- Romans 6:14-18 -
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
By
no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey
him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obeyÑwhether you are
slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to
righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to
sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were
entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness.
_______________________________________________________________
Using Scripture, God's spirit challenges Christians to bring fleshy habits
and thought patterns under submission. He illuminates the believer's mind
with regard to biblical meaning and application. Therefore, the Word is
useful for "teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in
righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). The is no self-help in the believer's
life!
We are to surrender to the work and way of God's Spirit. We are covered by
divine grace and the Holy Spirit permanently dwells in us.
<<>><<>><<>>
February 29th - St. Hilary, Pope
Hilary died on February 29th in the year 468. Except in leap year, his
feast
is celebrated on February 28th.
Hilary was born in Sardinia at the end of the 4th century. All we know of
his early life is that his father's name was Crispinus, one of the papal
legates to the Council of Ephesus held in 449. This Council is generally
called the "Latrocinium" or "Robber Council."
A theory later condemned for its apparent confusion about the Divine and
human natures of Christ called "Monophysitism," was being propounded by a
monk called Eutyches. When Eutyches was condemned at a synod in 448, an
archdeacon, Dioscorus, came to his sup****t. Dioscorus used violence and
intrigue to get what he wanted. At the Council of Ephesus, called by the
Emperor Theodosius II, Dioscorus was able to get the upper hand and pushed
forth the monophysite and Nestorian positions.
Dioscorus and his followers excommunicated Pope Leo I and deposed the
patriarch, Flavian. They condemned and severely abused Flavian, causing
his
death. Hilary and the other papal legates barely escaped with their lives.
Dioscorus was subsequently deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and
exiled.
Hilary had attempted to protest the condemnation of Flavian and to sup****t
Pope Leo I. However violence erupted and Hilary was forced to flee. He hid
in the tomb of John the Evangelist and then secretly made his way back to
Rome. Still extent is Hilary's letter to the Empress Pulcheria in which he
apologizes for not having delivered the Pope's letter to her after the
Council.
After the death of Leo I, Hilary was elected pope and his reign was a
fairly
quiet one. His emphasis was on strengthening the Western Church. He
strongly
opposed the abuses of individual bishops and encouraged discipline,
thereby
stabilizing the Church in Gaul and Spain. On one occasion he is said to
have
publicly rebuked the Emperor Anthemius for showing favor to those who
taught
unsound or false doctrines. He convened a Synod at Rome in 465 and this is
the first synod in which extensive minutes have been preserved to the
present day. One of the decrees from this council was that a dying bishop
was prohibited from appointing his own successor.
Adjoining the Lateran Basilica in Rome, Hilary built chapels dedicated to
St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelists, which are still
standing
today. He also built a monastery near San Lorenzo outside the walls of
Rome.
Saint Quote:
It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous
life.
-Saint John Chrysostom
Bible Quote:
11 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and
will
visit them. 12 As the shepherd visiteth his hock in the day when he shall
be
in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep,
and
will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in
the cloudy and dark day. (Ezechiel 34:11-12)
<><><><>
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
Of His Flesh the mystery sing;
Of the Blood, all price exceeding,
Shed by our immortal King,
Destined, for the world's redemption,
From a noble womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless Virgin
Born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
Then He closed in solemn order
Wondrously His life of woe.
On the night of that last Supper
Seated with His chosen band,
He, the Paschal victim eating,
First fulfills the Law's command;
Then as Food to His apostles
Gives Himself with His own hand.
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
By His word to Flesh He turns;
Wine into His Blood He changes:-
What though sense no change discerns?
Only he the heart in earnest,
Faith her lesson quickly learns.
Roman Breviary and Missal, Feast of Corpus Christi and Holy Thursday, Hymn
Pange lingua glorisi Cor****is mysterium. (Tr. Caswall) (St. Thomas
Aquinas,
13th cent.)
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