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| Saint Gregory of Nyssa |
I recently read the homily of Saint Gregory
of Nyssa (?-386) on Ecclesiastes. The essence of his message was that Christ is
our Head, and wise people keep their eyes upon Him. To the world this is foolishness because it
does not understand that a living Christ really exists and that He is humanity’s
final reality. To worldly understanding,
there is no final reality—only individual perceptions of God, or some life
force, or no perception of God at all.
People who look to a living Christ – the second member of a Triune God are
considered fools to the prevailing secular world.
A tough sell
When God told Moses to lead the Israelites
out of Egypt, God identified Himself as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3.14.) Moses must
have felt foolish traipsing in to Pharaoh under the authority of the great I AM
to say “Thus says the Lord God of Israel
Christ identified Himself as “I AM” and got
an equally cool reception (John 8.58-59). The crowd wasn’t ready to receive God made
Man: The Incarnation! (John1.1&14a)
The Christ who is real
God is who He is, regardless of what the
crowds want. The living Christ is real. He is.
And this is the Christ that St. Gregory told us to keep in our sight. The world
does not understand this; the secular mind thinks Saint Gregory’s premise is foolish.
“How can you see Christ?” the
agnostic asks mockingly. The atheist
believes that there was no empty tomb and that our prayers fall into an empty universe.
To the worldly mind, the Christian is a fool—the more devout the Christian, the
bigger the fool.
It has always been this way. Saint Gregory
commented:
”People are often considered blind and
useless when they make the supreme Good their aim and give themselves up to the
contemplation of God, but Paul made a boast of this and proclaimed himself a
fool for Christ’s sake. The reason he said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake”
was that his mind was free from all earthly preoccupation.” (See: Christian
Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours, 1976, P.1699.)
It’s not that Paul was oblivious to the
affairs of life, but his focus was on the final goal which was to be with
Christ. I have heard people (usually
agnostics) say some like this about devout, or seemingly devout Christians:
“He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.” It may sound clever but it’s
not true.
Heavenly minded people
It is the truly heavenly minded person who
prays most fervently, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He really
means it and his actions strive to make it be so. The heavenly minded person understands
that if the divine Good of God’s will is reflected in human affairs and society
– just as it already exists in heaven – the result will produce an environment
ideal for humanity to thrive. And the
person who is truly heavenly minded will work for that end.
Jesus said the greatest Commandment is to
“love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your
mind.” (Matthew 22.37). If a person really loves God with all their being they
will naturally become heavenly minded.
It is a natural outgrowth from this spiritual state that the second
great commandment occurs: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew
22.38). The closer a heavenly minded a
person becomes, they will be drawn nearer to the heart of God. Inevitably they
will find themselves aching with compassion for lost and hurting people because
of God’s extravagant love for us. (See Jeremiah 31.3, John 3.16, Romans 5.8,
Ephesians 2.4-5, 1John 3.1.)
Infectious love & a Comforter
Christ’s love is infectious (John 13.34-35,
15.10 & 12.) and we use Christ’s perfect love as our model. Perfect love is
not competitive or self-serving (John 15.13, 1Corinthians 13, Philippians 2.1-8.)
Seeking perfect love means the world may
destroy the seeker, just like it did to Christ.
By the world’s standards only fools would pursue or value such a love. Yet
Christians are called to seek Christ’s perfect love. We are fools for Christ.
Do not dismay at this calling. Earth is not
our home but you can rest in the assurance that Christ promised to give us a
home elsewhere. (John 14.2-3.)
Those who seek Christ’s perfect love will
be hated in this world. Count on it. (John 15.18.) Perfect love enlightens but
the world prefers darkness. The world has never valued or comprehended His
love.
While we are in this world, Christ promised
to send us a Comforter, a Helper—the Holy Spirit (John 14.16, 25, John 15.26,
Acts 2.4.) This is the Spirit of God who
raised Jesus from the dead and who dwells in those who are restored in Christ’s
perfect love (Romans 8.11. Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), No.733, 734.).
We are promised that those who receive
Christ and are led by the Spirit of God become Children of God. (John 1.12,
Roman 8.14. CCC, No. 742.)
We are fools no more.
Click image below or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=457nVpxJDkA
[Ubi Caritas, The Cambridge Singers]
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