Matthew 24:45-51

“Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season. Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: ‘My lord is long a coming:’ and shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with drunkards: the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not: and shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The wise and faithful servant is the one called by God to tend to His people, to provide them the sweet savor of the Gospel: “O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet” (Psalm 33:9), not for honor, not for money, but out of an abundance of love distills the delectable dew of the words of the Lord into the hearts of those that hear: “Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass” (Deuteronomy 32:2). This, then, is the faithful and wise servant, who clings to the Lord with steadfast love through all things, but also endowed with the wisdom to bring out the treasures of the scriptures forward to the people, that they may bask in the magnificence and love that they contain: “All the vessels of gold and silver, five thousand four hundred: all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem” (1 Esdras 1:11). Such wisdom cannot be taken by force, but wisdom of the mind and heart is a free gift of God to the one that receives it, knowing that it will be placed in hands that care for Lady Wisdom’s beauty, and will enjoy her company not for mission’s sake, but for her own sake: “Say to wisdom: ‘Thou art my sister:’ and call prudence thy friend” (Proverbs 7:4). Or, “faithful” can mean that one’s every action is oriented to the love, glory, and praise of God: “To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever” (Apocalypse 5:13), every thought, word, and action treated as precious and given to divine things: “Bringing into captivity every understanding unto the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5), and to be wise is to take the magnificent realities contemplated and hand them out appropriately to enrich the hearts of those that hear: “The lips of the wise shall disperse knowledge” (Proverbs 15:7). Or, this can be an extolling of the aforementioned mountains, who are both in love and wise, for many are the lovers that lack intellectual abilities, and many are the intellectuals who keep God’s words in their minds without them trickling into the heart, but wonderful, Theophila, is the one whose mind is keen and whose heart is aflame. When such gifts are used reliably in the service of God, for the doctor, preacher, or consecrated soul that is entrusted with the mysteries of God is called to live a perfect life, protected by a strict discipline: “Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled” (Ecclesiasticus 36:27), then is the wise and faithful servant is worthy of praise. It can also mean that the great teacher also be adorned with good works, that the wisdom of love may not be a purely abstract, theoretical wisdom, but through exercising both contemplative and active virtues, a pure picture of the entire Jesus, rather than a part, may emerge in the soul: “Patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing” (James 1:4). The lord of the household is Jesus, with His household being the Catholic Church; now, this need not refer only to popes, bishops, and priests, for St. Catherine of Siena helped guide the Church as a consecrated virgin, St. Francis revolutionized religious life as a deacon, St. Therese made the Gospel fresh in her total littleness; it is rather for the one that has a deep relationship with the Lord, as well as harnessing as many graces as He is wont to give and making an apt return on them: “Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have gained other five over and above” (Matthew 25:20). The meat to give, then, are acts of love to all, simple truths to those with simple ears, and the deep, weighty things of God for those whose hearts and minds are ready for them: “I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: say to them: ‘In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread:’ and you shall know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 16:12). Therefore, blessed is the one whom the Lord finds dispensing God’s love to the world, be it through teaching, work, prayer, or greater still, a combination of all three: “I became all things to all men, that I might save all” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Now, to the good hearer, the one that receives the words of God and does well, is given a heavenly portion of food: “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them” (Luke 12:37), but there is a greater reward for the good teacher, for these are set over His goods, participating in divine dignity with the Teacher of Teachers, for which is better, Theophila, to go to a holy site and take in its beauty and the presence of God, or to point the multitudes to the holy site and show them the way, that they may bask in that glory and beauty, and there pray themselves? Now, “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48), and to the deep lover of God it is expected to have one’s portion entirely in His love: “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup” (Psalm 15:5), while simultaneously yielding good fruit, and to not only miss this target, but worse still, turn back into sin, Jesus gives a strict warning. While it is natural for the desires to cry out for the pleasures previously enjoyed: “We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5), greater, Theophila, is the heart’s longing for your Beloved: “As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God” (Psalm 41:2), but to weary in the desert and turn against the Lord, forgetting His promises, is to die: “Therefore all the men, whom Moses had sent to view the land, and who at their return had made the whole multitude to murmur against him, speaking ill of the land that it was naught, died and were struck in the sight of the Lord” (Numbers 14:36-37). Now, the disposition of the one entrusted with much should be that of a servant: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11), whereas to walk in pride, lording one’s office, consecrated state, or knowledge over others and detesting them is to spoil the gift of each of these things. Furthermore, to be an alien to the lowly but a friend of luxuries such as bars is against Gospel poverty: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3); “Needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10). To beat one’s fellow servants can come by harsh words, for the lofty soul is called to be a minister of beautiful words, letting beauty and grace adorn them as a robe: “Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully” (Psalm 44:5), or by bad example beating the conscience of another: “Now when you sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). The Lord will separate this soul, who was given much and made a poor return, and be removed from the joyful company of saints. Or, to be separated is to have the good works that one did be separated from them and be important pieces in the love stories of others, but to the one that fell away, their soul will not know such treasures. There can also be a link here, given the term hypocrite, that this is the one that works in the field and at the mill, but with an intention not to make God loved, but another purpose, for which their hearts are not taken away from them into heavenly places, to drink of the Lord: “I know a man… that he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:3-4), but instead are left on the ground to wallow in vice, self-love, and hatred of others. To you, Theophila, it is given to await eagerly your Beloved’s coming, like one beloved looking out her window for the arrival of her lover: “Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices” (Canticle 2:9), adorning the room of your heart with beautiful things: “He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty” (2 Paralipomenon 3:6), and your garden of souls in your care, even if these are unmet and attained by prayer, with flowers and sweet odors: “Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes” (Canticle 4:13-14).

Matthew 24:42-44

“Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your lord will come. But this know ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.”

Watching is in keeping one’s eyes open when most are asleep, and so to watch in the Christian sense is to keep the eyes of the heart attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, doing the greatest act of love one sees before them, casting aside all that weighs down the soul from this love: “Let us, therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12). While this can in one sense refer to the second coming, it is of importance to you now, Theophila, in that it refers to a vigilance of the heart, constantly attentive to the love of the Beloved, bearing Him in mind and in affection, letting yourself be His sanctuary: “For the Lord hath chosen Sion: he hath chosen it for his dwelling” (Psalm 131:13), and if He draws you to something, to do it with joy as a lover sees something that will delight His beloved and immediately purchases it. His second coming can also refer to the day of death, for this day comes to all people, and one does not know when this will take place. The master of the household, then, is your mind, and the house is your heart, for the mind is the guardian of the heart, but it is the heart that contains the true treasures of love: “For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also” (Matthew 6:21). Thus, the enemy wars with your mind: “But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted, and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3), which you are called to reinforce with joy, devotion, hymns, and all that is holy and good: “Be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2), that he may steal the love in your heart and replace it with anything else: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). The thief can also be any false God image, which the devil will use, be it that of a dictator, a fickle lover, a distant parent, or anything besides a loving Father and the most gentle of lovers; these images come and tear down the fences of your soul with falsehood, spoiling the sweetness within: “Why hast thou broken down the hedge thereof, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck it? The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste: and a singular wild beast hath devoured it” (Psalm 79:13-14). This thief will not come in times of great consolation, when the sun is shining and all seems to be flowers and sweet scents: “While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof” (Canticle 1:11), but in times of external and interior trials, when things are dry and difficult, which is indicated by the night, for in these times you show yourself to be a lover rather than a mercenary, one that stands with the Beloved in desolate times rather than simply enjoying His gifts: “In my abundance I said: ‘I shall never be moved.’ O Lord, in thy favour, thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled” (Psalm 29:7-8). Vigilance in these times, repelling the thief with the swords of Scripture and prayer: “Take unto you… the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)” (Ephesians 6:17); “Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war” (Psalm 143:1), is then of the utmost importance, because all dry prayer is from Satan: “And when they had kept this watch for full twenty days, the cisterns, and the reserve of waters failed among all the inhabitants of Bethulia, so that there was not within the city, enough to satisfy them, no not for one day, for water was daily given out to the people by measure” (Judith 7:11), who attempts to strangle your spirit with a lack of good feelings that you in your feebleness may cry out against God: “So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: ‘Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?’” (Exodus 17:3). He is like a general, Theophila, surveying the walls of your soul for any weakness and assaulting it, using aridity, external difficulties, and trickery to sever the connection of love between you and God: “And he took by assault the renowned city of Melothus, and pillaged all the children of Tharsis” (Judith 2:13). Therefore, it is a call to guard your soul as the greatest treasure, for all the riches of the world are not equal in value to your heart: “If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing” (Canticle 8:7), which is done by much counsel, particularly in having a spiritual director and spiritual friends that can help you identify what is the Holy Spirit and what is a snare: “Where there is no governor, the people shall fall: but there is safety where there is much counsel” (Proverbs 11:14); “But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings” (Proverbs 1:17), for just as Jerusalem was surrounded by cities and mountains to keep it from siege: “He shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth in Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it” (Psalm 124:1-2), so too does counsel keep you from the devil’s traps, particularly when these are mountains, that is, lofty souls that are both in love and learned. This is why it says in the Psalms: “Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and hills justice” (Psalm 71:3), for the hills are those with hearts enkindled but with not much wisdom, or conversely those that are very learned but do not understand the love of God, and these are of great benefit, but a mountain brings peace with them, having the mind and heart full of the peace of the love and wisdom of God. Therefore, Theophila, surround yourself with mountains: “He that walketh with the wise, shall be wise” (Proverbs 13:20), for you are a young maiden walking on a pathway littered with robbers to the house of your Bridegroom, and keeping company with fierce warriors for Christ will keep your soul nice and safe: “Behold threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel, surrounded the bed of Solomon? All holding swords, and most expert in war: every man’s sword upon his thigh, because of fears in the night” (Canticle 3:7-8).

Matthew 24:32-41

“And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors. Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass. But of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone. And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and the one shall be left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.”

Jesus then takes a lesson from the fig tree, that during winter, it seems to be dead, but when spring arrives, the sun shining upon it and the time for blooming arrives, its branches become tender and put forth leaves then fruits: “For winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land… the fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell” (Canticle 2:11-13). So too can the lover of God seem dormant, working in the cold of hard seasons of life, or in what feels like an absence of God, but when the need arises for their love to bloom, the fruits they have sown in the winter will then come alive either when the sun of grace shines upon them anew: “The trees of the field shall be filled, and the cedars of Libanus which he hath planted” (Psalm 103:16), or when the winds of adversity come, and they can shine before all as one that truly loves: “Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). The breath of the Holy Spirit softens the heart, making it warm and joyful, and this invigorates the heart from its winter rigidity into a supple spring of tender love, in which time sweet fruit is borne: “His fruit was sweet to my palate” (Canticle 2:3)., rather than surviving the winter: “He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?” (Psalm 147:17). This branch then refers to the adoption of sonship, for this is a divine gift, not taken through force, and is apparent to the one that receives it, for it is one thing to receive the adoption through the state of grace, and another to understand in your heart and mind that you are loved and adopted by God, and can now live in the joy of this grace. St. John Chrysostom mentions that in the scriptures, “generation” does not refer to time only, but more in a manner of life, and thus those that held to the law rather than to the love of Jesus were crushed under the scepter of Rome, but those that were enamored with their God, calling Him not Master nor King, but Beloved: “Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely” (Canticle 1:15) were not overthrown by the world, the flesh, or the devil, but rather let love lead them away from these things into the Heart of the Spouse of their souls: “When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth” (Canticle 3:4), which is applicable to all time. Thus, the generation of the Catholic Church, having stood from the time of Jesus unto this day, will not fade, but as the earthly people and work, as well as the heavenly work and conversation fade, better things will be given, for God never takes away except to give something better, the zenith of which is Himself: “As for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear” (Psalm 16:15). When He then says that His words shall never pass away, this is to say that in your life of love, you will never outgrow the scriptures and meditating on the humanity of Jesus. While discursive meditation may fade for a greater simplicity, the magnificence of the words of Sacred Scripture will become all the more glorious in this process: “For what things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). One day, after confession, St. Faustina was given the penance to say one “Glory Be,” which she could not do, because upon saying the name of any of the persons of the Trinity, she would enter into ecstasy; and so too do His words only become the more savory and delightful to you as you grow in love: “How sweet are thy words to my palate! More than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 118:103), holding His words in your heart as a lover rather than as a thinker or casual reader: “Open thou my eyes: and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law” (Psalm 118:18). Or, this can mean that things solid and immoveable may fade, from rocks to great stars, but His words point to what is immoveable, being the penultimate guardians of justice, truth, goodness, and love, with no philosophy or law being greater than these. While earth and the heavens need not exist, but came from an overflow of love: “He made us, and not we ourselves” (Psalm 99:3), adding nothing to the divine majesty but being there for your enjoyment, that your heart may be perpetually at play, what love truly looks like does not change. While cultures may attempt to adjust the appearance of love, adherence to the Word and His words is truly love, and no object or affection is equal to the gift of being a member of the Catholic Church, to be deeply immersed in the sacramental life and the life of prayer. Now, Jesus says that the angels and saints would not know the day or hour, but St. Mark also includes the Son: “But of that day or hour no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). This is because the time was not right for it to be shown to the Apostles, for though God knew that Abraham would follow His commandments, it was after a display of faith that God said, “Now I know that thou fearest God” (Genesis 22:12), for to know the day of one’s death or of the Lord’s coming would provide the temptation to put off conversion until that time, rather than entering into the labor of love daily as if it were to be your last. Now, in the Father, the Son knows the time of His coming, but those of the Church, which is His body, do not know, and therefore they are called to be perpetually working in the vineyard, loving the Beloved in prayer and brightening the world with beauty, goodness, and love in their work, always being directed by the flame of love that is the Holy Spirit: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). It is also a call to turn the eye from the idea of the end times and speculating on them to Jesus, for none know the hour, but to love Jesus is always welcoming you: “Behold now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Jesus said beforehand that wars would be taking place, but to the thoughtless, who are concerned only for their own pleasures, these things would not be bothersome, and so too in the times of Noah were they indulging in all that was disgraceful, not wary that their destruction was coming: “And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times” (Genesis 6:5). Noah would have warned those around him that such a time was coming, only to be ignored, so too is it not your fault when your call to love is not heeded, but rather the hardness of the heart of the hearer. You are not their Savior, Theophila, but merely a vessel of love, but by prayer and loving deeds, you will draw hearts after you without effort: “Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense” (Canticle 4:6), for allowing yourself to naturally grow into the full stature of your love will bring you to a magnificent place, where the love of God is second nature and captivating in its spiritual aroma: “The smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense” (Canticle 4:11), and you will attain all you desire from your Beloved: “Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away” (Canticle 6:4). Two shall be in the field of the world, that is, those that believe in the love of God and those that don’t, with the lovers being gathered into the perpetual warmth of eternal life while the wicked are left to the coldness of their hearts. The two working at the mill are those that labor, the mill itself representing the Law, with those that grind in keeping rules without hearts afire being left behind, whereas those that wear the commandments of God like kingly jewels: “My son, keep the commandments of thy father,” which is God, “and forsake not the law of thy mother,” the Church, “Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck” (Proverbs 6:20-21), while their hearts are swept up in His merciful love will be in heaven: “His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me” (Canticle 8:3). Or, the two working in the field can represent the same labor, with one working with cold resignation, but the other doing all things with good will and a happy heart from an abundance of love: “A cheerful and good heart is always feasting” (Ecclesiasticus 30:27), one will reap the reward of an unwilling toil, the other the rewards of a happy gift: “Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). The two at the millstone can also be representative of the Catholic Church and other faith traditions that use the same scriptures, in that the Catholic is lifted up in mind and heart into heavenly truths and the fullness of the love story: “And Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (4 Kings 2:11), whereas Jewish and non-Catholic Christian traditions grind at the mill without the fruits of truth: “Ever learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7), the poison of teachers like Luther and Calvin infecting the soul that it stays grounded rather than soaring in the heights of love, to which all are called: “A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9). Now, serpents can also be among Catholic teachers, such as modern scholars that attempt to disprove the scriptures rather than unveiling the love that they contain, or those like Merton and Keating who sought a state of being rather than the infinite love of Jesus. Take great care with what you read, Theophila; make the Scriptures your bedside book, and consider taking counsel before taking up anything outside of them: “Where there is no governor, the people shall fall: but there is safety where there is much counsel” (Proverbs 11:14), for not all books are made the same, and not everything is appropriate for you in your moment in time even amongst the Doctors and Saints. Therefore, cling to the words of your Beloved, let them echo in your heart and water your soul, for truly, you need nothing else to reach the fulness of love: “More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12).

Matthew 24:29-31

“And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.”

Moving from His warnings, Jesus moves into the glory of His coming. Isaiah mentions that, in the end times, “The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: in the days when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound” (Isaias 30:26). It will not be a fading of the light that heralds the coming of Christ, but rather the light of glory that He is will make the sun, moon, and stars fade in comparison: “And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof” (Apocalypse 21:23). The sign of the Son of man, then, is the cross, and “they shall look on him whom they pierced” (John 19:37), and to look on it with a wondrous love that eclipses even the sun of wisdom, the moon of the beautiful things of the world, and the stars of other affections is to welcome the Son of man with marvelous affection. This gives a brightness greater than the sun, for a soul in love is more radiant than the great luminaries: “Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious; so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory?” (2 Corinthians 3:7-8). On seeing Love Itself, Love Incarnate, the essence and form of love, and having rejected this love, all those on earth that did not love Love will mourn, for they did not love in heart, word, truth, and deed in their life: “And they say to the mountains and the rocks: ‘Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the day of their wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?’” (Apocalypse 6:16-17). Rather than bearing Christ and radiating His love, they will have crucified Him in their souls, doing that which is a total defacement to human dignity, let alone to the divine dignity given to the Christian, the image and dwelling place of Christ: “In whom all the building, being framed together, growth up into an holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). This mourning is done by the tribes of the earth, who have lived entirely for earthly realities rather than heavenly ones. Being in love is an existence of the beloved in you, thus “being,” in the metaphysical sense, in you, who are a vessel of love. Thus, the one who has filled their being with bad love, things that are not the Beloved, are the tribes of the earth, rather than the citizens of heaven, who have allowed the divine Bridegroom to rest in their hearts: “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). He will then come in His body, for the body is not a thing to be spurned or something that weighs down the soul, but rather an object of love, and through the bodily eyes He will be beheld, with the eyes of the soul comprehending His beauty, splendor, and divinity. Just as He went into the clouds in His ascension: “A cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9), He will come again from the clouds: “This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11), for just as the people laid down palm leaves and garments to welcome Him into Jerusalem: “And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way: and others cut boughs from the trees, and strewed them in the way” (Matthew 21:8), nature will rejoice at His coming, the clouds forming a glorious welcome for the glorious, wonderful, joyous, God that is the King of Love: “His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace” (Isaias 9:6). The Lord, who took unto His divinity what is of the earth: “And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth” (Genesis 2:7), will give this same body the glory of His divinity, which will shine in its true splendor, the essence of love being apparent and visible through His glorified body: “And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow” (Matthew 17:2). The clouds could also be representative of incorporeal being, encapsulating such things as Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Justice, that the chariot in which He rides may be one of true glory: “With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully” (Psalm 44:5), and with these being manifest, and welcoming their source and King, the true glory of Jesus may have an appropriately glorious train: “Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him” (Apocalypse 1:7). With this interpretation, it could be said that He comes in great power and glory to the mind of the Christian in study and in prayer, for the mind that ponders glorious things of heaven searches the clouds: “But to us God hath revealed them, by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10), these are merely clouds, beautiful things of God that prepare the way to welcome Him in His love in prayer, when your heart can come to know Him and love Him: “And I have made known thy name to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). The heart that is filled with His love and the mind that knows His truths from meditation on the Scriptures and searching out the depths of their meaning are thus filled with His glory: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18), and thus He comes truly to earth in the soul that is united to Him in love and sculpted by wisdom and virtue, the individual no longer being present, but Jesus present through them with no weight of sin or imperfection, but rather fully alive in the freedom of Christ, which is a life entirely of love: “And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus then discusses the angels, who will have voices like trumpets, for being fully in love is not to be timid or overly prudent: “Be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou becomes stupid” (Ecclesiastes 7:17), but to sing from the depths of one’s being with joy and jubilance, thus St. Francis dancing before the Pope, thus St. Teresa running into fields, thus St. Ephrem writing hymns and poems of love and joy, and so too do the angels sing, for the trumpet is metaphorical, instead representing the greatness of the voice that sings constantly of the good things of the Lord. The sound of the trumpets in Israel would gather them and direct them: “When thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude shall gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant… if the sound of the trumpets be longer, and with interruptions, they that are on the east side, shall go first forward” (Numbers 10:5), and so the angelic voice that announces the coming of the Lord will gather the elect from the four corners of the earth and from the ends of the heavens, thus indicating those that are alive and those who have died and are separated from their bodies. This can be said to you, Theophila, in that to search the scriptures from their end to the beginning, letting grace provide the loud voice of what God wants you to meditate on, then digging in that place as for a treasure, before lifting it to God and letting Him lead you into His love, that you may drink deeply of His love from this meditation: “Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1).

Matthew 24:23-28

“Then if any man shall say to you: ‘Lo here is Christ,’ or ‘there,’ do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand. If therefore they shall say to you: ‘Behold he is in the desert,’ go ye not out: ‘Behold he is in the closets,’ believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Whereseover the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.”

Where Jesus came in lowliness and littleness in His first coming, that the loving hand of God may not be one to be feared, but held: “Thou hast held me by my right hand” (Psalm 72:24), His second coming will not be in such lowliness. However, with the many maladies that the world suffers, some will offer aid to those who are discouraged or clinging to the things of earth, drawing them from the truth and into their own machinations: “Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence” (Proverbs 3:5). Though the wicked may do greater deeds, even to the point of miraculous work, they are not seen as greater in the eyes of God, for it is a love that works by justice that is truly God’s work: “And the magicians with their enchantments practiced in like manner… and they could not… And the magicians said to Pharao: ‘This is the finger of God’” (Exodus 8:18-19). To aim for gifts is good, Theophila, but the greatest is a wondrous love: “Be zealous for the better gifts. And I shew unto you a yet more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31), and while the working of miracles or a grand ministry may be of great benefit to the Church, nothing is as beneficial as the one who truly, deeply, and totally loves their Savior, thinking on Him night and day, and doing all from an abundance of love for Him: “Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?” (Canticle 8:5). You don’t need to look for Him in work, people, techniques, or waiting for an audible voice to talk to you, but simply picture Him before you and talk with Him, for Jesus is in your heart, there He has made His dwelling: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him” (John 14:23), and it is there you can commune with Him, calling Him to mind and letting Him lead the way to the depths of His love: “Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 138:10). Now, the knowledge, persuasion, and great deeds of some will lead away even those who cultivate spiritual wisdom, like what happened to Thomas Merton, and thus Jesus says that even the elect, if possible, are in danger, which is a hyperbolical statement to show how narrow the road is, and how crafty one’s enemies are: “O full of all guile, and of all deceit, child of the devil, enemy of all justice, thou ceastest not to pervert the right ways of the Lord” (Acts 13:10). It could also be that the armies of Satan ride against the lovers of God, assailing the one that desires Him with fearful thoughts, with the one not grounded in love being brought low, but the one that does love emerging stronger and fortified, lauded for their faithfulness: “Wait on God with patience: join thyself to God, and endure, that thy life may be increased in the latter end” (Ecclesiasticus 2:3). Thus, it is not those that are truly called by God that will be subjected to the enemy’s hand, but those that seemed deeply spiritual will be led into error, such as the mistake of silencing oneself rather than cultivating a relationship of love with God. Jesus says then that He tells you beforehand to watch for these snares; be extremely careful with whom you take counsel, Theophila, and who you choose to be the guardian of your soul: “Be in peace with many, but let one of a thousand be thy counsellor” (Ecclesiasticus 6:6), for a spiritual and learned guide is a necessary and rare gem: “Lord we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5), but many are those that have built a false spirituality and will drag down their pupils with them: “Be ye not many masters, my brethren, knowing that you receive the greater judgment” (James 3:1). Your heart and your mind are precious treasures, and they deserve someone that is caring, experienced, in love with God, and knowledgeable to shape the gem that you are in the way that best suits it. To proclaim that Christ is in the desert is that He is outside the established city of God, which is the Catholic Church, and to say He is in a hidden chamber is to try to seek out a type of hidden knowledge, rooting around in private revelation and apocryphal literature, rather than letting the sweet words of Scripture be the delight of your heart: “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd. More than these, my son, require not” (Ecclesiastes 12:11-12). To return to the second coming, it will be like lightning, with no herald, and illuminating all, and drawing in turn those that know the voice of love with which He speaks with eager joy: “I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me” (John 10:14). When He says that the eagles gather where the body is, this is because they can follow the scent of a body for miles, and are creatures without reason. It is then a call for you to use your mind and heart to follow His fragrance, seeing where His footsteps have fallen, that you may go after Him, goaded by His beauty rather than by the rod of correction: “And I took not me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other I called a Cord, and I fed the flock” (Zacharias 11:7). It is a call to gather around His passion, flying high in the air of spiritual love, and looking at your Beloved dying on a cross purely because He loves you. Or, in leaving the sense of a cadaver, it can be a frequent meditation on the humanity of Jesus, for you will never outgrow thinking of your Beloved, and to get to know Him in His earthly life then draws you deeper into being struck by the passion and rejoicing in His resurrection: “Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Now, from a broad perspective, lies are of one type, but take many different shapes, therefore, many will proclaim Christ but be detached either from His love or the truth, thereby becoming false prophets. To go into the desert is to wander in the dryness of philosophy; while it is necessary for some, to let the excitement for philosophy overshadow one’s love of Scripture is to think the things on which the sun shines are greater than the sun itself: “For the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). To build a spirituality not built on the fervent, joyful, assiduous reading and meditation on sacred scripture is to look for Him in a hidden chamber, for He reveals Himself in His words, not in visions, states of being, audible voices, or profound signs, and to abandon the scriptures in favor of desiring these things is to look in hidden chambers. Now, the Catholic Church spans the whole world, and the greatest thinkers and lovers to ever live are within her walls, her teaching clear and radiant as lightning, therefore, to understand the beauty of her dogmatic truths and then playfully run within the scriptures in accord with her precepts is to truly enjoy them, letting them be your refreshment and your sanctuary: “Uphold me according to they word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation” (Psalm 118:116). Or, from the east is the dawn of creation laid out in Genesis: “In the beginning God created heaven, and earth” (Genesis 1:1), the west is the setting of the sun on this same creation: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more” (Apocalypse 21:1), with all that is between being the love story between God and His people, all that is written in the Scriptures being a love letter from God to you, and all things in nature being images of His beauty, that you may encounter Him often and deeply: “Indeed the Lord is in his place, and I knew it not” (Genesis 28:16).

Matthew 24:15-22

“When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.”

The abomination of desolation, in a historical sense, was the statue of Caesar, which Pilate placed in the desolate temple: “Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 7:25). This was during a time when Rome razed Jerusalem, and utterly conquered the Jewish people, but twelve men, armed only with love, could not be suppressed by them: “Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world” (Psalm 18:5). When the Roman army drew near Jerusalem, the Christian people withdrew to the city of Pella, and the urgency seen in this was to leave behind what is unnecessary, including money and garments, with the difficulties of pregnant women or those with little children being great, and the pitilessness of Rome being extreme, which is nothing novel: “Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). Flight to deserts or mountains in winter would be grueling and unsustainable, and the choice between flight and worship is an excruciating one. Because of the faithfulness of some of the Jewish people, the fall of Jerusalem did not lead to a total extermination of the people, and whenever there is grave affliction, the days will not exceed what can be handled by you, that you may not bear a burden too heavy and collapse: “For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity” (Psalm 124:3). This passage can also refer to the end times, when the Antichrist will be active, claiming the authority of God and drawing nations after him, desolating the earth, which is the sanctuary of God: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build to me?” (Isaias 66:1). Because “You know not the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13), the following instructions then become admonitions for being watchful. The first is to flee to the mountains, which is the call to the heights of contemplation, to which all men are called: “I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar; for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations” (Isaias 56:7). It does not take a removal from the world, but a devout, ardent prayer life, which can flourish in any context. Because it so transforms the desires that the offerings of the Antichrist would be repulsive rather than an enticement to be spurned, the call to contemplation is then laid out, with Jesus then admonishing not to come down from the heights of love, represented by the housetop, to engage the lower desires of nature, represented by the things which are in the house of your soul that do not lead you deeper into love: “All things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23). Do not, Theophila, return to the warm garment you used to wear, robing yourself in your old self: “Put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:24), for in tribulation this will become enticing, but set your face like flint and be strong, marching ever towards perfect love: “Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord” (Psalm 30:25). There then comes the striking idea that, woe to the one, Theophila, who being so heavy and plump with knowledge do not give their hearts a chance to sing, love, and be loved, for intellectual knowledge does not carry the heart through grave trials, but love does: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Canticle 8:7), and woe to those that are still drinking the milk of the breast and living in the nest of a fledgling faith, rather than the meat of a virtuous love that has long left intentional sin behind, for winds will blow the nest, and the one that cannot fly will fall with it. Now, to be afflicted while your heart is cold draws out the worst in you, which is what is represented by the winter, but to keep your heart warm with love at all times will keep you ever disposed to love: “Winter is now past, the rain is over and gone” (Canticle 2:11). When He says to pray these things don’t happen on the sabbath, this is a call to much labor, for idleness is the enemy of the soul, and the seraphic St. Francis desired to always find his brothers either at work or in prayer and taught them as such: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, do manfully, and be strengthened. Let all your things be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Thus, do not discontinue good work, even if this is the holy leisure of Sunday rest; consecrate your rest with enriching time with others, holy reading, or prayer, anything to give your mind and body a break and your heart the water it craves: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:28). Finally, there is an overarching meaning to all that Jesus says here, that many are those that desecrate the name of Christ, His scriptures, and His influence on the world by a misinterpreted teaching, and therefore you are called to the mountains of truth, that you may ascend the mountain of God by knowing Him through prayer and knowing about Him by sacred reading: “Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Labor in the field in which your treasure is hid, which is transforming the garden of your heart by way of God’s truth, cutting away the brambles and replacing them with lilies and roses: “Thou shalt be like a watered garden” (Isaias 58:11), not falling back into your old habits or understanding but building a new, beautiful home for God: “If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to my temples: until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob” (Psalm 131:3-5) by building towers of truth. To be pregnant in this sense, then, is to have heard the word often, but with no acts of love to show for it: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22), not bringing forth the fruits of love, but keeping them built up in oneself, still in a state of growth rather than joyfully seeing them. Then, let the seed of love that was planted in your heart grow into a magnificent tree, rather than remaining a sapling: “He shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season” (Psalm 1:3),. Do not let the winter of a cold heart come upon you, Theophila, for the enemy rejoices in a downcast, overshadowed spirit: “For sadness hath killed many, and there is no profit in it” (Ecclesiasticus 30:25), but with warmth and peace go to the mountains of prayer, letting love enrapture you, and truth be your guardian: “His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night” (Psalm 90:5) and your companion: “Say to wisdom: ‘Thou art my sister:’ and call prudence thy friend” (Proverbs 7:4). Many are those who war against the truth, Theophila, rending Lady Wisdom’s garments with bad philosophy and erroneous theology, and to love the truth, letting it make your heart sing because of what it says about God and His creation, this delights your Beloved: “Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful” (Proverbs 27:11), for a gentle reading of the truth can easily lead into deeper prayer: “Drink the wine which I have mingled for you” (Proverbs 9:5), which is best enjoyed slowly, savoring every little drop, picking up on its every note, and so too with savoring the truth. Let every word rest in your heart as a treasure found, that your heart may rejoice in the extraordinary fact that God invites you to know Him and love Him: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).

Matthew 24:6-14

“And you shall hear or wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.”

Wars and rumors of wars is to hear the conflict on one’s doorstep as well as wars afar off, but Jesus consoles you and His Apostles by saying not to be troubled, gracefully placing yourself in the hands of your Bridegroom, that He may be your care and concern: “I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the hearts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please” (Canticle 2:7). The Apostles thought that the end of the world would shortly follow the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jesus says this is not the case, but rather that the destruction of Jerusalem and Judea was a collapsing of the old covenant, that a kingdom of love may take its stead, “The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world” (Wisdom 1:7), that worship of God may not be confined to a temple and one people, but that His love may burst out into the minds and hearts of all men: “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When He then discusses nations rising against each other, this can be taken in a literal sense, but it can also be in the lack of peace in the minds of men, whereas a mind in love is radiantly at peace: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27). However, in the literal sense, war, pestilence, famine, and natural disasters are akin to the weakness of the body as one ages and begins to die, for as the world begins to shrivel before the coming of the new earth: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more” (Apocalypse 21:1), men who look to themselves and not to love of neighbor will do violence to each other, taking and harming that they may enjoy the comforts they once had, with the poor stealing to live: “The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul” (Proverbs 6:32). Now, when evil rears its head higher, God unveils Himself more to His saints: “The mystery which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now is manifested to his saints, to whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). Thus, when man and devil rise up unchecked, the prayers of the saints becoming fewer and less ardent: “Elias was a man like unto us: and with prayer he prayed that it might not rain upon the earth, and it rained not for three years and six months” (James 5:17), the intimacy of God will be revealed in greater measure to the few that give up everything to take God unto them as their Father, Spouse, Everything: “Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee” (Luke 18:28), for the prayer of the one that holds Jesus truly, not only in word but in deep affection, as their Beloved, attains all that they desire: “Hiterto you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Now, human brokenness is part of this exile, and rather than the disciples thinking they would rejoice in prosperity as the world suffers, which would make for mercenaries rather than lovers: “The hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth” (John 10:12), Jesus shows that the world would turn against the Gospel, using violence against that which would take away their gross doings: “Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness” (Psalm 51:5). In addition to those who proclaim Christ but falsely, and those who were outright enemies of Christ, there would also arise those, within the Church, whose hearts were frozen, hating each other and turning against each other: “In perils from false brethren” (2 Corinthians 11:26), and those that see this will turn to contrary teaching, abandoning truth for warmth, which will give strength to false teachers whose message appeals to the heart, while being devoid of substance: “Let no man deceive you with vain words” (Ephesians 5:6). This is not to pick either love or truth, Theophila, but to never let the two be separated, loving in the truth and professing the truth with love: “Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb” (Canticle 4:11). All of this desolation can stifle the heart, with one being afraid to love due to the rampant evils of others: “Many have refused to lend, not out of wickedness, but they were afraid to be defrauded without cause” (Ecclesiasticus 29:10), or, so focused on protecting themselves from the evils of the world, will not turn and enter into the garden of the love of God. However, this is said of “many,” not of all, and God desires to rain His love upon you: “Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God” (Psalm 67:10), and to abandon yourself to His love, trusting that He will fashion you into a beautiful vessel that can drink deeply of His merciful love, this is to continue to the end: “Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). You do this by bringing the Gospel to all you see, treating everyone with an incredible love: “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God” (1 John 4:7), letting the name and truth of your Beloved be the breath upon your lips: “The odour of thy mouth like apples” (Canticle 7:8), and praying often for the Church and the world: “When Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame: but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame” (Exodus 17:11); “He overcame the disturbance, not by strength of body nor with force of arms, but with a word he subdued him that punished them, alleging the oaths and covenant made with the fathers” (Wisdom 18:22). Do not take a section of Christ’s life and apply it to yourself, Theophila, but let Him always be present through you: “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). Though Jerusalem would fall, Jesus promises that the labor of the Apostles would not be wasted, that many would come to His merciful love through them: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), for the winds of love carry seeds far and beautifully: “For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world, and bringeth forth fruit and growth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:5-6). To see someone madly in love with God, that drinks from the fountain freely and joyfully: “All you that thirst, come to the waters” (Isaias 55:1), and not be stirred at least into curiosity is a testimony against the hard-hearted, the radiant light from the love of the one infatuated with God falling on them like sunlight on clay rather than on a flower: “I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 7:3). Now, a mutual love of God stirs up the hearts of those that love Him, and with the iniquities of the world pulling down the hearts of the faithful, many will grow cold, being stranded like coals in a tundra: “And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed?” (Ecclesiastes 4:11). True friendship, Theophila, is built around the love of God, with the best of friends being those that inflame each other’s hearts and help each other grow in their love: “A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immorality: and they that fear the Lord, shall find him” (Ecclesiasticus 6:16), which is a gem difficult to find. Now, to welcome the second coming of Jesus in a spiritual sense, Theophila, is to live until the Holy Spirit is the primary actor in your life, while you are led by Him as a maiden in a dance, totally trusting and drunk with love, as grace exudes from you without your effort: “Now the grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). Those that do not love Him will not understand and will therefore think you bizarre, turning away from you, or will get caught on a snare of falsehood that will keep them held low, but you, Theophila, who desire to run unrestrained to your Beloved, He has promised: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 90:7). Whatever would cool your burning heart is false prophecy: “Extinguish not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), but to preach the love you’ve found to even your thoughts is to go throughout the whole earth, carrying the treasure of the field to be distributed everywhere: “And they did all eat, and were filled” (Matthew 14:20). Therefore, preach to your heart, whisper the love of God to every fabric of your being: “My soul melted when he spoke” (Canticle 5:6), that you may be burning with love in all that you do.

Matthew 24:1-5

“And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple. And he answering, said to them: ‘Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.’ And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: ‘Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?’ And Jesus answering, said to them: ‘Take heed that no man seduce you: for many will come in my name saying, ‘I am Christ:’ and they will seduce many.”

Jesus then leaves the temple, not wanted by those who were within, and so too does He leave when uninvited by someone that prefers sin, and joyfully come to those that go to open their hearts to His merciful love: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Jesus had predicted the temple would be left desolate, whereupon his disciples out of pity show Him the beauty of the temple, that He may not do what He had threatened. Where beauty, including that of art and music, is one of the greatest odors that the soul desires to follow: “The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance of her husband, and a man desireth nothing more” (Ecclesiasticus 36:24), when this is void of the source of all beauty, the Beautiful, which is God, the splendor is superficial: “A golden ring in a swine’s snout, a woman fair and foolish” (Proverbs 11:22). So too, Theophila, do you do a great work in interceding for those whose temples are without God, that they may not fall into ruin, but rather be animated by His love: “But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). Now, God allowed the temple to be destroyed that those who walked according to the spirit may not be drawn back into the ceremonial observances and the Law, but rather cultivate their love stories with God, not looking to the ancient ritual but rather to the new covenant of love: “Do we, then, destroy the law through faith? God forbid: but we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). Not only was the temple broken down to the very foundations, but in a figurative sense, the Law and observances of the old covenant were so dashed that even a semblance of observing the Law outside of grace is no more. Without the binding Holy Spirit of love and truth: “I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive”  (John 14:16), doctrines, communities, kingdoms all fail. Therefore, Theophila, you can identify what is false by its fracturing nature, seeing what divides against itself, allowing you to hold fast rather to that which is unchanging, secure, and reliable: “He set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps” (Psalm 39:3). They then proceed to the Mount of Olives, when the disciples came and eagerly asked Him when those events would take place, their zeal for His glory and seeing Him the King of All spurring them on: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts” (3 Kings 19:10). Pertaining to the mountain itself, olives, by their oil, provide sustenance for the fire of lamps and have many health benefits, and so Jesus takes His place among what is enriching for the soul, fueling the fire of love by the delightful aromas and sweetness of His very name: “Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee” (Canticle 1:2). Thus, by Jesus sitting among the olive trees represents Jesus being present among the teaching of the Doctors of the Church, the preeminent interpreters of Sacred Scripture, who write not so much to fill your head with knowledge, but to give you the sweet fragrance of knowing your Beloved all the better. Therefore, go to Him with confidence, seeking the answers your heart asks, that it may be given the delightful words of the Scriptures, going to the Fathers and Doctors when you need clarification: “How sweet are thy words to my palate! More than honey to my mouth” Psalm 118:103), that your heart may be full, and your mind steady. The disciples ask three questions, and Jesus begins with an answer not concerning future things, but the present, and the evils within, this being those that claim Christ’s authority and build their own towers: “They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us” (1 John 2:19), deceiving many with easier roads than what Jesus promised love to be like: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13), for mental prayer without the humanity of Jesus is a trap, and any exposition of Sacred Scripture that departs from the truth is Antichrist, and these weeds must be avoided that you may run past the flower beds of this life to enter into union with your Beloved: “What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women? What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou hast so adjured us?” (Canticle 5:9), but many are the seducers that would pull you from the narrow bridge into the chasm of a loveless life. Jesus and truth are one, but the doctrines that feign truth wear His mask, attempting to pull you from your Beloved: “An enemy hath done this” (Matthew 13:28). It requires a good nose, Theophila, to detect the sweet odors of truth, and what you need to hear from God, rather than follow the stink of the devil’s noise and tension: “Thy nose is as the tower of Libanus, that looketh toward Damascus” (Canticle 7:4), and this is all assuming you have escaped from sin and error into the way of those seeking union with Jesus. Therefore, you must pray much, that the enemy’s traps may not grab your foot as you run: “They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul” (Psalm 56:7), and read and meditate on the Scriptures abundantly, that your Beloved may speak to you heart to heart, and you may let Him fashion you according to His liking, rather than someone else’s: “Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions” (Canticle 1:6).

Matthew 23:37-39

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’”

Just as a lover keeps the beloved’s name upon the lips, Jesus calls out to Jerusalem with repetition, His love so intense that it overflows into calling out twice. In this is a beautiful lesson, Theophila, that when your heart is magnificently inflamed with divine love, you cannot help but speak of your Beloved: “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth” (Psalm 33:2), and to speak on Him gives you the grace to love all the more, for just as a falling object speeds up the more it falls, the more you fall in love, the more quickly you will continue to fall in love. His name is like breath, where the presence of it indicates life and gives life, whereas its absence shows the opposite, so too do the names of Jesus and Mary show the love in your heart, while reminding you of your Beloved and your Mother, which inflames your heart all the more: “My heart grew hot within me: and in my meditation a fire shall flame out” (Psalm 38:4). He laments the deep sickness of the people of Jerusalem, who, when physicians were sent to cure them of the spiritual maladies that afflicted them, killed them instead: “Is there no balm in Galaad? Or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?” (Jeremias 8:22). Consider, Theophila, the reckless love of Jesus, who, though those in Jerusalem murdered His prophets, still desired to take them to Himself, for to sin gravely against all the commandments of God throughout one’s life is but a drop of water being flung into a burning furnace of merciful love when this love is then sought: “I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Now, when a chick is sick, the hen becomes sick also, and a mother’s happiness is that of her least happy child, and so Jesus, seeing the struggles, sins, wounds, and failures of man, takes on mortal flesh and goes to a most horrific death, that His deep affection for all may be displayed, and that He may be one with you in all your adversities: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written: ‘Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). He then says that the house would be left desolate, for as a body without the soul is desolate and devoid of life, so too He prophecies the temple to fall without God’s presence, His presence instead given to the hearts of the faithful, being the animating spirit of love within them: “I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Thus, the house can also refer to people that are not animated by this Spirit, for the one that truly loves and knows how loved they are is fully alive, their love a shining halo about them: “And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was [shining] from the conversation of the Lord” (Exodus 34:29), not hindered by sin, doubt, worry, scruples, or any such thing, but moving from one act of love to another as a spritely deer: “Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies” (Canticle 4:5). When anxieties, sin, or attachments hinder a soul, however, it is a painful slog in love, lacking the freedom and exuberance of one in love: “So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free” (Galatians 4:31), whereas the one that truly knows God’s love moves in an enchanting manner, following the flame of love wherever it leads: “And the Lord went before them to shew the way by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire: that he might be the guide of their journey at both times” (Exodus 13:21). To leave the wings of Christ, His loving protection, the shade by which one is sheltered: “The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer” (Psalm 17:3) is to stray from the perfect source of love: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water” (Jeremias 2:13), which renders a soul dry, arid, and unhappy: “In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory” (Psalm 62:3). Thus, being removed from the source of all goodness, they will not see what is truly good, truly beautiful, truly love until, repenting, they confess the name of the Lord, whereupon He will return to their heart with eagerness and joy: “His father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell upon his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

Matthew 23:29-36

“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just, and say: ‘If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell? Therefore behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.”

God desires of you, Theophila, small acts of love done in secret, little flower petals that brighten days and lighten loads, more than the grand act done for ostentation: “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater” (Luke 16:10). The scribes and Pharisees, however, incur a “woe unto you” here because they neglected their neighbor while building monuments to the prophets, which all would see: “He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself and shall not be heard” (Proverbs 21:13). It is marvelous to do great, beautiful things for God: “Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build the house: and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord” (Aggeus 1:8), but not at the expense of the little acts of love that can make the hum of love in your day uninterrupted: “God is love: and he that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Friendship with the saints is an extraordinary gift: “You are fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God” (Ephesians 2:19), but this should not come at the expense of the love of your earthly neighbor: “If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, whom he seeth not?” (1 John 4:20). It is seen here that the religious leaders would kill the prophets of their own time for rebuking them: “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy” (2 Paralipomenon 36:16), with those that followed honoring the prophet that was killed, while themselves rejecting the prophets of their own time, repeating the mistake of their fathers. It is a look into those that lay out the faults of others, even those that are no longer alive: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned” (Luke 6:37), while not looking at their own faults, looking to mend them by conversion and acts of love: “Cast out first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Jesus then points out that those that were saying that they would not have been partakers of the blood of the prophets were the “children of them that killed the prophets.” Now, because “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father” (Ezechiel 18:20), it is a look into the resemblance of the scribes and Pharisees to those that persecuted the prophets rather than a tie of lineage. Therefore, you can do the opposite, Theophila, because if you don’t know how to best express your own love of God, you can take example from great saints and how they let the love song of their life be played: “If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherd” (Canticle 1:7). Walk in the footsteps of those that came before you, that they may bring you to the Bridegroom, and He can then lead you in the dance of life: “You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said, that I am not Christ, but that I am sent before him” (John 3:28). He then prophecies that they will fill up the measure of their fathers, showing that He knows what is in their hearts and the actions they were going to do, which was the slaying of Him and the persecution of His Apostles: “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him” (John 7:1). This is all deeply contrary to the love of neighbor that so radiated from Christ, and Jesus brings forth the venom of hate that so poisoned the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees by calling them serpents and vipers: “Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). Just as a viper bursts out of its mother to go live, so too did the scribes and Pharisees condemn their fathers: “The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labour of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, and the young eagles eat it” (Proverbs 30:17); to sin against the most fundamental love, that of the family, what loveless good works can mend the heart so full of guile? The fundamental building block of holiness is to love: “For this is the declaration, which you have heard from the beginning, that you should love one another” (1 John 3:11), and from this springs righteousness. Therefore, when these are lacking, to honor the saints is to build on sand: “And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof” (Matthew 7:26-27). However, even in rejecting Christ, He in His reckless love will not stop sending envoys of love to His people, raising up prophets, who are those that can expound the deep mysteries of the faith: “Be zealous for spiritual gifts; but rather that you may prophesy… He that prophesieth, edifieth the church” (1 Corinthians 14:1); wise men, who are filled with the delights of knowledge: “A wise man shall be filled with blessings, and they that see shall praise him” (Ecclesiasticus 37:27); and scribes, who know the history of Israel and the Law, but are not weighed down by the letter, but animated by the spirit that fills them: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth” (2 Corinthians 3:6). This is seen in the idea that the doctor understands the historical context, the preacher the moral context, and the contemplative the deep context of love, but to grasp all three is beautiful wisdom, for they need not be mutually exclusive: “And this I pray, that your love may more and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding: that you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9-10). Thus, it is seen that the Apostles, those who were prophets, wise men, and scribes of the art of love were scourged, both by whips and by the tongue, by those who claimed these titles under the Law, and so too, Theophila, when someone that may be well-read but does not hold to the Catholic faith scourges you for your simple love, let your heart sing to your Beloved, for this is the portion you have been promised: “My chalice indeed you shall drink” (Matthew 20:23), and bears a great reward: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12). When someone berates you for your love, it is a sin against justice, but to bring you to death or shedding of blood more so, and Lady Justice will not suffer torn garments without reproach: “How long, O Lord (holy and true) dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Apocalypse 6:10). Origen brings forth an insight into the killing of Zacharias, whose name means “the memory of God,” and to destroy this is to shed the blood of Zacharias. Therefore, this can range from one killing a Christian to try to wipe out God’s presence on earth to the willful turning of the mind in prayer to distraction, the greater being the temple, the lesser the altar. “Abel” means “mourning,” and to slay your emotions in favor of a perceived religiousness or under an inflated intellect is to trample upon your heart. Tears are a gift, Theophila, and they may range from tears of contrition to those of devotion in knowing how loved you are. You are called to bloom out like a flower, receiving the sun of the light of love, not putting this down for discernment, service, or wisdom, but to simply let yourself be loved. Finally, Jesus says these things will come upon “this generation,” because there is no greater grace than Christ, for in Him God is manifest, a relationship of love with God can come about, and to despise this is not simply wicked, it is utter foolishness: “If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Therefore, to see the errors of the past and not move to the victorious side of the Catholic Church, and within that garden cultivate the love of Jesus: “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies” (Canticle 6:1), is to incur the punishment of His Precious Blood, which was shed that you and Him may love one another.

Matthew 23:25-28

“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness. Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Jesus then turns to the evils of a scrupulosity of small details, to observe the ritual and minor observances, while neglecting the basic commandment to love: “Dearly beloved, I write not a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning” (1 John 2:7). To cleanse the outside of the cup and platter is to desire to seem righteous: “When thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth” (Matthew 6:3), rather than acting from an abundance of love: “The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus” (Canticle 4:15). To be comfortable in the presence of God, to love Him in all things, and from the treasure of your overflowing heart give to all that you encounter, this is to make the inside clean, with the streams of love flowing from you making clean the outside of the cup as well: “The water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting” (John 4:14). Or, it can be a relation to one’s words, with wisdom being a pleasing drink: “Thy throat like the best wine, worthy for my beloved to drink, and for his lips and his teeth to ruminate” (Canticle 7:9), and meaty discourse being a true feast: “Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table” (Proverbs 9:1-2). However, to speak in an attempt to seem wise is vanity: “Be not lifted up out of season with thy wisdom” (Ecclesiasticus 32:6), but to speak of things of the spirit because they are the joy of your heart, bringing forth beautiful fruits for the enjoyment of others, this to present a fine meal from a washed cup and platter: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good” (Luke 6:45). When words about God make your heart sing: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart: for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremias 15:16), you will lose taste for all else, whereas the scribes and Pharisees ate ravenously of the things of the earth, while failing at letting their hearts be touched by the words of God: “Thy words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against thee” (Psalm 118:11). Jesus then calls them “whited sepulchers,” because love is the life of the soul, and without the living flame of love, all religiousness is for naught: “Love never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Thus, the scribes and Pharisees may have taught, dressed in accord with their station, and been well-spoken, but when hate, desire, and lust run rampant in the soul, such goods are a mere show. This is a feigned righteousness, Theophila, not done out of love for God, like an actor going through a play rather than a wife pleasing her husband out of an abundance of love: “The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils” (Proverbs 31:11). This is the importance of the prayer that helps you to understand how loved you are, to take deep consolation in the things of God: “A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi” (Canticle 1:13), that your pious actions may not arise out of habit or a Pharisaical rule-following, but because they bring you joy: “I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil” (Psalm 118:162). Finally, because the Pharisees observed in the eyes of others a flawless righteousness, they knew the commandments masterfully, but without understanding their goodness and the love with which they were given, they only upheld them in public and missed the central point: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’” (Galatians 5:14). Therefore, let not any call to conversion be a burden to your joy: “Extinguish not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), but see it as wood to make your flame burn brighter and purer. Ah, Theophila, how you need His love to avoid such a snare! To go through life following rules, or not being drawn fully into the mystery, this is not the life of Christ, but to be a burning offering of love, that you may be a spouse of God rather than a Pharisee that knows the commandments well: “If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Matthew 23:16-24

“Woe to you blind guides, that say, ‘Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple, is a debtor.’ Ye foolish and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor. Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it: and whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it: and he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

In the Pharisaical tradition, in an dispute, if one swore by the temple but was found guilty of falsehood, he was not held guilty for invoking the temple, but if he sore by the money that was offered to the priests in the temple, he was compelled to give what he had promised: “Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him” (Ecclesiasticus 29:3). The temple was the place of God’s glory: “And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord” (3 Kings 8:10), and the meeting place of man and God, whereas the gold of the temple aided in this. You do not encounter God through money, but through Himself, coming to truly know how loved you are: “When Elias had heard it, he covered his face with his mantle” (3 Kings 19:13). Because the scribes and Pharisees leaned harder on the gifts given, that is, the gold, rather than the true gift, which is the interaction of love between man and God by prayer, they are harshly reprimanded. It is also the case that more rigorously held to oaths of sacrifice rather than the altar itself, all done out of covetousness. To swear by the temple is to swear by all that it contains, including the gold, and the altar all that is upon it. Now, this is a look into grasping tightly the things of earth, rather than holding as sacred what is sacred and revering it as such, but there is a spiritual meaning that is of great importance here. A thought in the mind is of extraordinary value, for it can be found in no visible creature but man, and therefore God alone is worthy of them: “Let thy thoughts be upon the precepts of God, and meditate continually on his commandments: and he will give thee a heart, and the desire of wisdom shall be given thee” (Ecclesiasticus 6:37), and so to offer one’s gold to the temple is to devote your mind to thoughts of your Beloved, be it in the truths of Sacred Scripture or the visualization of the life of Jesus: “Thy eyes are doves’ eyes, besides what is hid within” (Canticle 4:1), considering all else to be so much chaff. The altar is then your heart, the most important thing about you, and prayers, songs, and deeds of love that proceed from your heart are made special by your heart’s love, not by the deeds themselves. God wants your heart, Theophila, He wants your heart to sing with joy and exuberance: “Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 99:2), and what proceeds from a heart filled with love is hallowed by the love, for all that is done with love is done well. Finally, to swear by heaven is to swear by God, which is to break a commandment of Jesus: “Let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil” (Matthew 5:37), and similarly, the Law, which can be interpreted as His throne, is sanctified by love, and so too, any act of virtue that is not loving is of no value in the treasure houses of heaven: “And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). He then turns to their propensity for being correct in small matters, such as taxing herbs, while neglecting the true calling of a life of love: “He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is love” (1 John 4:8). To be righteous and fully alive with the winds of love at your back: “Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow” (Canticle 4:16) is the goal of the commandments and Scriptures, whereas the tithing was for the benefit of the priests, which the scribes and Pharisees sought more than the salvation and hearts of those under their care: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves, should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds?” (Ezechiel 34:2). The bond of love calls those versed in the Scriptures to provide spiritual fruit for the people, who then give what is necessary for the upkeep of the bodies of the priests and doctors: “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your carnal things?” (1 Corinthians 9:11). All that is not love in you, the Lord desires to be transformed by the fires of love: “Be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2), and this moves to even the little things, therefore He exhorts you not to neglect the small matters while living justly, mercifully, and faithfully, letting your every action be one of a love done right. It is said of St. Anthony of Egypt that he desired to be second to none in moral conversion, ever striving for what was best, and to deeply examine the commandments of both the Old and New Testaments, noting what is transformed in Christ as a fulfillment, while also letting your Beloved lovingly correct what could use improvement: “Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore, and do penance” (Apocalypse 3:19). But all of this is done within the context of love, that you may carry on a relationship of love, rather than being weighed down by a rulebook: “Stand fast, and be not held again under the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Because it is less important to tithe than to be benevolent and loving towards all, they are called blind guides, who overlook the weighty precepts, but with scrupulousness look at what is minor. The tithes are seasoning, things that add small bits of beauty to you: “Use as a frugal man the things that are set before thee: lest if thou eastest much, thou be hated” (Ecclesiasticus 31:19), whereas when you aren’t animated by love of God and neighbor, being led through life by love like a woman in a dance, then to uphold the small commandments slavishly is to be straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel. You will find wholeness, when you let love be your guide, and the rest of the commandments simply prune to make more roses bloom: “The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come” (Canticle 2:12).

Matthew 23:13-15

“But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for yourselves do not enter in; and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this shall you receive the greater judgment. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.

Jesus then moves into the New Testament equivalent of the curses of the Law: “Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and fulfilleth them not in work” (Deuteronomy 27:26). When someone sins, particularly in keeping others from the love of God, it brings about God’s discipline, not for the sake of punishment, but as an attempt to pull the one far from God into His loving arms: “Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved” (Psalm 79:4). A father may have harsh words to bring a son back from harmful behavior, but does not desire them to actually meet with any punishment, but rather live a joyful, happy, love-filled life: “I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Therefore, the “woe to you” is a crying out of the Sacred Heart for the most obstinate to crack the ice around their hearts and let themselves be warmed. The kingdom of heaven is a love-filled life, inspired by assiduous meditation on Sacred Scripture, therefore, to shut the door of the Scriptures is to keep people out of letting God speak to them: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Without right interpretation, which the religious leaders were supposed to hold, it is impossible to enter, and so the scribes and Pharisees, falling into a moral rigorism rather than understanding the Father’s love, closed the hearts of those that were supposed to be opening like flowers in divine sunlight: “It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise” (Isaias 35:2). Though Scripture is difficult, when you interpret it correctly it is open to you, that you might understand the love that undergirds each passage and drink deeply of this love: “He brought me into the cellar of wine” (Canticle 2:4); “Drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1). Or, the scribes and Pharisees, deterring people from cleaving to Jesus: “I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9), kept not only themselves but others from the Bridegroom’s hands, that they may be enveloped in love. When you are drunk on love, Theophila, your radiance draws others into this same love: “Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (Canticle 1:3), but to walk around sad and angry, or continuing in sin, or enjoying other things more than the Beloved, this makes the gift of God’s love seem to others to be a bad gift: “Be thou an example of the faithful in word, in conversation, in love, in faith, in chastity” (1 Timothy 4:12). They are then rebuked for being a burden on the poor, gluttonously taking from the resources of widows, whom they are called to help: “Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world” (James 1:27). Women have a natural tendency to give, but they preyed upon this, taking advantage of those who give out of piety without the advice of a husband: “My son, do thou nothing without counsel, and thou shalt not repent when thou hast done” (Ecclesiasticus 32:24). Now, this was all done under the pretense of religious observance, which brings the greater condemnation, because to do evil is grave, but to put on the cloak of sanctity and use this for one’s own benefit is much more so. There is a difference between piety and being drunk on love; to do what is good is an excellent thing, but it is the better part to simply be filled with the beauty, wonder, and joy of His love, with what then follows coming naturally: “Thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end” (Psalm 15:11), and the increasing love of God will animate your spirit, letting you be of greater aid to others: “For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: working night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you” (1 Thessalonians 2:9). It is then seen the difficulty they have in bringing people into their observances, laboring ceaselessly to bring even one into their fold, whereas love is inherently attractive: “Return, return, O Sulamitess: return, return that we may behold thee” (Canticle 6:12). Furthermore, this was not done to bring the person to salvation, or the happiness of the good life: “The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus” (Psalm 91:13), but to increase their standing in the community, for it was a point of pride to have brought someone into the fold, whereas the love of St. Teresa of Avila converted 10,000 in one of her ardent prayers, which is not a pin of glory, but a point of rejoicing: “Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table” (Psalm 127:3). Now, a proselyte was a Gentile observing Jewish practice: “And the children of the strangers that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer” (Isaias 56:6-7), which were very few. It is highlighted that good instruction can bring someone into following one’s footsteps, for all desire wisdom, but it is one thing to read the commandments, another to live them: “For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:15-16), and the Pharisees and scribes taught but did not live, therefore those that were pulled by their doctrine then imitated them in their actions. In addition, the affection of a spiritual father they neglected, treating their pupils coldly, rather than with the warmth that comes with bringing others to the truth: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glory? Are not you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For you are our glory and joy?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). These pupils, then, not being born into Jewish custom but choosing it of their own free will, then break the commandments they had promised to follow, or return to their error: “As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). Thus, if by your love you beget spiritual children, treat them as precious, because they may not know how loved they are by God or others, but they will look to your affection and good example when they are little ones in Christ: “Purifying your souls in the obedience of charity, with a  brotherly love, from a sincere heart love one another earnestly” (1 Peter 1:22).

Matthew 23:5-12

“And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi.’ But be you not called Rabbi. For one is your master; and all you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Jesus had charged the scribes and Pharisees with being harsh with others and lax with themselves, and then highlights another crooked element of their heart, which is vainglory. To desire to be extolled by others is a great temptation for the spiritual person, for which love is the cure, because to act from a surplus of love, a heart bursting with affection, is both easier, more beautiful, and more natural in the life of grace than trying to humble oneself, which is a target easily missed: “There is that will destroy his own soul through shamefacedness, and by occasion of an unwise person he will destroy it: and by respect of person he will destroy himself” (Ecclesiasticus 20:24). Prayer naturally brings humility, because the light of the sun illuminates all that is imperfect about you: “For there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come abroad” (Luke 8:17). There is also a look here at the hidden ailment of the teachers of the Law, because in doing things to be seen by men means that there is not a desire to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah, and therefore when He comes, they are not thrilled, but agitated about having to share the spotlight: “This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath” (John 9:16), whereas a group that loves is delighted to welcome in new members, that the good over which they bond may extend to someone new: “And the churches were confirmed in faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5). Jesus’ wording is precise, that they did not only act to be seen by men, but their lives are entirely given over to this. When He criticizes their phylacteries, this comes from taking a section of the Law: “Thou shalt bind [the commandments] as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes” (Deuteronomy 6:8), which means to do all things according to the Law: “In all thy works let the true word go before thee, and steady counsel before every action” (Ecclesiasticus 37:20), and to meditate on them consistently: “His will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2). The Pharisees, however, took the verse in a literal manner, writing the Ten Commandments down and wearing them on their foreheads as a display of their piety. The fringes are a commandment of Moses, that while circumcision distinguished the people of Israel, there was a call for a more public display of their being God’s people: “Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt tell them to make to themselves fringes in the corners of their garments, putting in them ribands of blue: that when they shall see them, they may remember all the commandments of the Lord” (Numbers 15:38-39), and the religious leaders sought to display their righteousness by these blue fringes rather than by acts of love. There can also be a spiritual meaning, that the scribes and Pharisees stretched the commandments of God to include their own commandments and traditions: “You shall not add to the word that I speak to you” (Deuteronomy 4:2), and placed undue stress on them, which is indicated by the fringes. When Jesus then convicts them of desiring the highest seats, this is not to condemn those who are genuine leaders and thereby are given these places: “And then men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king over the house of Juda” (2 Kings 2:4), but rather those who clog their hearts and minds with the desire for esteem and position, rather than with their Beloved. It is the same in taking the lowest place out of a desire to seem holy, with the body in a low place but the heart feasting on one’s own perceived righteousness: “Hast thou seen a man wise in his own conceit? There shall be more hope of a fool than of him” (Proverbs 26:12). Furthermore, this was taking place in synagogues, where their minds should have been focused on guiding the people on the way of righteousness, to be the answer for the prayer: “Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me” (Psalm 24:4-5), but rather they were turned in on themselves, concerned with their reputation. The love of salutations is not just to be greeted in a friendly manner, which is warmth to the soul: “A sweet word multiplieth friends, and appeaseth enemies, and a gracious tongue in a good man aboundeth” (Ecclesiasticus 6:5), but a public display with bowing, followed by the greeting “rabbi,” a title the Pharisees sought to hold as an honor to themselves, but not do the duties as they should. Now, this translates to your personal love story, Theophila, that there is one high place that the Lord desires you to go: “Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places” (Psalm 148:1), and this is the heights of contemplation, that you may drink deeply of the cup of love: “My chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly it is!” (Psalm 22:5), and enjoy the sweet delicacies of truth: “Eat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb most sweet to thy throat: so also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul” (Proverbs 24:13-14). Make yourself worthy to be seated on the throne of the Lamb: “To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me in my throne: as I also have overcome, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Apocalypse 3:21), not concerning yourself with office or position. When Jesus says “do not be called Rabbi,” this is because true teaching comes from God, for many are the words that can pour out of a man, but it is only when the heart is heated with love and the mind graced with insight that the wisdom that is truly important can make its proper imprint: “It is written in the prophets: ‘And they shall all be taught of God’” (John 6:45). Thus, many hear the words of God, but few receive it in such a way: “Thy words I have hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against thee” (Psalm 118:11), but this is not to despair, but to pray for the grace to hear in your heart: “Sacrifice or oblation thou didst not desire; but thou hast pierced ears for me” (Psalm 39:7). From this is a look into the fact that all members of the Church, including the saints, are your brothers and sisters in Christ; let Jesus form you, be pleasing to Him: “As long as thou livest, and hast breath in thee, let no man change thee” (Ecclesiasticus 33:21), for you are like a bride that enjoys the company and aid of her bridesmaids, but all for the sake of being a greater delight to her husband. Love all, but love freely: “Give not to son or wife, brother or friend, power over thee while thou livest” (Ecclesiasticus 33:20). He then says to call no man your father, meaning that your every action is done before God, therefore let nothing and no one come before the love and service of your heavenly Father: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). Now, the priestly title of father, the term spiritual fatherhood, and the title of master in the spiritual sense are like sun shining through windows. To trust a spiritual director as the voice of Christ in your life is to take them as a spiritual father or mother, but this is insofar as they are a vessel of the light of God for you, thus in listening to them you are listening to God: “’Masters, what must I do, that I may be saved?’ But they said: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30-31). This is not something to be sought, with the care of souls being a grave duty: “Be ye not many masters, my brethren, knowing that you receive the greater judgment” (James 3:1), but rather be a simple servant. If your words find their way into the hearts of others and pierce them with love, this is the action of the Holy Spirit in them, Jesus in you, and the Father shining behind you, and thus you are not a master, but a window of grace: “He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). Withhold your love from no one, serving all, but all for the divine Master who ministers to you: “I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27), giving you the love you need. Finally, it is ugliness to lift oneself up, to be bloated with one’s own ego or clamoring for position, but to be little, held gently in the hands of your Abba, this is precious, and makes ready to be rich in love.

Matthew 22:41-23:4

“And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: ‘What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?’ They say to him: ‘David’s.’ He saith to them: ‘How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?’ If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?’ And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.’”

Because the religious leaders were nipping at Him as a lowly man, Jesus then subtly puts forward the truth of His divinity in such a way that He might not be stoned for blasphemy: “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33). It is a movement from His familiar discourse with His disciples that still rings of similarity: “Whom do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15), but because the Pharisees would have said He was a deceiver: “Are you also seduced?” (John 7:47), He puts forward this more theological question. The Pharisees then suppose the Christ to be, though great, merely a man: “And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord his God” (Micheas 5:4), to which Jesus replies with the proper wielding of Sacred Scripture: “And from his mouth came out a sharp two edged sword” (Apocalypse 1:16). Because of Christ’s sonship from the Father, He was before David: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am” (John 8:58), both in order of time and in the hierarchy of being, to which David had insight by the Holy Spirit. The Son’s seat at the right hand of the Father is not in a physical sense, but rather is to be in equality with the Father’s glory, for all that the Father is, He translates to the Son: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and this seat is given “until I make thy enemies thy footstool,” (Psalm 109:1), the “until” not ceasing with this, and this is to show the might of His reign, that even if He has to scare people into His arms, this is better than losing them altogether. While this binds the Pharisees, it is also a gift to invite them into the mystery, that they may put down their swords of biting questions and instead walk with wonder at Him who is the Lord of the great king David: “Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? Who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). Having applied every medicine, particularly that of wisdom, with which the religious leaders should have been delighted, but having it spat back in His face, He then turns to the Apostles and the people, because unprofitable are the words that win arguments, but great are the words that draw people into love: “There is gold, and a multitude of jewels: but the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel” (Proverbs 20:15). The disciples then represent those who hang on every word of God with an eager heart, wanting to store each one as a gem: “And his mother kept all these words in her heart” (Luke 2:51), the people are those who partake in the Church’s gifts, but are not yet in the throes of love: “Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1). When He says that the scribes, who could not release the letter of the Law, and the Pharisees, who, due to the thought that they were better than others, separated themselves from others: “He that despiseth his neighbour, sinneth” (Proverbs 14:21), sit on the seat of Moses, this is to show that their teaching is godly. Now, it is not the place that makes the man, but the man the place, and where you pray is sacred ground, because that is where you encounter God: “Come nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). God is in your heart, you are His tabernacle, and to realize you are immersed in His presence and He is in you to hold your hand through prayer, that you may come to know His merciful love is a beautiful way to step into your prayer time. From here, it is seen that the office of priest or teacher is a shame to the one that does not step up to its demands and live as he preaches. When Jesus then tells them to do as the scribes and Pharisees taught, this was to dissuade one from rebelling against an evil teacher: “If thou wilt incline thy ear, thou shalt receive instruction: and if thou love to hear, thou shalt be wise” (Ecclesiasticus 6:34). Christ acknowledges them to be the premier teachers in Israel before viciously upbraiding them, that He may not be thought to be reaching for their authority or holding bitterness in His Sacred Heart, which, despite the rampant assaults upon it, burns only with the fires of love: “Love is strong as death… the lamps thereof are fire and flames” (Canticle 8:6). The reason that Jesus told them to observe all that the scribes and Pharisees taught was that the New Law of grace had not yet come forward, the love story was not yet unveiled, and the Law is in place to be a guide to righteousness, which, when animated by love, turns love from paint to art: “The law is not made for the just man, but for the unjust and disobedient” (1 Timothy 1:9), and those who taught it best would guide to a sharp observance, yet be lacking central point. The teacher, then, that does not follow his teaching, or does not love his craft, is a sad sight, but nevertheless, the gold of wisdom is still gold, even if it is in the hands of someone that does not appreciate its beauty: “A man of sense will praise every wise word he shall hear, and will apply it to himself: the luxurious man hath heard it, and it shall displease him, and he will cast it behind his back” (Ecclesiasticus 21:18). In this is a look at one’s attitude towards Church leaders, down to one’s parish priest, because to speak ill of any can build walls around the heart towards what one may hear, and it is better that one should hold the priesthood in high regard, that it may be reverenced: “With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests” (Ecclesiasticus 7:31), and those that love and teach well may be given their due, rather than holy orders being seen as trivial, and the spiritual fathers of the Church being subject to mockery: “Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother” (Deuteronomy 27:16). When Jesus says that they say, but do not do, this is a grave condemnation, because to instruct in holy matters is the most dignified of professions: “If [the wise man] continue, he shall leave a name above a thousand” (Ecclesiasticus 39:15), and because of the influence one has in teaching, as well as one’s message coming off as insincere if it is not also observed, without evidence to its goodness, teaching the life of love without loving is a foul blot on a man: “He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is love” (1 John 4:8). There is then the condemnation that they place heavy burdens on others, teaching and demanding a strict way of life without themselves embracing it, whereas love calls you into action and struggle: “In much work there shall be abundance” (Proverbs 14:23); “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), while being lenient and merciful on others, not knowing what weighs on their soul. These heavy burdens are the commandments of the Law: “Now therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10), which strangle the heart, with the religious leaders not even attempting to try to carry them. Life is more than rule-following, and while the commandments are instructions to virtue, which give beauty to the soul, they are not the fundamental block of life: “Follow after love” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Now, to lay too austere a way of life on one that is a fledgling lover of God, especially under the threat of punishment, is to follow the Pharisees, for to love is to fly, to flap one’s little wings towards ever higher branches until you can soar off and love with ease. To come off the winds of the Gospel of love for an emphasis on asceticism is to clip the wings: “Are you so foolish, that, whereas you began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3), and to be harsh where God is kind is contrary to love: “Love is patient, is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Matthew 22:34-40

“But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together. And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him: ‘’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.’ This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.’”

Truth, in her magnificent angelic chariot: “He ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds” (Psalm 17:11), had silenced the impotent footsoldiers of falsehood in the Sadducees, and rather than dissipating or turning on each other, as false teaching always does, the Pharisees mount one final assault: “He should send an army against them, to destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory of them from that place” (1 Machabees 3:35). This was done by sending one excellent lawyer into the battlefield of debate to attempt to attain the victory for the Pharisees: “Choose a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to hand. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us” (1 Kings 17:8-9). Now, to ask questions in order to bite at another and not to learn from him is to do as this Pharisee does: “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40), and it is to antagonize rather than to love: “Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers” (2 Timothy 2:14). The idea behind the question, then, is the thought that all God commands is great: “All thy commands are justice” (Psalm 118:172), and the Pharisees held the lesser commandments on the same plane as the Ten Commandments: “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24), and therefore they sent this scholar of the law to tempt Him, with the design to reject His answer, no matter what it may be: “And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Jesus then answers to love God with every fabric of one’s being; where fear dominated in the Law and the people walked in slavery, Jesus throws open the doors of the love of sonship: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)” (Romans 8:15), and God does not desire you to serve Him while scared of His Lordship, but rather joyfully as a Father who is the wind at your back: “From thence, compassing by the shore, we came to Rhegium: and after one day, the south wind blowing, we came the second day to Puteoli” (Acts 28:13). To have your whole heart wrapped on Him then, is to let the garden of your soul be His sanctuary, and His sanctuary alone: “My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed” (Canticle 4:12), your heart being the meeting place between heaven and earth, Bridegroom and bride, God and man: “This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it” (Psalm 131:14). To love Him with your whole soul is to bring your every faculty of your intellect and will under the sweet yoke of devotion, your every action oriented towards love: “I arose up to open to my beloved: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh” (Canticle 5:5). To devote your entire mind to Him is to enjoy the sweet savor of truth, not so much out of a penchant for learning, but to put wood upon the fire of your heart, that it may burn brightly with a true understanding of your Beloved: “And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning” (Leviticus 6:12), and to let your sole wisdom be that of God and His love: “For I judged not myself to know any thing among you, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). St. Thomas Aquinas, during times of recreation, would leave when the topic would steer from matters of God, surely partly out of boredom, but partly because he simply brought nothing else to the table. O Theophila, how sweet is the taste of love, which painlessly quenches all other desires and draws you into a place where your every thought is fixed on Jesus, nothing in your life reaching outside the fire of His love, for in that is all warmth and goodness: “Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?” (Canticle 8:5). You will find the fullness of yourself when your whole life is oriented towards Him, not necessarily in action but in desire, for though Leah brought forth many children, Jacob had a greater desire for the beautiful bride Rachel, who represents the one who gives their every faculty to loving Him and being loved in turn: “And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years” (Genesis 29:30). He then says this is the first and greatest commandment, radiant in value and to be seconded to none, for without love for God, everything else becomes dry and barren: “If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth” (John 15:6). There is then a twofold second commandment, to love one’s neighbor as oneself, which first entails a love of oneself: “He that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul” (Psalm 10:6); “He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? And he shall not take pleasure in his goods” (Ecclesiasticus 14:5). Now, every person is your neighbor, by nature of the union of the human family in one common nature: “Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:10), and because of the service they do, the angels are included here: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). Every person you meet is a beautiful creation of God, and from love comes either admiration of the beauty of their souls, which can be seen by the spiritual eye: “Thy eyes are as those of doves” (Canticle 1:14), or the desire to see them flourish rather than eat the dirt and muck of earthly things and sin: “My soul hath cleaved to the pavement: quicken thou me according to thy word” (Psalm 118:25). Just as a great man is honored in a statue, God is loved in His people, and in falling madly in love with God, each person becomes a striking reminder of the Beloved: “My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11), and so love is the fulfillment of all; the entirety of the Christian walk is a growth in the art of love. To love the Beloved, to love others, to become love, this is the key by which all Sacred Scripture is opened to you: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him” (Luke 24:27), and thus it is said that on these commandments hang the Law and the prophets.

Matthew 22:23-33

“That day there came to him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and asked him, saying: ‘Master, Moses said: ‘If a man die having no son, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up issue to his brother.’ Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first having married a wife, died; and not having issue left his wife to his brother. In like manner the second, and the third, and so on to the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. At the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her.’ And Jesus answering, said to them: ‘You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And the multitudes hearing it, were in admiration at his doctrine.”

The Sadducees then come, like waves trying to reach into land to break down a mighty fortress, if not by argument, then by making Jesus weary: “My soul hath slumbered through heaviness: strengthen thou me in thy words” (Psalm 118:28). The Sadducees did not only deny resurrection of the body, but also the immortality of the soul, something many non-Christian thinkers had come to accept: “Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no good” (Proverbs 19:2). To deny the resurrection takes away from the battle one must undergo for love, for without the condemnation of the wicked and the glorious life of the just, one then seeks justice and pleasure in this life, which leads to malice and self-seeking: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Now, in ancient cultures, there was a seeking of a sort of immortality by way of bearing children; such was also the appeal of glory or a good name: “A good life hath its number of days: but a good name shall continue for ever” (Ecclesiasticus 41:16), and to a culture that lived for the present life, Moses gave the precept for a brother to marry a dead brother’s wife, that his name may live on through the children born to the new spouse. The Sadducees then put forwards a ludicrous fiction as a type of thought experiment, pulling from reality in favor of obtuse questions: “But avoid foolish and old wives’ fables: and exercise thyself unto godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7), which is a lesson to you, Theophila, to seek first the truth which sets your heart aflame: “There came in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it” (Jeremias 20:9); “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Mystically, the seven brothers are representative of the seven deadly sins, which bear no fruit, through which one passes without bearing any fruit of true love, instead living entirely for oneself: “Amen, amen, I say unto you: that whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). Jesus then reprimands them for not knowing the Scriptures, for in the Scriptures is the knowledge of God, and to read them with an open heart is to let Him speak to you from His Heart: “Meditate upon these things, be wholly in these things: that thy profiting may be manifest to all. Take heed to thyself and to doctrine: be earnest in them” (1 Timothy 4:15-16); your Beloved longs to speak to you and tell you about Himself, if only you will open your ear to His words: “Incline your ear and come to me: hear and your soul shall live” (Isaias 55:3). Their view of God was also too narrow, not thinking Him to be that whose goodness surpasses all understanding; it can also mean that they did not know Jesus, who is called the power of God: “But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). They had not read the Scriptures which spoke about Him or spent time with Him, both of which are open to you, the latter being time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, both of which draw one to encounter the magnificence of His love: “And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord’s feet, heard his word” (Luke 10:39). When Jesus then says that in the resurrection men do not marry and women are not given in marriage, as the custom of the time dictated, for heaven is a perpetual contemplation of the love of God, to see the true glory of what love looks like, aflame with one’s own love and singing hymns of love to the Beloved: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come” (Apocalypse 4:8). When you are immortal, Theophila, with a glorified body and a soul entirely purified from all that is not love, then you will be rapt in ecstatic love perpetually, your mind and heart drunken on God: “Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1). Marriage is by all means an extraordinary good, an icon of God’s love, and filled with sacramental grace: “Marriage is honourable in all” (Hebrews 13:4), but the heavenly banquet transcends this wondrous iconography, with the true Beloved of your soul within your grasp: “For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb” (Apocalypse 21:22). Then, where the Sadducees had gone to the authority of Moses and denied Scriptural authority outside of it, Jesus expertly goes to Moses, that He may meet the Sadducees on their own ground and bring them the branch of truth: “And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth” (Genesis 8:11). Jesus then establishes the immortality of the soul, that the God who is: “I Am Who Am” (Exodus 3:14) would not be the God of those who are not. The wording that God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, rather than grouping them together: “The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee” (Exodus 7:16), this shows that God is entirely yours, loving you as if you were the only person in the world: “I to my beloved, and my beloved to me” (Canticle 6:2). It said of St. Teresa of Avila that Jesus said to her that He would remake all of creation just to hear her say she loved Him, and so it is with you; to simply rest on His Sacred Heart and whisper “I love you” to each other, or silently bask in love, this is deep prayer: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). You have captured the prey, o beloved of Christ, “My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart” (Canticle 2:9), therefore run to Him and feast on His love: “They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure” (Psalm 35:9). Live for the love of Jesus, Theophila, and you will live a divine life. The people then sit in wonder at the doctrine of Christ, a call to realize the love and magnificence that radiates from the Scriptures: “Who have received the law by the disposition of angels” (Acts 7:53), and let them be your daily food: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart: for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremias 15:16).

Matthew 22:15-22

“Then the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to insnare him in his speech. And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying: ‘Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou dost not regard the person of men. Tell us therefore what dost thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus knowing their wickedness, said: ‘Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the coin of the tribute.’ And they offered him a penny. And Jesus saith to them: ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They say to him: ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he saith to them: ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God, the things that are God’s.’ And hearing this they wondered, and leaving him, went their ways.”

Both love and hate are forces that, when denied in one way, another is sought with eagerness: “Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices” (Canticle 2:9). While Jesus seeks the heart as a sweet hunter, the Pharisees are consumed with malice, and seek to trap Jesus by way of collaboration with their political rivals. The Herodians were mockingly so called because, rather than seeing Rome as a force that overshadows Israel: “The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose tongue thou canst not understand, a most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the ancients, nor have pity on the infant, and will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 28:49-51), they were grateful for the security and peace and willingly paid tribute to them. The two collaborated in this snare: “Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from thy precepts” (Psalm 118:110), that if Jesus were to oppose the tax to Caesar, He may be charged with treason against Rome and potentially condemned to death, whereas to agree with it would show Him to be unfaithful to Judaism. These two groups then arrive and extol their enemy, as is wont for those that speak not according to their hearts: “An evil mark upon the double tongued” (Ecclesiasticus 5:17). They do this by complimenting Jesus in being the perfect teacher, claiming Him to know and love the truth, honestly put forward the ways of God as He knows them, and does not withhold the truth due to fear or affection. This was done because many great teachers fall easily into pride, and are all too eager to showcase their wisdom, letting their lips fly into what isn’t prudent or loving: “A man full of tongue is terrible in his city, and he that is rash in his word shall be hateful” (Ecclesiasticus 9:25). Thus, the hope was that, by inflating the ego of Jesus, they might more easily catch Him in the snare they sought to lay. Jesus, however, replies in a way that cuts through their buttery tone like a knife, calling them hypocrites for being one thing and presenting another, which He does that He could show that He knew their hearts: “Thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue” (Psalm 138:4), hoping that by putting them to shame, they may be corrected like deceitful children and come to know the patient love of those that they were trying to deceive. Jesus asks for the coin, which bore the image of Tiberius Caesar, which could have been particularly stinging to the Jewish people: “Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). In Jesus’ reply, there is a greater subtilty than the surface denotes, because to have nothing of Caesar’s means one is not bound to pay what he is due, but to enjoy a country’s protection and other such gifts, one cannot complain for giving back to it. Now, this is insofar as nothing is put against the faith, because to sponsor a government that has animosity towards the Catholic Church is to give to the devil rather than Caesar. The second piece of subtilty is that the government made the coins, and therefore they belong to it and the image of the ruler is stamped upon them. The people merely borrow them, but to give to God what is God’s is to give His image that He made back to Him, to give the gift of yourself to God: “I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me” (Canticle 7:10). Because “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19), you can only find yourself through giving yourself back to God, to lose yourself in the divinity as He loses Himself in you: “I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:23). While tithes, firstfruits, good works, and prayers are all wonderful gifts: “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits” (Proverbs 3:9), the gift He truly seeks is you and your heart: “Shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely” (Canticle 2:14); “Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem: terrible as an army set in array” (Canticle 6:3). There is also a spiritual meaning, that to ignore your nature and over-spiritualize is to take the path of the Pharisees: “Forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and by them that have known the truth” (1 Timothy 4:3), for this path rips away your individuality and ignores that you are not only human, but uniquely so, but to entirely indulge nature without the spirit is to walk the way of the Herodians. Therefore, God calls not for a destruction of who you are, but a lifting of yourself into a covenant of love: “And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments: and to make thee higher than all nations which he hath created, to his own praise, and name, and glory: that thou mayst be a holy people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken” (Deuteronomy 16:118-19), that you, rather than being suppressed by His commandments, may instead become fully alive by entering deeply into the love story: “I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Though they should have believed in the face of this, the Herodians and Pharisees instead simply wonder and leave, showing that, when God manifests Himself to you, either by truth, consolation, or unveiling of love, to simply enjoy is certainly good, but these are also the opportunities to build your spiritual edifice even higher, to follow the breadcrumbs to the house of the Beloved, and thereby be drawn by what is shown to you into a more robust or deeper devotion: “And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not… This is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven… And he made a vow, saying: ‘If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, and I shall return prosperously to my father’s house: the Lord shall be my God” (Genesis 28:16-22).

Matthew 22:7-14

“But when the king had heard of it, he was angry: and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: ‘The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage.’ And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good; and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment?’ But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.’”

While God’s unchangeable nature of love does not get inflamed to anger as man does, but in justice sends His angels to examine men, who are ultimately judged by their love: “There remain faith, hope, and love, these three: but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13); all that is contrary to love of God and neighbor is an absence of love, and so to be without love is to be nothing. Thus, in having one’s talents, qualities, or feats set aside, and the love with which one lived being measured, many are destroyed: “Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity” (Isaias 41:29), and the doctrine and community that upheld them are seen to be nothing but straw: “And thou shalt say to the children of Ammon: ‘Hear ye the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast said: ‘Ha, ha,’ upon my sanctuary, because it was profaned: and upon the land of Israel, because it was laid waste: and upon the house of Juda, because they are led into captivity: therefore will I deliver thee to the men of the east for an inheritance” (Ezechiel 25:3-4). This was the case with the religious leaders that spurned Jesus, that were then crushed by Rome, but is still applicable to those that God desires but refuse the invitation to know His love. However, the Father will not have His Son’s marriage feast be without attendants, desiring many to come to the wedding feast to love and be loved: “I will be found by you, saith the Lord: and I will bring back your captivity, and I will gather you out of all nations, and from all the places to which I have driven you out, saith the Lord: and I will bring you back from the place to which I caused you to be carried away captive” (Jeremias 29:14). In this is a mystery for contemplatives, that to the one that pursues God ardently, He will give the grace to draw in their loved ones, for a wedding with guests from only the groom’s side would be strange, but rather He will draw in a wedding party from His bride’s heart. This is one meaning of “Draw me” (Canticle 1:3), but is also seen later in the divine Canticle: “Our sister is little, and hath no breasts. What shall we do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to?” (Canticle 8:8) meaning that the lover of God sees the lack of love in the heart of their loved one, to which the Bridegroom replies: “If she be a wall: let us build upon it bulwarks of silver: if she e a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar” (Canticle 8:9), meaning that if they are not defiled with grave sin, they will rise to great love, but if they are, it will be restored and they will be drawn into heaven for the sake of the bride, which is your soul. Now, the Apostles and all others that preach the Gospel are sent to invite others to the wedding, and go into the highways of worldly professions, from kings to philosophers to farmers, and call them into the love story: “For both the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). In all the different ways of life there is a desire for love, with those that are great sinners, those who were unfruitful in their labors, those who are naturally virtuous or filled with talents and success, every heart longs for love, for though there is much laudable about a virtuous life: “And if a man love justice: [wisdom’s] labours have great virtues; for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life” (Wisdom 8:7), it is not being in love and thereby loving: “And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Thus, the naturally good are invited to love, that their beauty may have the glow of love behind it, represented by the gold candlestick that is useless unless it has the fire of love burning in it: “Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work of the finest gold” (Exodus 25:31), and those covered in the filth of sin could be washed clean and adorned with festive garments of great beauty: “Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb: that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city” (Apocalypse 22:14). The King, the Father, then comes in to see the wedding guests, those who came to either marry the Bridegroom in the case of those that go deep into the mystery: “I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies” (Canticle 6:2), those that serve Him and His people in other cases: “So you also, when you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do’” (Luke 17:10), or are happy guests in the case of those that are drawn into the fringes by the prayers and devotion of others: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). The Father is everywhere, but in the day of judgment the darkness between man and God will be lifted, and He will be seen more clearly, and His people can measure their deeds. See the day of judgment, Theophila, not as a great and terrible day, for this is for those who need to be jolted into action by the image: “And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place found for them” (Apocalypse 20:11), but rather as a wedding feast, towards which you are joyfully running: “We will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (Canticle 1:3). When the King then sees someone not robed in the décor of charity, potentially robed with knowledge, faith, and great works, and other such things but having no love: “Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasures more than of God: having an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). For love is the needle that the hand of the Holy Spirit guides to pull along the string of God’s commandments into the clothing of the new man: “So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen” (Exodus 39:2). Unless love then stirs into beautiful actions, the garment is not woven, and one then enters the elegant wedding feast in the filthy garments of sin: “My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness” (Psalm 37:6) or as it were naked with coldness: “But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Apocalypse 2:4). Thus, the King addresses the one with faith but without love as friend, for this friend partook of heavenly things, yet failed to make good use of them: “For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me” (Psalm 40:10), and is speechless on account of this, for even those without what God offers seek self-improvement, but when God offers to become one’s Beloved, and tells what He likes and what He dislikes and yet this is seen as paltry, it is the fault of the one who does not embrace this with joy and determination, and therefore is without excuse: “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). When one’s hands are bound, this means that sin: “He that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devilv sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God appeared, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) or fear: “Woe to them that are fainthearted, who believe not God: and therefore they shall not be protected by him” (Ecclesiasticus 2:15) constricts one from doing acts of love, and with hands thus bound, they are thrown into the outer darkness, which indicate the deepest depths of an absence of love: “He that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth; because the darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11), with teeth chattering from the coldness of their hearts, and their eyes weeping from seeing the needs of their neighbor and not acting upon them: “He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). Finally, when Jesus says that many are called, but few chosen, it means that the Gospel falls upon the ears of many, but some never respond to it with a course towards heaven, with others beginning and halting under love’s demands. To the one that loves and loves to the end will be the reward of being a chosen vessel of grace, to bear the seal of God’s love: “To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it” (Apocalypse 2:17).

Matthew 22:1-6

“And Jesus answering, spoke again in parables to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: ‘Tell them that were invited, ‘Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage.’’ But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death.’”

Knowing the hate that is boiling in the hearts of the religious leaders, Jesus, as an artful swordsman, moves from a disciplinary lesson to a lovely invitation, the invitation to the divine marriage: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath prepared herself” (Apocalypse 19:7). The Father created all things as a wedding festival for His Son, with your life being that of the bride, and the wedding feast has begun in baptism: “The king has brought me into his storerooms” (Canticle 1:3). Looking from the broad perspective of humanity, however, the call to love one another has always been ingrained in the heart: “For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these having not the law are a law to themselves” (Romans 2:14), but He sent Moses, the judges, the righteous kings, and the prophets to invite them into the love of God and neighbor, for love is stapled throughout these writings, if you have the eye to look: “Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me” (John 5:39). Yet, no one heeds the commandments of the Old Testament: “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?” (John 7:19), and so Jesus sends His Apostles to preach the commandments of love: “My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). However, the mysteries of the Old Covenant are only truly opened in light of Christ: “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book, written within and without, sealed with seven seals… And I saw… a Lamb standing as it were slain… and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. And when he had opened the book… they sung a new canticle, saying: ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof’” (Apocalypse 5:1-9), and therefore the invitation did not seem enticing to those who enjoyed sin or worldly things more than righteousness: “Thou hast love malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness” (Psalm 51:5). However, the invitation of the Apostles is to feast on the decadent feast of truth: “Therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8), that in the Scriptures one may find the love they have long desired: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremias 31:3). This understanding of the truth and the wind in the sails comes with love then gives strength of spirit, representative of the oxen, and the sweet pleasures of fatted calves, for to speak timidly and uncertainly is a lean offering, but a heart that is full of love and a mind full of truth is bold and strong: “A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant” (Proverbs 24:5). Or, the fatted calf can be the Gospel strengthened by philosophy: “Stand in the multitude of ancients that are wise, and join thyself from thy heart to their wisdom” (Ecclesiasticus 6:35), which is a glorious feast when intellectual hypertrophy does not inhibit the heart: “We will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love thee” (Canticle 1:3). When the king then says, “all things are ready,” this means that all that is required for you to fall in love is in the Scriptures, for in them God opens His Heart to you: “Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3); “Secret things to the Lord our God: things that are manifest, to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29), giving you refreshment when your heart is heavy: “Thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee” (Isaias 43:4), truth where you may be ignorant: “All wisdom is from the Lord God” (Ecclesiasticus 1:1), correction where you have a loose thread: “She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry: fine linen, and purple is her covering” (Proverbs 31:22), and direction to action: “’Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?’ But he said: ‘He that shewed mercy to him.’ And Jesus said to him: ‘Go, and do thou in like manner’” (Luke 10:36-37). To go to the marriage, then, is to enter into a covenant of love with God: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremias 31:33), who desires for you to feast on His love and truth by holy reading and any devotion you desire: “He brought me into the cellar of wine” (Canticle 2:4), but, Theophila, how many like light of the magnificence of this! Rather, work or material things become the focus of one’s life, leaving the Beloved cold and at the wayside of life, rather than being the center point, an entire relationship with the Most High set aside for trivialities that won’t last: “Neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Some, however, not just turning aside from this covenant of love, actively oppose it by persecuting those who would bring it to them: “And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him” (Acts 7:57).