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2009/07/31

Eighth Sunday after Trinity - Psalm 41


Augustine on Psalm XLI
Eighth Sunday after Trinity Home

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Historical Note: Source Gelasian [ca 494]. This is a 1662 edition, which differs from the original translation. The Original Latin: cuius providential in sui despositione non fallitur



1 Kings i., Psalms 39, 41 | 37 , Romans viii. 12 & St. Matthew vii. 15
Homily of Augustine on Psalm XLI

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

Comment

The 41st Psalm is one of David's when he was ill. I have selected the 1 Kings 1 as the Old Testament lesson to accompany this verse, for as David did fall old and infirm, his enemies began to plan their takeover and to remove his name from the memory of the people.


The sermon of Augustine at the link is based on the theme of the quotation. He understood this psalm and especially this verse to be of a prophetic type concerning the Church and her enemies. He wrote,


First, that which responding to the reader  we have sung, though it be from the middle of the Psalm, from that I will take the beginning of this Sermon. "Mine enemies speak evil of Me, When He shall die, then shall His Name perish" (ver. 5). This is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ: but see if herein are not understood the members also. This was spoken also when our Lord Himself walked in the flesh here on earth....When they saw the people go after Him, they said, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish;" that is, when we have slain Him, then shall His Name be no more in the earth, nor shall He seduce any, being dead; but by that very slaying of Him shall men understand, that He was but a man whom they followed, that there was in Him no hope of salvation, and shall desert His Name, and it shall no more be. He died, and His Name perished not, but His Name was sown as seed: He died, but He was a grain, which dying, the corn immediately sprang up.  When glorified then was our Lord Jesus Christ, began they much more, and much more numerously to trust in Him; then began His members to hear what the Head had heard. Now then our Lord Jesus Christ being in heaven set down, and Himself in us labouring on earth, still spake His enemies, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish." For hence stirred up the devil persecutions in the Church to destroy the Name of Christ. Unless haply ye think, brethren, that those Pagans, when they raged against Christians, said not this among themselves, "to blot out the Name of Christ from the earth." That Christ might die again, not in the Head, but in His Body, were slain also the Martyrs. To the multiplying of the Church availed the Holy Blood poured forth, to help Its seminating came also the death of the Martyrs. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints."  More and more were the Christians multiplied, nor was it fulfilled which spake the enemies, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish." Even now also is it spoken. Down sit the Pagans, and compute them the years, they hear their fanatics  saying, A time shall come when Christians shall be none, and those idols must be worshipped as before they were worshipped: still say they, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish." Twice conquered, now the third time be wise! Christ died, His Name has not perished: the Martyrs died, multiplied more is the Church, groweth through all nations the Name of Christ. He who foretold of His own Death, and of His Resurrection, He who foretold of His Martyrs' death, and of their crown, He Himself foretold of His Church things yet to come, if truth He spake twice, has He the third time lied? Vain then is what ye believe against Him; better is it that ye believe in Him, that ye may "understand upon the needy and poor One;"  that "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."  ..


The names of Jesus and of David have withstood the test of time and are known to all nations wherever the Gospel has gone, for our Lord's was also known as Son of David by the multitudes of his day and today.  The works of the Jews and the pagan of Greece and Rome failed to silence the name of Jesus. There are enemies today too. They condemn us, we who pray in his name in public. They remove his name from the vocabulary of our children in their schooling. They persist without tiring to try to cause the name of Jesus to perish.


Augustine's words are still true, "Vain then is what ye believe against him".  Those who have disparaged the unique position of the Son of David as the only Savior of the world,  and claim that a man may have salvation by faith in his sect and speak against this catholic and orthodox Christian doctrine, will perish in their vanity, for by no other name may man be saved, than on the name of Jesus [Acts 4:12] Whosoever is ashamed of this doctrine which is clearly articulated in the Gospel, and thus are ashamed of the words of our Lord, him our Lord has promised to deny on the last day [Mark 8:38]  I pray for the innocent who are drawn from the truth into affirming this heresy in ignorance, following after those who they trust and by whom they are deceived. May God show them the light and have mercy.

*************Afterthought*******************

 If any are in doubt about the traditional faith, then they should read the Gospel and epistles, the Ecumenical Councils, other councils, the Roman Catholic
Catechism, the 39 Articles, or any other Reformed Confessions and one will have to acknowledge that this is the catholic faith. If any are in doubt of this doctrine... doubt not. Here are a few examples


Roman Catholic Catechism

432 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."


Anglican 39 Articles of Religion

XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.

Westminster Confession


Ch 12...
ll those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption,by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have His name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a Father: yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption; and inherit the promises,as heirs of everlasting salvation.

4th Council

Following the holy fathers, we teach with one voice that the Son [of God] and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be confessed as one and the same [Person], that He is perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, true God and true man, of a reasonable soul and [human] body consisting, consubstantial with the Father as touching His Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching His manhood; having become like us in all things save sin only; begotten of His Father before the ages according to His Godhead; but in these last days, for us men and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to His manhood. This one and the same Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son [of God] must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united], and that without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union, but rather the peculiar property of each nature being preserved and being united in one Person and subsistence, not separated or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten, God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets of old have spoken concerning Him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us, and as the Creed of the fathers has delivered unto us.

...

Finis


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2009/07/24

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Augustine on Psalm XXXIV

O LORD of Hosts, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Historical Note: Source: Collect composed by Bishop Gelasius of Rome (492-496), in 1549 Cranmer revised the collect to begin with "Lord of all power and might." His "true religion" reminds one of James' epistle and "pure religion KJV [James 1:27]


O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

1 Samuel xxi. 10, Psalms 32, 36 | 33,34 , Romans vi. 19 & St. Mark viii. 1

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XXXIV


Comment Grace be unto you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Today's psalm is one near and dear to centurions of the Early Church. They would of likely heard it in many places of worship during the Eucharist

as the Communion Hymn. The introduction credits the psalm to the time recorded in our Old Testament lesson of 1st Samuel when David feigned madness to avoid death or imprisonment at the hands of the king of his enemies to whom he fled from Saul. Some scholars think the early scribes did this because of the Hebrew word for "taste" is of the same root for the word that means "pretended to be insane." The first time that Brother Paul and I had communion together we used this as the gradual before the Gospel because that is what the Early Church used. I would commend that you do so too from time to time. Why was Psalm 34 selected by the Church? because of two reasons I think, the lesser of which is the salvation theme of deliverance in the hymn, closely tied to the reason for the Great Thanksgiving: Jesus' salvation for his elect, but primarily for the verse that reads,

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that
trusteth in him.

Augustine managed to address both the tradition of the Early church as seeing this verse point to the Body and Blood of our Lord, and also the incident recorded in 1st Samuel. He wrote

Now will He speak openly of the same Sacrament, whereby He was carried in his Own Hands. "O taste and see that the Lord is good". Doth not the Psalm now open itself, and show thee that seeming insanity and constant madness, the same insanity and sober inebriety of that David, who in a figure showed I know not what, when in the person of king Achis they said to him, How is it? When the Lord said, "Except a man eat My Flesh and
drink My Blood, he shall have no life in him"? And they in whom reigned Achis, that is, error and ignorance, said; what said they? "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" If thou art ignorant, "Taste and see that the Lord is good:" but if thou understandest not, thou art king Achis: David shall change His Countenance and shall depart from thee, and shall
quit thee, and shall depart.

We all need to take Augustine's words to heart.
Finally, I encourage all to read again an Exhortation to Holy Communion here http://orderofcenturions.org/documents/admonition.html finis

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2009/07/18


O GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect Source: Sacrementary of Gelasius, Bishop of Rome [ca 494AD]. Inspired by 1 Corinthians ii. 9. (from Isaiah lxiv. 4)

Psalms 28, 29 | 30, 31 , Romans vi. 3   & St. Matthew v. 20

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XXX

David
Thou, LORD, hast brought my soul out of hell: thou hast kept my life, that I should not go down into the pit.


Comment

Augustine wrote,

"O Lord, Thou hast brought back My Soul from hell, and Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the pit" (ver. 3). Thou hast saved Me from the condition of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.

 I think it clear that David spoke of God's action with him individually. David realized when God acted in his life as an individual, to bless or to correct him, and when God acted with the entire nation of Israel, often based on David's actions as her king. God will act individually with every Christian. Our believe is based on our experience and witness of a personal relationship with Jesus, unlike some Eastern religions where individuality is subsumed into a whole, and the promise of our Lord: I will not leave you alone

Compare this thought and verse with the opening statement of the Episcopal Church this week by its "primate".

the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals

Hmmm, consider the verse of the psalmist above, indeed the entire psalm and psalter, with this statement, and decide for yourself who is heretical, the psalmist or the primate (and those who are of the same mind).


An article from a real Christian on the subject is found here: "The Bishops discovers heresy"

Finis



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"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" [St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:19]

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2009/07/12

Fifth Sunday After Trinity

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Augustine on Psalm XXVI

GRANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sacramentary of Leo and Gregory. They faced Goths, Huns and Vandals

Psalm 21, 23 | 26, 27 , 1 St. Peter iii. 8   &  St. Luke v. 1

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XXVI

Prove me, O Lord, and try me



 "Prove me, O Lord, and try me" (ver. 2). Lest, however, any of my secret sins should be hid from me, prove me, O Lord, and try me, making me known, not to Thee from whom nothing is hid, but to myself, and to men. "Burn my reins and my heart." Apply a remedial purgation, as it were fire, to my pleasures and thoughts. "For Thy mercy is before mine eyes" (ver. 3). For, that I be not consumed by that fire, not my merits, but Thy mercy, whereby Thou hast brought me on to such a life, is before my eyes. "And I have been pleasing in Thy truth." And since my own falsehood hath been displeasing to me, but Thy truth pleasing, I have myself been pleasing also with it and in it.

Again we see clearly the catholic doctrine of Paul brought forward by Augustine in showing that all are tainted by sin, and that none may depend on their works for salvation, but only upon the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.  The key to a right relationship that Augustine identifies is truth. Those who continually and completely deny God's sovereignty, his word, and create new gods that satisfy their lust, have denied the God of the New and Old Testaments; in doing so they demonstrate they have not his truth, but rather they refuse to look in the mirror and recognize their condition and need. We read in the Gospels that there is no place for such in heaven.

Let us learn from the Gospel lesson appointed this day, and the example of Peter, who said,
Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord

Read it all at the link.

Finis


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"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" [St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:19]

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2009/07/04

Fourth Sunday after Trinity Augustine on Psalm XXIV

O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect Source: Sacramentary of Bishop Gregory of Rome [ca 600AD].

Psalms 19, 20 | 24, 25 ; Romans viii. 18   &  St. Luke vi. 36

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XXIV


Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

 
Trinity Four Comment

There is a beautiful icon of the Risen Christ with the inscription, "King of Glory"  in the Chapel of the Centurions at Legio Christi.  It shows the risen Christ as High Priest and King. This is an historic type of icon of our Lord, who is "powerful in battle".  Let us hear the last paragraph of a wonderful little homily by Augustine on this psalm,

 "Who is this King of glory?" What! dost thou too, prince of the power of this air, marvel and ask, "Who is this King of glory?" "The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory" . Yea, His Body now quickened, He who was tempted marches above thee; He who was tempted by the angel, the deceiver, goes above all angels. Let none of you put himself before us and stop our way, that he may be worshipped as a god by us: neither principality, nor angel, nor power, separateth us from the love of Christ.  It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in a prince;  that he who glorieth, should glory in the Lord.These indeed are powers in the administration of this world, but "the Lord of powers, He is the King of glory."

This is one of the central images of Christ that the early Church kept. It was not until the Medieval era that the Church of the West began to focus on the crucified and suffering Christ. The glorified risen Christ is the same  that Paul preached  in [1Co 15:19-42]  which is one of the passages and the overall theme of the Order's Memorial page.

Christ the King is risen, and rules at the right hand of God, He is the King of Glory, The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. He shall save his elect everlasting from every  adversary.  As Gregory's collect says,

O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong

finis

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Released by Primus Pilus
Legio Christi-Ecclesia Militans
"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" [St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:19]

* ORDO CENTURIONUM * IN HOC SIGNO VINCES * TIME DEUM ET OPERARE IUSTITIAM