O John, who sawest the Spirit,—”that abode on the head of the Son,—”to show how the Head of the Highest—”went down and was baptized—”and came up to be Head on earth!—”Children of the Spirit you have thus become,—”and Christ has become for you the Head:—”you also have become His members.
Consider and see how exalted you are;—”how instead of the river Jordan—”you have glorious Baptism, wherein is peace;—”spreading her wings to shade your bodies.—”In the wilderness John baptized:—”in Her pure flood of Baptism,—”purely are you baptized therein.
Infants think when they see its glory,—”that by its pomp its might is enhanced.—”But it is the same, and within itself—”is not divided.—”But the might which never waxes less or greater—”in us is little or again great;—”and he in whom is great understanding,—”great in him is Baptism.
A man’s knowledge, if it be exalted,—”exalted also is his degree above his brethren;—”and he whose faith is great,—”so also is his promise;—”and as is his wisdom, so also his crowning.—”As is the light, which though it be all goodly—”and equal all of it with itself,—”yet goodlier is one eye than another.
Jesus mingled His might in the water:—”put Him on my brethren as discerning men!—”For there are that in the water merely—”perceive that they are washed. With our body be our soul washed!—”The manifest water let the body perceive,—”and the soul the secret might;—”that both to the manifest and to the secret you may be made like!
How beautiful is Baptism—”in the eye of the heart; come, let us gaze on it!—”Like as by a seal you have been moulded;—”receive its image,—”that nought may be lacking to us of our image!—”For the sheep that are white of heart—”gaze on the glory that is in the water:—”in your souls reflect it!
Water is by nature as a mirror,—”for one who in it examines himself.—”Stir up your soul, you that discern —” and be like it!—”For it in its midst reflects your image;—”from it, on it, find an example;—”gaze in it on Baptism,—”and put on the beauty that is hidden therein!
What profits it him that hears—”a voice and knows not its significance?—”Whoso hears a voice and is devoid—”of the understanding thereof,—”his ear is filled but his soul is empty.—”Lo! since the gift is abundant,—”with discernment receive it.
Baptism that is with understanding—”is the conjunction of two lights,—”and rich are the fountains of its rays.—”……—”And the darkness that is on the mind departs,—”and the soul beholds Him in beauty,—”the hidden Christ of glory,—”and grieves when the glory fails.
Baptism without understanding—”is a treasure full yet empty;—”since he that receives it is poor in it,—”for he understands not—”how great are its riches into which he enters and dwells.—”For great is the gift within it,—”though the mean man perceives not—”that he is exalted even as it.
Open wide your minds and see, my brethren,—”the secret column in the air, whose base is fixed from the midst of the water—”unto the door of the Highest Place, like the ladder that Jacob saw.—”Lo! by it came down the light unto Baptism,—”and by it the soul goes up to Heaven,—”that in one love we may be mingled.
Our Lord when he was baptized by John—”sent forth twelve fountains;—”and they issued forth and cleansed by their streams—”the defilement of the peoples.—”His worshippers are made white like His garments,—”the garments in Tabor and the body in the water.—”Instead of the garments the peoples are made white,—”and have become for Him a clothing of glory.
From your garments learn, my brethren,—”how your members should be kept.—”For if the garment, which ever so many times—”may be made clean,—”is duly kept for the sake of its comeliness,—”the body which has but one baptism—”manifold more exceeding is the care of its keeping,—”for manifold are its dangers.
Again the sun in a house that is strait,—”is straitened therein though he be great:—”but in a house that is goodly and large,—”when he rises thereon—”far and wide in it he spreads his rays;—”and though the sun is one and the same in his nature,—”in various houses he undergoes changes:—”Even so our Lord in various men. — Hymn 9
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people
In the days of idols, and to this very day, people pray to the things their hands have made. The idols of old were made of stone, metal, and precious stones. Yet those idols bore nothing for mankind, other than their resemblance to us.
The idols people worship today bear nothing for us. Money cannot buy happiness as the old saying goes. Sex cannot buy relationships. War cannot buy peace. Government cannot assure justice.
The fact is this. Nothing wrought by man can substitute for God. Nothing can fulfill our longing for what is transcendent, what is eternal —“ except for God.
Throughout the centuries people have run about carving idols, worshiping trees, the thunder, the sun and moon, and doing all sorts of things, not because they were primitive or ignorant, but rather because they needed to fulfill the desire of their heart —“ the built-in desire for God.
If God were cruel He would have left us to wonderment only. He would have left us alone in our attempt to figure it all out. But we are blessed and graced because God is good and loving.
In His loving kindness God deigned to come among us and to reveal Himself to us.
We now know God. We begin our prayers and every homily with an acknowledgment of His revelation to us, the Sign of the Cross. We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Today’s Solemnity is a commemoration and celebration of God revealing His identity to us. Today God shows Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
God’s revelation to Isaiah told of the One who was to come:
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased
In Jesus that prophesy was fulfilled. God, in the person of the Son, came to dwell with us. He showed us what God is like. He taught us how to live God’s way —“ which is very foreign to the way you, I, and the rest of the world live. He told us that God demands repentance. That God heals and that God sets us free from our captivity to the old idols.
Brothers and sisters,
Not only did God show Himself, He set no requirement as to the —kind of people— who could come to Him.
Peter and the other Apostles were devout Jews. God quickly stepped in, to reveal to Peter and the rest, that God is for everyone. Peter goes to meet the gentile Cornelius and his family. He is sent there through God’s message and promptings. When Peter realizes what he has encountered he plainly states:
—In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.—
The Orthodox refer to this Solemnity as the Theophany; the revelation of the Holy Trinity, God —“ Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
—This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.—
Humanity hears the voice of the Father. Humanity sees the Holy Ghost descending in the form of a dove. Humanity meets the Son.
How blessed we are. How fortunate for us. How loving the God we proclaim and teach.
God in His fullness has been shown to us. Not a mysterious God only known through prophets. Not a god that we have fashioned. Not a God hidden in the mists of time, unrevealed, unknown.
We have God in plain sight.
As the Christmas season draws to a close take this opportunity to rejoice and celebrate. Take this opportunity to renew your commitment to the only living and true God. There is no other God. There is no other form of God.
Here is God revealed. Reform, repent, be reborn, know and love Him, do His will, follow all that He has taught.
Amen.
This is He Who was begotten from the Godhead according to His nature, and from manhood not after His nature, and from baptism not after His custom; that we might be begotten from manhood according to our nature, and from Godhead not after our nature, and by the Spirit not after our custom. He then was begotten from the Godhead, He that came to a second birth; in order to bring us to the birth that is discoursed of, even His generation from the Father:—”not that it should be searched out, but that it should be believed;—”and His birth from the woman, not that it should be despised, but that it should be exalted.
It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters, whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them. Furthermore, let not the deacons sit among the presbyters, for that is contrary to canon and order. And if, after this decree, any one shall refuse to obey, let him be deposed from the diaconate. — Canon 18
The Apostles therefore, as we have said, being about to separate in order to preach the Gospel, settled upon this sign or token of their agreement in the faith; and, unlike the sons of Noah, who, when they were about to separate from one another, built a tower of baked bricks and pitch, whose top might reach to heaven, they raised a monument of faith, which might withstand the enemy, composed of living stones and pearls of the Lord, such that neither winds might overthrow it, nor floods undermine it, nor the force of storms and tempests shake it. Right justly, then, were the former, when, on the eve of separation, they built a tower of pride, condemned to the confusion of tongues, so that no one might understand his neighbour’s speech; while the latter, who were building a tower of faith, were endowed with the knowledge and understanding of all languages; so that the one might prove a sign and token of sin, the other of faith.
The doctrines of the Gospel were well known to holy and blessed David in his capacity of Prophet, and although it was under the Law that he lived his bodily life, he yet filled, as far as in him lay, the requirements of the Apostolic behest and justified the witness borne to him by God in the words: I have found a man after My own heart, David, the son of Jesse. He did not avenge himself upon his foes by war, he did not oppose force of arms to those that laid wait for him, but after the pattern of the Lord, Whose name and Whose meekness alike he foreshadowed, when he was betrayed he entreated, when he was in danger he sang psalms, when he incurred hatred he rejoiced; and for this cause he was found a man after God’s own heart. For although twelve legions of angels might have come to the help of the Lord in His hour of passion, yet that He might perfectly fulfil His service of humble obedience, He surrendered Himself to suffering and weakness, only praying with the words: Father into Your hands I commend My spirit (Luke 23:46). After the same pattern, David, whose actual sufferings prophetically foretold the future sufferings of the Lord, opposed not his enemies either by word or act; in obedience to the command of the Gospel, he would not render evil for evil, in imitation of his Master’s meekness, in his affliction, in his betrayal, in his fight, he called upon the Lord and was content to use His weapons only in his contest with the ungodly.
A New York State R.C. Bishop has decided to release all Polish priests from service in his diocese.
Many of those priests will have to return to Poland where there is a veritable glut of priests. A few have found postings in other R.C. Diocese in the United States.
I could go on and on with all the arguments normally posited about such matters: If there are priests available why close churches? You are always complaining about a lack of priests, why send some away? What’s wrong with Polish priests? Are Polish priests too beholden to tradition, such that they cannot fit in with the ethos in an American diocese? What’s up?
Rather than do so, I will play a little game. Let’s just say that the Holy Spirit were to send a letter to said Bishop. What might it sound like?
Dear Bishop,
Some years ago your brother bishops imposed hands on you and imbued you with My power. As you may recall, I provided you with the fullness of the Apostolic priesthood, my sevenfold gifts, and the authority to teach, shepherd, and govern in the local Church.
In addition to My gifts, I have touched the hearts of many men, and have attempted to fill them with zeal for souls. I have called many, but as you know, few have responded. Nevertheless, the Son has promised that I will remain with the Church, and that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her (cf. Matt. 16.18-19). That being the case, I have sent you sons who, while few in number, are filled with zeal for souls, and who have hearts filled with love for Our people.
I am edified by the fullness of trust you have exhibited in Our commitment to remain with the Church. You certainly have shown that you believe that We can do everything. That is faith!
Unfortunately, Our gifts can only be made present through your hands and your administration. We need you to proactively build up the Church with the gifts and the men you have been given.
It may seem wise, property values being what they are, to send off the sons I have given you, close churches, sell buildings, and do what is expedient for the present. You may even deem this a difficult but courageous choice. I urge you to reconsider, taking the long-term, eternal view into consideration.
Often times what is foolish in the eyes of men is wise in Our eyes (cf. Cor. 1:18-25). Please take your tremendous faith, and the gifts We have given you, and stand firm knowing that whatever may come, the Church will stand. That means that you, My son, are a rock. Grow the faith, build up Our Church, and have courage.
With all graces,
The Holy Spirit
P.S.: Please remain loyal to My son and your brother Bishop Benedict who is your lawful Patriarch.
In my personal opinion the R.C. Church needs as many hands as are available, especially if they are good and loyal to the Church. While some church closings are inevitable, retrenchment should not be an option. Find new and different ways to use the buildings. Most importantly put all hands on deck to minister and build up the Church.
Just before Christmas I posted on gifts I would like to offer you, my readers. See My Gift to You for details.
I will close out this offer early next week and submit the order. Prior to doing so I would like to provide you with one more opportunity to make a request for one or more of these gifts.
In the original offer I stated that:
I will provide eight (8) annual subscriptions to God’s Field, the official newspaper of the Polish National Catholic Church and ten (10) copies of the Polish National Catholic Church’s wall calendar for 2008.
The first eighteen people that make a request will get one or the other.
Please send me an E-mail using my contact form and provide your name, mailing address, and the gift you would prefer.
In the near future I will be reaching out to those who have already requested items. I will need your mailing (postal) address so the gifts can be sent.
Here surely is an answer to your question as to what is the starting-point, and what the goal: we begin in faith, and are made perfect by sight. This also is the sum of the whole body of doctrine. But the sure and proper foundation of the catholic faith is Christ. “For other foundation,” says the apostle, “can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Nor are we to deny that this is the proper foundation of the catholic faith, because it may be supposed that some heretics hold this in common with us. For if we carefully consider the things that pertain to Christ, we shall find that, among those heretics who call themselves Christians, Christ is present in name only: in deed and in truth He is not among them. — Chapter V
For what reason, men of Greece, do you wish to bring the civil powers, as in a pugilistic encounter, into collision with us? And, if I am not disposed to comply with the usages of some of them, why am I to be abhorred as a vile miscreant? Does the sovereign order the payment of tribute, I am ready to render it. Does my master command me to act as a bondsman and to serve, I acknowledge the serfdom. Man is to be honoured as a fellow-man; God alone is to be feared,-He who is not visible to human eyes, nor comes within the compass of human art. Only when I am commanded to deny Him, will I not obey, but will rather die than show myself false and ungrateful. Our God did not begin to be in time: He alone is without beginning, and He Himself is the beginning of all things. God is a Spirit, not pervading matter, but the Maker of material spirits, and of the forms that are in matter; He is invisible, impalpable, being Himself the Father of both sensible and invisible things. Him we know from His creation, and apprehend His invisible power by His works. I refuse to adore that workmanship which He has made for our sakes. The sun and moon were made for us: how, then, can I adore my own servants? How can I speak of stocks and stones as gods? For the Spirit that pervades matter is inferior to the more divine spirit; and this, even when assimilated to the soul, is not to be honoured equally with the perfect God. Nor even ought the ineffable God to be presented with gifts; for He who is in want of nothing is not to be misrepresented by us as though He were indigent. But I will set forth our views more distinctly. — Chapter IV