And as he says this we must inquire concerning what man we are to understand him to be speaking. He says: Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of pestilence. But his will has been in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rills of water, that will yield its fruit in its own season. His leaf also shall not wither, and all things, whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper. I have discovered, either from personal conversation or from their letters and writings, that the opinion of many men about this Psalm is, that we ought to understand it to be a description of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that it is His happiness which is extolled in the verses following. But this interpretation is wrong both in method and reasoning, though doubtless it is inspired by a pious tendency of thought, since the whole of the Psalter is to be referred to Him: the time and place in His life to which this passage refers must be ascertained by the sound method of knowledge guided by reason.
Now the words which stand at the beginning of the Psalm are quite unsuited to the Person and Dignity of the Son, while the whole contents are in themselves a condemnation of the careless haste that would use them to extol Him. For when it is said, and his will has been in the Law of the Lord, how (seeing that the Law was given by the Son of God) can a happiness which depends on his will being in the Law of the Lord be attributed to Him Who is Himself Lord of the Law? That the Law is His He Himself declares in the seventy-seventh Psalm, where He says: Hear My Law, O My people: incline your ears unto the words of My mouth. I will open My mouth in a parable. And the Evangelist Matthew further asserts that these words were spoken by the Son, when he says For this cause spoke He in parables that the saying might be fulfilled: I will open My mouth in parables. The Lord then gave fulfillment in act to His own prophecy, speaking in the parables in which He had promised that He would speak. But how can the sentence, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rills of water, —” wherein growth in happiness is set forth in a figure —” be possibly applied to His Person, and a tree be said to be more happy than the Son of God, and the cause of His happiness, which would be the case if an analogy were established between Him and it in respect of growth towards happiness? Again, since according to Wisdom and the Apostle, He is both before the ages and before times eternal, and is the First-born of every creature; and since in Him and through Him all things were created, how can He be happy by becoming like objects created by Himself? For neither does the power of the Creator need for its exaltation comparison with any creature, nor does the immemorial age of the First-born allow of a comparison involving unsuitable conditions of time, as would be the case if He were compared to a tree. For that which shall be at some point of future time cannot be looked upon as having either previously existed or as now existing anywhere. But whatsoever already is does not need any extension of time to begin existence, because it already possesses continuous existence from the date of its beginning up till the present.
And so, since these words are understood to be inapplicable to the divinity of the Only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, we must suppose him, who is here extolled as happy by the Prophet, to be the man who strives to conform himself to that body which the Lord assumed and in which He was born as man, by zeal for justice and perfect fulfillment of all righteousness. That this is the necessary interpretation will be shown as the exposition of the Psalm proceeds. — On Psalm 1.
A bit of an older story from the Telegraph: Highway to Hell among most requested funeral songs.
The Led Zeppelin and AC/DC anthems rank outside the top 10, but have gained ground in recent years as more Australians give up traditional Christian hymns…
As Christians we could do some headbanging over this trend, but only if we have done enough to reach the unchurched. Otherwise stay tuned because you may be hearing this at your local funeral home:
I found the following story from the Economist to be interesting: The heretical Czechs. The pragmatic skeptics who will have the next European-Union presidency.
On a 2007 visit to talk over EU affairs, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the Czechs reminded her of modern-day Hussites—”followers of Jan Hus, who was burnt at the stake in 1415 for challenging the Roman Catholic Church. This was a shrewd observation, says Alexandr Vondra, a deputy prime minister. The Hussite movement was crushed amid bitter in-fighting, and the Czechs remained Catholic. But Hus remains a national hero, and his legacy helps to explain why Czech views of the EU differ from those of such neighbours as Germany or Slovakia. Mr Vondra suggests that Czechs think like —classic reformation countries—, such as the Netherlands or Sweden.
I actually enjoyed the way the author used religious imagery throughout this report on the E.U..
I posted earlier on the upcoming R.C. Synod on the Word of God. Zenit published a list of participants:
Here is the list of participants Benedict XVI appointed for the 12th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held Oct. 5-26 in the Vatican. The theme is “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church…”
What I found interesting was the list of auditors. Besides a few scholars and university types as well as the traditional religious communities, there is a number of newer communities like the “Shalom” Catholic community, Brazil, and the NeoCatechumenal Way. An interesting mix.
Hopefully efforts at evangelizing on the Word of God will not be focused on these institutes and communities but as something core to the Church’s mission — something for every parish and every bishop, priest, and deacon. Remember deacon’s – one of your core jobs is the proclamation of the Word.
The primary condition of knowledge for reading the Psalms is the ability to see as whose mouthpiece we are to regard the Psalmist as speaking, and who it is that he addresses. For they are not all of the same uniform character, but of different authorship and different types. For we constantly find that the Person of God the Father is being set before us, as in that passage of the eighty-eighth Psalm: I have exalted one chosen out of My people, I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I anointed him. He shall call Me, You are my Father and the upholder of my salvation. And I will make him My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth; while in what we might call the majority of Psalms the Person of the Son is introduced, as in the seventeenth: A people whom I have not known has served Me; and in the twenty-first: they parted My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture. But the contents of the first Psalm forbid us to understand it either of the Person of the Father or of the Son: But his will has been in the law of the Lord, and in His Law will he meditate day and night. Now in the Psalm in which we said the Person of the Father is intended, the terms used are exactly appropriate, for instance: He shall call Me, You are my Father, my God and the upholder of my salvation; and in that one in which we hear the Son speaking, He proclaims Himself to be the author of the words by the very expressions He employs, saying, A people whom I have not known has served Me. That is to say, when the Father on the one hand says: He shall call Me; and the Son on the other hand says: a people has served Me, they show that it is They Themselves Who are speaking concerning Themselves. Here, however, where we have But his will has been in the Law of the Lord; obviously it is not the Person of the Lord speaking concerning Himself, but the person of another, extolling the happiness of that man whose will is in the Law of the Lord. Here, then, we are to recognize the person of the Prophet by whose lips the Holy Spirit speaks, raising us by the instrumentality of his lips to the knowledge of a spiritual mystery. — On Psalm 1
An interesting post at WebCommentary entitled: Unapologetic Sally Quinn’s Holy Communion Abuse. Also read Ms. Quinn’s On Faith post on the issue.
This sort of thing really annoys me. Beyond the typical web based religious extremism – we’re right everyone else is wrong/going to hell/some such – it belies an attitude that seems to be more and more prevalent even among members of the R.C. hierarchy. It is a sort of reliance on legalism and the loss of what Ms. Quinn calls for – charity.
Whenever I hear the phrases: We have Canon…, or According to Canon… I cannot help but think of the Chief Priest standing there saying: “We have our law…” (John 19:7).
Agreed that Ms. Quinn didn’t read the directions in the back of the R.C. missalette. Agreed that she didn’t follow “the R.C. rules.” That said I can think of a few better responses, for instance:
Ms. Quinn, let’s talk about the Eucharist. I am so glad to see that you understand that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. That’s an inspired understanding
When Ms. Quinn asked the proverbial WWJD question; a good answer would have been: He would talk to you and teach you. He would not accuse you and make it less likely that you would enter a relationship with Him and His Church. Unfortunately she hasn’t received that response at WebCommentary, from other Commentators, or in her com-box.
Opportunities are missed on a human scale — person-to-person. I would love to talk to Ms. Quinn and let her know that there are Catholics (to wit the PNCC) who believe the Eucharist does work miracles in peoples lives. Not the flashy kind – but the kind that build us up to be the people who are the apple of God’s eye (Deuteronomy 32:9-11). If we aren’t watching for the subtlety of God’s way (1 Kings 19:11-13) and are rushing to judgment then we will have a lot more to answer for.
mobtown mafioso posted an interesting commentary on an ethnic festival recently held in Baltimore. See: Baltimore Ethnic Festivals- Bringing Genocidal Enemies Together
Yesterday, I went to Baltimore’s Ukrainian Festival. For you who do not know, it is the weekend every year where Baltimore’s Ukrainian population gathers together and celebrates the good parts of their heritage like quality beers, potato pancakes, and meat filled dumplings, but otherwise demonstrating a studied ignorance of the relevant parts.
What was particularly ironic was the decision to hold the Ukrainian festival in front of the Count Pulaski statue. What made this ironic was the large-scale massacre of Poles by Ukrainians during WWII…
Yet, despite this history, the Ukrainian festival featured Polish sausages and a booth for the Polish National Catholic Church. Like I said, Baltimore Ethnic Festivals bring genocidal foes together.
What I wonder is whether the author: Was making an observation as to the ironies of history; Believes that people are just ignorant of past wrongs and now, so informed, should regurgitate these wrongs so to bring about a state of frenzied dislike within the remainder of old ethnic communities; or Thinks that every ethnic festival should include a display covering the darkest chapters of that group’s history.
Certainly Poles and Ukrainians have had a long history, living side-by-side and together throughout history. There are things that unite and some things that divide, but on the whole the relationship with the westward facing portion of the Ukraine has been generally positive. The eastern Ukraine is another story, but that is because the east faces east – toward Russia. For more on this see this RFE/RL article: Analysis: Ukraine, Poland Seek Reconciliation Over Grisly History.
A relatively unknown fact was that there was a civil war in Poland following World War 2. The remnants of the Armia Krajowa (AK – Poland’s underground army in World War 2) fought against the communist takeover of Poland. Some of these battles were along the Polish-Ukrainian border with the remnants of Bandera’s Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Much of what the author writes about reflects the World War 2 and the post World War civil war period.
Going back to things that unite and divide, the author might wish to study the history of ethic communities in his city and in the United States. He might find that some animosities from the old county come into play among more recent immigrants, but even there it’s less likely nowadays. Most modern Poles don’t carry around these types of grudges because they see their reflection in the eyes of the Ukrainians, slightly east, slightly poorer. As some have told me, ‘What America was to us, is what we are to the East.’ On the other hand Polish-Americans and Ukrainian-Americans who are heirs of the older generations (the pre-World War 2 immigration) have shared a common struggle here in the United States, attempting to maintaining ethnic identity, cultural and religious ties, and joining a common fight against natavist racial stereotypes.
I say great for Baltimore and the Ukrainian festival with Polish flavor. What we share is more than what divides – including kiełbasa or ковбаÑа. Irony only exists if yesterdays battles retain their relevancy. I would prefer to enjoy my вареники and the highlights of Ukrainian culture without a serving of ethnic remorse.
Then he goes on: Like a weaned child upon his mother’s breast, so will you reward my soul. We are told that when Isaac was weaned Abraham made a feast because now that he was weaned he was on the verge of boyhood and was passing beyond milk food. The Apostle feeds all that are imperfect in the faith and still babes in the things of God with the milk of knowledge. Thus to cease to need milk marks the greatest possible advance. Abraham proclaimed by a joyful feast that his son had come to stronger meat, and the Apostle refuses bread to the carnal-minded and those that are babes in Christ. And so the Prophet prays that God, because he has not lifted up his heart, nor walked amid things great and wonderful that are above him, because he has not been humble-minded but did lift up his soul, may reward his soul, lying like a weaned child upon his mother: that is to say that he may be deemed worthy of the reward of the perfect, heavenly and living bread, on the ground that by reason of his works already recorded he has now passed beyond the stage of milk.
But he does not demand this living bread from heaven for himself alone, he encourages all mankind to hope for it by saying: Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for evermore. He sets no temporal limit to our hope, he bids our faithful expectation stretch out into infinity. We are to hope for ever and ever, winning the hope of future life through the hope of our present life which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen. — On Psalm 131/130.
Let us see what comes next: If I was not humble-minded but have lifted up my soul. What inconsistency on the Prophet’s part! He does not lift up his heart: he does lift up his soul. He does not walk amid things great and wonderful that are above him; yet his thoughts are not mean. He is exalted in mind and cast down in heart. He is humble in his own affairs: but he is not humble in his thought. For his thought reaches to heaven, his soul is lifted up on high. But his heart, out of which proceed, according to the Gospel, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings, is humble, pressed down beneath the gentle yoke of meekness. We must strike a middle course, then, between humility and exaltation, so that we may be humble in heart but lifted up in soul and thought. — On Psalm 131/130.
An illustration will make our teaching on this subject clearer. Imagine a stream flowing from a spring and dividing itself off into a number of accidental channels. As long as it proceeds so, it will be useless for any purpose of agriculture, the dissipation of its waters making each particular current small and feeble, and therefore slow. But if one were to mass these wandering and widely dispersed rivulets again into one single channel, he would have a full and collected stream for the supplies which life demands.Just so the human mind (so it seems to me), as long as its current spreads itself in all directions over the pleasures of the sense, has no power that is worth the naming of making its way towards the Real Good; but once call it back and collect it upon itself, so that it may begin to move without scattering and wandering towards the activity which is congenital and natural to it, it will find no obstacle in mounting to higher things, and in grasping realities. We often see water contained in a pipe bursting upwards through this constraining force, which will not let it leak; and this, in spite of its natural gravitation: in the same way, the mind of man, enclosed in the compact channel of an habitual continence, and not having any side issues, will be raised by virtue of its natural powers of motion to an exalted love. In fact, its Maker ordained that it should always move, and to stop is impossible to it; when therefore it is prevented employing this power upon trifles, it cannot be but that it will speed toward the truth, all improper exits being closed. In the case of many turnings we see travelers can keep to the direct route, when they have learned that the other roads are wrong, and so avoid them; the more they keep out of these wrong directions, the more they will preserve the straight course; in like manner the mind in turning from vanities will recognize the truth. The great prophets, then, whom we have mentioned seem to teach this lesson, viz. to entangle ourselves with none of the objects of this world’s effort — Chapter 7.