DAILY MEDITATION (FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4)
MEDITATION OF THE DAY
Faith in Christ’s Pity
Faith, indeed, is of two kinds. Thus, faith comes by hearing, for, when we hear the sacred Scriptures, we believe in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And this faith is made perfect by all those things which Christ has ordained; it believes truly, it is devout, and it keeps the commandments of him who has renewed us…. Then again, there is a faith which is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. This is an undoubting and unquestioning hope both for the things promised us by God and for the success of our petitions….
Every action of Christ and all his working of miracles were truly very great and divine and wonderful, but of all things the most wonderful is his honorable cross. For by nothing else except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low, the sin of our first parent destroyed, hell plundered, resurrection bestowed, the power given us to despise the things of this world and even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth, the gates of paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God, and we made children and heirs of God. By the cross all things have been set aright. For all we who are baptized in Christ, says the Apostle, are baptized in his death and as many of us as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ; moreover, Christ is the power and wisdom of God. See how the death of Christ, the cross, that is to say, has clothed us with the subsistent wisdom and power of God!
Saint John Damascene
Saint John Damascene († c. 749) was the last of the Greek Fathers of the Church. / From The Fathers of the Church: Saint John of Damascus: Writings, Vol. 37, Frederic H. Chase, Jr., Tr. © 1958, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. Used with permission.
