Saturday 20 November 2021
Saturday of week 33 in Ordinary Time
Spiritual Reading
Your Second Reading from the Office of Readings:
Saturday of week 33 in Ordinary Time
A conference of St Thomas Aquinas
When your glory is seen, I shall be satisfied
It is fitting that the end of all our desires, namely eternal life coincides with the words at the end of the creed, “Life everlasting. Amen.”
The first point about eternal life is that man is united with God. For God himself is the reward and end of all our labours: I am your protector and your supreme reward. This union consists in seeing perfectly: At present we see through a glass, darkly; but then we shall see face to face.
Next it consists in perfect praise, according to the words of the prophet: Joy and happiness will be found in it, thanksgiving and words of praise.
It also consists in the complete satisfaction of desire, for there the blessed will be given more than they wanted or hoped for. The reason is that in this life no one can fulfil his longing, nor can any creature satisfy man’s desire. Only God satisfies, he infinitely exceeds all other pleasures. That is why man can rest in nothing but God. As Augustine says: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our heart can find no rest until it rests in you.
Since in their heavenly home the saints will possess God completely, obviously their longing will be satisfied, and their glory will be even greater. That is why the Lord says: Enter into the joy of your Lord. Augustine adds: The fullness of joy will not enter into those who rejoice, but those who rejoice will enter into joy. I shall be satisfied when your glory is seen, and again: He who satisfies your desire with good things.
Whatever is delightful is there in superabundance. If delights are sought, there is supreme and most perfect delight. It is said of God, the supreme good: Boundless delights are in your right hand.
Again, eternal life consists of the joyous community of all the blessed, a community of supreme delight, since everyone will share all that is good with all the blessed. Everyone will love everyone else as himself, and therefore will rejoice in another’s good as in his own. So it follows that the happiness and joy of each grows in proportion to the joy of all.
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In other parts of the world and other calendars:
Saint Rafał Kalinowski, Priest
From the exhortations of St Raphael Kalinowski, religious
You must be holy
The Holy Scriptures praise nothing more than a perfect and holy life lived in the exact and perfect fulfilment of each one’s duties. In the Old Testament our Lord and God taught his people and told them: ‘You must be holy because I am holy’ (Lv 11:44).
The Eternal Father gave us our Lord Jesus Christ as our teacher, master and guide. He confirmed and ratified the Old Testament injunction where he taught us that we must emulate the holiness of the Father: ‘You must be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt 5:48). How does one become perfect and holy? The Doctors of the Church, the leaders of souls, and the masters of the spiritual life answer: If you would be perfect and become holy, fulfil your duties faithfully.
Once a desert father was asked by a certain young hermit what books he ought to study in order to advance in holiness. The old man replied: My practice is to read two books only. In the morning hours I read the Gospel, and in the evening I read the Rule. The first teaches me the way I should walk as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other teaches me what I should do to be a good religious. That is enough for me.
Let us therefore be students of the laws of God so that we may conduct ourselves according to them. ‘When you walk, these will guide you; when you lie down, watch over you; when you wake, talk with you’ (Pv 6:22). Wherever we may be or go, may they go with us to direct our footsteps. May they be so near us when we sleep that they may fill our thoughts as soon as we awaken. His voice will speak to us in them. He will refresh us for the day ahead. Through his laws we will gain the victory over our doubts. We will cast away every obstacle. We will free ourselves of that sluggishness of nature which is the enemy of strength, the foe of devotion, and the lover of ease. The law of life will help us to overcome our fears in time of temptation and to follow eagerly in the way of obedience. May it always be at hand to counsel us, so that by it we may find the strength to follow God’s call with generous hearts and willing souls.
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Saint Edmund, King and Martyr
St Edmund the Martyr crowned by angels, from a manuscript of Bury St Edmunds c.1130.
From The Passion of St Edmund by St Abbo of Fleury
Edmund called out with true belief to Holy Christ.
Edmund the blessed, King of the East Angles, was wise and honourable, and always nobly praised the Almighty God. He was humble and virtuous, he remained so resolute that he was unwilling to turn to shameful sins, nor did he ever deviate from his religious practice. King Edmund was always mindful of this wise lesson: “As a leader, do not raise yourself above your people, but be among them just like anyone else.” Like a father, he was generous to the poor and widows, and with kindness guided his people to righteous ways, protecting them from the cruel, so they all happily lived with true faith in God.
Eventually, though, the Danish people came with ships to ravage and attack the land far and wide, as they often do. Leading the Vikings’ raids were the fierce Hingwar and Hubba, united together in evil. They landed in Northumbria, laid waste to the land, and slew the people with ash spears. Then Hingwar took his ships east to East Anglia, while Hubba remained behind in Northumbria, winning victory in his bloodthirstiness. This all happened when Prince Alfred, who would later be the glorious West Saxon King, was 21 years old. Like a wolf, Hingwar moved stealthily on land, slaying many men, women, and innocent children, shamefully tormenting the innocent Christians.
Hingwar soon sent a messenger with a boastful message to King Edmund, saying that he should pay his tribute if he cared about his life. The message said, “Hingwar our King, keen and victorious on sea and on land, commands many people. He will soon arrive here with his army to make camp for himself and his troops for the winter. He now orders that you share your gold and your elders’ wealth with him. If you do this, he will allow you to live and rule beneath him, as you do not have the might to withstand his assault.”
So then King Edmund called for the nearest bishop, and together they debated how he should answer the fierce Hingwar. The bishop was afraid of this sudden misfortune and for the King’s life. He advised Edmund that it seemed best to submit to Hingwar. For a moment, the King was quiet and looked to the ground and regally answered, “Listen good bishop. My poor people are being shamefully mistreated. I would rather fall in battle myself if it would allow my people to once again enjoy their land.” The bishop replied, “Listen, dearest King, your people lie dead, killed, and you have not the help that you need to fight. The Vikings will come and enslave any they leave alive. So save yourself while you can. Pay the tribute or take flight. It is the only way to live.”
Then King Edmund bravely said, “My only desire is that I am not the only man who will survive after these Vikings kill my men, women, and children, while they lie in their beds. It is not my way to take flight. If I must die to save my land and my people, so be it. The Almighty God knows that I will never turn away from his worship, nor from his true love, whether I live or whether I die.”
After these words, he turned to Hingwar’s messenger and said boldly, “Certainly, you deserve to be slain now, but I will not defile my clean hands with your vile blood. Instead, I follow Christ, who set an example for us. I will gladly be killed by you, if that is God’s will. So go swiftly to your lord and tell him, “Never will Edmund yield to you, heathen, until you first submit to the ways of Jesus Christ.”
The messenger went quickly away and met the fierce Hingwar, who with all his army was fast approaching Edmund. The messenger told the dishonourable leader how Edmund had answered. Insulted, Hingwar then furiously commanded his army to seize and bind the King who had rejected his demands.
When Hingwar came, King Edmund stood in his hall, mindful of the saviour and threw away his weapons. He wished to follow the example of Christ, who forbade Peter to fight against the fierce Jews with his weapons. So the dishonourable ones bound Edmund and mocked him shamefully, beating him with staffs. Afterwards, they led the faithful king to a sturdy tree and tied him there with strong bonds, thereupon beating him for a long time with whips. Between each lash, however, Edmund called out with true belief to Holy Christ, which only further angered the furious heathens. Then, they threw spears at him, as if for sport, until his body was covered with their weapons, like a hedgehog’s bristles, just as St. Sebastian was. When Hingwar saw that Edmund would not renounce his faith, but with resolute belief he always held to Christ, he commanded them to behead the noble king. This the heathens did. While he still yet called to Christ, the heathen took the holy man to his slaughter. With one blow, they struck off his head, and his soul travelled joyfully to Christ.
Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.