St. John of Damascus
Catholics remember and celebrate the life of the great Arab Church Father St. John of Damascus on Dec. 4.
Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics, whose tradition has been particularly shaped by his insights, celebrate the saint's feast on the same day as the Roman Catholic Church.
Among Eastern Christians, St. John (676-749) is best known for his defense of Christian sacred art, particularly in the form of icons. While the churches of Rome and Constantinople were still united during St. John's life, the Byzantine Emperor Leo III broke radically from the ancient tradition of the church, charging that the veneration of Christian icons was a form of idolatry.
John had grown up under Muslim rule in Damascus, as the child of strongly Christian parents. His excellent education – particularly in theology – prepared him well to defend the tradition of sacred iconography, against the heresy of the “iconoclasts,” so-called because they would enter churches and destroy the images therein.
During the 720s, the upstart theologian began publicly opposing the emperor's command against sacred images in a series of writings. The heart of his argument was twofold: first, that Christians did not actually worship images, but rather, through them they worshiped God, and honored the memory of the saints. Second, he asserted that by taking an incarnate physical form, Christ had given warrant to the Church's depiction of him in images.
By 730, the young public official's persistent defense of Christian artwork had made him a permanent enemy of the emperor, who had a letter forged in John's name offering to betray the Muslim government of Damascus.
The ruling caliph of the city, taken in by the forgery, is said to have cut off John's hand. The saint's sole surviving biography states that the Virgin Mary acted to restore it miraculously. John eventually managed to convince the Muslim ruler of his innocence, before making the decision to become a monk and later a priest.
Although a number of imperially-convened synods condemned John's advocacy of Christian iconography, the Roman church always regarded his position as a defense of apostolic tradition. Years after the priest and monk died, the Seventh Ecumenical Council vindicated his orthodoxy, and ensured the permanent place of holy images in both Eastern and Western Christian piety.
St. John of Damascus' other notable achievements include the “Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” a work in which he systematized the earlier Greek Fathers' thinking about theological truths in light of philosophy. The work exerted a profound influence on St. Thomas Aquinas and subsequent scholastic theologians. Centuries later, St. John's sermons on the Virgin Mary's bodily assumption into heaven were cited in Pope Pius XII's dogmatic definition on the subject.
The saint also contributed as an author and editor, to some of the liturgical hymns and poetry that Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics still use in their celebrations of the liturgy.
“Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith.” - Saint John of Damascus
Isaiah 25:6-10
6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all
peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat
things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD
will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he
will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have
waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this
mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is
trodden down in a dung-pit.
Matthew 15:29-37
29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them
the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put
them at his feet, and he healed them,
31 so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb
speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and
they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I
have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three
days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away
hungry, lest they faint on the way."
33 And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?"
34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
35 And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground,
36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having
given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the
disciples gave them to the crowds.
37 And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
Psalms 23:1-6
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Lord, in this Advent Season, help us draw closer to You
Wednesday December 4 2024
Is.
25:6-10a; Ps. 22:1-3a,3b-4,5,6;
Mt.
15:29-37 (Ps. Wk. I)
What happens within us, interiorly, when we
read, listen to or sing Psalm 23? Many people experience comfort and
consolation. Why that is so?
Psalm 23 opens with these reassuring words:
“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want” (v 1). It is a firm
and steady assurance that the Lord will provide in the face of challenging life
situations.
For the weary and stressed out, in need of refreshment and rejuvenation,
Psalm 23 consoles by saying that the Lord will give us “repose” and lead us to
“"restful waters”, where our “drooping spirit” will revive (vv 2-3).
In a hectic and competitive world, where
many of us live confused and muddled lives, we are promised that the Lord will
guide us “along the right path” (v 3).
What happens when we are traumatised by our losses and griefs and walking “in the valley of darkness” (v 4)? Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord, with the protective “crook” and the guiding “staff”, will journey with us.
Even more than that, Psalm 23 assures us that “goodness and kindness shall follow (pursue) us” all the days of our life, and we will “dwell … in the Lord’s own house … forever and ever” (v 6).
During life’s difficult moments, let us
meditate on Psalm 23. Its comforting words will enable us to live serenely in
the knowledge that, come what may, God will see us through with overwhelming
love and blessings.
Lord, in this Advent Season, help us draw closer to You and know You have come to be with us.
