He will not give us more than we can handle---really!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Sorrowful Mysteries

Memorial of St. Leo the Great

Wisdom 2:23–3:9

Psalm 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19

Luke 17:7-10

When we do the Lord's work, we do it with the Lord's strength. St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out that the only thing a human being can do to separate from God is reject Him. Other than that, all of the works we do are done in tandem. And the One who bears the greater part of the burden of our work is God Himself.

What is there to brag about if we have cleaned our rooms by making the bed, but it is God who picked up the toys, threw away the trash, dusted the furniture, swept the floors, washed and painted the walls and rearranged the furniture? That is what Jesus is telling us. If we do everything that we can, we still have done remarkably little and only what is expected, and so we should not expect that a shower of gold will fall from Heaven as a reward. Jesus tells us to regard ourselves as humble and obedient servants.

But God regards us as children who are demonstrating their love in the small ways that a child can. God sees these actions of the servant and laughs with delight at the child who has learned how to wash his hands without throwing the towel on the floor. God knows our weaknesses and does not ask from us anything that we cannot give. True, we are servants of the Lord, but we are servants who are also well-loved children. While we are not promised and should not expect any extraordinary reward, we nevertheless receive one every time we receive Him in the Eucharist-- a taste of heaven here on Earth, a moment of being amid the waste of the world.

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With apparent strong conviction of the importance of the Bishop of Rome in the Church, and of the Church as the ongoing sign of Christ’s presence in the world, Leo the Great displayed endless dedication as pope. Elected in 440, he worked tirelessly as "Peter’s successor," guiding his fellow bishops as "equals in the episcopacy and infirmities."

Leo is known as one of the best administrative popes of the ancient Church. His work branched into four main areas, indicative of his notion of the pope’s total responsibility for the flock of Christ. He worked at length to control the heresies of Pelagianism, Manichaeism and others, placing demands on their followers so as to secure true Christian beliefs. A second major area of his concern was doctrinal controversy in the Church in the East, to which he responded with a classic letter setting down the Church’s teaching on the two natures of Christ. With strong faith, he also led the defense of Rome against barbarian attack, taking the role of peacemaker.

In these three areas, Leo’s work has been highly regarded. His growth to sainthood has its basis in the spiritual depth with which he approached the pastoral care of his people, which was the fourth focus of his work. He is known for his spiritually profound sermons. An instrument of the call to holiness, well-versed in Scripture and ecclesiastical awareness, Leo had the ability to reach the everyday needs and interests of his people. One of his sermons is used in the Office of Readings on Christmas.

It is said of Leo that his true significance rests in his doctrinal insistence on the mysteries of Christ and the Church and in the supernatural charisms of the spiritual life given to humanity in Christ and in his Body, the Church. Thus Leo held firmly that everything he did and said as pope for the administration of the Church represented Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, and St. Peter, in whose place Leo acted.