obliged to follow the traditions they had been handed down. Polycarp felt Easter should be celebrated on the 14^th day of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan, while Anicetus on the Sunday after the 14^th of Nisan. Polycarp appealed to the practice of St. John and the Apostles, while Anicetus to the custom of his predecessors and to dominical usage. Although the Pope and bishop Polycarp could not achieve common ground in their practice they remained in communion and parted on the best of terms. While there could be no tolerance of the heretical views of Marcion or the early Gnostics, the Church could embrace different liturgical traditions.

St Irenaeus tells us that Bishop Polycarp wrote a number of letters “to neighboring Churches to confirm them, or to certain of the brethren, admonishing and exhorting them.” Unfortunately only St. Polycarp’s letter addressed to the Philippians remains. The theme of the letter is summed up in Polycarp’s exhortation, “‘Therefore prepare for action and serve God in fear’(1 Pet. 1:13; cf. Ps. 2:11) and truth, leaving behind the empty and meaningless talk and the error of the crowd” (Pol Phil 2.1). The letter is a rousing call to live the Christian life fully and consistently in the midst of the confusion and temptations of the world. The letter is filled with quotations from the New Testament and St. Clement’s letter to the Corinthians. One can clearly see the “interwovenness” of Sacred Tradition in his letter. The living interpretive presence of Christ is expressed in the Church through his apostolic ministry. Polycarp notes, “For I am convinced that you are all well trained in the sacred Scriptures” (Pol Phil 12.1). Scripture is the center of the Church’s Tradition and it is made manifest in the preaching, teaching, doctrine and liturgy of the Church.

The Church in Philippi is again battling the heresy of docetism which denies that Jesus came in the flesh. Polycarp complains that these heretics twist “the sayings of the Lord to suit their own sinful desires” (Pol Phil 7.1). Sacred Scripture requires the interpretive presence of the Church. Knowing our faith well also helps us to live our faith in the midst of our daily life. One difficult distraction that Polycarp mentions is greed and the love of money (Pol Phil 2.1; 4.1; 5.2; 6.1; and 11.1). This was apparently the difficulty of a fallen away presbyter of the Church in Philippi named Valens (Pol Phil 11.1-4). Polycarp councils the Philippians to treat Valens kindly in hopes of winning him back from his waywardness.

The ultimate test of a disciple’s faithfulness is martyrdom. Polycarp’s martyrdom is recounted in detail in the Martyrdom of Polycarp (AD 156). This document is a combination of a letter and an act of martyrdom or eyewitness account of martyrdom (Cf. Acts 7, Revelation 6:9-11). The account of Polycarp’s death is the first full account of this type. Suffering death by Martyrdom was considered the ultimate imitation of Christ. The ‘baptism of blood’ of the martyr was considered the equivalent of normal Baptism. Since at least the second century the anniversary of the martyr’s death was celebrated with a feast at the tomb of the martyr and later churches were built over these tombs. The martyrs were venerated as powerful intercessors and their relics were sought after. St. Polycarp’s death is extremely heroic. The witnesses record, “Then the materials prepared for the pyre were placed around him; and as they were also about to nail him, he said: ‘Leave me as I am; for he who enables me to endure the fire will also enable me to remain on the pyre without moving, even without the sense of security which you get from the nails.’” (Mart Pol 12.3). The fire was miraculously unable to kill Polycarp, so his executioner had to stab him with a dagger. His body was later cremated by the soldiers and his friends gather up his bones and began to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.

Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.

Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers

I have written a series of articles for the Catholic Key Newspaper in Kansas City , Mo.

www.catholickey.org

Technorati Tags: apostolic fathers,clement of rome,didache,ignatius of antioch

The following is a list of posts on this theme so far.
Apostolic Fathers Chapter 1

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  Like Father, Like Son

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 2

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  Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers

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  The Monarchical Episcopate

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 3

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  St. Clement of Rome

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 4

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  The Didache

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 5

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  The Didache (cont.)

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 6

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  St. Ignatius of Antioch

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 7

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  St. Ignatius of Antioch (cont.)

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 8

• Polycarp

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 7

St. Ignatius of Antioch (Part II)

As mentioned previously, St. Ignatius was condemned to death during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. His writings give us a unique glimpse of the life and beliefs of the Church at the close of the first century. In his writings we are still very close to Christ and his Apostles. Can we see the face of Jesus reflected in his writings?

St. Ignatius, in his letter to the Philadelphians, speaks of the unity we share through our fellowship or communion through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the focus of the oneness we profess in the creed. It is a sacramental sign of this unity. St. Ignatius writes;

"Take care, therefore, to participate in one Eucharist (for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup which leads to unity through his blood; there is one altar, just as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow servants), in order that whatever you do, you do in accordance with God" (Ignatius to the Philadelphians 4.1).

Later in his letter to the Smyrnaeans, St Ignatius addresses a problem with the heresy of docetism. Although not a unified movement, the early Christians had to correct the tendency among some early Christians to consider the humanity and sufferings of the earthly Christ as merely apparent rather than real. St. Ignatius links this belief to a very low regard for the Eucharist. He notes;

"They abstain from Eucharist and prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins, which the Father raised up by his goodness. They then who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes; but it were better for them to have love, that they also may attain to the Resurrection" (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 6.2). Seeing the face of Jesus clearly in the face of the early Church allows one to profess as well our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius refers to the Eucharist as "the medicine of immortality, the antidote we take in order not to die but to live forever in Jesus Christ" (Ignatius to the Ephesians 20.2).

Our unity focuses not just on the Eucharist by also on the Bishop. St. Ignatius writes;

"You must all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and follow the presbytery as you would the apostles; respect the deacons as the commandment of God. Let no one do anything that has to do with the church without the bishop. Only that Eucharist which is under the authority of the bishop (or whomever he himself designates) is to be considered valid. (2) Wherever the bishop appears, there let the congregation be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not permissible either to baptize or to hold a love feast without the bishop." (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 8.1-2)

This passage highlights the role of the bishop in preserving the unity of the Church. In numerous other passages St. Ignatius emphasizes a divine hierarchy of the bishop, presbyters, and deacons. The Catechism reminds us that the bishop is the "guarantor and servant of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of his Church" (CCC 1292). The Eucharist is celebrated under the authority or presidency of the bishop. The Catechism notes, "The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the bishop's name is mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular Church" (CCC 1369). St. Ignatius observes that only the Eucharist which is under the authority of the bishop is valid. It is not permissible to hold an agape feast without the authority of the bishop.

St. Ignatius is also the first Church Father to use the word "catholic." Scholars will dispute whether it is appropriate to capitalize the word as "Catholic." Generally the basic meaning of 'catholic' is taken as the universal Church as opposed to the local church. William Schoedel has pointed out that studies of the original Greek word for 'catholic' make it unlikely that it refers to geographic extension, or universal as opposed to local. In the context of St. Ignatius the meaning of 'catholic' is more likely a reference to an organic unity under the bishop which parallels the universal church is an organic unity under Christ. Schoedel observes, "Thus we may say that the 'catholic' church here is not the universal church opposed to heresy, but the whole church resistant by its very nature to division." Later the unity of the Church reflected in the whole allowed the Church to call herself 'Catholic' in the sense of the fullness of unity in distinction to heresy and in her mission for geographic extension to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20). The Catechism notes that "the word 'catholic' means 'universal,' in the sense of 'according to the totality' or 'in keeping with the whole.' There is a double sense in which the Church is 'catholic'. The Church is 'catholic' because Christ is present in her (giving her correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession) and secondly because "she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race" (CCC 830-831).

We can see the face of Jesus in the community reflected in the letters of St. Ignatius. As Pope Benedict has recently noted, "In Christ, charity and truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan" (Caritas in Veritate, 1). Just as St. Ignatius answered those who thought Jesus only seemed to be flesh, today we must constantly dialogue with a dictatorship of untruth and the mere appearance of human opinion rather than a truth based in the person of Christ. Holy Mary, Seat of Wisdom, Pray for us.

Apostolic Fathers Chapter 6

St. Ignatius of Antioch

The Fourth century church historian Eusebius tells us that St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch was condemned to die in Rome by becoming "food for wild beasts on account of his testimony to Christ" (Ecc. Hist 3, 36). St. Ignatius was condemned during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (107 A.D.). He was transported "under the strictest military surveillance" which he recounts as "being bound amidst ten leopards that is, a company of soldiers who only become worse when they are well treated." Ignatius was taken as far as Smyrna where he was greeted by Polycarp the local bishop. From Smyrna Ignatius writes letters to four local churches. He writes to Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia (modern day Turkey), and to the neighboring cities of Magnesia, Tralles and Rome. Ignatius is then taken to Troas in the north-west corner of Asia. From Troas he wrote letters to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrnaeans and to Bishop Polycarp.

I would like to begin this reflection by focusing on Ignatius' letter to the Ephesians. In this letter he highlights the role of the bishop as a source of unity in the Church. He writese writ, "Thus it is proper for you to act together in harmony with the mind of the bishop, as you are in fact doing. For your presbytery, which is worthy of its name and worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop as strings to a lyre. Therefore in your unanimity and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung." (Ignatius to the Ephesians 4:1). Later he adds a warning to those who might attempt to act without a bishop, "Let no one be misled: if anyone is not within the sanctuary, he lacks the bread of God. . . Therefore whoever does not meet with the congregation thereby demonstrates his arrogance and has separated himself . . .  Let us, therefore, be careful not to oppose the bishop, in order that we may be obedient to God. (Ignatius to the Ephesians 5:1-3).

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius addresses the intriguing question of why Jesus allowed himself to be baptized by John the Baptist?"  Recently Pope Benedict XVI has reflected on this question in his work Jesus of Nazareth. He observes,

"Baptism itself was a confession of sins and the attempt to put off an old, failed life and to receive a new one. Is that something Jesus could do? How could he confess sins? How could he separate himself from his previous life in order to start a new one?" (p. 16-17).

The answer on one level is that Jesus did this to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). Pope Benedict notes, "Righteousness is man's answer to the Torah, acceptance of the whole of God's will, the bearing of the "yoke of God's Kingdom." (Jesus, p. 17). St. Ignatius addresses this question by recounting a primitive confession of the Church, "For our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God's plan, both from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit. He was born and was baptized in order that by his suffering he might cleanse the water" (Ignatius to the Ephesians 18:2). St. Ignatius affirms that Jesus was baptized in order to "cleanse the water." In the Eastern Church the Feast of Epiphany is Jesus day of Baptism. Eastern iconography depicts the waters of Jesus' Baptism as a liquid tomb leading down to Hades. There is a close connection between Jesus Baptism and Easter. St. John Chrysostom writes, "Going down into the water and emerging again are the image of the descent into hell and the Resurrection." Jesus' Baptism purifies the waters of Baptism and joins them to the entire mystery of salvation. Pope Benedict notes, "The sacrament of Baptism appears as the gift of participation in Jesus world-transforming struggle in the conversion of life that took place in his descent and ascent" (Jesus, p. 21). As St. Paul, notes, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:26-27). It is through baptism that we are brought into communion with Christ, and so into communion with his suffering, death and Resurrection. Earlier St. Ignatius describes the mystery of Christ's person in another early creed, "There is only one physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Ignatius to the Ephesians 7.2). It is only through the mystery of Christ who is "flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man" that the waters of Baptism become a life giving means of grace and the foundational Sacrament of initiation. Flowing out of this baptismal union with Christ is a universal vocation to holiness and apostolic witness. The Christian life becomes an active participation in the life of Christ and a light to the world in which we live. Holy Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us. (Novo Millennio Ineunte 74).

The man who claims to have read all of Augustine is a liar

There is a famous saying of St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636) that the man who claims to have read all of Augustine is a liar. It is quoted frequently but rarely with an exact reference. I have traced down the quote. In PL 83.1109 St. Isidore says [concerning the false view of Florezius?]
 

Corrupte apud Florezium, Augustine,

"Mentitur qui te totam legisse factetur"


My (literal) translation:

[Concerning Augustine] He is a liar who confesses to have read the whole [of his works].

See the full paragraph below.[1] Normally the quote is cited to mean that there are too many works of St. Augustine for anyone to claim to be an expert. Joseph Kelly comments, however, "The famous remark of the Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636), that anyone who claimed to have read all the works of Augustine was a liar, was referring not to the number of the saint's works but to their accessibility in the early middle ages."[2]  Apparently there were few libraries that had a complete collection of St. Augustine's works.  Still the saying resonates with the difficultly of fully absorbing all of St. Augustine's thought.


  ________________________________________________



[1] Full paragraph of PL 83.1109

Pro alumna alii ultique.

IV. Entit ; al., eninet.

V. Corrupte apud Florezium, Augustine,

Mentitur qui te totam legisse factetur.

Pro an quis alii ant quis. De re ipsa vide Etymo.og.

lib. vi, cap. 7, n. 3, versu 4, alii, quae loquur. Pro

ipse , alii ipsi, quod metro non congruit. Pro prudent-,

metrum desiderari ; sed videntur potius esse tres

hexametri sine ullo pentametro. De tertio versu dietum

in Isidorianis, loc. cit.

[2]Joseph F. Kelly, "Late Carolingian Era" in Augustine through the ages: an encyclopedia Ed. Allan Fitzgerald, John C. Cavadini. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) p. 127.

Examination of Conscience for Sports

How many times does my family fail to eat dinner together due to our commitments to Sports? Do I end up spending money unnecessarily on meals out because of the sports schedule?

How often does time spent with one child in sports take time away from my other children or my spouse? Does my spouse complain about the business of my schedule?

How does my involvement in sports impact my spiritual life? Does it interfere with Mass? Does it prevent our family from going to Mass together? Does it prevent me from attending other spiritual activities such as retreats, or classes for adult faith formation?

Do sports interfere with my child attending spiritual activities?

Do I allow myself to be pushed into giving excessive amounts of money and time to sports because of peer pressure and human respect?

Do I behave in a Christian manner while being a spectator? Do I unnecessarily discuss the faults of others? Do I treat the players with respect regardless of their performance at a particular game?

Am I supportive and encouraging of the weaker members of the team? Do I strive to model and build up virtue in the players?

Apostolic Fathers Chapter Five –The Didache (cont.)

Early Church Leadership in The Didache

Writing before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger noted that "the light of Jesus is reflected in the saints and shines out again from them" (The Yes of Jesus Christ). He notes, "God's speaking to us reaches us through men and women who have listened to God and come into contact with God" (The Yes of Jesus Christ). As we continue to reflect on the message of the Didache we seek to find the face of Christ reflected there.

In chapter eleven of the Didache we are introduced to itinerate or travelling 'apostles' and 'prophets' who are to be shown hospitality and respected but who are not to ask for money for themselves or to 'out stay' their welcome. We read, "Now concerning the apostles and prophets, deal with them as follows in accordance with the rule of the gospel" (Didache 11:3). The pattern St. Paul established for his own ministry was to earn his own wages. The travelling apostles described here are the equivalent of missionaries and church planters rather than the original circle of the Twelve plus Paul.

Hospitality was to be shown to all travelers provided they were willing to work. "Everyone 'who comes in the name of the Lord' is to be welcomed" (Didache 12:1). The visitor, "if he wishes to settle among you and is a craftsman, let him work for his living" (Didache 12:3). Provision should even be made for those who need further assistance, we are told, "But if he is not a craftsman, decide according to your own judgment how he shall live among you as a Christian, yet without being idle" (Didache 12:4). This matches the advice of St. Paul, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone will not work, let him not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The kindness shown to these itinerate peoples recognizes their inherent dignity as persons and is mirrored in the modern the advice given in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, which notes that,

"Regulating immigration according to criteria of equity and balance is one of the indispensable conditions for ensuring that immigrants are integrated into society with the guarantees required by recognition of their human dignity. Immigrants are to be received as persons and helped, together with their families, to become a part of societal life" (CSDC 298).

The Didache moves on to discuss the phenomena of prophets who were active in leadership of the Church. Prophets who have been tested and approved and who wish to settle in the community are to be treated with special dignity. They are to receiving the "first fruits" of the wine, oil, money and clothing. We are told, "Take, therefore, all the firstfruits of the produce of the wine press and threshing floor, and of the cattle and sheep, and give these firstfruits to the prophets, for they are your high priests" (Didache 13:3). There role as 'priests' even relates to the Eucharist. In the long section relating prayers for the Eucharist we are told, "But permit the prophets to give thanks however they wish" (Didache 12:7).

The Church structure found in the Didache is still very primitive and in the process of developing into its mature form. "Therefore appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are humble and not avaricious and true and approved, for they too carry out for you the ministry of the prophets and teachers. You must not, therefore, despise them, for they are your honored men, along with the prophets and teachers" (Didache 15:1-2). It is likely that at this early stage the titles 'bishop' and 'presbyter' were not distinguished (cf. Titus 1:5-9). Initially an Apostle, or his delegated coworkers in the apostolic circle (Timothy, Silas, Titus, Barnabas), were the leaders of Churches. Later a transition occurs with a single bishop in each community replacing the Apostles, and being assisted by presbyters. The strong involvement of prophets may have been an unusual element.

The phenomenon of Christian prophecy was still quite common in the early second century. St. Ignatius the Bishop of Antioch recounts his own prophecy in his letter to the Philadelphians, "I called out when I was with you, I was speaking with a loud voice, God's voice: "Pay attention to the bishop and to the presbytery and deacons. . . . the Spirit itself was preaching, saying these words: "Do nothing without the bishop. . . . ." (Ign.
Philadelphians 7:1-2). Ignatius encourages Polycarp to pray for the same gift, "but ask, in order that the unseen things may be revealed to you, that you may be lacking in nothing and abound in every spiritual gift" (Polycarp 2:2). Polycrates, the Bishop of Ephesus, describes the three prophetic daughters of the Apostle Philip "who lived in the Holy Spirit" at Ephesus and he describes Bishop Melito of Sardis (d. 190 A.D.) as "the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit" (Hist. Eccl. 5.24). The writer of the Shepherd of Hermas describes the experience prophecy (Herm Man. 11.9) as does Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho (39.1; 82.1; 88.1). The phenomena of prophecy also created difficulties for the early Church. The heretic Montanus and his prophets Maximilla and Pricilla claimed to receive a "new prophecy" which predicted the imminent end the world. The Montanists formed their own churches and eventually thought of their "new prophecy" as having greater value that Sacred Scripture. The Church rejected the Montanists as false prophets. At the same time the Church continued to recognize the role of genuine Christian prophecy. Although the Church gained more caution, St. Irenaeus of Lyon (190 A.D.) continued to describe prophetic phenomena in his churches at the close of the second century.

As we reflect on the gift of prophecy in the early Church, may we fan into flames the gift of the Spirit we have received through our Baptism, in order that we to might better reflect the face of Jesus, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love.

Apostolic Fathers Chapter Four

The Didache

Once again we are drawn to see the face of Christ reflected in the writings of the early Christians. The ancient document titled in English, The Teaching of the (Twelve) Apostles is regarded by modern scholars as a late first/early second century 'church manual' which was used to prepare catechumens for baptism and to pass on the primitive traditions about church order. The modern consensus is that the title was added later, so the work is typically referred to as The Didache which is Greek for 'Teaching.' In the first Christian centuries this work was highly esteemed. The document may have been regarded as Scripture by Clement of Alexandria in the second century and Origen in the third century. By the fourth century the Didache was excluded from the canon of Scripture, though it is still recommended for reading by St Athanasius and Didymus the Blind. Sections of the Didache were incorporated in later "Church Orders."



Modern studies have suggested that this work is a composite document which was edited between 70 -110 A.D. It is likely that two short sections of the Didache were used by the early Church to train catechumens who were being prepared for baptism. There is a section on good and evil behavior entitled 'the Two Ways' (1:1-6:2) and a section containing ancient liturgical traditions found in 6:3-10:6. This material is roughly contemporary with St. Mark's Gospel. Scholars believe that the 'Two Ways' section may have existed as an earlier independent document in the Jewish world. The editor then added certain sayings of Jesus, most likely from Matthew's Gospel. Other material concerning the behavior of traveling missionary apostles, and prophets and of the leaders of the community were then added near the close of the first century.



The original Jewish 'Two Ways' tradition focused on the teachings of the ten commandments, "There are two ways, one of life, the other of death, and between the two ways there is a great difference." (Didache 1:1). The Christian version of this tradition found in the Didache replaces the authority of the law with that of the sayings of Jesus. One interesting note in this section of the document occurs after quoting the fifth and sixth commandments, "You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery." The Didache includes an example after this prohibition, "you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide." Both the Old Testament and Jewish custom recognized the grave offence of this act, but this is the first explicit instance of a Christian prohibition against this intrinsically evil act (Cf. Evangelium Vitae 62).



The later section of the Didache (Chapters 7-15) deals with variety of topics. The Didache gives instruction on how to perform Baptism, on the Eucharist, and even how to deal with traveling apostles and prophets. The section on Baptism advises;

"Now concerning baptism, baptize as follows: after you have reviewed all these things, baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"in running water [literally "living water"]. But if you have no running water, then baptize in some other water; and if you are not able to baptize in cold water, then do so in warm. But if you have neither, then pour water on the head three times "in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit" (Didache 7:1-3).

The words; "after you have reviewed all these things" (Didache 7:1) refer to the catechesis in the 'Two Ways' document. The baptismal advice of the Didache parallels the requirements found in the rabbinic traditions recorded in the Mishnah in the early second century. The Mishnah, (Mikwaot 1:1-8) distinguishes six grades of water with two criteria: "living" water is ranked above "drawn" water, and cold above hot. The Didache expresses preferences similar to rabbinic traditions but is more flexible.

Proselyte baptism also played a role in role in Gentile conversions to Judaism. Later Talmudic traditions view the newly baptized proselyte "like a child newly born" (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamoth 48b) with a completely new legal identity and understood that "God forgives the proselyte all his sins" through the conversion rite (Talmud Yerushalmi, Bikkurim 3:3). There is even evidence of a first century rabbinic dispute between Eliezer ben Hyrkan (ca. A.D. 90) and Jehoshua ben Chananja over whether circumcision or immersion made a man a Jew. As Pope Benedict has pointed out, already at the time of Jesus, John the Baptist was administering baptism "as a concrete enactment of conversion that gives the whole of life a new direction forever" (Jesus of Nazareth). Later Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit creating a new sacramental dimension to this rite. In the Didache, Baptism takes place in the name of the Trinity and implies incorporation into the Eucharistic community which has been "gathered together and became one" (Didache 9:4) in the Eucharist. The newly baptized are invited to join in the Eucharist celebration. The privilege of receiving the Eucharist is denied to those who are not yet baptized;

"But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for the Lord has also spoken concerning this: 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.'" (Didache 9:5).

Once again we can see the organic development of our Church traditions. Aspects of our modern Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) are already highlighted here in the first century.

The Catholic Key Blog: Real Men in Black . . . Vestments

I posted an interview on  the Catholic Key Blog that is taking quite a few hits ...

The Catholic Key Blog: Real Men in Black . . . Vestments

Here’s something most Catholics my age or younger have probably never seen – black vestments. Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Kansas City hosted a special Mass for All Souls Day using antique black vestments.

All Souls Mass Kansas City

November 2, 2009

Today Our Lady of Good Council Parish hosted a special Mass for All Souls using antique black vestments. Rev. Msgr. William Blacet presided assisted by Dcn. Ralph Wehner, Director of the Office of Worship. The vestments were over 180 years old.

Photographs by Scott McKellar.