Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (8:5---9:10) entitled "The consolation of the wise man". Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on Ecclesiastes by Saint Gregory of Agrigento, bishop.

Saint Gregory (559–630) was a Sicilian Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Agrigento from 590 until at least 603. Gregory was born near Agrigento on Sicily in 559. At the age of eighteen, he went on a pilgrimage in the Holy Land, traveling via Carthage to Tripoli. He was almost sold into slavery by a ship-owner in Carthage.

While in Jerusalem, he was ordained a deacon by Patriarch Makarios II. He returned to Agrigento via Constantinople and Rome. In 590 two factions with their respective candidates for the vacant see of Agrigento traveled to Rome to seek the pope's decision. Pope Gregory bypassed both candidates and consecrated Gregory of Agrigento. He was found hiding in a monastic garden out of reticence for high office when Gregory chose him.

Saint Gregory received an education in classics, rhetoric and theology. He is said to have read the Life of Basil of Caesarea many times and the Passion of the Holy Maccabees. At the request of a bishop, he interpreted the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus for a group of deacons. His biographer praises him as a second Chrysostom. By a miracle, he was able to fast constantly. He is also credited with performing healing miracles.

Saint Gregory's commentary is considered one of the best on Ecclesiastes from antiquity.

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

On Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (6:12---7:28) entitled "Be not overwise". Our treasure, which follows, is from an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot.

Saint Columban was an Irish missionary notable for founding several monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in present-day Italy. Saint Columban was born in the Kingdom of Leinster, on the southeast coast of Ireland, a century after Saint Patrick brought the Catholic faith to the island. Writing shortly after Columban's death, his first biographer and fellow monk, Jonas, states that when Columban's mother was pregnant with him, she had a dream of the sun rising from her womb. She later interpreted her dream to mean that her child would be a man of incredible genius, shining the light of faith upon the people of God whom he would serve. Because of this dream, Columban's mother took great care of raising her son, protecting him from every evil influence.

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

On Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (5:9—6:8) entitled "The vanity of riches". Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on Ecclesiastes by Saint Jerome, priest.

Saint Jerome was born at Stridon in Dalmatia around the year 340. He studied the classical authors at Rome and was baptized there. He embraced a life of a statism and went to the East where he was ordained a priest. Returning to Rome, he became a secretary to Pope Damascus. At Rome, he began to translate the holy scriptures into Latin and to promote the monastic life. Eventually he settled in Bethlehem where he served the needs of the Church. He wrote many works, especially commentaries on holy Scripture. He died at Bethlehem in 420.

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

On Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (3:1-22) entitled "To every time a purpose". Our treasure, which follows, is from a homily on Ecclesiastes by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, bishop.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth century archbishop of Constantinople and a theologian. He is numbered among the Doctors of the Church. He was a contemporary and close friend of Saint Basil the Great. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age. He was a classically trained orator and philosopher

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

On Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (2:1-3, 12b-26) entitled "The emptiness of pleasure and of human wisdom". Our treasure, which follows, is from a homily on Ecclesiastes by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, bishop.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth century archbishop of Constantinople and a theologian. He is numbered among the Doctors of the Church. He was a contemporary and close friend of Saint Basil the Great. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age. He was a classically trained orator and philosopher

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

On Sunday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes (1:1-18) entitled "All is vanity". Our treasure, which follows, is from the chapters On Charity by Saint Maximus the confessor, abbot.

Saint Maximus was a fifth century bishop of Turin, a city in northwest Italy famous for the shroud of Turin being kept in the cathedral there. Saint Maximus was a theological writer "who made a great contribution to the spread and consolidation of Christianity in northern Italy". Saint Maximus may best be described as a zealous and effective pastor of souls.

In the face of rising spiritual and political threats, Saint Maximus charged his congregation to remain steadfast in trusting the Lord and he succeeded in obtaining their support. Saint Maximus is the author of numerous discourses delivered to the people by the saint, consisting of 118 homilies, 116 sermons, and 6 treaties. Several hundred of these writings are still in existence. He died in 465.

St. Maximus the Confessor here makes clear the nature of true charity or love of God (one of the theological virtues) and affirms that it is not by faith alone that we secure our salvation, but also by a positive act of love of God and expressed in generosity and good works, particularly in long-suffering service to our neighbor.

The Book of Ecclesiastes comprises an extended reflective essay employing autobiographical narrative, proverbs, parables, and allegories. An almost unrelenting skepticism characterizes the tone or outlook. The issues with which the author deals and the questions he raises are aimed at those who would claim any absolute value in this life, including possessions, fame, success, or pleasure. Wisdom itself is challenged, but folly is condemned.

Today, February 22nd, as our church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of Peter, our Church invites us to read reflect on a passage from the Acts of the Apostles (11:1-18), entitled "Peter tells of the conversion of the Gentiles". Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope.

The "chair" to which this feast refers is the cathedra, or office, of the Apostle Peter. Given by Christ to St. Peter (see Matthew 16:13-18), Peter's supreme pastoral office is passed to each of his successors as Bishop of Rome, that is, where Peter last served and where he died a martyr. Throughout the 2,000-year history of the Church, there have been 266 popes, beginning with Peter. Among them are many saints and martyrs who have devoted themselves to the Gospel.

The Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter each year on February 22.

While an actual chair exists in Rome that some believe was used by St. Peter, the Chair of St. Peter represents the papacy, the unbroken succession of popes throughout the Church's 2,000-year history. Given by Christ Himself to St. Peter in the Gospel of Matthew, Peter's supreme pastoral office is passed to each of his successors as Bishop of Rome.

The Acts of the Apostles, the second volume of Luke's two-volume work, continues Luke's presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to Israel in the Old Testament and accomplished by Jesus has now under the guidance of the holy Spirit been extended to the Gentiles. This was accomplished through the divinely chosen representatives whom Jesus prepared during his historical ministry and commissioned after his resurrection as witnesses to all that he taught. Luke's preoccupation with the Christian community as the Spirit-guided bearer of the word of salvation rules out of his book detailed histories of the activity of most of the preachers. Only the main lines of the roles of Peter and Paul serve Luke's interest.

Today, February 21, as our Church celebrates the optional Memorial of Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor, we are invited to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Wisdom (7: 7-16, 22-30), entitled "The joy of the just united to God". Our treasure, which follows, is from a letter by Saint Peter Damian, bishop.

Saint Peter was born in Ravenna, Italy in 1007. Maybe because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by one of his brothers, Saint Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at the table and he liked to minister personally to their needs.

Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when his other brother, who was the archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor. Already in those days, Peter was very strict with himself. He wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours praying. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of Saint Romuald at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible.

The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter, between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some disagreement with Rome.

Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the cardinal-bishop of Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony—the buying of church offices–and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning against needless travel, violations of poverty, and too comfortable living. He even wrote to the bishop of Besancon complaining that the canons there sat down when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office.

He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin. With the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on February 22, 1072. In 1828, he was declared a Doctor of the Church.

The Book of Wisdom was written about fifty years before the coming of Christ. Its author, whose name is not known to us, was probably a member of the Jewish community at Alexandria, in Egypt. He wrote in Greek, in a style patterned on that of Hebrew verse. At times he speaks in the person of Solomon, placing his teachings on the lips of the wise king of Hebrew tradition to emphasize their value. His profound knowledge of the earlier Old Testament writings is reflected in almost every line of the book, and marks him, like Ben Sira, as an outstanding representative of religious devotion and learning among the sages of postexilic Judaism.

The primary purpose of the author was the edification of his co-religionists in a time when they had experienced suffering and oppression, in part at least at the hands of apostate fellow Jews. To convey his message, he made use of the most popular religious themes of his time, namely the splendor and worth of divine wisdom, the glorious events of the exodus, God's mercy, the folly of idolatry, and the way God's justice operates in rewarding or punishing the individual. The first ten chapters provide background for the teaching of Jesus and for some New Testament theology about Jesus. Many passages from this section of the book are used by the church in the liturgy.

On Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Proverbs (10:6-32) entitled "Various maxims". Our treasure, which follows, is from the Explanations of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop.

Saint Ambrose was born of a Roman family at Trier about the year 340. He studied at Rome and served in the imperial government at Sirmium. In 374, while, living in Milan, he was elected bishop of the city by popular acclaim and ordained on December 7. He devotedly carried out his duties and especially distinguished himself by his service to the poor, and as an effective pastor and teacher of the faithful. He strenuously guarded the laws of the church and defended orthodox teaching by writings and actions against the Arians. He died on Holy Saturday, April 4, 397. Saint Ambrose is a Doctor of the Church.

Saint Ambrose of Milan explained the Psalms as a source of spiritual exercise, a celebration of faith, and a way to heal the human soul. He believed that the Psalms were a divine gift that could help people develop virtues, learn about God, and find peace. For Ambrose a psalm is a blessing for the people... our universal tongue; the voice of the Church, a sweet outpouring of faith; a devotion divinely ordained; the cry of heart's delight; a leaping and jumping for joy...it soothes the angry spirit, banishes care, lessens sorrow. It guards us by night, guides us by day.

The book of Proverbs is an anthology of collections of sayings and instructions. Many of the sayings and perhaps some instructions were composed in the monarchic period (late eleventh to the early sixth centuries). Folk wisdom and observations could surely have been elaborated and re-expressed by learned scribes: "What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed" (Alexander Pope). There can be no doubt, however, that Proverbs is sophisticated literature by talented writers, winning readers with its compelling portrait of wisdom and inviting them to see life afresh, "wisely," through its wit, originality, and shrewd observation.

The primary purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, not only to the young and inexperienced but also to the advanced. Wisdom in the ancient Near East was not theoretical knowledge but practical expertise. Jewelers who cut precious stones were wise; kings who made their dominion peaceful and prosperous were wise. One could be wise in daily life, too, in knowing how to live successfully (having a prosperous household and living a long and healthy life) and without trouble in God's universe. Ultimately wisdom, or "sound guidance", aims at the formation of character.

Despite its enormous popularity and influence, no copy of the original text has survived, and reconstructions have necessarily drawn on translations, commentaries, and quotations. Among the most important of these was a commentary written by Ephrem of Edessa (ca. 306-373), a theologian who settled in this important center of Christianity (now Urfa in eastern Turkey).

On Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Proverbs (9:1-18) entitled "Wisdom and Foolishness". Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on the Book of Proverbs by Procopius of Gaza, bishop.

Procopius of Gaza was a paid teacher of rhetoric and philosophy who lived in Gaza (465 – 530). He wrote numerous works dedicated to pupils of the famous school of his native city, which was run by himself, or addressed to a wider public and rendered on festivals or important political-cultural events. He was highly valued because of the elegance and finesse of his style during the Byzantine period, and he was one of the last voices of Greek sophistry.

The book of Proverbs is an anthology of collections of sayings and instructions. Many of the sayings and perhaps some instructions were composed in the monarchic period (late eleventh to the early sixth centuries). Folk wisdom and observations could surely have been elaborated and re-expressed by learned scribes: "What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed" (Alexander Pope). There can be no doubt, however, that Proverbs is sophisticated literature by talented writers, winning readers with its compelling portrait of wisdom and inviting them to see life afresh, "wisely," through its wit, originality, and shrewd observation.

The primary purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, not only to the young and inexperienced but also to the advanced. Wisdom in the ancient Near East was not theoretical knowledge but practical expertise. Jewelers who cut precious stones were wise; kings who made their dominion peaceful and prosperous were wise. One could be wise in daily life, too, in knowing how to live successfully (having a prosperous household and living a long and healthy life) and without trouble in God's universe. Ultimately wisdom, or "sound guidance", aims at the formation of character.

Despite its enormous popularity and influence, no copy of the original text has survived, and reconstructions have necessarily drawn on translations, commentaries, and quotations. Among the most important of these was a commentary written by Ephrem of Edessa (ca. 306-373), a theologian who settled in this important center of Christianity (now Urfa in eastern Turkey).