" PAST " JESUS AND JUDAS

   

 

                       " You call Me Master and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. "(John 13:13)

On that night  of the Last Supper, having so clearly set out His Divine Authority, Jesus showed forth His astounding Humility by proceeding to wash the feet of the disciples in that scene we know so well especially for its presentation of Saint Peter's characteristic demonstration of extreme volatility, But Jesus was about to demonstrate His astounding Mercy even more thoroughly though less obviously and over a number of hours.

In every scene of Sacred Scripture, Jesus is shown as truly the Master of every situation,He knows everything,"past, present and to come", and, as Sacred Scripture says of God : "omnia quaecumque voluit fecit "that is," whatever He wishes, He does".

Jesus has freely willed to accept Death on the Cross as the means to achieve our Salvation . But His Mercy is infinite and He will not allow Judas to commit the hideous crime of betraying the Son of Man - as he has contracted to do - without allowing him every grace and choice to avoid the great sin. So, in the first place, He lets Judas know that He knows what Judas has done and plans to do.

"Amen,Amen, I say to you, one of you shall betray Me." 

Note that Our Lord is careful to allow Judas every time the chance to reform with no-one else knowing what he had intended. So now Judas knows that Jesus knows his guilty secret. All of the others , sure of their present innocence but not so sure of their courage under pressure, begin their "Is it I Lord?"cries. Until with characteristic impatience to find the traitor out, Saint Peter signals to St.John to ask Him who it is.This was easy to do, because Saint John's head, in the reclining arrangements of the disciples at table, is near Our Lord's breast.Our Lord softly tells John that it is the one to whom He shall give the morsel of bread dipped in the bowl. Saint John tells us that after Judas consumed the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus knew it of course and knew that it was not possible without Judas' agreement - therefore Jesus said to the committed traitor : "That which thou dost, do quickly."  Judas went out immediately "And it was night" Saint John tells us - night the time for hidden , shameful deeds, for all manner of evil. The others automatically assumed that Judas - the keeper of the purse- had some duty to perform.

"Judas, Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

 

The events of this sublime evening moved on inexorably.The Saviour of the World, anticipating the bloody Sacrifice of the morrow on Calvary had given Himself -Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, as food to His Disciples and had made them the first Bishops of His Church, instituting the Sacred Ministerial Priesthood. Now, after His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in the course of which He had accepted the burden of the guilt of every sin of mankind,past, present and to come and the Father's Will that He should be sacrificed on the Cross to redeem the sinners  who wished to  be saved. All these crushing burdens were present to Him as both God and Man, and yet...and yet..He still took care to give Judas a way out. For, as the party of Soldiers and Temple Authorities accompanied by Judas emerged from the darkness,Jesus it was Who went forward to meet them. By so doing He ensured that the disciples did not identify Judas - even now, Jesus gave him the chance to break and run.

Jesus  asks them Who they seek "Jesus of Nazareth"comes the reply." I AM HE "Our Lord firmly responds. Then showing the force of His Divine Authority all of the would be captors stagger backwards and collapse to the ground. It is enough - He has shown that if He is to be taken, it will only be because He permits it.

Now, Judas has been given every opportunity to abandon his hideously sinful intention. But he wills to proceed. Throwing Jesus' Mercy back in His Face literally, he comes forward and as the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen said : "Blistered His lips with a kiss" - How sickening a betrayal - Innocence Himself delivered into the hands of His enemies through the abuse of the great symbol of love - a kiss!
Now the disciples also knew the traitor for what he was.And indeed, Judas himself in horror realised the appalling depth of the evil he had done.The words of Jesus came crashing and crushing into his heart of darkness: "...woe to that man"by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed: it were better for him, if that man had not been born."( Matt.26:24)

The Gospel narratives of Holy Thursday are wonderfully rich , but we have concentrated on one aspect alone,the merciful concern of Our Lord for the Salvation of the sinner planning to betray Him.Amid all the vast riches of that evening this reality is easy to pass by. But , it is and should be, a great lesson and consolation for each of us sinners to realise what a merciful God we adore.

CHRIST THE PANTOKRATOR _Palermo

" PAST " HE HAD BECOME A MAN, NOT AN ANGEL

JESUS CONFOUNDS SATAN'S ATTEMPT AT TEMPTATION

 

 

 "For the moment, Satan had been worsted, but perhaps he had learnt all he had cared to know. Whoever this Jesus was it was clear that He was a Power with whom he would have to reckon. He left Him, but in no confusion; he left Him, but, as the Evangelist carefully tells us, only "for a time". He had other weapons at his disposal and he would use them, even till the last night when would come

                        " Your hour
And the power of darkness."  Luke xxii: 53

Meanwhile, Jesus Himself was at peace. He could ask His Father, and His Father would give Him legions of angels to help Him in His work, but that would not be His way. He had not become an angel, He had become Man, and man should be His helper. Still, because of His humiliation, He should not be deserted; He Who had submitted to this buffeting by the spirit of evil should be visited by the spirits of good. As at the beginning in Bethlehem, as at the end in the Garden, so now in His first desolation,

                          "Behold angels came
                       And ministered to Him.""

- Extract from Archbishop Alban Goodier S.J.'s masterful " The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ".  

" PAST " SAINT PAUL PART IX SAINT PAUL WRITES FROM MACEDONIA Segment I

 

Saint Paul

St Paul Writes from Macedonia II – First Epistle to Timothy


This is one of St Paul’s shortest Epistles. He is writing in AD 65. St James had been executed by Ananias three years earlier and in the previous year Rome had been destroyed by fire and the Emperor Nero had been persecuting the Catholics, in an endeavour to fix the blame on them. The infant Church was under external attack, but internally she was also under attack from false teachers. St Paul had left the Church in Ephesus under the care of the young man Timothy – his “beloved son in the Faith” (1 Tim. 1:2).

He recalls that when he left Timothy in charge in A.D 64 he had given him the task of correcting those propagating false teachings and useless speculations.

He humbly acknowledges his past persecution of the Church and thanks God for being given his role as Christ’s minister – “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief” (1 Tim. 1:15). St Paul has, he says, given the same vocation of ministry to Timothy, and he refers to prophecies once made concerning Timothy. He contrasts Timothy’s faith and good conscience with Hymeneus and Alexander who have been delivered up to Satan for blasphemy.

St Paul urges Timothy to lead the Church in Ephesus in supplications, prayers and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and for all in high positions “that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and worthy behaviour” (1 Tim. 2: 1-2). Clearly, he has the horrors of the persecution under Nero in mind.

St Paul reflects on the very basis of his life’s work: “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, bearing witness in his own time. To this, I have been appointed a preacher and an apostle (I tell the truth, I do not lie), a teacher to the Gentiles in faith and truth’. (1 Tim. 2: 5-7)

He firmly sets before Timothy his concept of what is appropriate for women in the church. They should dress modestly and simply without excessive ornament and expense. They should not speak or teach in the church. This brief section of the text concludes with the phrase most often translated “Yet women will be saved by child-bearing”. Quite apart from sending legions of feminists into paroxysms of rage, this false translation is a theological nonsense – what of all the saintly virgins throughout the Church’s long history?  No – as the late Monsignor Ronald Knox’s accurate translation shows: “Yet woman shall find her salvation in the Child-bearing…”

The Greek definite article refers to one unique Child-bearing, the birth of Our Lord at Bethlehem”. (Mons. Ronald Cox “It Is Paul Who Writes” P.463) finally, we see what St Paul truly wrote.

St Paul goes on to list the qualities of a good Bishop: blamelessness, married but once, reserved, prudent, of good conduct, hospitable, a teacher, no drinker or brawler, moderate not quarrelsome or avaricious. He must rule his own household well. He should not be a new convert lest pride overtake him. And he must have a good reputation outside the Church.

He then lists the requirements for Deacons whose responsibility in the early Church was principally ministering to the poor and the needy through charitable works. The requirements are not greatly dissimilar to those for Bishops in spirit, though less exacting in detail.

St Paul gives the rationale for his letter: he hopes to come to Ephesus soon but, if he is delayed, he wants Timothy to have sound advice on how to conduct himself in his weighty position. Interestingly he reveals that the Holy Spirit has made it clear that in future times some will leave the Faith to follow false teachers, forbid marriage, and require abstinence from certain foods. St Paul reminds Timothy that all that God has made is good and not to be so falsely rejected.

He urges on Timothy authentic piety – “…avoid foolish fables and old wives’ tales and train thyself in godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). He directs him to let no man despise his youth – we must remember here that in the ancient world authority went hand in hand with maturity – the young Timothy could expect some resistance to his Episcopal appointment.

St Paul urges Timothy not to neglect the grace infused in him by his ordination and to be an example to the faithful in speech, conduct, charity and chastity and to be diligent in reading, exhortation and teaching.

SAINT TIMOTHY

He lays out a careful plan of respect for older men, older women and younger women – to be treated as fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters respectively. He urges him to honour widows but stresses that they are primarily the responsibility of their families.

Where there is no family and the widow is less than sixty years old and of good and pious reputation, she may be accepted as the responsibility of the Church. He suggests that younger widows should re-marry so that they avoid becoming mere gossipers and busy-bodies.

St Paul praises priests (presbyters) who rule well and are active in preaching and teaching. Complaints against priests should only be entertained where they are supported by two or three witnesses. When they sin they are to be rebuked in front of all. He charges Timothy to act impartially in these matters before God the Father and Christ Jesus and the elect angels. He urges Timothy to remain chaste and urges him to cease drinking only water and to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake and for his frequent infirmities.

He urges Timothy to exhort slaves to treat their masters with honour and not to presume upon masters who are believers. He makes it clear that in this, his purpose is to ensure that “the name of the Lord and His Teaching be not blasphemed”.

Few things could give Roman society greater anxiety than anything which seemed to encourage the disaffection/discontent of slaves. Any attempt to do so or any appearance of doing so would lead to swift and ruthless suppression. St Paul had little time for “rights language” in the name of which so much evil is done today (e.g. the invented “RIGHT” to choose – used to justify the abortion super holocaust). What matters to him is personal fidelity to Christ and the eternal salvation of souls. Strict personal rights must await the further development of the Kingdom – but first things first.

He warns against false teachings and against the pursuit of wealth. The former lead to the loss of godliness and bring  about envies, quarrels, blasphemies and base suspicions and the latter often stray from the faith and fall prey to temptation.” For we brought nothing into the world, and certainly we can take nothing out...” (1 Tim. 6: 7).

He rousingly exhorts Timothy to the pursuit of justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience and mildness until the coming of the Lord “… the Blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; who alone has immortality and dwells in light inaccessible, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be everlasting dominion. Amen.” (1 Tim. 6: 15-16). He urges him to exhort the rich not to be proud but to become truly rich in good works in order that they might secure eternal life.

St Paul concludes “O Timothy...” to guard what has been entrusted to him and to avoid the profane novelties of speech used by false teachers, noting that some of their users had fallen away from the Faith.

This is the letter of a busy, faith-filled man burning with fatherly love for his Ephesians and for his young co-worker in whose hands he has left them.

In typical St Paul style, the ideas tumble forth always hitting the mark precisely and always serving faithfully the Lord Jesus Christ who claimed the undying loyalty of St Paul on the road to Damascus all those years and miles ago.

Tony Dixon
COPYRIGHT. This article first appeared in the March 2009 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL Part VI THE MISSIONARY iV PAUL WRITES FROM CORINTH FIRST SEGMENT

 

St Paul Writes from Corinth


ST. PAUL’S VERY FIRST LETTERS WHICH WE HAVE, WERE WRITTEN IN 51-52 AD from Corinth when Paul was 47–49 years old. Six years and thousands of missionary miles later, now aged 53–55 years, he once again wrote from Corinth.



As we have seen, Corinth lies 40 miles west of Athens on the Ionian coast, a few miles across a narrow neck of land from the Aegean port of Cenchrae. Two hundred miles of coastline separated the two ports, including the treacherous Cape Malea

Here Paul, after being effectively driven out of the synagogue, taught from the house of a convert – Titius Justus – next door to the synagogue. Re-assured by a vision of Our Lord, he remained in Corinth preaching and teaching for 18 months.

Busy as he was in his very successful preaching to the Gentiles in Corinth (and also converting Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and his household), Paul still bore in his heart and mind the converts he had made in Thessalonica. It is that fatherly concern which led him to write the first and second letters to the Thessalonians in A.D. 51–52 .

He had already been a Catholic (though the term was yet to be coined ¬— but we should not forget that reality) for 17 or 18 years. Transformed by his miraculous encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and tempered by his years of prayer and fasting in the desert of Arabia, he had now been active in preaching and teaching for some years.

The Thessalonians are his spiritual children. Realist that he is, Paul knows that these converts from paganism will need continuing encouragement and more teaching than he had been able to give them when he first brought them to Christ. For this very reason he had sent his trusted young co-worker Timothy to them. Timothy we recall was himself a convert, from Lystra in Lycaonia (part of modern Turkey), son of a Gentile father and a Jewish mother. Paul had come to rely on him as on a son.

And what word does Timothy bring back to Paul of his Thessalonian converts? He “brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you – for this reason brethren in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith; for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord.”

In Paul’s first letter to the Catholics of Thessalonica we get an indirect glimpse of the local church he had formed. Here was a group of believers entirely counter-cultural to the pagan world around them – a world in which divorce, abortion, infanticide, promiscuity, homosexuality greed, slavery and cruelty were the norm  - Paul’s converts had forsaken all of this to follow Christ as he had preached Him. They looked forward confidently, keenly and enthusiastically to the Second Coming –the Parousia when their heavenly life would gloriously begin. Some were so strongly expectant that they saw no need to work or to be involved in the humdrum tasks of everyday life – glorious eternity was due any day they thought, why bother?

So Paul has his concerns, but good and wise father that he is, he carefully praises all that is good in what they have achieved. He encourages them to persevere in matters of physical morality – knowing the weakness of our human flesh and the seductions of their old pagan lives surrounding them. Knowing that God is love, as St. John would soon write, Paul counsels them to keep building up their love for one another.

Then he firmly presents the necessary correction –there must be no idlers. No one can know when the Lord will come – no-one will know. Everyone must work to support themselves, even as Paul had done when he was with them (with his tent making). He had the right to rely on their support, he points out – but he did not. Everyone in the community must work, he emphasises, not only for their own and the community’s good, but to ensure their good reputation among the pagan observers.

Some in the community were concerned that those of their number who had died since Paul’s time with them might not share in the Lord’s coming. Paul is quick to re-assure them that those who have died will most certainly be taken up by the Lord, as well as the living, at His coming.

Paul concludes by urging them to value and support the clergy he has left to lead their community and to be at peace among themselves. “Rejoice always, pray constantly” he urges them, “… do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil”.

Within a year Paul writes again to the Thessalonians, as in the first letter, sending greetings not only from himself, but from Silvanus and Timothy also.

The Thessalonians are enduring “afflictions”. The persecutors were no doubt the same Jewish elements who had Paul brought before the magistrates and had him driven out of Thessalonica and pursued and harassed him even on to Beroea. He reminds them that in God’s justice they will be granted rest when the Lord comes and those who afflict them now will then be punished. He assures them of his continual prayers for their welfare.

This letter is short and is, as it acknowledges, written in response to reports Paul has received about current issues among the Thessalonians. The real heart of the letter concerns the Second Coming which is still a matter causing disturbance among them. Paul emphasises that they must hold fast to what he has taught them and they must totally ignore anyone or any letter purporting to come from him, saying that the time is at hand. No-one will know the time in advance.

In any case Paul reminds them of the detail of his teaching especially regarding the Anti-Christ – the “man of lawlessness”, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

He re-emphasises the detail of his teaching regarding the Anti-Christ:

they are aware of what is restraining him now;

the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;

the Lord Jesus will destroy the Anti-Christ “with the breath of His mouth ‘at His coming;

the Anti-Christ will come with “power and pretended signs and wonders” by the activity of Satan.

He will succeed with all wicked deception against those who refused to love the truth and so be saved. This “rebellion” caused by the Anti-Christ will precede the Second Coming.

It is clear from all of this that the Apostolic teaching in this matter was quite precise and firm. The message retains its validity to-day.

He closes asking for their prayers and once again warning against idlers and slackers urging that they be treated as erring brothers, admonished lovingly but firmly.

He closes the letter with his own special authenticating mark and imparts his blessing: “The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

As we come to consider the writings of St. Paul we can only marvel at the Divine Providence which has preserved these sacred texts for us. The existing manuscripts are in Greek: the Codex Sinaiticus (4th Century) and Codex Vaticanus (4th Century), and in Old Latin and Syriac Versions: Codex Alexandrinus (5th Century) which trace the text back to the middle of the second century, around 90 years after St. Paul’s martyrdom.

The Apostolic Fathers provide very many instances of the use of these texts as Sacred Scripture:

St Ignatius of Antioch (d A.D. 110-17) uses “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess.v 17) and writing to the Romans follows Pauline teaching in “I will that you please not man, but God”(1 Thess. ii 4).

The “Pastor” of Hermas (A.D.140)several times uses “be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. v 13).

Later:

St Irenaeus (A.D.181-9) cites 1 Thess.v 23 expressly as a quote

Tertullian (b A.D. 160) quotes passages at length from each of the five chapters of 1 Thess. in support of the resurrection of the Body.

St Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 190 – 210)repeatedly cites 1 Thess. in his writings.

So with great humility we come to these texts, usually dictated by St. Paul to an amanuensis, realising that from the very dawn of the life of the Catholic Church, they have sustained, encouraged and guided our brethren far distant in time, even as they do the very same for us to –day. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit still.

TONY DIXON
COPYRIGHT This article first appeared in the November, 2008 issue of FOUNDATION.

* PAST * SERVING WITH THE ANGELS II SATAN

 Serving with the Angels II

                                                                                      THE FATHER OF LIES


“I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven” (Luke 10: 18). Every word that came from the lips of Our Lord is priceless to us mere men. Yet we don’t often hear this text read or referred to in homilies, and if it occurs in the readings at Mass it is most often ignored in the homily. Why? Of course, we don’t like to think of Satan, but our clergy have a duty to remind us of him and his works.




In the tumult, stress and distress of the post – Conciliar years, when Pope Paul VI could with pain observe that it was “as if, through some crack, the smoke of Satan had entered the Sanctuary of God” (Homily 29th June 1972), many clergy adopted the habit of not preaching what they surmised was unpopular. It began with “Humanae Vitae “and the Church’s teaching against contraception. The media say it’s not popular, so we don’t preach it. There are Dioceses in Australia where a priest can face administrative problems if he does. The “smoke of Satan “lingers even to the extent of not talking about Satan himself. It’s not nice. So Satan is relegated to the ad agencies and the horror movies. It suits his purposes admirably.




But Our Lord, Truth Himself, what was His practice? He was continually very open about him – the Deceiver, the Father of Lies. Consider St. John’s Gospel 8: 43-44 “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My word. The father from whom you are is the devil, the desires of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie he speaks from his very nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”Thus Our Lord spoke to a group of the Jews He knew were plotting to kill Him, but who piously insisted that they had Abraham for their Father. When did you last hear that preached?

                                                              "I saw Satan fall like lightning out of Heaven"





We ignore Satan at our peril. We should not fear him inordinately – remember – God Himself is our ready defence against his wiles. With St. Patrick we can pray to the Blessed Trinity for delivery “from every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul” and KNOW that “God’s shield “will protect us. But, ignore Satan, and we won’t pray that prayer or anything like it and, when someone comes along promoting abortion whilst talking about “the need to reduce the number of abortions” we won’t want to know who is prompting him, and when some “prophet” comes along teaching millions to kill those who won’t follow his teachings, and that it’s alright to lie to advance his teachings, they won’t want to think who is prompting him and his servants. And when English heretics came along telling English Catholics that their Faith was unpatriotic, they didn’t want to think who was prompting them, and when the good intelligent German people dragged down by defeat, depression, and inflation were told the Jews were responsible and were “sub-human”(üntermenschen”) they didn’t want to know who was prompting their Fuhrer. The Father of Lies, he comes in many guises, always attractive - slick, confident and smiling with spin-doctored glibness, or deceitfully promising the poor and ignorant “72 virgins” in a lustful “paradise”, or wrapped in the flag of patriotism – “the last refuge of scoundrels”, or with stage-managed spectacles promising a down-trodden people a thousand year Reich, or perhaps more commonly he will just use the seductiveness of physical attraction

Adolph Hitler - Bewitched the German Nation

                                                                    

We do need to heed Our Lord’s warnings and be on our guard. We need to keep our eyes our minds and our hearts on Him, the Man-God Himself- suffering for us on the Cross and then Radiant in His Resurrection. In that Countenance is our sure Hope of Eternal Life.




ACOLYTE


This item first appeared in FOUNDATION in the July 2009 issue.