📜 St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), venerated as one of the greatest Fathers of the Church and nicknamed "Golden Mouth" (Chrysostom) for his matchless eloquence, was born in Antioch and ascended to the episcopal throne of Constantinople after years of rigorous monastic asceticism and profound study of the Scriptures. As a zealous shepherd, he dedicated himself to the moral reform of the clergy and the defense of the poor, courageously facing the corruption of the imperial court and social decadence, which earned him the enmity of Empress Eudoxia and successive exiles. His spiritual work, vast and profound, centers on practical biblical exegesis and liturgy, leaving an immortal legacy in the Church; his final tribulations only confirmed his holiness, delivering his soul to God in Comana, on the way to exile, with the words "Glory to God for all things".
🎶 Introit (Sir 15:5 | Ps 91:2)
In medio Ecclesiae aperuit os ejus: et implevit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiae, et intellectus: stolam gloriae induit eum. Ps. Bonum est confiteri Domino: et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime.
In the midst of the Church the Lord opened his mouth: and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding: He clothed him with a robe of glory. Ps. It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to Thy name, O Most High.
✉️ Epistle (II Tim 4:1-8)
Caríssime: Testificor coram Deo et Christo Jesu qui judicaturus est vivos ac mortuos et adventum ipsius et regnum ejus: prædica verbum insta oportune inportune argue obsecra increpa in omni patientia et doctrina. Erit enim tempus cum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt sed ad sua desideria coacervabunt sibi magistros prurientes auribus, et a veritate quidem auditum avertent ad fabulas autem convertentur. Tu vero vigila in omnibus labora opus fac evangelistæ ministerium tuum imple. Ego enim jam delibor et tempus meæ resolutionis instat. Bonum certamen certavi cursum consummavi fidem servavi. In réliquo reposita est mihi justitiæ corona quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die justus judex non solum autem mihi sed et his qui diligunt adventum ejus.
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)
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus discípulis suis: Vos estis sal terræ quod si sal evanuerit in quo sallietur ad nihilum valet ultra nisi ut mittatur foras et conculcetur ab hominibus. Vos estis lux mundi non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita. Neque accendunt lucernam et ponunt eam sub modio sed super candelabrum ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt. Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus ut videant vestra bona opera et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in cælis est. Nolíte putare quoniam veni solvere legem aut prophetas non veni solvere sed adimplere. Amen quippe dico vobis donec transeat cælum et terra jota unum aut unus apex non præteribit a lege donec omnia fiant. Qui ergo solverit unum de mandatis istis minimis et docuerit sic homines minimus vocabitur in regno cælorum qui autem fecerit et docuerit hic magnus vocabitur in regno cælorum.
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 anymore 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.
🕯️ Doctrinal fidelity and the witness of life as light of the world
🔥 The liturgy of today invites us to contemplate the figure of the shepherd who not only teaches the truth but becomes the very incarnation of doctrine through suffering and fidelity, as exhorted by St. Paul to Timothy. St. John Chrysostom, true "salt of the earth", preserved sound doctrine against the moral corruption of his time, fulfilling the evangelical mandate to be a light that is not hidden, even when that light disturbs the darkness of temporal power. St. Augustine reminds us that truth is the food of the soul and that shepherds must dispense it without fear, for "nothing is more powerful than truth, nothing stronger than charity" (Sermon 179), a reality lived by Chrysostom who preferred exile to flattery. The Gospel ratifies that greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to him who "shall do and teach", establishing an indissoluble union between orthodoxy and orthopraxy; thus, the Christian must be the salt that prevents the putrefaction of the world through divine wisdom and the light that dispels ignorance through the example of life, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches when commenting on this passage: "Salt preserves flesh, so wisdom preserves man in good; light guides steps, so good work guides the neighbor to God" (Catena Aurea). Therefore, the "crown of justice" mentioned by the Apostle is not a prize for worldly success, but for perseverance in the confession of faith before generations that, having itching ears, turn away from the truth to embrace fables, requiring of us a sober vigilance and a testimony that glorifies the Heavenly Father, regardless of persecutions.
See English version of the critical articles here.
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