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The Literal and the Spiritual Sense of Scripture

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

I have taken several courses in exegesis since the early 1970s, both on an undergraduate level and on what was the equivalent of graduate studies. There seems to be a tension for so many  between the “literal” sense and the “spiritual” sense of scripture.

St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed the significance of the “literal” sense of the texts. This sense is coming to understanding of what the human authors of scripture meant in a given passage according to the literary conventions of the time of the writing. This is not to be confused with a “literalist” approach which many fundamentalists take. It is not sufficient to translate a text word for word in order to get its “literal” sense. When a text uses metaphor or poetry, for example, the “literal” sense is not immediately apparent with a simple transliteration of the words. There is a certain dynamism in any given text that must be grasped if the “literal” sense is to be appreciated. 

This is the type of exegesis which I studied in American colleges and also at the Gregorian University in Rome. It is a demanding science requiring extensive knowledge of ancient languages, and a good grasp of history and culture.

Then there is the “spiritual” sense of scripture. The strict historicists will complain often that this sense is alien to the text. If one reads the Church Fathers, you will find they have utilized the “spiritual” sense extensively. The “spiritual” sense may be defined as the meaning a text may have when read under the influence of the Holy Spirit in the context of Christ redemptive actions, i.e., the Paschal Mystery. The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus,we believe, establishes a fundamentally different historical reality which sheds light upon, fulfills and changes the meaning of the ancient scriptural texts.

The “spiritual” sense cannot be likened to subjective interpretation, imagination or speculation of some sort. Authentic “spiritual” sense of scripture requires a balance among three levels of reality: the biblical text, the paschal mystery of Christ, and the contemporary circumstances of life.

Of course, what the Church strives to proclaim is the “full” sense of scripture, the deeper truths which come to light as the years pass, and the Church reflects more and more on the person of Jesus as expressed in the Bible and in the living Tradition of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The point which seems so obvious to me is all of this must come together. All of it is important, not just one piece. Why the divisions among us Christians in our understanding of scripture? Comments?

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Faithfulness in Prayer

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

The minor Office of None today has a reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 10: 35-36) that one needs to reflect on once in a while when prayer turns dry and distracted.

“Do not abandon your faithfulness, for which is reserved a great reward. You have only to be constant in fidelity so that after having done the will of God you might obtain his promises.”

The Lord only asks us to be faithful to the tasks he assigns us. He alone will bring forth the fruit of our fidelity. Blessed Mother Teresa was fond of saying the God doesn’t ask for great successes, only faithfulness.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a great way of expressing our faithfulness in prayer, even if we are lacking in fervor or concentration on any particular day.

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Modern Idols

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

I am off to a short retreat for the diaconate community. Earlier today I was praying the Office of Readings. The scripture reading was of the Ten Commandments and the patristic reading was from St. Ambrose and his discussion of the transcendence of God.

In the scripture, the first commandment is the lengthiest, “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me…” and then it goes on to emphasize and elaborate.

Is it not true that the first commandment is still the most oft broken of all commandments?  It was true during the history of the Israelites. We don’t usually want to admit this but do we not live as if other things are more important than God? We give our energy, time, admiration, awe and wonder to someone or something other than God?

God is both immanent and transcendent.  In other words, God is present in the intricacies of our daily lives; he can be recognized in his creation. How often though do we forget his utter transcendence, his infinite otherness, his incomprehensibility?

God alone must we adore.

Who or what do you find yourself adoring in your daily life?

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The Glory in our Hope – Homily for 2nd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Monday, March 1st, 2010

What glory there is in our hope! It is hope that will bring us to future glory. Our hope in the Cross of Christ.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of Christ’s glory as he is transfigured before the apostles Peter, John and James giving them a glimpse of what lay on the other side of the Cross. Giving them hope, a hope that would sustain them when confronted with the suffering of Christ on the Cross on Good Friday.

Our faith is like a ship. It is what defines us, gives us our shape, our buoyancy. Love is the destination of the ship, but hope is the driving force that propels us through the rough waters, the deep seas of life. We are carried by hope toward the glory of Jesus’ resurrection which we too will share.

Pope John Paul I, the pope that reigned for only 33 days in 1978 and whom we who lived in Rome at that time and were able to speak to him fondly called Papa Luciani, once wrote in his book Illustrissimi, ”We are the amazement of God.” He noted that some in history have said that God is not amazed by our faith because he has left so many signs of his presence even in our natural world that we cannot help but believe; nor is God amazed by our love for we all have hearts of flesh, not stone, and so we are made for love, we cannot help but love. But hope, yes, God is amazed by our hope.

The medieval poet Dante said that hope is waiting with certitude. A waiting rooted in the goodness of God, and the certitude of future glory. 

Any of us who have lived for a length of time have seen the face of death, some of us more directly than others. We have seen the Cross. We have had our bumps and bruises and injuries. We have been through quite of few Lents, just as we are in the midst of one now.

It is hope that has driven us forward toward our destination, the “New Jerusalem” as the Scriptures would say, toward heaven, toward the Resurrection, toward Divine Love.

Abraham was given hope in our first Reading; hope that he would be the father of many nations, that his glory would be in his descendants, of whom we all are. 

St. Paul in today’s second Reading tells us our hope is in the Cross of Christ, and we are the most pitiable of all if we place our hope anywhere else because glory comes after the Cross is endured.

In our Gospel, Jesus clearly shows us that like him, we too will someday be transfigured and he strengthens us to see in the Cross the hope of future glory so we do not become discouraged.

The Transfiguration gives us hope even today that this body of ours will be transfigured also, that our crosses will be transfigured into glory.

Do you know what was the difference between Peter and Judas Iscariot? Both were apostles. Both were called by the Lord. Both committed the same sin: Peter denying our Lord three times on the night he suffered; Judas betraying the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.

Peter had hope; Judas did not.

Peter lived; Judas died.

Let us be like Peter. Let us have hope. Let us choose life.

When life gets tough, cling to hope.

When practicing Lenten penance, have hope in Easter.

When looking at the Cross, see the hope of all humankind.

When faced with death, hope, wait with certitude for the life that is right around the corner.

Jesus knew there was no detour around the Cross — for him or for us. He knew that the Cross was the only route to our destination, that it was the bridge to glory. Hope is what drives us down that road and across that bridge toward:

The glory that is ours.

The glory of the Resurrection.

The glory of the Transfiguration.

Oh, what glory there is in our hope! We are the amazement of God!

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Quote for the Day

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

“His salvation is near to those who fear him and his glory will live in our land.” — Psalm 85

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Epiphany

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

You have to admire those Wise Men. We don’t really know how long they travelled or how far. But it wasn’t just a few miles or a few days. Most probably a year or two or longer. They followed a star and their beliefs. It was not an easy journey. They were doing something that they most likely had not done before. They had to give up a lot to make the journey. They had to reorient their lives for a while in order to complete the mission. They had to do something extraordinary. They had to think and act outside of the box, as we say.

All of us find it difficult to uproot ourselves and do something different, something that doesn’t necessarily fit our normal way of thinking or acting, to act on faith and take an unknown route toward what we believe we are called to do. 

The Wise Men did just that. The end of their journey must certainly have surprised them. Here was a newborn king, but he was only an infant, and in a manger without palace or servants or any semblance of royalty. Totally different from what they expected.

And they prostrated themselves and only then offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Pagans though they were, they knew God when they saw him. And they had the good sense to listen to their dreams and go home by a different route, thereby demonstrating their fidelity to the new king.

In doing so, the whole world came to the light.

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Feast of the Holy Innocents

Monday, December 28th, 2009

A couple of days ago, we celebrated the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. Today, we celebrate the feast of the holy Innocents who, in a very real sense, were the real first martyrs. As you know, the holy Innocents were untold numbers of infants killed on orders from King Herod after the Magi had told him of the birth of the expected Messiah. The Church has venerated these unnamed children as martyrs for they died for Christ, in Christ’s stead.

I found myself meditating on Herod today as I read the Office of Readings. St. Quodvultdeus was the patristic writer of the second reading.

Quodvultdeus asked the question, “Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children…… You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart.”

I am thinking about the anger and rage that are so prevalent in our society today. Herod was consumed with anger and rage. It’s source was unfounded fear. How often do we struggle with fear, fear that can lead to anger and rage? I have seen the consequences of this very thing time and time again in my clinical work, in the lives of so many patients.  Fear. Fear of loss of status, security, esteem. Fear that renders one a slave of one’s emotions and in turn evolves into patterns of behavior that only hurt the most vulnerable.

Our society is in the grip of fear. We do not see the truth. Our focus on fear leads to the death of innocent lives. A poignant example is the tragic loss of civilian lives in combat zones. Another example is the millions of unborn children aborted out of fear of the future or the past. The execution of scores of criminals because we fear them and are caught up in anger, rage, the demand for revenge. The horrible reality of domestic violence that speaks of inner fear, insecurity, anger, and the perceived loss of face.

The feast of the holy Innocents, as tragic as their martyrdom was, reminds us that it continues today, and not far from our own homes.

Listen, if you will, to their cries….. the abused women, the aborted babies, the victims of terrorism and war, the emotionally and physically abused children in our midst.

Listen and weep.  God does.

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Psalm 116(117)

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

The shortest psalm in Scripture is Psalm 116(117).  It is a great one to commit to heart. I find that I need to pray it often, as life can be quite a challenge more often than not.

I am usually praying in Italian nowadays. It is such a beautiful language, so poetic and lends itself well to prayer and psalmody. So here is the psalm in Italian.

Lodate il Signore, populi tutti, voi tutte, nazioni, dategli gloria; perche forte é il suo amore per noi e la fedeltá del Signore dura in eterno.

In English:

Praise the Lord all you peoples!  All of you, nations, give him glory. For strong is his love for us and the fidelity of the Lord endures eternally.

When times get tough, when all seems lost, when you seem defeated and all alone, pray with all your heart Psalm 166(117). God is so close to us that he literally permeates our being. He never abandons us. He loves us eternally. Hold his hand and be at rest with him.

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Quote for the Day

Friday, November 20th, 2009

“They do not have intelligence, those who bear an idol sculpted by their own hands and pray to a god who cannot save.” — Isaiah 45

Before we too quickly dismiss this as something pertaining to the pagans and far from our lives, I think it may be good to ask ourselves where our hearts and energies are directed. To whom do we obey and wo what do we listen? Sometimes our greatest idol are those persons or things we most fear.  

God’s love casts out all fear. He asks for our hearts.

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The End Times — St. Fulgentius of Ruspe

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Today’s Office of Readings includes a section from the treatise entitled, “The Remission” written by St. Fulgentius of Ruspe.  He speaks of the end times for each of us personally.

Here is a snippet (my translation of the Italian):

“Grace first works, as divine gift, a renewed spiritual resurrection by means of an interior justification.  Then there will come a resurrection of the body that perfects our justified state. The final transformation will consist of glory. But this change will be definitive for eternity.

“It is through this that the faithful pass by successive transformations of justification, then resurrection and then glorification, for this remains unchangeable for eternity.

“The first change occurs here through illumination and conversion, that is from the passing from death to life, from sin to justification, from infidelity to faith, from evil acts to a holy manner of life. Those that are raised by this resurrection do not undergo a second death. These are those of whom the Apocalypse speaks: ‘Blessed and holy are those that take part in the first resurrection. Death no longer has power over them.’ (Ap. 20,6)

“In the same book it is said: ‘The victor will not be struck by a second death’ (Ap. 2,11). Therefore, just as the first resurrection consists of the conversion of heart, so to does the second death consists sin eternal torture.”

I like how he describes this process of conversion and glorification. In this life, we work to justify ourselves by faith and conversion from sin. We experience then, a sort of spiritual resurrection, as we celebrate in Baptism especially, and the sacraments of Penance and of the Sick. In the world to come we will experience the raising of our bodies on the last day, and the just will be glorified with God in heaven; the unjust will experience eternal death.

What a wonderful journey we are on!  Be not afraid!  As long as we keep ourselves in the race, God will see to it that we are awarded the victor’s prize!

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Pope Benedict on the End Times

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

As you know, we are in the last two weeks of the liturgical year. Today’s readings for Mass are all about the end times, and the homilies of today are centered on that.

Our Holy Father similarly took up this theme today in his Angelus address to the pilgrims in Rome. Here is an excerpt, my translation of the Italian original:

“..Saint Mark .. presents today part of Jesus’ discourse on the end times.  In this discourse, there is a phrase that strikes us because of its clarity: ‘The heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.’ (Mk 13,31) Let us stop a while and reflect on this prophecy of Christ.

“The expression ‘the heavens and the earth’ is frequently found in the Bible to indicate the whole universe, the entire cosmos. Jesus declares that everything is destined to ‘pass away’. Not only the earth, but also the heavens that here he is using in a cosmic sense, not a synonym for God.  The Sacred Scriptures do not know ambiguity: all of creation is marked by a limit … there is no confusion between the creator and the created, but rather a clear difference. With such a clear distinction, Jesus affirms that his words ‘will not pass away’, that is, they exist as a part of God and thus they are eternal. Even though they are pronounced in the concreteness of earthly existence, they are prophetic words par excellence, as Jesus affirmed in another place, turning to the heavenly Father: ‘The words that you have given me I have given to them. They have accepted them and they truly know that I have come from you, and they have believed that you have sent me.’(John 17,8) In a famous parable, Christ compares himself to a sower of seeds and explains that the seed is the Word: those that hear it, accept it and bear fruit are part of the Reign of God, that is they live under its rule; the remain in the world, but are no longer of the world; they carry in themselves the seed of eternity, a principle of transformation that manifests itself already now in a good life, animated by charity, and in the end produces the resurrection of the body. Behold the power of the Word of Christ.”

I guess the point the pope is making (perhaps?) is that when we start reflecting on the end times, our own limited earthly life, we need remember that there is planted within us the seeds of eternity, the Word of God sent by the Father that never will be destroyed if we listen, accept and bear fruit as called to do.

How great is our dignity to be called sons and daughters of God!

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Quote for the Day

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

“Train yourself in all works of charity both for the healthy as well as for the sick.” — Bl. Baptista Varano, OSC

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Feast of the Doubting Apostle, Thomas

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

We celebrate today the feast of Thomas the Apostle.  Doubting Thomas, as we are apt to say so often.  St. Gregory the Great’s words today about this man are worth considering.  Again, my translation from the Italian.

“What, brothers, do you read into this situation? Do you see it purely as Thomas absent by God’s choice, and then returning hearing of the Lord’s resurrection, and then doubting, and doubting then touching the Lord, and touching then believing?

“No, it didn’t happen by chance, but by divine design. The Lord’s clemency worked here in a marvelous way, since this disciple, with his doubts, while he was touching the wounds of the Lord’s body, was healing in us the wounds of unbelief. The unbelief of Thomas brought greater benefit to us in our wounded unbelief than did the faith of the other disciples. (Italics mine.)….The disciple that had doubted and then touched, has become the witness to the truth of the resurrection….

“Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen.’ (John 20: 28-29) Yet the apostle Paul says, ‘Faith is the foundation for things we hope for, and proof of things we do not see.’ It is clear that faith is proof of things one cannot see.  Things we see do not require faith; they, rather, are things of knowledge. But if Thomas saw and touched, how can could Jesus have said, ‘Because you have seen, you believed.’?….. The divinity of Christ we mortals cannot see. Thomas saw then a true man and declared that he was the God we cannot see.” — St. Gregory the Great, Hom.26

Thomas’ doubt brought ironclad assurance to all of us so many years later that Jesus truly rose bodily from the grave and that he is in fact the Son of God.  Thomas’s doubt was by divine plan.  Through him we can believe.

St. Gregory’s comment on how St. Thomas unbelief brings us greater benefit than the faith of the other disciples is an extraordinary statement I had never considered before.  Good food for my meditation today.

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Dancing With Delight Before the Lord

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

We read today in the Office of Readings about King David as he transported the Ark of God. It says:

“David and the whole house of Israel made merry with all their might with songs and citharas, harps and tambourines, sistras and cymbals before the Lord.” (2 Sam. 6: 5)

Can you imagine the scene?  Dancing and playing and singing with all their might before the tabernacle of the Lord?  Would that we delight so in the presence of God.  Tabernacles of the Lord are in every Catholic Church.  Do we find delight when before the New Ark of the Lord?  Is joy part of what we experience?

I heard a recorded sermon this morning as I was driving to work.  It concluded with a story of a man who died from cancer, and how though in a coma, he awoke when the priest held the Body of Christ over him.  The man was able to receive communion and then spoke his last words, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”

Words of joy before the presence of the Lord.  The man momentarily danced with all his might.

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Quote for the Day

Monday, June 29th, 2009

“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” — 2 Tim. 4:7

Let us pray that each of us may sincerely say this on the day of our death. And may each of us in our lifetimes bring at least one person to faith, to knowledge of Jesus Christ.

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Psalm 34(35)

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Today’s Office of Readings asks us to pray Psalm 34(35).  It is a prayer asking God to save us in times of persecution.  The Italian translation offers some wonderful phrases that are very descriptive.  My translation into English follows:

Lord, judge those who accuse me, fight those who fight me. Grab your shield and rise to my aid. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”

I however esult in my Lord for the joy of his salvation. All my bones say, “Who is like you, Lord, who frees the weak from the strong, the miserable one and the poor from the predator?”

Violent witnesses rise up and interrogate me on things of which I am ignorant; they render evil for good, desolation for my life.

I, when they were sick, I dressed in sackcloth, I afflicted myself with fasting, in my chest my prayers echoed. I was in anguish as for a brother, in mourning as for my mother, I prostrated myself in sadness.

But they enjoy my fall, they gather together, they gather against me to strike me all of a sudden. They tear at me without pause, the put me to the test, mockery upon mockery, against me they grind their teeth.

How long, Lord will you stand by and watch? Free my life from their violence, from the fangs of the lion, free my one and only well being.

I will praise you in the grand assembly, I will celebrate you in the midst of a numerous people. May lying enemies not exult over me, do not let them wink their eyes they who hate me without reason.

Lord, you have seen, do not be quiet. God, don’t stand far from me. Awaken, awaken yourself for my judgment, for my cause, Lord my God.

May he esult and rejoice who loves my right, may he forever say, ”Great is the Lord who desires peace for his servant.” 

My tongue will celebrate your justice, will sing your praise forever.”

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Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

“Marco é piu antico!”

The location:The great aula of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

The time:     First semester, fall, 1977

The actors:  Padre Pedro Ortiz, S.J., professor 

                  Students from all over the world, including your’s truly

The task:    Exegesis of the Synoptic Gospels, starting with Mark

I will risk being a bit irreverent to the holy Evangelist on this, his feast day. Each time I open the Gospel of Mark, or hear of it spoken, I go back to those few months in Rome.  Poor Fr. Ortiz.  A Spaniard Jesuit, hurriedly summoned to ”the Greg” to teach this course.  He had to learn Italian subito. So learn he did and speak he did, although in simple sentences.

“Marco é piu antico!” he would often say.  ”Mark is older!” referencing the purported age of the three synoptics Mark, Matthew, and Luke. “Marco é piu antico!”  If we heard that once, we heard it literally 500 times in the course. 

I must admit, I took a bit of advantage of Fr. Ortiz when it came to final exams.  You see, at the Greg all examinations were oral.  And there was only one upon which your entire grade depended.  It was just you and the professor, for approximately 10-15 minutes, across a desk from one another.  The first thing you did when you walked in was to greet him in Italian, “Buon giorno, Padre!”  The second thing most of us did was ask, “Posso parlare L’inglese, Padre?” (May I speak English, Father?)  If you were fortunate, he would permit it.  The poor soul!  He had to understand English, Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, French and Portugese.  I sometimes wondered if in fact each professor indeed understood them all. Anyway, Father Ortiz gave me permission.  I don’t recall what his question to me was, but I do remember speaking English as rapidly as I could, hoping if I made a mistake he wouldn’t catch it.  And yes, I said at least twice, “Marco é piu antico!”

I received a grade of  8.5 (1-10 scale).  Not bad. Not bad at all.

Dear Father Ortiz:  I have never forgotten you or your love for St. Mark! Thank you, and God bless you!.

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Biblical History vs. “Myth”

Monday, March 9th, 2009

I am in the middle of reading an interesting book entitled, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Secrets by Finkelstein and Silberman.  I am only half-way through, but it is evident their contention is that the Old Testament is a result of a Deuteronomic writing during the reign of King Josiah in the seventh century BCE. They cite examples of archaelogical evidence that the patriarchs, Exodus, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, King David’s united kingdom, etc. never existed. They contend the Hebrew Bible, for the most part, is a work written during the reign of the Judahite king Josiah to legitimize and support his dream of reacquiring the lost territories of the north, which had been conquered.  The book also has an alternative explanation for the origin and development of the Israelites as a people who were Canaanite but formed themselves in the hill countries of the north and south, who worshiped the God YHWH (and other gods at times on the side).

I will begin reading soon a book by Norman Gottwald entitled, The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction.  It is my understanding that Gottwald offers yet another view as to the development of the Israelite nation, i.e., that they were Canaanite people that fled the coastal cities for the hill country and worshiped the God YHWH and later came into contact with a very small band of escaped slaves from Egypt with a story of deliverance and monotheistic ideas gleaned from religious change in Egypt.  These elements then merged to form a religion and people.

After I complete my reading, I will report back. I would be interested in anyone’s ideas who may have read either or both of these books. Post a comment if you are one of them.

As you can surmise, I love ancient history.  I wish I could read the ancient languages.  I once knew Koine Greek, but I never studied Hebrew, Aramaic or other ancient languages.

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Psalm of the Day

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

I can’t help but post on Psalm 144 which we prayed tonight at Vespers.  I pray in Italian, which I find to be such a beautiful language of prayer, that I am afraid my English translation below really doesn’t do it justice.

My God, I will sing to you a new song, I will play for you on the ten-stringed harp; To you who give victory to your anointed, who frees David your servant.

Save me from the sword of iniquity, free me from the hand of the stranger. Their mouths speak lies and their right hand swears falsehood.

May our sons be as plants grown in their youth, our daughters like supporting columns in the construction of the temple.

May our granaries be full, overflowing of fruit of every kind; may our flocks be as myriads, and our fields as myriads more; may our oxen be weighed down with the harvest.

No breach, no incursion, no crying out in our city squares.  

Blessed the people who possess these good things; blessed the people for whom God is the Lord!

Being from a farming background, I can relate to the joy of bringing in the harvest, with the wagons loaded down with grain, as the psalmist describes in this psalm.  Being one who has heard an elder play joyful songs on musical instruments after the end of the day, I can resonate with the psalmist rejoicing on the ten-stringed harp.  Being from a large family, I know the blessings of sons and daughters to a father and mother.  Being one who, I believe, has experienced the power of the Spirit of God in my own life, I can identify with being saved from the sword of iniquity and lying deception.

The more one prays the psalms, the more one finds in them relevance to the here and now.  Many find the psalms an archaic prayer form.  I felt that way too for many years.  But life’s experiences made me receptive to the messages of the psalms, for they speak to all of us today.

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Qoheleth and the Works of God

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Today’s Office of Readings again is from Qoheleth.  Qoheleth says:

“I thought again that whatever God does is immutable; there is nothing to add, nothing to take away.  God works like this so we may have a sense of awe and wonder of Him.  That which is has been; that which will be already is; God searches again for that which is already past.”

Perhaps Qoheleth was caught up in our human concept of time as linear, chronological, and sequential.  God’s time is an ever present, and ever now.  He breaks through our time and space and gives meaning to all.

In the second reading in the Office,  St. Gregory of Nyssa alludes to this, I think.  He said:

” ‘ The is a time to be born’, he says, ‘and a time to die.’ (Qo 3:2) Would that the heavens might give me a good time to die and a proper moment for death……For St. Paul each moment is fitting for a good death…. It is clear, then, in what manner Paul dies every day, he who did not live for sin, but mortified his flesh and carried always in himself the mortification of Christ…. This, to me, is a timely death that gives true life….. The word of God, in fact, promises life as a result of death.” –St. Gregory of Nissa, Om 6; PG 44, 702-705.

All things are vanity, as says Qoheleth, if one considers only the created world.  All things speak of the richness of God, if one considers how God has entered and continues to enter the world in each moment of our lives.  In the passing and dying there is life.  That is the Christian message.  That is what makes sense of the finiteness and provisionality of our world.

All of creation speaks of the beauty and purpose of God.

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