Daily Retreat 01/12/09
2009 Jan 12 Mon: Ordinary Weekday
Heb 1: 1-6/ Ps 97: 1 and 2b. 6 and 7c. 9/ Mk 1: 14-20
From today’s readings: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our fathers through the prophets; in these last days, He spoke to us through the Son.... Let all His angels worship Him..... This is the time of fulfillment - the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Gospel!”
The Full Feast of Life
We have now officially finished Christmas season, but the first reading will sound vaguely familiar if you went to the last Mass on Christmas Day, since the same passage was used then as the second reading. Indeed, the first verses of Hebrews are such a succinct meditation recognizing the Incarnation as the culmination of revelation.
And that point needs to be stressed, especially since a common temptation today is to take a sample-size bite of Christianity, and then prematurely conclude that the Faith ought to be enhanced with humanism, or flavored with Eastern or New Age spices, or peppered with rationalism, or seasoned with modernism, or beefed up with materialism, or at least ground into syncretism.
But Jesus is the definitive Word of God - no past, present, or future human or even divine utterance can ever retract, qualify, nuance or enhance the full, unequivocal and unique revelation of God. So, no time need ever be wasted looking elsewhere for some mundane complement to Christianity - but, real effort does need to be exerted to ascertaining (and living!) the divine completeness of Faith in Christ. After all, Christianity is the fullest feast of life, not just an appetizer!
Heb 1: 1-6/ Ps 97: 1 and 2b. 6 and 7c. 9/ Mk 1: 14-20
From today’s readings: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our fathers through the prophets; in these last days, He spoke to us through the Son.... Let all His angels worship Him..... This is the time of fulfillment - the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Gospel!”
The Full Feast of Life
We have now officially finished Christmas season, but the first reading will sound vaguely familiar if you went to the last Mass on Christmas Day, since the same passage was used then as the second reading. Indeed, the first verses of Hebrews are such a succinct meditation recognizing the Incarnation as the culmination of revelation.
And that point needs to be stressed, especially since a common temptation today is to take a sample-size bite of Christianity, and then prematurely conclude that the Faith ought to be enhanced with humanism, or flavored with Eastern or New Age spices, or peppered with rationalism, or seasoned with modernism, or beefed up with materialism, or at least ground into syncretism.
But Jesus is the definitive Word of God - no past, present, or future human or even divine utterance can ever retract, qualify, nuance or enhance the full, unequivocal and unique revelation of God. So, no time need ever be wasted looking elsewhere for some mundane complement to Christianity - but, real effort does need to be exerted to ascertaining (and living!) the divine completeness of Faith in Christ. After all, Christianity is the fullest feast of life, not just an appetizer!
posted by FrPitstick | 1/10/2009
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