Category: Mark

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Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

AMBROSE:

The law says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God.” It did not say “speak” but “hear.” Eve fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord her God. The first word from God says to you, “hear.”

GREGORY OF NYSSA:

If one does not love God with all his heart and with all his soul, how can he care wholesomely and guilelessly for the love of his brothers, since he is not fulfilling the love of the One on whose account he has a care for the love of his brothers? The person in this condition, who has not given his whole soul to God and has not participated in his love, the craftsman of evil finds disarmed and easily overpowers. read more

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Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

AMBROSE:

God at times opens the heart through trials. Then the heart becomes so vast that, like the sands of the sea, it cannot be measured. Listen to holy Solomon, who speaks to us of this openness: “Therefore I prayed, and in me prudence was increased. I implored, and the Spirit of wisdom came to me.” So as to receive wisdom from God, he did not ask for riches or noble descendants or power, but he asked for wisdom. And he obtained everything that he did not ask for. For this reason Scripture says that the vastness of his heart was so great that, like the sand of the sea, it could not be measured. So that you would understand this greatness, he consciously says of himself, “Write it in the vastness of your heart.” Therefore, one who has wisdom should not keep it hidden, not even for an instant, but should celebrate it in public. He should proclaim everywhere, with authority, what prudence inspires in him. read more

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Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The ability Adam has to name the animals in the world around him is symbolic of his ability to name and understand the different movements of the life within him.  Man’s inner animals – his passions, emotions, feelings, sensations, etc. – must be named and understood in order for him to gain dominion over them.  St. Augustine says that although it is easy for a man to realize that he is better equipped than the other animals because of his reason, it is hard for him to distinguish clearly between his reason and his inner animals. read more