The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Augustine on Psalm CXII

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LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source Bishop Gelasians Sacrmentary [494] where appointed for the Sunday before Ember Days in the Autumn. Ember days were for penitence, fasting, and the Saturday for ordinations in Rome. The 1662 added temptations of the world, the flesh One is reminded of the Lord's prayer and of 2 Peter 2:9

Psalm 112, Ephesians iv. 1   &   St. Luke xiv. 1 
Homily - Psalm CXII by Augustine

Comment

A couple of years ago I watched the movie "300" : the 300 Spartans and supporting troops under Leonidas who held off an invading Persian army for a considerable period under Xerxes against amazing odds - long enough for the Greek city states to rally. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae]

This day the counter on the registration for the Order hit 300. The Legio Christi now has three centuries of Christ's own who vowed to "fear God and do what is right". They represent 300 building blocks on the foundation of the everlasting and true Church of Jesus Christ. The task to defend the Church seems overwhelming, but like Leonidas and his Spartans, you stand in the breach to defend the faith once given in an historic era. So, stand firm in faith, and pray our work in this battle may be of the kind that endures like gold, rather than is burned like stubble [1 Cor 3:11]

In today's homily by Augustine on Psalm 118, he opens with this: 

 I believe, brethren, that ye remarked and committed to memory the title of this Psalm. "The conversion," he saith, "of Haggai and Zechariah." These prophets were not as yet in existence, when these verses were sung.  ...But both, the one within a year after the other, began to prophesy that which seemeth to pertain to the restoration of the temple, as was foretold so long before.  ..."For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Whoever therefore converteth himself to the work of this building together, and to the hope of a firm and holy edifice, like a living stone from the miserable ruin of this world, understandeth the title of the Psalm, understandeth "the conversion of Haggai and Zechariah." Let him therefore chant the following verses, not so much with the voice of his tongue as of his life. For the completion of the building will be that ineffable peace of wisdom, the "beginning" of which is the "fear of the Lord:" let him therefore, whom this conversion buildeth together, begin thence. 

Do you see how he calls those he addresses in his cathedral "bretheren".  He speaks of he "restoration of the temple"  He regards them to be co-laborers in continuing to build the True Church. He has identified the root of any successful building: before anything else, it is necessary that the laborers have a right "fear of the Lord".  O how many are there who do labor in vain because they know not God. They pursue their ideas of justice and peace, and yet forsake, yes and even deny,  the living God. How quickly their work will be thrown down and burnt in the last days.  Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. [Ps 28:5]. Centurions, be careful. Ensure that in all matters you regard the Lord rightly as your Sovereign, and commit your work always to his glory. 

Finis

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The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

 
Augustine on Psalm 91
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LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Bishop Gregory [595]. "Prevent" meaning to come before from the verb prevenient. This calls to my mind Patrick's Breastplate Christ behind me, Christ before me... and Psalm 139 Thou hast beset me before and behind...

Deuteronomy xvi.8; Psalm 91, Ephesians iv. 1   &   St. Luke xiv. 1
Homily - Psalm XCI by Augustine

Comment

This week we look at Augustine on psalm 91. I very much enjoyed his homily and commend it all.  This past week a centurion sent me a little story about a soldier that reported in to heaven, and admitted that he had not been special here on earth. God received the soldier into heaven, hence, one of the saints,  because of his fidelity and execution of duty.

I pondered this little story and the approach of All Saints Day which falls on a Sunday this year, and I responded to our brother, and affirmed the theology of St. Paul. This is one of many quotes that seems to apply to the saints: 

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints [Eph 1:18]

By happenstance, Augustine has addressed this subject in his examination of the psalm and this verse below:

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 

 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

 He has now come to the power Which rescues him from falling by the "downfall and the devil of the noon-day." "For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of defence very high." What do the words "very high" mean? For many make their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal persecution; but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou mayest fly from the wrath to come. Within "Thou hast set thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto Thee: neither shall any plague come nigh Thy dwelling"  The Holy City is not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world as well: not that of this age only, but from Abel himself down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one city; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the Angels, who are our fellow-citizens: we toil, because we are as yet pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival. Letters have reached us too from that city, apart from which we are wandering: those letters are the Scriptures, which exhort us to live well. Why do I speak of letters only? The King himself descended, and became a path to us in our wanderings: that walking in Him, we may neither stray, nor faint nor fall among robbers, nor be caught in the snares that are set near our path. This character, then, we recognise in the whole Person of Christ, together with the Church....He Himself is our Head, He is God, co-equal with the Father, the Word of God, by whom all things were made:  but God to create, Man to renew; God to make, Man to restore. Looking upon Him, then, let us hear the Psalm. Listen, beloved. This is the teaching and doctrine of this school, which may enable you to understand, not this Psalm only, but many, if ye keep in mind this rule. Sometimes a Psalm, and all prophecy as well, in speaking of Christ, praises the Head alone, and sometimes from the Head goes to the Body, that is, the Church, and without apparently changing the Person spoken of: because the Head is not separate from the Body, and both are spoken of as one...

Like Paul in his epistles, I write week by week bidding the prayers of the order for our saints,  our brethren, especially upon the occasion of their registration anniversary. I must presume that in taking the vow of the Order, and confessing Christ as Lord, that all centurions are indeed Christ's own, and as such, saints and sinners in God's grace, his elect. Augustine goes on in his homily to speak of those who claimed Christianity, or who fell by denying God when put to the test as a result of temptations, threats of death, or torture - or like some today who were just being politically correct like the TEC Bishop of Los Angeles who apologized to Hindus for converting their kinsman to Christianity and was applauded by them recently  [link].  Read now what Augustine said in his homily touching on this:

The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word: for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen: they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you? Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you? Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a hedge, and stones are thrown into the hedge: those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit a bird by throwing a stone into a hedge? But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets; and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil...Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter:

God created angles as his special servants, and one third of them rebelled from his authority and were cast to the earth to torment man;  man also rebels against God, and will share the same fate as the fallen angels. 

What of the habitation that Augustine refers. Well, it is the true Church, the Church of those marked as Christ's own, Militant (struggling) on earth, faithful, resisting with God's help temptation; and after death in rest and repose in Paradise - still with our Lord who said he would never leave us, and as the Apostle spoke: For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I know even as also I am known. 

Augustine wrote elsewhere in this homily: 

But whoever regarded not the present life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow, by confessing himself a Christian; smitten in the flesh, he was liberated in the spirit: resting with God, he began peacefully to await the redemption of his body in the resurrection of the dead: he escaped from that temptation, from the arrow that flieth by day....

This is the catholic and orthodox faith known to and preached by saint Augustine.

Note: I have left the capitalization as it was in the translation; however, in the Latin one would not have found such to my knowledge, saints, pagans, church, etc. would have all be written in lower case without any emphasis, just as one finds it in the epistles of Paul.

Finis

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The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Augustine Homily of the Raising of the Dead
Trinity 16 Home

O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source of Collect - Bishop Gelasius' Sacrementary [494AD].One is reminded of Psalm 51 purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean and Rev 7:14, washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb

Job xix. 23., Psalms 98, 99 | 89, Ephesians iii. 13   &   St. Luke vii. 11

Homily of Augustine

Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

Comment

The Gospel today speaks of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain. After the folk of Augustine's flock heard it read, he began to teach the lesson recored at the link. He compared the three separate instances when Jesus raised a person from the dead, and concluded with this:

Let us then, dearly Beloved, in such wise hear these things, that they who are alive may live; they who are dead may live again. Whether it be that as yet the sin has been conceived in the heart, and not come forth into open act; let the thought be repented of, and corrected, let the dead within the house of conscience arise. Or whether he has actually committed what he thought of; let not even thus his case be despaired of. The dead within has not arisen, let him arise when "he is carried out." Let him repent him of his deed, let him at once return to life; let him not go to the depth of the grave, let him not receive the load of habit upon him. But peradventure I am now speaking to one who is already pressed down by this hard stone of his own habit, who is already laden with the weight of custom, who "has been in the grave four days already, and who stinketh." Yet let not even him despair; he is dead in the depth below, but Christ is exalted on high. He knows how by His cry to burst asunder the burdens of earth, He knows how to restore life within by Himself, and to deliver him to the disciples to be loosed. Let even such as these repent. For when Lazarus had been raised again after the four days, no foul smell remained in him when he was alive. So then let them who are alive, still live; and let them who are dead, whosoever they be, in which kind soever of these three deaths they find themselves, see to it that they rise again at once with all speed. 

Here, Augustine preaches of the spiritual raising of those who have fallen into sin and are dead to the Lord, and the various stages of that death; emphasizing that none are two far gone for Jesus to raise up. He quotes or aludes to some very specific scriptures as bearing on this topic which will give us an understanding of how the early church regarded salvation; for instance:

"the Lord Himself saith, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." "

God is sovereign and "quickeneth whom he will"  God has promised everlasting life to the elect: they who believe on him are raised up from spiritual death in the moment of their union with Christ; fully justified, and remain so joined with him in life everlasting in holy sanctification.  Paul explains how there is to be the actual, promised, physical resurrection of God's chosen, 

finally glorified [1Th 4:16]. As Bishop Galasius chanted in our collect for this day, Lord, preserve thy church for evermore by thy help and goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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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KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Bishop Gelasius [494]. Jesus promised us the help of the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us [Jn 14:26]. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul tells us it is charity that is profitable. [Barbee & Zahl]

Psalms 96, 97 | 79, 80; Galatians vi. 11 & St. Matthew vi. 24

Homily of Eucebius on the Church at Jerusalem

On Monday of this week many celebrated Holy Cross Day, remembering the events of 14 September 326, the traditional date of the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the veneration of the Holy Cross.

I thought it would be interesting to reflect on that event in view of today's Epistle to the Galatians. Paul wrote,

God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

Consider if you will the history of Constantine, and how he virtually turned Rome upside down in respect to honor and glory to the Cross and Christ at the expense of the old, cold idols. Let us now look at the account given of this event in the history of the Early Church by Bishop Eusebius and specifically an extract of his quotation of Constantine's letter to Macarius (Bishop of Jerusalem) concerning the Church

"Victor Constantius, Maximus Augustus, to Macarius. "Such is our Saviour's grace, that no power of language seems adequate to describe the wondrous circumstance to which I am about to refer. For, that the monument of his most holy Passion, so long ago buried beneath the ground, should have remained unknown for so long a series of years, until its reappearance to his servants now set free through the removal of him who was the common enemy of all, is a fact which truly surpasses all admiration. For if all who are accounted wise throughout the world were to unite in their endeavors to say somewhat worthy of this event, they would be unable to attain their object in the smallest degree. Indeed, the nature of this miracle as far transcends the capacity of human reason as heavenly things are superior to human affairs. For this cause it is ever my first, and indeed my only object, that, as the authority of the truth is evincing itself daily by fresh wonders, so our souls may all become more zealous, with all sobriety and earnest unanimity, for the honor of the Divine law. I desire, therefore, especially, that you should be persuaded of that which I suppose is evident to all beside, namely, that I have no greater care than how I may best adorn with a splendid structure that sacred spot, which, under Divine direction, I have disencumbered as it were of the heavy weight of foul idol worship; a spot which has been accounted holy from the beginning in God's judgment, but which now appears holier still, since it has brought to light a clear assurance of our Saviour's passion.

You may read the entire history of this Church at the link above.

I must wonder if this section of Galatians was set here due to the proximity of this Sunday, year by year, to Holy Cross Day.

Recent archeological surveys about the current church have verified the design and splendor of the church as described by Constantine and Eusebius.

Like Paul, Constantine had a specific epiphany with the Risen Christ that changed his life. Like Paul, he began to employ the Fruits of the Spirit in those things he did, and did well. Specifically, as the Emperor he righted wrongs against the Church and began to demonstrate that he gloried in the Cross. His building of the Church in Jerusalem, consecrated on Holy Cross Day, was also a token of the glory shown throughout the Empire by Constantine to Christ, no less so than as demonstrated in his Legions where his soldiers bore the his sign on their shields (chi rho). We are not all called to be the greatest evangelists or the organizer of the Holy Catholic Church, but we, who are his own, all have be given the Holy Spirit, and may all be comforted (strengthened) to use the gifts in our daily lives and vocation for the glory of God.

I bid your prayer for us all.

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who declarest thy glory and showest forth thy handiwork in the heavens and in the earth; Deliver us, we beseech thee, in our several callings, from the service of mammon, that we may do the work which thou givest us to do, in truth, in beauty, and in righteousness, with singleness of heart as thy servants, and to the benefit of our fellow men; for the sake of him who came among us as one that serveth, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Learn more about the Church here at Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre

ps One will note that there is nothing said about the Holy Cross throughout the history or in Constantine's letter. However, next year we will look at the history of Sozomenus of 380 that does address Helena and the Cross.

Finis

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14th Sunday after Trinity

 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source of Collect: Very earliest of the Sacramentaries [440]. 1 Corinthans 13:13 "now abideth faith, hope, and charity... There are two petitions, to give us increase, and secondly to make us to love reminds us of Romans 6:17... being "obdeient from the heart" [Barbee and Zahl]

Micah vi. 1, Psalm 84, 85 | 74 , Galatians v. 16   &  St. Luke xvii. 11

Homily of Augustine on Psalm LXXXIV

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD:
my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

COMMENT

How does the above verse set with you? Do you long for the presence of  God? Does you heart rejoice when you enter a sacred place, set aside to honor him? Is your whole person, body and soul, in earnest desire for the Lord's presence? Do you know your church to be a safe haven, a "nest", of orthodox worship where you may without doubt worship in the beauty of holiness and truth?

Augustine wrote,

"My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord:" hear how it holdeth out, rejoicing in hope: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God." Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence cometh rejoicing, but of hope? Wherefore have they rejoiced? "In the living God." What has rejoiced in thee? "My heart and my flesh." Why have they rejoiced? "For," saith he, "the sparrow hath found her a house, and the turtle-dove a nest, where she may lay her young" (ver. 3). What is this? He had named two things, and he adds two figures of birds which answer to them: he had said that his heart rejoiced and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to correspond: the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow hath found herself a home: my heart hath found itself a home. She tries her wings in the virtues of this life, in faith, and hope, and charity, by which she may fly unto her home: and when she shall have come thither, she shall remain; and now the complaining voice of the sparrow, which is here, shall no longer be there. For it is the very complaining sparrow of whom in another Psalm he saith, "Like a sparrow alone on the housetop." From the housetop he flies home. Now let him be on the housetop, treading on his carnal house: he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home: that sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove he hath given young, that is, to the flesh: "the dove hath found a nest, where she may lay her young." The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay her young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time: with the heart we think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home: with the flesh we do good works. For ye see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints; for by this we work the things we are commanded to work, by which we are helped in this life. "Break thy bread to the hungry, and bring the poor and roofless into thy house; and if thou see one naked, clothe him:" and other such things which are commanded us we work only through the flesh....We speak, brethren, what ye know: how many seem to do good works without the Church? how many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick, comfort the prisoner? how many do this? The dove seems, as it were, to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest. How many works may heretics do not in the Church; they place not their young in a nest. They shall be trampled on and crushed: they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded....In that faith lay thy young: in that nest work thy works. For what the nests are, what that nest is, follows at once. Having said, And the dove hath found herself a nest, where she may lay her young; as if thou hadst asked, What nest? "Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God." What is, "My King and my God?" Thou who rulest me, who hast created me.

Augustine's curse on heretics is strong. He doesn't play around with niceties. That makes some very uncomfortable today; for they feel no one may judge another. Everyone is OK in their belief. Today this has become part of the "post-modern" culture and philosophy which denies any objective truth, and bows to every weird and apostate belief and practice that emerges.  Men of good will understand that there will be some disagreements about the meaning of scripture and certainly about theology, but they at the same time recognize that there are some core truths that must be accepted on faith to be a Christian. This was always defined by the Symbol of the Faith, the Watchword of the faithful, the Baptismal Creed.

Is the place of your worship orthodox? Does the minister preach the apostolic Gospel?  Does he believe the Christian faith? Are your children given the knowledge and inspiration that they need to provide a moral and faithful compass through life?

I pray so; and I pray that you may always find your church to be a safe haven that affirms the essential Gospel truths layed down in the creeds, for all to many of us have endured the tyranny of clerical heretics preaching a different Gospel than that which Paul and the fathers handed down to us.

We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. [2 Thessalonians 3:6]

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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The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Augustine on Psalm 81
Trinity 13 Home

ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so run to thy heavenly promises, that we fail not finally to attain the same; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source of Collect: Bishop Leo I [440-461] Sacrementary. Archbishop Cranmer changed it to read as shown here: ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

  Psalm lxxxi, lxxxii | lxxiii; Galatians iii. 16   &  St. Luke x. 23

Homily of Augustine on Psalm LXXIII

Then thought I to understand this; but it was too hard for me, Until I went into the sanctuary of God: then understood I the end of these men; Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places, and castest them down, and destroyest them.

Augustine examined Psalm 73 in today's homily. This is an imprecatory psalm, ascribed to Asaph, and contrasts the plight of the wicked with the reward of the righteous: looking at the end times.

Let us hear now Augustine on the verse cited above:

.And he hath done this; for he saith how long labour is before him; "until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and understand upon the last things" (ver. 17). A great thing it is, brethren: now for a long time I labour, he saith, and before my face I see a sort of insuperable labour, to know in what manner both God is just, and doth care for things human, and is not unjust because men sinning and doing wicked actions have happiness on this earth; but the godly and men serving God are wasted ofttimes in trials and in labours; a great difficulty it is to know this, but only "until I enter into the Sanctuary of God." For in the Sanctuary what is presented to thee, in order that thou mayest solve this question? "And I understand," he saith, "upon the last things:" not present things. I, he saith, from the Sanctuary of God stretch out mine eye unto the end, I pass over present things. All that which is called the human race, all that mass of mortality is to come to the balance, is to come to the scale, thereon will be weighed the works of men. All things now a cloud doth enfold: but to God are known the merits of each severally. "And I understand," he saith, "upon the last things:" but not of myself; for before me there is labour. Whence "may I understand upon the last things"? Let me enter into the Sanctuary of God. In that place then he understood also the reason why these men now are happy.


Paul wrote in Romans 1:28:   And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

God does not prevent the reprobate from their course. He allows perfect freedom for man to peruse temporal lusts while ignoring his call to righteousness. Indeed God will set him on a "slippery slope" and through their rise in this temporal world, with evil ways, they are falling further into the promise of everlasting damnation. Yet, he stands at the door and knocks and any who seek him shall find him.

I cannot help but to think of those in the world who have knowingly advanced their personal welfare through fraud and deceit  at the expense of others. The recent financial fall in the world, Enron, and other examples come to mind.  The other day in contemplating my role as a financial consutant, I browsed the proverbs and came across this which I think is applicable today, and with this psalm

A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. [Proverbs 11:1]

Those who follow our Lord's admonitions and practice honesty with their fellows are a delight to the Lord, and those who practice deceit and fraud are abomination.

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]

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

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Augustine on Psalm LXXVI

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving unto us that that our prayer dare not presume to ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source of Collect: Leo [460], revised by Gelasius [494]. (An 1662 revision by Bishop Cosin added and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. [Barbee and Zahl]

In Judah is God known; his Name is great in Israel

xx, Psalms 76, 77 | 71,72 , 2 Corinthians iii. 4   &  St. Mark vii. 31
Homily of Augustine on Psalm LXXVI

Comment

This week we examine the homily of Augustine on Psalm 76. He wrote concerning Christians as the true Jews:


Psalm LXXVI
The Jews are wont to glory in this Psalm which we have sung, saying, "Known in Judaea is God, in Israel great is the name of Him:" and to revile the Gentiles to whom God is not known, and to say that to themselves alone God is known; seeing that the Prophet saith, "Known in Judaea is God." In other places therefore He is unknown. But God is known in very deed in Judaea, if they understand what is Judaea. For indeed God is not known except in Judaea. Behold even we say this, that except a person shall have been in Judaea, known to him God cannot be. But what saith the Apostle? He that in secret is a Jew, he that is so in circumcision of the heart, not in letter but in spirit. There are therefore Jews in circumcision of the flesh, and there are Jews in circumcision of the heart. Many of our holy fathers  had both the circumcision of the flesh, for a seal of the faith, and circumcision of the heart, for the faith itself. From these fathers these men degenerating, who now in the name do glory, and have lost their deeds; from these fathers, I say, degenerating, they have remained Jews in flesh, in heart Heathens. For these are Jews, who are out of Abraham, from whom Isaac was born, and out of him Jacob, and out of Jacob the twelve Patriarchs, and out of the twelve Patriarchs the whole people of the Jews. But they were generally called Jews for this reason, that Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, a Patriarch among the twelve, and from his stock the Royalty came among the Jews. For all this people after the number of the twelve sons of Jacob, had twelve tribes. What we call tribes are as it were distinct houses and congregations of people. That people, I say, had twelve tribes, out of which twelve tribes one tribe was Judah, out of which were the kings; and there was another tribe, Levi, out of which were the priests. But because to the priests serving the temple no land was allotted,  but it was necessary that among twelve tribes all the Land of promise should be shared: there having been therefore taken out one tribe of higher dignity, the tribe of Levi, which was of the priests, there would have remained eleven, unless by the adoption of the two sons of Joseph the number twelve were completed. What this is, observe. One of the twelve sons of Jacob was Joseph....This Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasse. Jacob, dying, as though by will, received those his grandsons into the number of sons, and said to his son Joseph, "The rest that are born shall be to thee; but these to me, and they shall divide the land with their brethren." As yet there had not been given nor divided the land of promise, but he was speaking in the Spirit, prophesying. The two sons therefore of Joseph being added, there were made up nevertheless twelve tribes, since now there are thirteen. For instead of one tribe of Joseph, two were added, and there were made thirteen. There being taken out then the tribe of Levi, that tribe of priests which did serve the Temple, and lived by the tithes of all the rest unto whom the land was divided, there remain twelve. In these twelve was the tribe of Judah, whence the kings were. For at first from another tribe was given King Saul, and he was rejected as being an evil king; after there was given from the tribe of Judah King David, and out of him from the tribe of Judah were the Kings.  But Jacob had spoken of this, when he blessed his sons, "there shall not fail a prince out of Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until there come He to whom the promise hath been made."  But from the tribe of Judah there came Our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is, as the Scripture saith, and as ye have but now heard, out of the seed of David born of Mary.  But as regardeth the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He is equal with the Father, He is not only before the Jews, but also before Abraham himself; nor only before Abraham, but also before Adam; nor only before Adam, but also before Heaven and earth and before ages: for all things by Himself were made, and without Him there was made nothing.  Because therefore in prophecy hath been said, "there shall not fail a prince out of Judah," etc.:  former times are examined, and we find that the Jews always had their kings of the tribe of Judah, and had no foreign king before that Herod who was king when the Lord was born. Thence began foreign kings, from Herod.  Before Herod all were of the tribe of Judah, but only until there should come He to whom the promise had been made. Therefore when the Lord Himself came, the kingdom of the Jews was overthrown, and removed from the Jews. Now they have no king; because they will not acknowledge the true King. See now whether they must be called Jews. Now ye do see that they must not be called Jews. They have themselves with their own voice resigned that name, so that they are not worthy to be called Jews, except only in the flesh. When did they sever themselves from the name? They said, "We have no king but Caesar."  O ye who are called Jews and are not, if ye have no king but Caesar, there hath failed a Prince of Judah: there hath come then He to whom the promise hath been made. They then are more truly Jews, who have been made Christians out of Jews: the rest of the Jews, who in Christ have not believed, have deserved to lose even the very name. The true Judaea, then, is the Church of Christ, believing in that King, who hath come out of the tribe of Judah through the Virgin Mary; believing in Him of whom the Apostle was just now speaking, in writing to Timothy, "Be thou mindful that Jesus Christ hath risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after my Gospel."  For of Judah is David, and out of David is the Lord Jesus Christ. We believing in Christ do belong to Judah: and we acknowledge Christ. We, that with eyes have not seen, in faith do keep Him. Let not therefore the Jews revile, who are no longer Jews. They said themselves, "We have no king but Caesar."  For better were it for them that their king should be Christ, of the seed of David, of the tribe of Judah. Nevertheless because Christ Himself is of the seed of David after the flesh, but God above all things blessed for ever,  He is Himself our King and our God; our King, inasmuch as born of the tribe of Judah, after the flesh, was Christ the Lord, the Saviour; but our God, who is before Judah, and before Heaven and earth, by whom were made all things,  both spiritual and corporal. For if all things by Himself were made; even Mary herself, out of whom He was born, by Himself was made...

All that are the elect of Christ  are his brethren by adoption, and all are Jews indeed and have been circumcised in spirit and by adoption inherit every promise to the sons of Abraham.  As the Magnificat, which we sing, says:

He in his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel; as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed forever.

finis

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The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Holmily of Augustine on Psalm LXIV
11th Sunday after Trinity Home

O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Gelasius [492-496]. This is the original as Cranmer translated it. It it was altered in the 1662 update by adding the phrase " running the way of thy commandments" The Collect's emphasis on Grace, compliments the story of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in today's Gospel story from Luke.

Psalms 63, 64 | 54, 55 , 1 Corinthians xv. 1    St. Luke xviii. 9

Homily of Augustine on Psalm LXIV

Comment  --

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

[Heb 9:27]

Augustine concludes his homily on Psalm 64 with this ,

 What followeth? If "there shall be praised all men right in heart," there shall be condemned the crooked in heart. Two things are set before thee now, choose while there is time....If of crooked heart thou hast become, there will come that Judgment, there will appear all the reasons on account of which God doeth all these things: and thou that wouldest not in this life correct thy heart by the rectitude of God, and prepare thyself for the right hand, where "there shall be praised all men right in heart," wilt be on the left, where at that time thou shalt hear, "Go ye into fire everlasting, that hath been prepared for the devil and his angels."  And will there be then time to correct the heart? Now therefore correct, brethren, now correct. Who doth hinder? Psalm is chanted, Gospel is read, Reader crieth, Preacher crieth; long-suffering is the Lord; thou sinnest, and He spareth; still thou sinnest, still He spareth, and still thou addest sin to sin. How long is God long-suffering? Thou wilt find God just also. We terrify because we fear; teach us not to fear, and we terrify no more. But better it is that God teach us to fear, than that any man teach us not to fear....Thou bringest forth grain, barn expect thou; bringest forth thorns, fire expect thou. But not yet hath come either the time of the barn or the time of the fire: now let there be preparation, and there will not be fear. In the name of Christ both we who speak are living, and ye to whom we speak are living: for amending our plan, and changing evil life into a good life, is there no place, is there no time? Can it not, if thou wilt, be done to-day? Can it not, if thou wilt, be now done? What must thou buy in order to do it, what specifics must thou seek? To what Indies must thou sail? What ship prepare? Lo, while I am speaking, change the heart; and there is done what so often and so long while is cried out for, that it be done, and which bringeth forth everlasting punishment if it be not done.

 

Will all men will be "saved" eventually and go to heaven regardless of their faith? Will God reconcile even Satan?  These very beliefs have worked their way into many unorthodox churches.  Even thoughts along this line have been voiced by the leaders of seemingly Catholic and Orthodox denominations.

In the early church, Alexander, Gregory of  Nyssa, and Origen leaned toward universal salvation. Origen wrote that even the devil himself might eventually be "saved" [declared heretical in the 5^th Council]  Augustine was adamantly opposed to these heretical teachings. He preaches the Gospel here. Choose while there is time. Turn while it is the light of day, for when the Day of the Lord comes, it shall be too late. Remember the words of  our Lord,

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 

The belief our Lord speaks of is not some ephemeral spiritualist belief in a made-up god, but rather in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior from damnation, a belief that is validated and witnessed in a turning of one's heart to God Almighty.

 This is the gist of today's collect as well. It is only by the Grace of God through Christ that we may have as a gift that measure of Grace so that we may obtain the promise of life everlasting, and avoid the fate of damnation.

Note: Wikipedia has a page on universalism that cites several passages that purportedly support this heresy. The "all" often used in Scripture is to be taken in context and with cognizance of other scripture. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for the sins of the world, and all men, does not give warrant to every man, regardless of faith, that Christ has saved him in his rebellion and sin. If it did, it would nullify the very words of Christ above and elsewhere.

Finis
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10th Sunday after Trinity

Homily of Augustine on Psalm 49 Part I
Home, Tenth Sunday after Trinity

LET thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source of Collect: Gelasian Sacramentary [492-496] and one similar appeared before in the Sacrementary of Leo. The petition reminds one of Romans: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. [Barber & Zahl]"8:26-27

2nd Kings xix 32, Psalms 61, 62 | 48, 49 , 1 Corinthians xii. 1   &   St. Luke xix. 41

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XLVIII

O HEAR ye this, all ye people; ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world; High and low, rich and poor, one with another.

Comment -

Psalm 49 was preached by Augustine in two parts. One is presented for this Sunday, one will be, Lord willing, offered next year on the 10th Sunday after Trinity.

 

I was struck in reading this of the tone. I would have to call it a "Hellfire and Brimstone" type of sermon.  The psalm itself deserves this treatment, for the theme is a comparison of those who are of God's people, and their promise of everlasting life, and the rest whose promise is of everlasting labor.

 

This is a message that has been abandoned by many preachers in the church (see more below). They will not preach of the end times and the difference between God's people and the rest. They preach of love and mercy, but never of God's righteousness and judgment. All men need to hear these words: The people of God to their comfort; and those who reject Christ as Savior to their discomfort. If Christ did not come as Savior, then your faith is in vain, and you have little or nothing to offer to any pagan. The call to preaching, and for them that will, hearing, is embodied in today's quotation from the 1st verse of the psalm:

 

O HEAR ye this, all ye people; ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world; High and low, rich and poor, one with another.

Augustine writes:

 

"Hear ye these things, all ye nations" (ver. 1). Not then you only who are here. For of what power is our voice so to cry out, as that all nations may hear? For Our Lord Jesus Christ hath proclaimed it through the Apostles, hath proclaimed it in so many tongues that He sent; and we see this Psalm, which before was only repeated in one nation, in the Synagogue of the Jews, now repeated throughout the whole world, throughout all Churches; and that fulfilled which is here spoken of, "Hear ye these words, all ye nations."...Of whom ye are: "With ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the world." This He seemeth to have repeated a second time, lest to have said "hear," before, were too little. What I say, he saith, "hear, with ears ponder," that is, hear not cursorily. What is, "with ears ponder"? It is what the Lord said, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear:" [1607] for as all who were in His presence must have had ears, what ears did He require save those of the heart, when He said, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear"? The same ears also this Psalm doth smite. "With ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the world." Perhaps there is here some distinction. We ought not indeed to narrow our view, but there is no harm in explaining even this view of the sense. Perhaps there is some difference between the saying, "all nations," and the saying, "all ye that dwell in the world." For perchance he would have us understand the expression, "dwell in," with a further meaning, so as to take all nations for all the wicked, but the dwellers of the world all the just. For he doth inhabit who is not held fast: but he that is occupied is inhabited, and doth not inhabit. Just as he doth possess whatever he hath, who is master of his property: but a master is one who is not held in the meshes of covetousness: while he that is held fast by covetousness is the possessed, and not the possessor....Therefore let even the ungodly hear: "Hear ye this, all ye nations." Let the just also hear, who have not heard to no purpose, and who rather rule the world than are ruled by the world: "with ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the world."And again he saith, "both all ye earthborn, and sons of men" (ver. 2).

 

Our Lord commanded that we should go throughout the world preaching the Gospel-the whole Gospel. That is that Jesus saves his elect from damnation and judgment. Friends, when you obey his commandment, I beg you keep in mind the seriousness of the mission and the effect. God has promised to open his banquet to those who are in the wedding dress (have put on Christ), and to cast the rest out into utter darkness where there will be wailing and crying in anguish [Matt 22:13], and as Abraham told Dives, once the die is cast there is no chance for reconciliation-the gulf is for all times and unassailable [Luke 16:26]. In full consideration of the 5th century collect for this Sunday, I pray that the ministers of this Order shall not be afraid to preach, in accordance with Scripture, what Jesus "saves" his elect from enduring.

 

I came across this interesting and timely article after drafting the above on the very subject of preaching and believing the Gospel concerning Hell.

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=10993

 

We study how Augustine regarded things in the 5th century, and so the following is pertinent to today's topic from the article at the link

 

"In 410 A.D., St. Augustine defined four states of afterlife: those so good they go to heaven; those so bad they go to hell; those who deserve some relief in their eternal torment; and those who deserve to be lifted out of torment after repenting for their sins. That set the stage for the doctrine of purgatory in 1237 A.D."

 

Finis.

 

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The Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Augustine on Psalm XLV
9th Sunday after Trinity Home

GRANT to us Lord we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, which cannot be without thee, may by thee be able to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source Leonine [440-461] taken in the Gelasian Sacramentary [492-496]. One is reminded of Paul's Epistle to Philemon vs 1:6 "That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." The 1662 Anglican Prayer Book revision read "that we, who cannot do anything that is good, may..." The Collect clearly points to God's grace and the work of the Holy Spirit in aiding us to do good. This theme was made a canon in the ecumenical councils and is part of the Order's vow.

1 Corinthians x. 1   &   St. Luke xvi. 1

1928 BCP Version with Luke xv. 11 - The Prodigal Son

Homily of Augustine on Psalm XLV

Comment.

This week we look at the homily of Augustine on Psalm 45:  In thinking of the regal tone of this psalm I was mindful of a note I sent to Centurion this week. I had admired his facebook entry for political affiliation. He wrote something after the fashion of "Theocratic, Christ is my King."  I asked if I might use that as well and he heartily concented. I would encourage all to think in terms of Theocracy. It is what God established from the beginning for his people, and all his elect really are theocratic if they follow Christ and not the world.

It proceeds: "I speak of the things which I have made unto the King." Is the Father still speaking? If the Father is still speaking, let us enquire how this also can be understood by us, consistently with the true Catholic Faith, "I speak of the things that I have made unto the King." For if it is the Father speaking of His own works to His Son, our "King," what works is the Father to speak of to the Son, seeing that all the Father's works were made by the Son's agency? Or, in the words, "I speak of My works unto the King," does the word, "I speak," itself signify the generation of the Son? I fear whether this can ever be made intelligible to those slow of comprehension: I will nevertheless say it. Let those who can follow me, do so: lest if it were left unsaid, even those who can follow should not be able. We have read where it is said in another Psalm, "God hath spoken once."  So often has He spoken by the Prophets, so often by the Apostles, and in these days by His Saints, and does He say, "God has spoken once"? How can He have spoken but "once," except with reference to His "Word"?  But as the "Mine heart hath uttered a good Word,"  was understood by us in the other clause of the generation of the Son, it seems that a kind of repetition is made in the following sentence, so that the "Mine heart hath uttered a good Word," which had been already said, is repeated in what He is now saying, "I speak." For what does "I speak" mean? "I utter a Word." And whence but from His heart, from His very inmost, does God utter the Word? You yourself do not speak anything but what you bring forth from your "heart," this word of yours which sounds once and passes away, is brought forth from no other place: and do you wonder that God "speaks" in this manner? But God's "speaking" is eternal. You are speaking something at the present moment, because you were silent before: or, look you, you have not yet brought forth your word; but when you have begun to bring it forth, you as it were "break silence;" and bring into being a word, that did not exist before. It was not so God begat the "Word." God's "speaking" is without beginning, and without end: and yet the "Word" He utters is but "One." Let Him utter another, if what He has spoken shall have passed away. But since He by whom it is uttered abideth, and That which is uttered abideth; and is uttered but once, and has no end, that very "once" too is said without beginning, and there is no second speaking, because that which is said once, does not pass away. The words "Mine heart hath uttered a good Word," then, are the same thing with, "I speak of the things which I have made unto the King." Why then, "I speak of the things which I have made"? Because in the Word Itself are all the works of God. For whatever God designed to make in the creation already existed in "the Word;" and would not exist in the reality, had it not existed in the Word,  just as with you the thing would not exist in the building, had it not existed in your design: even as it is said in the Gospel: "That which was made in Him was life."  That which was made then was in existence; but it had its existence in the Word: and all the works of God existed there, and yet were not as yet "works." "The Word" however already was, as this "Word was God, and was with God:" and was the Son of God, and One God with the Father. "I speak of the things I have made unto the King." Let him hear Him "speaking," who apprehends "the Word:" and let him see together with the Father the Everlasting Word; in whom exist even those things that are yet to come: in whom even those things that are past have not passed away. These "works" of God are in "the Word," as in the Word, as in the Only-Begotten, as in the "Word of God."

Our collect today supports this Theocratic idea, as we pray to our King, as did the ancient Christians:  GRANT to us Lord we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, which cannot be without thee, may by thee be able to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is also the theme that one of our senior centurion's used in crafting the prayer of the Centurion's Daily Litinay:

O Christ, our Leader in life's battle; We pray you; love all fellow officers of the Order of Centurions and teach them to love you with all their hearts and minds that they may think and speak and do only such things as are well-pleasing to you. Give them ready grace always to be strong and good, faithful and brave soldiers. Give them the courage to boldly witness their faith in you by their thoughts, words and actions. Graciously assist them with your heavenly help that they may ever diligently serve you and by no temptation be separated from you; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen

Amen.
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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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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.

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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]

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