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The Power of the Spirit: A Spiritual Concert

FRESHImage is happy to present,

The Power of the Spirit

a spiritual concert.

An evening of edifying poetry, prayer, and uplifting Music! Performance of Baroque music by Elysium Ensemble will alternating with moments of meditation on spiritual writings from diverse thinkers from within the Christian Tradition.

Featuring

Baroque compositions by:

Biagio Marini, Isabella Leonarda, Franz Bieber, & George Frideric Handel

together with

Works of prayer and poetry by:

St. Paul, St. Ephrem the Syrian, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John Henry Newman, Jan Kochanowski, John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, & Robert Frost.

Elysium Ensemble is comprised of musicians from the St. Louis area. Members include:

Hannah Frey -Violin 1

Manuela Topalbegovic-Violin 2

Ken Kulosa-Cello 

Dr. Andrzej Zahorski-Organ & Artistic Director

Readers:

Patricia Hofmeister

Bailey Kelly

Dr. Tristan Frampton

Daniel Garvey

Fr. Aidan McDermott, OSB

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Andrzej Zahorski

Andrzej Zahorski has been the director of music of St. Anselm Parish in St. Louis, MO for many years. He studied music at the F. Chopin National Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, majoring in organ performance. He continued to study organ in Grenoble and Bordeaux, France. Andrzej has been featured as a soloist at several international festivals and organ music concert series in Poland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and the United States, and was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor of the City of Bordeaux.

After immigrating to the USA he undertook additional studies in music theory and history at Stanford University where he obtained his doctoral degree. After his graduate studies he taught music theory and organ at the University of California at Santa Cruz and worked as a musician in several churches in the San Francisco Bay Area. In particular, he was a musical coach of a Bay Area Gregorian Chant group Exaudi nos. While in the Bay Area, Andrzej participated in a Gregorian Chant study program under a nationally-acclaimed chant specialist, Scott Turkington.

Andrzej Zahorski created Vox Fidentium ensemble under a patronage of St. Anselm Parish as a response to a call for the preservation of sacred music. Its first concert took place in May 2022. The group also provides special music for some solemn liturgies celebrated at the Abbey Church.

Andrzej’s latest contributions can be found here.

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Brillando con el Resplandor de un Rey

La Epifanía del Señor

La Paz Sea con Ustedes,

A lo largo de la Temporada de la Navidad, la Iglesia ha tratado de ensenarnos lo que significa para nosotros que el Hijo de Dios se ha convertido en el Hijo del Hombre.  Y hasta este punto, hemos sido correctamente situados dentro de un contexto Judío, un punto digno de consideracion.  La Iglesia siempre ha entendido que Jesús es el Mesías que fue prometido por mucho tiempo, de la gente que Dios ha escogido llamar los suyos, los judíos.  Fue de este pueblo que el Hijo de Dios se encarnó, parte de la línea ancestral del gran Rey David, y Jesús vivió su vida como un fiel hijo judío.  De hecho es dentro de la misma persona de Jesús que la historia de la familia humana, y más específicamente la familia judía, encontró su perfección.  Porque como verdadero Dios y verdadero Hombre, dentro de la misma persona de Jesús, fiel Israel se encuentra con su fiel Dios.  Por lo tanto, como cristianos, si queremos entender nuestra identidad, debemos reconocer que nuestra historia está íntimamente conectada con la historia del pueblo judío, de tal manera que podemos decir que la única manera de entender quiénes somos, es entendiendo quienes son los judíos, y  más específicamente porque fue que Dios había escogido a establecer una relación tan íntima con este pueblo.

La celebración de la Epifanía es de muchas maneras, una celebración del cumplimiento de la persona de Dios a la nación de Israel.  “Epifanía” literalmente significa manifestación, en este caso, lo que se refiere a la manifestación de los gentiles (i.e. a cualquier gente que no es judía).  In embargo, esta manifestación no es una simple demostración o una declaración de existencia, en vez, lo que se esta manifestando es la realidad de que come Mesías judío, Jesús no solo ha venido para traer la salvación a la gente judía, como había sido la anticipación de muchos en Israel, sino que para traer la salvación a toda la familia humana, judío y gentil igualmente.  El hecho de que esta manifestación toma lugar entre la familia judia ata la relacion de Dios con el pueblo judío con el resto de la familia humana, y esto es de acuerdo con una de las promesas aseguradas a Abraham como parte de su pacto con Dios, i.e. que en la familia de Abraham “Todos los pueblos de la tierra serán bendecidos” (Génesis 22:18, cf. Génesis 12:1-3).  La Encarnación es el cumplimiento de tal promesa, porque el que nació de la joven judía, María, es el que reunirá a toda la familia humana a su Creador, trayéndoles el potencial de vivir la vida al máximo, i.e. la vida en comunión con Dios.  Así que, mientras muchos han y persisten en entender el establecimiento de la comunidad Cristiana como usurpando o reemplazando el pacto de Dios con el pueblo judío, nuestra celebración de hoy nos demuestra que somos nosotros quienes en realidad estamos siendo atraídos por el drama de la familia judía que había existido entre ellos y Dios por siglos.

Que todas las naciones algún día serian incorporadas al mismo tipo de relacion que Israel disfruto de una manera única fue predicho por los profetas mucho más antes de la aparición de los Reyes Magos en Belén.  Este es un tema que encuentra gran prominencia en la última parte del libro de Isaías, como vemos en nuestra primera lectura para hoy.  Ahí encontramos que el profeta predice que la ‘gloria de Dios amanecerá en Israel’ de tal manera que las naciones no solo tomarían nota de esta espléndida luz, sino que se les atraería a ella.  Así, dice el profeta “Levanta los ojos a tu alrededor y contempla: todos se reúnen y vienen a ti: tus hijos llegan de lejos y tus hijas son traídas en brazos” (Isaías 60:4).  Fíjense en el lenguaje aquí, no es como si algunos extranjeros llegaran a Jerusalén, en vez, lo que se representa es más parecido a una reunión familiar, y seguro que así es, porque el amanecer de la gloria de Dios es la Encarnación de su Hijo, que viene a curar la rotura de la familia humana, uniéndolos a todos, unos a otros, reuniéndolos con su Creador.  Se nos dice que esta unidad entre la creación y el Creador se caracterizara por la adoración, una representación a la cual se le da una enunciación más clara al final de Isaías donde el profeta predice que un día “todo hombre vendrá a postrarse ante mí, dice Yave” (Isaías 60:23).  Así, podemos ver que cuando la salvación de Dios llegue a la gente judía, tendrá una cualidad espectacular que atraerá a todas las familias de la tierra en medio de ellos para reunirse en la adoración del único, verdadero Dios.  Por otra parte, es importante señalar que mientras esta salvación tendrá una dimensión espectacular, los que se exponen a ella no se limitaran a ser espectadores, sino que se transformaran en participantes de lo que ven.  Es por esta razón que Isaías escribe que las naciones ‘se dirigen hacia tu luz,’ y que ellos “al verlo, te pondrás radiante” (Isaías 60:3 y 5).

Podemos ver la llegada de los Magos a adorar el pesebre del Infante Jesús como el cumplimiento de esta profecía.  No se nos dice mucho de estos misteriosos hombres en el texto de Mateo; simplemente que llegaron desde el oriente buscando el recién nacido rey de los judíos.  Sin embargo, aunque se nos dice relativamente poco de quien son estos hombres, sus acciones tienen mucho que decirnos.  Para empezar, lo primero que se nos dice de los Magos cuando llegan a Jerusalen ayuda a reforzar la afirmación anterior de que en la Epifanía celebramos nuestra incorporación, sin ser judios, al drama de Israel.  Vemos esto en el hecho que, aunque los Magos obviamente vieron y decidieron a seguir a esta estrella sobre la base de lo que ellos determinaron que significaba, al llegar al final de su viaje, estos hombres le preguntaron a la gente judía (representada primero por el Rey judío Herodes, quien sucesivamente le pregunto a los sumos sacerdotes y a los que ensenaban la Ley al pueblo) donde era que su rey aparecería (Mateo 2:1-4).

En segundo lugar, los regalos de los Magos nos dicen mucho acerca de quien verdaderamente es este recién nacido Rey de los judíos.  A través del mensaje del ángel Gabriel a María, ya se nos ha dicho que este niño recién nacido “será grande y justamente será llamado Hijo del Altísimo.  El Señor Dios le dará el trono de su antepasado David; gobernara por siempre al pueblo de Jacob y su reinado no terminara jamás,” (Lucas 1:32-33) así, situándonos dentro de la historia de Israel como se mencionó anteriormente.  Si unimos este mensaje del ángel Gabriel con el mensaje recibido por José a través de un ángel, encontramos que este reino será eterno porque este niño encarna y trae la presencia de Dios dentro de su misma persona.  Como el ángel le dice a José el hijo al que María dará a luz será llamado Emmanuel, que significa Dios está con nosotros (Mateo 1:23).  Pero ahora con la historia de los Magos y los regalos que traen, se nos dan más pistas sobre como este Hijo Altísimo establecerá su reinado y permanecerá con nosotros para siempre.

Se nos dice que los Reyes Magos vienen con regalos de oro, incienso y mirra.  Obviamente estos no son regalos ordinarios, y así, podemos preguntarnos en cuanto a su significado, un significado que oímos en la canción casi cada Navidad, pero quizás le ponemos poca atención.  En la canción “Nosotros los Tres Reyes” se nos da un breve sumario de los regalos y de su significado que es sucintamente resumido en el verso final de la canción donde se canta, “Glorioso ahora lo vemos ascender, Rey y Dios y Sacrificio.” Cada uno de los regalos corresponden a uno de estos títulos para él bebe recién nacido: oro para un Rey; incienso para un Dios; y mirra para uno que iba a morir como sacrificio.

Sin demasiados problemas, podremos hacer paralelos estos regalos con el triple oficio de Cristo, i.e. él es Sacerdote, que se ofrece a sí mismo como sacrificio; él es Profeta, que como la misma Palabra de Dios es a la vez Dios y le relata a la creación todo lo que Dios tiene que decir; y él es Rey, ahora reinando en medio de su pueblo a través de su misma presencia.  Es la Encarnación la que hace posibles estos oficios, dándole un cuerpo a través del cual puede relacionarse con la familia humana (profeta) y para ofrecer como sacrificio para que Dios pueda reunirse con su creación (sacerdote) de una manera intima, no haciendo demandas desde lejos, sino estableciendo y demostrando el orden del amor en medio de su pueblo y de una manera que puedan relacionarse fácilmente (rey).  Además, debido a acción amorosa de este rey, no solo damos testimonio de su gran obra, sino que a través de su persona se incorporan a esta dinámica de amor entre la familia humana y su creador.  Desde nuestro punto de vista, esta dinámica, como se ha dicho. Adquiere la calidad de adoración, tal como fue predicho por Isaías y demostrado por los Magos que “se arrodillaron y le adoraron” (Mateo 2:11).

Amigos míos, el mensaje que Dios nos relata a travez del profeta Isaías y de los Reyes Magos este fin de semana es ultimadamente esto: que nuestro Dios desea que lo reconozcamos como Creador-Rey no de algún modo egoísta que en vano busca la alabanza, sino ms bien porque sabe que solo en relacion adecuada con él, podremos experimentar la existencia gloriosa para la que fuimos creados, i.e. para compartir en la gloria de su misma vida.  Por esta razón el profeta dice que ‘veremos y nos pondremos radiantes’ (Isaías 60:5), porque una vez que estemos adecuadamente dirigidos y unidos a nuestro Dios nos volvemos plenamente vivos y brillantes como la gloria de su presencia.  El Obispo Fulton Sheen señalo el hecho de que los Magos se fueron por una ruta diferente (Mateo 2:12) indicando que uno no puede encontrarse con Cristo y regresar sin haber sido cambiado.  Hoy, celebramos esta realidad, sabiendo que ¡el Dios que se ha hecho uno con nosotros ha venido para que podamos ser transformados habiendo sido sacados de la oscuridad de la muerte a la gloriosa luz de la vida!

Su sirviente en Cristo

Tony

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The Game Plan

Fourth Sunday of Advent-Cycle A

My Dear Friends in Christ,

We have come to the final Sunday of Advent, and thus the beginning of the final week of preparation for the coming of the Savior at Christmas. We have entered the drama of these four weeks and like all good dramas, it has had its moments of mystery, difficulty and joy. We began this Advent Season with a lesson on awareness, being told that we must be on watch so that we might be ready to respond to the invitation to take part in what C. S. Lewis called a great campaign of sabotage devised by our God in order to rescue the world from the powers of darkness and death (Mere Christianity, Harper Collins, 46). On the Second Sunday of Advent, we were told of our need to repent in order that we might be able to follow the plan of the One Who desires to save the world. Having been made aware of this need we were then fitted for our role in this great campaign by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which enable us to participate more fully in the life of the One Who Is Virtue Itself, Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:24). Last Sunday, we were exhorted to remain steadfast in our preparation to take part in this great plan, for though the preparations we make are difficult, the joy we shall experience in its fulfillment will far outweigh the difficulties we face now, making of the struggles themselves happy reminders of the energy we put into pulling this off! This weekend, as we prepare to welcome our leader a week from now, we gather together for one last team meeting, as it were, so that we might have our faith deepened by knowing that our roles have been well thought out beforehand, and we need only execute them.

Some of the most memorable moments of sports history are the locker-room pep-talks given by coaches to players to prepare them for a big game. Think here of Knute Rockne’s “Go Go Go” speech, or of Herb Brooks’ speech to the 1980 US hockey team (dramatically portrayed by Kurt Russell in the 2004 film “Miracle”). Both men were known to be something like great showmen, or statesmen, able to paint a picture for their players that detailed how their preparation had gotten them to this moment in time and it was up to them to seize the deciding moment before them. Kurt Russell begins his portrayal of Herb Brooks’ speech by saying, “Great moments are born from great opportunity and that’s what you have here tonight boys; that’s what you’ve earned here tonight.” These words echo Rockne’s, who, near the beginning of the “Go Go Go” tells his players, “These are the fellows they say are pretty good; but I think we’re better! And I think if we get ourselves keyed up to a point, and when we’re confident of that … why-y-y the results will take care of themselves.” Both men go on to tell their players that their preparation will enable them to reach victory, and that if they but play their respective roles, they will be successful. Rockne reminds his men that “the success of any team men is based on team-play — the same as you’ve shown all year –: Sacrifice; unselfish sacrifice!” For his part, Brooks reassures his team, “Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world.” He quickly proceeds to rhetorically prove this to them by telling them, “you were born to be hockey players, every one of you, and you were meant to be here tonight! This is your time. Their time is done…this is your time!” Rockne speaks in a very similar way when he tells his players, “today is the day we’re gonna win. They can’t lick us — and that’s how it goes… The first platoon men — go in there and fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! What do you say, men!” You see, these leaders knew that if they were going to lead their teams to victory, the players must be reminded that they had been prepared for this moment, because only this faith would instill in them the confidence to play up to their capabilities, and seize victory.

We might look at the readings we are given today as God doing something similar through the voices of his messengers. For example, our first reading from the book of Isaiah takes place during a crisis period in the history of the people of Israel. The kingdom had been split in two after the reign of Solomon. The Northern Kingdom becoming known as Israel and the Southern Kingdom as Judah. Divided, the two nations now jockeyed for position on the international stage separately as Assyria threatened to take over the entire region. In order to defend themselves from Assyrian invasion, Israel formed a coalition with Aram, a coalition which Judah refused to become part of. Because of their refusal, Israel and Aram had turned their sights on Judah, planning to invade and set up a puppet king who would join the coalition. This is the context of the conversation we see taking place between King Ahaz and Isaiah today. 

Isaiah comes to Ahaz to remind him that God intends to protect his plan for a son of David to reign in Jerusalem. However, Ahaz is placing his hope on his fidelity to Assyria and not God to protect Israel. For this reason, when Isaiah asks him to name a sign that God will give to reassure him, Ahaz responds that he will not tempt the Lord (Isaiah 7:12). Ahaz is not being pious, he is being faithless and for this reason Isaiah responds, “Listen house of David! Is it not enough that you weary human beings? Must you also weary my God?” (Isaiah 7:13). Isaiah goes on to give Ahaz a sign that will be proof of God’s presence and faithfulness anyhow, saying “the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Biblical scholars note that the text here proclaiming a virgin conception and birth has been altered by the Greek translators in order to correspond more directly with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, and that the original Hebrew reads “young woman,” thus possibly indicating Isaiah’s wife. However, the Church has always read the text as foretelling the conception and birth of Christ in the Virgin Mary.

The prophecy therefore takes on a double-dimension of sorts. In the first place, it is important to read the text in its historical context. Thus, in all likelihood, Isaiah had the birth of his own child in mind. However, this does not negate further exegesis of the text through the use of what are known as spiritual senses. Thus, while the prophet had one thing in mind, the Holy Spirit, Who Is the Divine Author of the text, knows that both the words and the actual historical event of Isaiah’s wife contain a deeper spiritual significance as well. This becomes clear if we read the text figurally in the light of Christ. When we do, we find that just as the childbearing of Isaiah’s wife was a sign of God’s salvific plans for Judah, that plan is definitively fulfilled in the virgin birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, from the Virgin Mary some 700 years later.

This reading is confirmed by the words of the Angel Gabriel to Joseph in our Gospel for today from Matthew. As the text tells us, upon hearing the Mary was with child, Joseph was concerned about what it is that he should do (Matthew 1:18-19). Of course, Joseph knew the child was not his. However, we are told that because Joseph was a righteous man, a just man, he did not wish to expose Mary to public humiliation, and thus, decided to divorce her quietly (Matthew 1:19). We see the virtues of prudence and justice wonderfully exemplified by Joseph here. In contrast to King Ahaz, who made decisions based on his trust in the Assyrians, Joseph keeps his eye steadily on his relationship with God. Consequently, he prudently discerns what course of action conforms to Christian justice, which can be briefly summarized by the twofold command to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Having every right by the worldly standards of the day to humiliate Mary, and worse, by exposing what he at the time assumed was a gross act of infidelity, Joseph chooses the path of Divine Love. In Joseph’s plan to dismiss Mary quietly (Matthew 1:19), we see something of Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery foreshadowed. One day Jesus would challenge the woman’s accusers by asking the one who was without sin to cast the first stone (John 8:7). Similarly, the just man Joseph, by the grace of God knows he is not without sin either, for even the just man sins seven times (Proverbs 24:16). Accordingly, he casts not even a verbal stone at Mary. Instead, as his adopted Son does for the woman caught in adultery, through his actions Joseph says to Mary, I do not condemn you, but “go your way, and from now on do not sin again” (John 8:11).

What a difference from what we might expect from men or women today! Wronged by their spouse (and Joseph had not reason to believe that anything less had happened), many today are happy to drag the other’s name through the mud, believing that somehow defaming them upholds their dignity. However, as a righteous and just man, Joseph strove to play his part in the order with which God created all things. And, because he thought with the mind of God (Philippians 2:5), he realized that setting himself over and against Mary by her gained nothing for anyone. Moreover, it is precisely because Joseph is already seeking to do God’s will in this situation that he is ready and willing to hear God’s message spoken to him through an angel. And thus, when he hears that God had designed this plan in which he asked Joseph to play a part in, he quickly discerns his role by obediently responding to the message of the angel. “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, he took [Mary] as his wife…” (Matthew 1:24).

The idea that God has a plan for saving the world through the Incarnation, Passion, death and Resurrection of His Son played a central role in the theology of the Church Fathers. For several, this idea is expressed in terms of what they called “the economy of salvation.” The word “economy” here is taken from the Greek oikonomia, meaning household management. Thus, when thinkers like Irenaeus of Lyons, Cyril of Alexandria, or Maximus the Confessor speak of the economy of salvation, they have in mind God’s providential ordering of His work from creation to re-creation, or salvation. Accordingly, Irenaeus writes that though God lacked nothing, realizing that creation could not exist save in communion with him, “sketched out, like an architect, the plan of salvation…” (Against the Heresies, Bk 4.14.2). Moreover, these thinkers wanted to reassure their listeners that though God had executed the plan of salvation in the Son, they too had an irreplaceable role to play in order for God’s plan unfold within history. Cyril, likewise calling God an architect, writes that it is imperative to believe in the Incarnation of the Son if ‘we are to continue down the royal road’ (On the Unity of Christ), a road which the Son has paved for us and which only leads to one place, unity with Him.

My friends, this weekend God reminds us that he has a plan for the salvation of the world, a plan which continues to be carried out by Christ in our time and place through the Church, His Body. And just as all the members of a body must act as a team in order to carry out the plans made in the head, we too must play our role in order that all those around us might come to the only place that they might have the fullness of life, in loving unity with our Creator. God always brings salvation to His people in cooperation with human agents. The whole of salvation history testifies to this reality, think here of Noah, Moses, and David, who each in their own unique roles bring God’s plans to fulfillment by harmoniously cooperating with His will. The Season of Advent has presented us with even more examples. Just think, if John the Baptist, Joseph, or Mary had said no, God’s plan would not have been executed in the way it was, and the whole of salvation history would have been altered. That’s how much God entrusts to our efforts.

So, what do ya say folks! God has been preparing us to play our role in the economy of salvation over the last four weeks and the time to give ourselves totally to it is now, the time to seize the moment is now, the fullness of time is before us now! Next week we will commemorate the fullness of time in God’s economy of salvation, the time when our God became man, ‘taking all that was ours to be his very own so that we might have all that was his’ (St. Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ). Our God has a game plan, and make no mistake about it, He has a role for you in it. The world’s time is over, now is Christ’s time, your time, the time to give all you have to the Love that comes to meet you bringing with him the fullness of life, his very self, as your gift of victory!

Your servant in Christ,

Tony

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Blessed Thanksgiving from FRESHImage

The team at FRESHImage prays that you and your family have a very blessed and restful Thanksgiving!

In celebrating this day with family and friends, keep in mind that this holiday shares much in common with the sacrament which makes the Church, the Eucharist. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistia, which means giving thanks. Accordingly, for Christians, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to reflect on the eucharistic nature of our lives. 

As you sit around the table take a moment to notice God’s goodness that surrounds you in the food, and most especially in the faces of family and friends. All of it is reflective of God’s grace and a call to imitate the very life of God revealed in Christ.

The food before you, which is the fruit of the earth and work of human hands, reminds us of the eucharistic elements of bread and wine, which when consecrated and consumed, are meant to consume us, transforming us into the very Body of Christ. The faces around you, then, become the receivers of the gift we are to become one to another out of love. Just as Christ says, “This is my body, given for you,” we too are to live so as to echo Christ’s words of love, “This is my body, this is my life, given for all of you.”

Let this become the meaning of your Thanksgiving this year, and put it into practice through the use of the Church’s Thanksgiving table blessing.

The Thanksgiving Table Blessing can be found here.

And make some time to reflect on the meaning of this beautiful blessing our essay on Christifying Thanksgiving here.

Please share with others so that many might make this year’s celebration of Thanksgiving at once more focused on Christ, and Eucharistic!

And remember, Advent is just around the corner. Be sure to join us for a FRESH Advent, by visiting our Advent homepage and sign up for our email list so you don’t miss out on free resources to help you on your journey through this most august penitential season as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ here: https://freshimage.org/a-fresh-advent/

Your servants in Christ,
The FRESHImage Team

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The King of Hearts

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe-Cycle C

My Dear Friends in Christ,

Division is an illness that has plagued human society nearly from the beginning. One need not make it more than three chapters into Sacred Scripture to find evidence of this disease on full display. In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve disobey the simple command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God comes looking for the human couple and calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gn. 3:9). At first glance, the question may seem silly. Is God not omniscient and omnipresent? How could He possibly not know where Adam and Eve are? Of course, God knows all things, and is present in all places at all times, and therefore, He knows exactly where Adam and Eve are. He knows not only that they are hiding from Him as Adam confesses in the following verse (Gn. 3:10), and therefore knows their physical location, but much more importantly, God knows that after the Fall, their spiritual location has radically changed. Then why ask the question? God asks where Adam is for Adam. Here at the beginning of human history, God is asking a version of the same question that Andrew, the brother of Peter, will ask Jesus, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (John 1:38). Again, the question is not simply “where are you going,” or “where will you be spending the night?” Rather, it is more along the lines of “where do you abide,” or “what is at the center of your life and gives it meaning?” When God asks Adam this question, He already knows that He is no longer at the center of Adam’s life personally, or at the center of the life Adam shares with Eve. Something else, or someone else has displaced him. More on this in due course.

Adam does not really understand the question completely, thinking God is asking where he is physically. Such misunderstanding is a mistake which before his Fall, Adam, blessed with perfect science or knowledge, would have never made. Yet, when God asks the question, He knows that Adam’s response will in part reveal the answer to the deeper question God is asking Adam to Adam himself. God is, if you want, putting the Socratic method to work. Adam responds, “I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gn. 3:10). God then asks another question, “Who told you that you were naked?” And then immediately another, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Gn. 3:11). Notice that, far from a mere philosophical inquiry, by asking leading questions God is providing Adam with an opportunity. “Did you disobey me, Adam?” Adam never says yes, never expresses remorse, never apologizes. Far from it. Instead, responding in the affirmative, Adam, blames not himself, but rather points the finger indirectly at Eve and directly at God Himself. Adam says “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Gn. 3:12, my emphasis). In a prefiguration of Calvary, Adam plays the man who appears in today’s Gospel from Luke and is popularly known as the “bad thief” and traditionally known by the name Gestus.

Gestus is facing the same difficult situation as Adam was did in the garden of Eden. God had said to Adam that “in the day that you eat of [the tree of knowledge of good and evil] you shall die” (Gn. 2:17). Faced with the possibility of his own mortality, as we have seen Adam blames God, and so does the son of Adam hanging next to Christ on Calvary. Gestus says to Jesus, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Lk. 23:39). From mere shifting of blame, the human family has now fallen so far that now not only do we blame God for our own faults, for its own failures, but we deride and slander Him when He respects the integrity of human freedom. I cannot tell you how many times in discussing the topic of sin with my students that God ends up in the dock. ‘If God was truly loving He would not allow for sin to happen,’ comes the accusation. And when the response is given that without freedom no loving relationship could obtain between Creator and creature, students often question the good of free will, not seeing the beauty of even the possibility of living in authentically loving communion with God. Here, Gestus falls prey to the same trap, echoing Adam. ‘Undo what you have done by giving me free will, God!’

An abuse of freedom will always come with maltreatment of others, up to and including God Himself, for a perversion of freedom is a perversion of love. Where there is sin, therefore, there will always be division. This is why the first sinner goes by the name “devil,” a noun derived from the Greek diaballein meaning “to attack,” “to slander,” or, “to throw across.” This is what the diabolical spirit does, it throws us across one another, setting us at odds. Primarily, diabolical activity is opposed to God, attempting to divide the human family from its source of life and happiness. Yet, being estranged from God has a ripple effect that disrupts everything in its path, throwing every relationship we have upside down. This is what we see in Genesis 3. Sin imports division between God and the human family, between members of the human family (as Adam blames Eve), and between the human family and the rest of creation, seen in the fact that Eve blames the serpent and in the punishment Adam receives of difficulty in tilling the ground (see Gn. 3:13 & 17-19).

While this sorry state of affairs is nothing new, the rapidity and ease with which we condemn one another through social media is, and this is something to be lamented. A tool which could, serve as a means to bring us together in constructive dialogue is far too often used as a means for division. Today, it is a feat if we can make it through a few hours of our day without being witness or party to a public discourse which has as its aim nothing except tearing down our neighbor. Most deplorably this is readily found in countless so-called Catholic blogs and podcasts. Take a look around and you will quickly find many who slander the Pope, who is the symbol of our unity as a Church, and who deride those who worship God in a way that does not conform to their own. Most often the two are intertwined. Apparently, the incoherence of such positions does not dawn on these individuals. We pray for increased unity of the Church in communion with the Pope and our local Bishop at Mass!

Be pleased to grant [your holy catholic Church] peace, to guard, unite and govern her throughout the whole world, together with your servant Francis our Pope and N. our Bishop, and all those who, holding on to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith (Eucharistic Prayer 1 (The Roman Canon), St. Paul Daily Missal 847).

 Why? Because the Eucharist makes and unifies the Church into one Body which the descendants of the Apostles in communion with Peter have been entrusted to “guard, unite and govern” on God’s behalf. Do we really expect to be serving God by fostering division within the Body of His Son, the Church? Such activity is not the work of Christ, it is the work of the enemy and all who carry out the same activity and undermines the Church’s ability to be the Sacrament of Salvation in the world (See John 17:20-21, cf. Lumen Gentium, 1). What do we gain by this? What victory is there in discord? Why do we find it so difficult to listen to one another and to love one another?

The reason that we pursue this path leading to nowhere is that we have forgotten why we are here, we do not even ask ourselves the question anymore, much less where it is that we are going. Instead of taking the time to realize that by our nature we have one common goal, unity with God through, with and in Jesus Christ, we look to the self to see what is most agreeable at any given moment. We have become what St. Augustine famously called “self-pleasers.” He meant by this that we have become self-referential, self-obsessed, and therefore inclined to make every decision based on self-interest. This is the practical manifestation. But the practical stems from a metaphysical illness, an illness best described as seeing oneself as the center and source of one’s own life. In the City of God, Augustine puts it this way:

Thus, to abandon God and to exist in oneself—that is, to be pleased with oneself—does not mean that one immediately loses all being but rather that one veers towards nothingness. That is why, according to Holy Scripture, the proud are also given another name and are called self-pleasers (2 Pt 2:10)” (14.13).

When we are self-pleasing, the result is not a pleasant life, it is one of chaos and division. And this not only on an individual level, but a societal level. Which is why in the same work, Augustine writes that no city, no country, no community of any kind will have peace apart from the right worship of God.

Rome never was a republic, because true justice had never a place in it…But the fact is, true justice has no existence save in that republic whose founder and ruler is Christ, if at least any choose to call this a republic…we may at all events say that in this city is true justice; the city of which Holy Scripture says, ‘Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God’” (City of God, 2.21).

Only when the human family unites in right worship will divisions between ourselves and God and amongst one another cease. This is the future we sing of in today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps. 122) and the future Isaiah prophecies: “In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it” (Isaiah 2:2). In the Book of Revelation it becomes apparent that not only are we going to God’s house, but that the human family together, has been invited to nothing less than the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (see Revelation 19). The Solemnity we celebrate today serves a beautifully curative purpose by awakening us to the reality that despite what the current public and ecclesial conversation occupies itself with, by our very nature, we are meant for something radically different. We have been created for perfect unity with one another in the unending feast of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom ruled by the King of Hearts.

The celebration of The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Looking at the document which instituted the celebration, it is interesting to note that the reasons given for such a celebration are just as applicable today as they were 97 years ago. It is obvious in reading the document that the Church was looking around and seeing many of the same things we see today including leaders of nations that seemed to have their own interests in mind instead of serving their people well. Seeing this, the pope wished to remind people of a couple of things. First, despite what leaders may think of themselves, they in fact do not have absolute authority over the lives of the people they lead or even their own lives to be dispensed with as they wished. Instead, the pope wished to remind them that there was not “any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ” (Quas Primas, 18). Additionally, he reminded leaders that a nation is happy when its people live in concord with one another, and asserted that only Jesus Christ is the “author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation,” and therefore if “the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ” (ibid). What the pope recognized here, and what has not yet been realized by society at large is that it is only by recognizing the created order of things and by learning to see the beauty in it that we can find peace as a society. This process of recognition begins with humility, a humility that recognizes Christ as King of the Universe. Why? Because he made it, and made it with a certain order of beauty that can only be realized when all creation seeks him together.

Now, I realize that as members of a post-modern society we almost instinctively cringe at the idea that there is a higher power in our lives than ourselves. What is humorous is that we seem to think that it was by thousands of years of experience and inquiry that we have come to this conclusion. Yet, our brief look at Genesis has made clear that the human family has mistakenly sought after this since we first walked the earth. It was mistaken then, and it is mistaken now, and the reason we make this mistake is that we fail to recognize what sort of king it is whose authority we live under. In Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI writes that ‘Jesus Christ is the King of Hearts’ (7), and as our Gospel for today points out for us, this King reigns from the throne of the cross. He makes the cross his throne for one reason and one reason alone, and that is that it is precisely the cross that in a way unlike any other has the ability to demonstrate the depth and breadth of His perfect love. With arms outstretched He says, “look at me, I have held nothing back in my love for you, my love knows no bounds.”

The opening line of the document whereby Pope Francis proclaimed a Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 is instructive here as it adds to our understanding of the type of King Jesus Christ is. Pope Francis begins Misericordiae Vultus by writing that “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy,” and quickly adds that by His words, His actions, and His entire person, Jesus Christ reveals the mercy of God (1). What is the mercy of God? Most simply, the mercy of God is the Love that is God looking upon the sinner. Yes, Jesus Christ reveals something of the nature of God that is so mind blowing and extraordinary that we could never even have imagined or hoped for had it not been revealed to us by the Son of God Incarnate. What is revealed is, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “the love of man is a proper mark of the divine nature…” (Address on Religious Instruction, p. 15). In other words, God, by his very nature, is philanthropic, a lover of the human family. Accordingly, God so desired to demonstrate His love for the human family that He was willing to do anything, even go so far as to experiencing a tragic and gruesome death so that by looking upon Him we may be motivated to love Him back. For as St. Augustine writes, “there is nothing that invites another’s love more than to take the initiative in loving…” (De catechizandis rudibus, 4.7).

This is precisely what we see experienced by the good thief crucified next to Jesus in our gospel reading for today, traditionally known as St. Dismas. Having been graced with a front row seat to the mystery of salvation, the thief recognizes three key things. The first we cannot see and it is what has just been explained, that in looking upon Jesus Christ, the thief is awakened to the love that is God. What Dismas experiences here is captured by Hans Urs von Balthasar’s use of the analogy of a mother’s smile. A mother repeatedly smiles at her newborn infant, and for a time, there is no reciprocating response. But, one day, a day which cannot be anticipated, the child smiles back! Something has been awakened in them. The child now realizes on a very basic level that there is another who loves them, and who they can love in return, and so they smile. For Balthasar, the Incarnation of the Son is the smile of God, shining most intensely on the Cross. And it is by seeing this smile of God, that something awakens in us. We are awakened to the fact that we are loved by God and we have been made by and for this Love. There is no other way for this realization to be awakened after the Fall according to Balthasar. He writes, “just as no child can be awakened to love without being loved, so too no human heart can come to an understanding of God without the free gift of his grace—in the image of his Son” (Love Alone is Credible, 76).

Having recognized the smile of God in Christ, Dismas now comes to two subsequent realizations. Seeing what real love is he realizes how far short he has fallen in living a life of love and feels as though he is unable to love Him in return. It is out of this recognition of his having failed to love that he says to Gestus: “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal” (Luke 23:40-41). In this, Dismas exemplifies what Adam and Gestus could not, the remorse of a repentant heart. The virtue of repentance at work in Dismas helps him understand that he must love, but that he cannot do so without being loved first, and so he says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). In Dismas we see the powerful impact that God desires to have in all hearts by having His Son raised as the sign of His love before the entire world.

My friends, it is this wondrously beautiful act of love which we celebrate today! We have a King who desires not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28 & Mark 10:45); a King who gave His life out of love for us (John 15:13); a love which desires life to the fullest for those who are loved (John 10:10); and a King who as Creator knows that true freedom can only be had by living a life of love in return (Galatians 5:13-14). And so today, the Church holds up before the entire world the face of God’s Mercy, Jesus Christ, and proclaims him King of the universe, not in order that we may tremble before Him in fear, but that by looking upon the Face of the King of Hearts our hearts might be motivated to love Him in return, and to do so by loving one another. By doing so, we ‘minister to the needs of the present day, and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society’ (Quas Primas, 24). For every time we choose to respond to Love in love, we move one step closer to overcoming the divisions opened by our first parents, and realizing the kingdom which Jesus Christ came to proclaim and establish (Mark 1:15).

Your servant in Christ,

Tony

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Tony Crescio

Tony founded the FRESHImage Ministries online apostolate as the result of a conversion experience in young adulthood with the hope of sharing knowledge of the love of the God that forever changed his life. He grew up working on his family vegetable farm in Wisconsin before obtaining his undergraduate degree in theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He then served as a Youth Minister for four rural parishes in Wisconsin in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. His next stop was South Bend, Indiana, where he obtained a Master of Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame. He is currently a PhD candidate Christian Theology at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, writing a dissertation which aims at developing the theologies of virtue and exemplarity.

Tony’s latest FRESHImage content can be found here.

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Marissa Lesinski

Marissa Lesinski is wife and mother of (currently) 3 beautiful blessings, and is sister to Vanessa Crescio. She and her family currently reside in Southern California and attend a diocesan Latin Mass. Her days consist of lots of cooking, cleaning, and more recently homeschooling. While she hopes to eventually grow a garden and tend some chickens, she still needs to remember to water her 2 potted plants and keep the kids clean before adding to her plate. She is very happy to help with the FRESHImage apostolate by putting together rosaries with the “help” of her little ones. She hopes that in this way she can help the promotion of the rosary to bring others closer to God through Mother Mary.

Check out the latest from Marissa here.

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Vanessa Crescio

Vanessa earned a Master of Theological Studies from Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in finance. She worked in real estate and banking prior to serving in Church finance roles at the parish and diocesan levels. She currently works as an accountant with Lipic’s Engagement in St. Louis, MO. She is interested in thinking through the aspect of co-responsibility in the Church and the development lay pastoral leadership programs to form Catholic leaders to serve the Church with not only their knowledge, skills, and abilities, but with the servant heart of Christ.

Vanessa’s latest articles can be found here.

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