Monday, April 21, 2014

Christ is Risen! A brief commentary on St. Augustine's Sermon 228b

Jan Van Eyck's The Adoration of the Lamb of God
Today I would like to offer a commentary on one of St. Augustine’s sermons purported to have been given during the Resurrection of the Lord perhaps prior to 411 AD. This would have placed the sermon between the first 16 years of his episcopate, and we place this cutoff point because it was at the Council of Carthage in 411 AD that St. Marcellinus (a Roman official) and the Catholic bishops exiled the Donatists from northern Africa and seized their properties, which eliminated much of St. Augustine’s need to address questions of the unity of the Church and Donatism. It is disputed by some scholars that this sermon is a true sermon of St. Augustine, but some (like Edmund Hill OP, whose work I’ve used before) believe it to be a true sermon and so I will proceed anyway in presenting it.

Monday, April 7, 2014

The Self-Effacement of Love, the Impotency of Despair, and Man's Destiny in Eternity

Rose-window of Notre Dame in Paris
This is an ambitious post in that I want to lay the groundwork for some very theoretical and abstract ideas of mine on the meaning of love, the role of despair, and how this reflects the mystery of God. I aim to investigate the image of God from how I have come to understand human love, and hopefully reach upwards to reflect on God’s love for mankind. You must forgive me first for the shallowness of my own soul and the inability with which I am able to comprehend these topics. This post is not so much a form of philosophical proof as an exposition and exploration of opinion, and perhaps in a certain sense persuasion.

God grant me faith. God grant me grace. God grant me hope. God, lay the foundation of my heart in love.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Judgment, Fraternal Correction, and Modern Lexicon

Icon of St. Paul preaching to the philosophers of Athens
I am coming back to write here at Cor-Inquietum (I know, the misspelling on the URL, it hurts, I know, I know - ) as part of a Lenten resolve to reflect more deeply on the Catholic faith, and life in the light of the Lord, or rather the light of the Lord on life. In this post I would like to briefly consider the modern lexical shift in the philosophy of judgment, from one human being on to another, and then from God’s relationship as Judge to the human soul. I will try and construct my brief meditations from the readings of the Mass for Sunday March 2nd. These were Isaiah 49:14-15; Psalm 62: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6: 24-34. It is with humility that we must approach the throne of the Lord, though we do so with the renewed confidence that we can boldly approach the Throne of Grace through the mediation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of all Creation. Humility because we cannot be presumptuous of God’s mercy as if it were all from our merit, and confidence because it is on account of Christ’s merit and God’s condescending love that we know we are loved unconditionally.