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100423 faithposting
Oct. 4th, 2023 06:00 pmLapide commentary on John 12 continues with verse 6.
"Poverty is only an instrument of perfection, as taking away anxiety in acquiring and preserving riches, the love of them, and our priding ourselves in them."
I've never seen the virtue of poverty defined before, and that definition is essential, because it's NOT an automatic aspect of "being poor." Poverty is a faithful state of heart, as in the Beatitudes.
...
"...the Franciscan Order... had for its scope and end the extremest poverty, in order to be conformed to Saint Francis. But other orders have other pious and holy ends, for which it is more convenient to have goods in common. (The Council of Trent allows all “Religious,” except the Franciscans, to own Real Property.) And therefore this is more fitting and perfect in their case. Carthusians observe silence and solitude. Others practise great austerity. But those who are employed in preaching and missions to unbelievers, need great strength to endure the great labours of their order, and make up for austerity of living by charity towards their neighbours. Both act in a manner suited to their order, and the end they propose to themselves. Different ends require different means."
...
All that stuff is very confusing to me. Please don't get hung up on it.
Nevertheless, I'm constantly tormented by the call to poverty & discerning HOW to live it, as GOD wants me to, for my state in life.
My instinct is to go full Franciscan, but... realizing that other Orders DON'T go that far and are STILL pious & reverent & pleasing to God... it confuses me so much. Which is "right"? I think in such moral absolutes. Either property is evil & must be destroyed, or it's not and then what do I do?
Use it as Christ did. Don't "own" it. YOU LITERALLY JUST READ THE DEFINITION OF POVERTY; have you forgotten so fast????
"Lightly, child, lightly..."
...
That's it on this topic for now, it's hurting my head.
"...the raising of Lazarus was especially the work of God, and they therefore who were so eager to put Lazarus to death, were fighting against God, and challenging Him, as it were, to the contest."
THIS is the position of ALL those who seek to pull Christians away from the faith-- or even to prevent poor repentant sinners from converting.
If God has saved a man from death through faith, then anyone who tries to undermine or deconstruct that faith is FIGHTING GOD. And oh they would take pride in that, I've seen it-- acting like they're some brooding dark hero, and not a fatally stupid fool.
...
"as a grain of wheat thrown into the ground does not germinate except it die, but if it die it germinates and brings forth much fruit."
⭐I JUST NOW UNDERSTOOD THIS.
I always got confused, "but it doesn't die? Otherwise it couldn't keep growing? A dead seed would just rot!" But THAT'S THE ACTUAL POINT!!!! His death ISN'T A LOSS OF "LIFE"!!! The grain of wheat DIES TO SELF. It dies to its identity AS a grain! It gives itself up to BREAK OPEN its very heart... BUT IT STAYS "ALIVE"!!! And it is only THROUGH that vulnerable opening-up IN FAITH that LIFE IS RELEASED and SPROUTS into something so much MORE ALIVE than a grain-- not brown but green, not hard but soft, not rigid but flexible, not barren but FRUITFUL. It grows and multiplies and PRODUCES life, its function focused on SERVICE, on providing for others!
HOWEVER. If that grain WON'T "die to life AS a grain," and resists the transformative change, resists the breaking open... it remains but a single grain, never allowing the germ inside it to sprout, and so it ROTS. It ACTUALLY DIES, because it REJECTED REBIRTH!!!!
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF "DEATH." THE FIRST, PHYSICAL DEATH, IS NO HARM TO A CHRISTIAN, BUT INSTEAD BECOMES A DOOR TO DEEPER LIFE-- AND THEREFORE SUFFERS NO SECOND DEATH OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE SOUL-ROTTING FATE OF ALL WHO REFUSE TO "DIE" WITH CHRIST-- THE SOURCE OF LIFE, THE VERY GERM OF GRACE WITHIN EVERY GRAIN.
You get the idea, I hope. It just hit me like a truck. THANKS HOLY SPIRIT!!
"He that so preferreth his life to my Faith and its profession, as rather to deny the Faith than lose his life, shall incur eternal death. But he who hateth his life, so as to prefer losing it to losing the Faith, will live in eternal happiness in heaven. Again, the same is true of those who prefer their own evil desires to my Law: and of those who hate their life by resisting its desires which are contrary to God’s Law, and thus keep it unto life eternal..."
THAT'S the proper contrast!!
God IS Life; our lives are His GIFT; He wouldn't want us to "hate life" if it is OF HIMSELF! It's when we value our derived & temporary life over Eternal Life Himself that we instead, inevitably, end up losing what little life we have-- cut off from the Source, even a great river will dry up fast.
...
"But the [heretical] Circumcelliones misinterpreted this passage... they used to kill themselves in order to obtain the eternal life here promised by Christ. used to kill themselves in order to obtain the eternal life here promised by Christ. But it is one thing to hate one’s life, and another to make away with it, an act forbidden by every law."
NOTABLY, those heretics TRIED TO PROVOKE OTHERS INTO KILLING THEM-- by attacking armed travelers while praising God. That is MORALLY APPALLING.
But that sect "regarded martyrdom as the true Christian virtue, and thus [rejected] the primacy of chastity, sobriety, humility, and charity. Instead, they focused on bringing about their own martyrdom." Augustine likened them to a "mob." But yeah, the devil's hand is EVIDENT in that mindset-- glorifying death at the expense of charity. They did not love God, if they could so freely antagonize others, with the express aim of inciting murder!! They weren't martyrs at ALL.
...I used to think like that, though, with the glorification of death over life, under the pretense of piety.
"Behold the fruit and the reward: He is loved freely, and the reward of His ministration is to be with Him, to be adopted by Him to whom he is united, in heaven, i.e. in the vision and possession of God, in happiness and joy eternal."
The reward IS THE FRUIT!!! That is vital to understand! It is the COMPLETION & PERFECTION OF WHAT HAS ALREADY BEGUN ON EARTH. You must already BE living in unity with Christ, as much as possible in this life, in order to be FULLY united to Him in heaven???
In other words, WE'RE NOT "WAITING" FOR SOMETHING TO "BEGIN." IT'S NOW.
I'm going to quote this from Augustine again too because it applies directly to today=
"...Christ, by taking on Him our infirmities, shows that He might heal and strengthen us. "Thou tellest my soul to follow Thee. But I see that Thy soul is troubled! What foundation shall I seek, if the Rock gives way? But [rather,] I recognise Thy compassion therein: For by being thus troubled by Thy voluntary act of love, Thou comfortest the weak, lest they should perish through despair." Our Head took on Himself the feelings of His members... As He has raised us up to things which are highest, so does He feel sympathy for us in those which are lowest... Christ says in effect, “Thou hast heard My mighty voice addressed to thee. Thou hast heard in Me the voice of thine own weakness: I give thee strength that thou mayest run; I check not thy speed, but I take upon Myself thy fear, and make a way for thee to pass over.”
...I still can't quite grasp this. Let me break it down.
Christ CHOSE to be distressed by the fear of death. He chose this from love and compassion for us. He has made us the members of His Body, and so He willingly suffers with us, just as intimately.
BUT HOW does this comfort the weak? HOW does this deliver from despair?
...You realize, it is your PRIDE that prevents you from understanding.
You want to be strong, and despise your feminine frailty, so you cannot comprehend how sharing in your weakness is a comfort-- it feels more like an insult, to your arrogance. THAT is why you feel despair: your hope ISN'T IN GOD. Your vanity, doomed to failure, is likewise doomed to disappoint your hopes. Strength and "manliness" have become idols. You MUST confess this.
Christ offers divine comfort & hope, by offering true LIFE in union with Himself. Alone you will perish. But to be one with Him, you must accept the factor that connects you TO Himself... your humanity.
You must let yourself FEEL. You must admit your inherent weakness. You must recognize your NEED FOR A SAVIOR, even in this respect, because truly He IS RECONCILING ALL THINGS IN HIMSELF.
... (IN LOVE!!!)
...(FOLLOW HIM = THE BASIS FOR ALL THIS!!!!!)
...(he feels sympathy for us at our absolute lowest)
...(HE ALONE exalts us to His heights THROUGH HIS LOWLINESS)
...(in His voice I hear my weakness yet without sin)
...(he gives me strength) (checks not speed?????)
...(he takes my fear upon himself! Thus he gives me a way through it-- to "PASS OVER" IT)
...
"Shall I shrink from death? By no means! For I came into the world for the very purpose of drinking this cup of the Passion...Though I naturally dread death, yet I do not wish this natural desire of Mine to be fulfilled... [as man I seek deliverance, but as God I refuse not to suffer]; I will master my agony, I will go willingly to meet my death."
Christ's free will was more powerful than His natural desires, and ABLE to overcome them by choice, without unnaturally turning them off. That is a huge encouragement for us, that in Him that is absolutely possible for us too.
"That in My death, which I willingly undertake, I may glorify thy Name, by the entire obedience and devotion with which I will offer myself as a Victim for the sins of the whole world..."
His death glorified God because it was chosen with devotion, not just done in obedience. That's so important. He didn't die "because He had to," or "just because He was told." No, He was devoted to His Father and His Father's Will, and THAT is what led Him to the Cross, with the very "cords of love" that the same Cross then reached out to inspire all humanity to similar devotion.
"Jesus, even as man, not merely thundered Himself with His mouth and flashed forth from His heart, to move hard hearts to penitence and to warm cold hearts with love; but also that He caused the Apostles and His followers to thunder and lighten."
Oh I love this visual. His Voice is like thunder, yes, but what is thunder? It is the sound OF a lightning bolt. And what is the lightning? His Heart. That is AMAZING.
Just as amazing is the fact that He apparently GIVES HIS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS THIS ABILITY?? Only by grace, of course, but still.
Lastly and most importantly: what IS it that "flashes forth" from His Heart-- and which He puts within ours to flash out likewise? Love and Mercy.
...
"All things = the Vulgate “omnia” is more expressive, signifying all the choicest things of the world, all the spoils of the devil."
Dude how easily we forget this!! The devil STOLE this world and MISAPPROPRIATED IT. Like an art thief, he pretended it was HIS work, but he couldn't produce anything like it in truth-- all he does is plagiarize. EVERYTHING "worldly" that we find beautiful has been PLUNDERED from God. Yes, God MADE things beautiful, but that beauty can ONLY EXIST WITH ITS CREATOR. The devil, stealing it away, doomed it to corrosion & decay. All the false beauty he tries to invent is sprayed-on, utterly superficial, and hiding rot. But the CORE of things STILL BELONGS TO GOD, and THAT is what Christ calls back to unity with Himself?? His death redeems EVERYTHING, after all, progressing until the Second Coming and the New Earth.
"Saint Bernard applies Christ’s words to himself, and all “Religious.” For they, by contempt of earthly and love of heavenly things, are lifted up from the earth, and therefore draw all things to them. For all things, whether adverse or prosperous, work together for their good: and they themselves possess a source of wealth by trampling it, as it were, under foot. “For to a faithful man the whole world is full of riches.”
The faithful man has Christ, and through Him alone, has all things.
By disdaining earthly riches, and embracing poverty, they are freed from anxiety and all things become beautiful, as they feel no need to "own" them-- they belong to God, and that is enough.
"They understood Him to mean the very thing which they were contemplating. It was not inspired wisdom, but the sting of their conscience which disclosed to them the meaning of these obscure words.”
Oh this happens to me all the time, but thanks be to GOD for it, because it means my conscience is WORKING, and that only BY the Spirit's convictions!!!
I think Jesus meant that to happen, too. He hid the meaning partly FOR that reason, that the subtle suggestion might ping their troubled consciences, when an outright statement would be rejected by the proud persona. He bypassed the mind and got to the heart, however hardened it was, whether they realized it or not.
