Daily Retreat 10/22/08
2008 Oct 22 Wed: Ordinary Weekday
Eph 3: 2-12/ Is 12: 2-3. 4bcd. 5-6/ Lk 12: 39-48
From today’s readings: “You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit.... You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.... Much will be expected from the one to whom much has been given....”
Mystery Revealed
Common parlance sometimes reduces “mystery” to the notion of a “riddle needing to be solved,” but in the context of faith, the word “mystery” specifically denotes a revealed Truth that is beyond reason, although not contrary to reason.
The triune nature of God (the Holy Trinity) is a typical mystery of faith. The fundamental unity yet distinction of three persons in the Godhead could never be discerned by unaided human reason, so God has deigned to reveal this truth to us. This truth is not contrary to reason, but it is beyond reason. It is not a riddle needing to be solved, but it is an ultimate really relevant revealed reality whose depths can never be completely fathomed by human contemplation.
This fundamental understanding of “mystery” is needed to grasp Paul’s point as he revels in the inscrutable riches of the goodness of God manifest in divine revelation, “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church....”
Eph 3: 2-12/ Is 12: 2-3. 4bcd. 5-6/ Lk 12: 39-48
From today’s readings: “You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit.... You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.... Much will be expected from the one to whom much has been given....”
Mystery Revealed
Common parlance sometimes reduces “mystery” to the notion of a “riddle needing to be solved,” but in the context of faith, the word “mystery” specifically denotes a revealed Truth that is beyond reason, although not contrary to reason.
The triune nature of God (the Holy Trinity) is a typical mystery of faith. The fundamental unity yet distinction of three persons in the Godhead could never be discerned by unaided human reason, so God has deigned to reveal this truth to us. This truth is not contrary to reason, but it is beyond reason. It is not a riddle needing to be solved, but it is an ultimate really relevant revealed reality whose depths can never be completely fathomed by human contemplation.
This fundamental understanding of “mystery” is needed to grasp Paul’s point as he revels in the inscrutable riches of the goodness of God manifest in divine revelation, “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church....”
posted by FrPitstick | 10/19/2008
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