Before you read this, considering that you might not read to the end – I’ll toss this in here:
Speaking of good homilies….as I did yesterday…
One of the great tasks and challenges of being a Catholic minister or faith-sharer of any sort is to help one’s listener understand the timelessness of this body of faith and practice. The importance of that timelessness is not to “prove” anything but, more than anything else, to give hope. You, there – you are not alone in your weakness, pain, suffering and fears. It’s called being human and in Christ, no matter who you are, when or where you live or what the specifics of your situation are, in him and his Body, the Church, you will find comfort, healing, hope and answers.
In other painfully well-worn words, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every generation. We have the spiritual resources, if we understand them properly and at a deep level, to point the suffering, questioning soul in the right direction, to open their hearts so they can hear Him.
A few weeks ago, our Cathedral rector offered this homily – short, direct and substantive – on Pentecost, in which he held up the Pentecost Sequence as a framework for discerning how to live out the call to share the gifts the Spirit has given us:
The beautiful Sequence for this feast gives us much food for thought in regard to how we can put our gifts at the service of others, and ultimately to the service of the Church, for it describes the action of the Holy Spirit in very concrete terms: as a “Father of the poor”, as a “comforter”, as “sweet refreshment”… “coolness in the heat”, “solace in the midst of woe”, the healer of wounds, one who can “bend the stubborn heart and will”, and “guide the steps that go astray”. All of these are things that we can share in, things that we can do.
Therefore, we can ask: How do I provide for the poor? How do I offer comfort to others? How do I seek to refresh others, help them find relief? Am I a source of solace – am I there for those who are hurting or mourning? Do I try to be a healer and a peacemaker? Am I willing to dialogue with the stubborn and the inflexible to help them find a place of healthy compromise? And do I correct those who are erring? All these things have their source in the gift of the Holy Spirit – and we can be his hands, his feet, his mouthpiece in these works.
So on to today – June 27 – the life and thought of an ancient philosopher and a not-so-ancient but still old tradition. Relevant? Potentially helpful in the 21st century? Perhaps.
There are a couple of memorials associated with today’s date – June 27. First is St. Cyril of Alexandria.
From B16, a General Audience talk, an introduction to Cyril, from 2007.
In it, we see two important truths emphasized. First, the importance of theology, which is not pointless nit-picking, but rather part of the journey to clarify the mysteries of faith as far as is humanly possible. Secondly, the Christian faith as one rooted in revealed truths, and the Body of Christ has a responsibility to guard and share those truths faithfully.
Cyril’s writings – truly numerous and already widely disseminated in various Latin and Eastern translations in his own lifetime, attested to by their instant success – are of the utmost importance for the history of Christianity. His commentaries on many of the New and Old Testament Books are important, including those on the entire Pentateuch, Isaiah, the Psalms and the Gospels of John and Luke. Also important are his many doctrinal works, in which the defence of the Trinitarian faith against the Arian and Nestorian theses recurs. The basis of Cyril’s teaching is the ecclesiastical tradition and in particular, as I mentioned, the writings of Athanasius, his great Predecessor in the See of Alexandria. Among Cyril’s other writings, the books Against Julian deserve mention. They were the last great response to the anti-Christian controversies, probably dictated by the Bishop of Alexandria in the last years of his life to respond to the work Against the Galileans, composed many years earlier in 363 by the Emperor known as the “Apostate” for having abandoned the Christianity in which he was raised.
The Christian faith is first and foremost the encounter with Jesus, “a Person, which gives life a new horizon” (Deus Caritas Est, n. 1). St Cyril of Alexandria was an unflagging, staunch witness of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, emphasizing above all his unity, as he repeats in 433 in his first letter (PG 77, 228-237) to Bishop Succensus: “Only one is the Son, only one the Lord Jesus Christ, both before the Incarnation and after the Incarnation. Indeed, the Logos born of God the Father was not one Son and the one born of the Blessed Virgin another; but we believe that the very One who was born before the ages was also born according to the flesh and of a woman”. Over and above its doctrinal meaning, this assertion shows that faith in Jesus the Logos born of the Father is firmly rooted in history because, as St Cyril affirms, this same Jesus came in time with his birth from Mary, the Theotò-kos, and in accordance with his promise will always be with us. And this is important: God is eternal, he is born of a woman, and he stays with us every day. In this trust we live, in this trust we find the way for our life.
As I mention often, Benedict’s General Audience talks on great Church figures were collected into books by several Catholic publishers, including Our Sunday Visitor. I wrote study guides for two of them: his talks on the Apostles, and those on the Greek and Latin Fathers. You can find the latter in a pdf form here, and it is still useful for both individual and group study, I believe.
Below are images of the pages related to Cyril of Alexandria, and then below that the questions themselves. Thought you might find it useful.
The questions for the unit including Cyril of Alexandria:
1. Cyril of Alexandria is remembered for his defense of Christian orthodoxy against Nestorius. What did Nestorius claim?
2. What did Cyril say was wrong with Nestorius’s teaching? Why was this conflict just as much about Jesus as it was about Mary?
3. What was at stake in this controversy? What is the deeper reality that concerned Cyril?
4. Why was Hilary of Poitiers exiled? What did Hilary do during his exile?
5. How did Hilary’s approach combine adherence to truth with pastoral sensitivity?
6. How, according to Hilary, do we come into relationship with Christ? How does this change us?
7. What role do the words of baptism play in the thought of Hilary?
8. Where did Eusebius of Vercelli live and minister? What was the spiritual condition of this area?
9. What role did his monastic establishments play in his ministry? 10. What was Eusebius’s time in exile like? What did he accomplish?
11. How did Eusebius encourage his clergy and people to keep their spiritual balance?
12. What were the conditions in Turin during the ministry of Maximus?
13. To whom were many of his homilies addressed? Why?
14. What did Maximus have to say about wealth?
15. How did Maximus come to be involved in a role in the civic life of the community?
Questions for Reflection
1. The Fathers in this session, as well as in the rest of the book, grappled with questions of Jesus’ identity. Why was this not a simply academic question? Why was it so important to them? How does our sense of Jesus’ identity impact our own spiritual lives?
2. Eusebius emphasized monastic establishments as centers for spiritual renewal and pastoral ministry in his area. Why do you think he did this? Why was monasticism such an important factor in Christian life for the next millennium? What role does monasticism play in today’s Church and world?
3. Maximus spoke strongly to the people of his community about their relationship to wealth and material things. What do you think he would say to us today?
4. Pope Benedict cites Hilary’s “spirit of reconciliation” in dealing with those who cannot quite affirm the fullness of faith. Are there areas of life in which you have reached out and built relationships with those with whom you disagree? What is the foundation of such a relationship?
5. These Fathers ministered in communities in which Christianity was still a minority and often found itself in conflict. How did they minister in those situations? What can you learn from them about living in such an environment, in which the general culture stands in conflict with the Gospel?
It’s also the memorial of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, or Our Lady of Succor.
From the Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs and Symbols:
Charlotte was Both 