We are mourning the only twentieth-century theologian who will be read in the twenty-third, by which time he will have been proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, as only two Popes so far have ever been.
Neither of those is Saint Sylvester, but Benedict XVI did die on the Feast of that, the Pope of the First Council of Nicaea, the Creed of which is used at Mass because it is the full Profession of Faith and because it was written for the purpose of Eucharistic recitation, rather than being a purely Baptismal formula that was not otherwise used liturgically at all until the Middle Ages.
As is illustrated by the use of the Apostles' Creed in the Office and in the Rosary, the Creeds are prayers. On Sunday, say the Nicene Creed for the repose of the soul of the man who taught its truths with greater depth and clarity than anyone else with whom any of us has shared this earth, and to invoke his intercession.
Then begin to read the three volumes of Jesus of Nazareth, by Joseph Ratzinger. Whether for the first time or for the umpteenth, it will change your life. The translators of the King James Bible had the dying thief say to the Dying Saviour, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom," because at that point in The Greatest Story Ever Told Ἰησοῦ, Jesus, was just too much for them or for the readership that they envisaged. Likewise, an Authorised Version is already taking shape, according to which Benedict's last words were, "Lord, I love you." Believe instead the original reports. Jesus, ich liebe dich.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBless you.
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