📜Saint Peter Chrysologus, born in Imola around the year 380 and died circa 450, stands out in the history of the Church as the "Doctor of Homilies", a title reflecting the eloquence and theological depth of his preaching, which earned him the surname "Golden Word". Elevated to the episcopal see of Ravenna, then the imperial residence of the West, Peter exercised a ministry marked by the incisive brevity of his sermons, adapted to instruct the people and combat emerging heresies, especially the Monophysitism of Eutyches, whom he exhorted to submit to the authority of the Bishop of Rome. His life was an example of pastoral zeal, charity, and doctrinal firmness, leaving a legacy of hundreds of sermons explaining the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the mysteries of the Incarnation, consolidating the orthodox faith during a period of dogmatic and political turmoil.
✉️Epistle (II Tim 4, 1-8)
🛡️Dearly beloved: I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming.
🕯️Gospel (Mt 5, 13-19)
🧂At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
🌟Sound doctrine as the salt of wisdom and the light of truth
⛪The liturgical harmony between Paul's exhortation to Timothy and the Sermon on the Mount illuminates the mission of Saint Peter Chrysologus and of every Christian committed to the Truth: to be salt that preserves and light that guides. When Christ calls us the "salt of the earth", Saint Thomas Aquinas reminds us that salt denotes the divine wisdom that prevents the corruption of the world by sin and heresy (Catena Aurea); thus, the Bishop of Ravenna acted as salt by combating the Monophysite error, preventing the understanding of Christ's nature from being diluted by dangerous novelties. This function of preserving doctrine is directly connected to Paul's command: "preach the word, be instant... reprove", for true charity does not remain silent before the error that kills the soul, but admonishes with patience. As Saint Augustine teaches, shepherds who do not rebuke and do not illuminate are like savourless salt, fearing to offend men more than God (Sermon on Pastors). The light that is not hidden under a bushel is the faith professed publicly, not only in acts of private piety, but in the courageous defense of the integrity of God's Law, from which "not one jot nor one tittle shall pass". The fidelity of Chrysologus to the small and great commandments and his submission to the See of Peter show that true greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven resides in obedience to the Tradition handed down to us, fulfilling the law not by the dead letter, but by the Spirit who vivifies and sanctifies the Church throughout the centuries.
🇺🇸See English version of the critical articles here.
f1descatholica.blogspot.com