Category: Acts

CHRYSOSTOM:

The Sadducees know of nothing incorporeal, perhaps not even God, so thick-headed are they. Consequently, they are also unwilling to believe that there is a resurrection.

Why didn’t [Jesus] appear to him before he fell into danger? Because, as always, it is in afflictions that God consoles. For then he appears more desirable, as he trains us even in the midst of dangers.

HILARY OF POITIERS:

[This passage] shows that since human beings cannot, so to speak, be fused back into God or themselves coalesce into one undistinguished mass, this oneness must arise from unity of will, as all perform actions pleasing to God and unite with one another in the harmonious agreement of their thoughts. Therefore, it is not nature that makes them one but will. read more

Christian faith is not just a set of opinions or doctrines that we have come to espouse because they were originally taught – or at least implied – by Jesus Himself.  Faith is a new power of the soul that we receive at Baptism.  Having faith is one thing – using our faith is another thing altogether.  We use our faith the same way we use our mind to think or use our heart to love.  Putting faith in Christ unites us with Him – it unites us with the Truth.  That unity sanctifies us as it inspires our heart to prayer and works of Charity.  The Word of God – the Word of the Father – is Truth, and it is the second person of the Trinity: Jesus.  When we use our faith on the Word and in the Word we are released from the slavery of this world and the enemy of our souls.  When we band together as a community of believers with our sights set on Christ beyond this present life, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to liberate the world from evil. read more

Paradoxically, the most sublime teaching on the reality of God – that He is the source and spirating substance of Love – provokes many who hear it to hatred.  Jesus is hated because His Word powerfully breaks down the worldly and all too human facades that encumber the mystery of God.  This is the world which John counts as the enemy of Jesus and of all who keep His words.  When Jesus’ Word breaks through our minds for the first time we grasp in a flash what is to be gained by laying hold of Him.  That is the gift of faith.  As we hold onto His Word we discover the presence of Its enemy: the world. read more