This episode of the CatholicPleps Podcast explores the teachings of Saint John Chrysostom on the Christian life. He reminds us that we have nothing to fear, not even death, for this world and everything in it belong to the Lord. And we also learn the secret to this saint’s faith.
Topics: Saints, early church fathers, scripture, love, Jesus, how to live a faithful life, the church
This episode of the CatholicPleps Podcast explores the teachings of Saint John Chrysostom on the Christian life. He reminds us that we have nothing to fear, not even death, for this world and everything in it belong to the Lord. And we also learn the secret to this saint’s faith.
Topics: Saints, early church fathers, scripture, love, Jesus, how to live a faithful life, the church
Alright, welcome everybody back to the CatholicPlep Podcast. Today I have a reading from Saint John Chrysostom on his feast day today, and there's a lot of good stuff to get into. So let's get into the work From a reading by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop. The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock. Let the sea rage it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise they cannot sink the boat of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death, life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile, the earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of our goods we brought nothing into this world and we shall surely take nothing from it.
Speaker 1:
I have only contempt for the world's threats. I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death, nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate, therefore, on the present situation and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.
Speaker 1:
Do you not hear the Lord saying when two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. Will he be absent then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise. I am surely not going to rely on my own strength. I have what he has written. That is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be an up-evil. I hold to his promise and read his message. That is my protecting wall, my garrison. What message Now that I am with you always, until the end of the world.
Speaker 1:
If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider's web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say, lord, your will be done, not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done. If he wants me to say stay here, I am grateful. But whatever he wants me to do, I am no less grateful.
Speaker 1:
Yet where I am there, you are too. Where you are, I am, for we are a single body, and the body cannot be separated from the head, nor the head from the body. God separates us, but love unites us and death itself cannot divide us. For, though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people. You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light, for what can the rays of the sun bestow on me that is comparable to your love. The sun's light is useful in my earthy life, but your love is fashioning a crown for me and the life to come. Man, so fantastic.
Speaker 1:
So what we're going to do now is go through it, and I just want to point out the stuff that, to me, was very profound. So, starting from the top, the waters have risen and a severe and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock, alright. So this is one that's very indicative, or it recalls to the mind the Gospels, where Jesus is sending the disciples across the sea of Galilee and he went to go pray, and they find themselves in the situation where, like, the boat is sinking actively and they need Jesus to save them, and he comes walking on the waters. But in that passage, some elements need to be noted, because the sea actually is a symbol of death. So Jesus Christ walking on the waters is actually really profound in a very theological way, because it means that he walks comfortably upon the waters of death. He has mastery over death, which he ultimately shows us in his resurrection. But that doesn't just live in the Gospels, that also lives here, today, with us. You know, christ is the master of death and Christ, as we see later on in St John, christ's work, is with us.
Speaker 1:
So with that let's continue. Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, it cannot sink. The boat of Jesus, the church and its many images, is depicted as an arc upon the sea that's tossed here and there and it protects us from the raging waters of the world. But something so profound that I lose sight of quite a bit is that the church is also united to Christ. It is his body, he is the head of the human race, which means that we, when we stand upon an immovable rock that cannot be broken, which is the church, we have to recognize that it's imperishable, not just because it's the church, but because the church is Christ, it is Jesus, it's his body here on earth, which is so profound. So have no fear. Have confidence that the church is able to withstand the attacks of all the ages, because the church is Jesus. They cannot sink him and he is the church.
Speaker 1:
What are we to fear? Death, life to me is Christ and death is gain. Exile, the earth and its fullness belong to the Lord man. How confident are we in Christ that, if we are exiled from our jobs, if we are exiled from our families, if we are exiled from our friends, if we're exiled from those who love us or we think love us, the earth and the fullness is the Lord's. Everything that's on the earth is his. He's always, everywhere, he surrounds us.
Speaker 1:
But do we really believe that? Do we really believe that Jesus is there for us no matter what we go through? That Jesus is going to be there if we are exiled from the things that we hold to to the things that bring us comfort? I've only contempt for the world's threats. I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death, nor do I long to live, except for your good.
Speaker 1:
How do we live? Are we living for ourselves? What are we investing our times into? Are we investing into ourselves with just our pursuits rock climbing, hiking, netflix, anything? Are we really living that Apostolic life that we're being called to? I concentrate, therefore, on the present situation and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence. Do you not hear the Lord saying where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I and they're minced. Will he be absent then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? How often are we uniting ourselves and the love of Christ? The Liturgy of the Hours is a beautiful way of doing that. We give part of our time and our day to praise God, and the whole purpose of Liturgy of the Hours is at every hour there's somebody praying it. So you're in a community with a church that all across the world, you can be united in prayer to Christ with those who also pray the office. But do we make time for God? Are we really uniting ourselves to love Himself? What is His promise?
Speaker 1:
I am surely not going to rely on my own strength. That's too easy. Like, come on when you're in life, when you're struggling, like, what are you doing? Are you trying to turn to yourself to solve the issues? Are you trying to solve the issues by yourself? Do you call on the Lord for help. Are you determined to be at the helm of your life and to guide it in the way that you want? Do you rely on your own strength? I know I do. I have what he has written. That is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be an upheaval, I hold His promise and read His message. That is my protecting wall and garrison. This is another one I fail at.
Speaker 1:
How much do we invest in reading the Scriptures? Do we read it on a yearly basis, monthly, weekly, daily? Are we really living in the Scriptures? Do we hold them in our hearts? Do we have a peaceful harbor to retreat to? Do we have the words of God? Do we know who he is and how he has revealed Himself? Do we have that peaceful harbor to retreat into? Because, as we've already noted, the waters have risen, the severe storms are upon us, like. These things are actively present in the world. You're actively in the midst of this great upheaval of the world.
Speaker 1:
So do you have that beautiful, peaceful harbor to retreat into, now that I am with you always, until the end of the world? If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? The waves in the sea and the anger of princes aroused against me. They are less to me than a spider's web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, have detained me, I would have left this very day, for I always say, lord, your will be done, not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do.
Speaker 1:
Ah, how concerned are we about the opinions of others? Do we live inside of our heads? Do we think all day of what we did, of how that action affected this person, how they must think of us? Are we constantly plagued with how we are being perceived? I mean something beautiful I just listened to today on another podcast I can't remember the name of it, but I do listen to it frequently and one of the things we're talking about was just allowing people to think less of you or have a false perception and how. That's an important part, because that's a part of Jesus' life. Like because of the misconceptions that the people had and Jerusalem with them, he died.
Speaker 1:
So if you allow yourself to be thought in a way that is incorrectly, you're actually allowing yourself to enter into Christ's life, and by not constantly worrying about everybody having the correct idea of who you are and not letting that overwhelm the mind which is allowing people to think something that is just not true of you, is also entering Christ's life and not having to be correct all the time, although Jesus was correct all the time. So you know, that is my stronghold, that is my excuse me, that is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done. If he wants me to stay here, I'm grateful. But whatever he wants me to do, I am no less grateful. Yet where am I? Yet where I am there. You two are man. I am butchering this right now. The whole point of a Paul. I'm just not Paul. I'm so used to quoting Paul.
Speaker 1:
Saint John Christus Timberstam is saying you know, wherever you are talking about the mystical body of the church, you know I am there as well, because he recognized that we are one body in Christ. So we are connected. And I mean that's why we intercede and we ask for the intercession of the prayer of the saints in heaven, because they are a part of the body of Christ in heaven. So, just like we can ask for people to pray for us, now we ask for the prayers in heaven because they're a part of the body of Christ. There we are.
Speaker 1:
Distance separates us, but love unites us. Death itself cannot divide us, for though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people. Oh, that's beautiful. You know he's a bishop constantly thinking about his people and wanting their betterment. So it's beautiful to see that love, that you know, that paternal love. You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light, for what can the rays of the sun bestow on me? That is comparable to your love. The sun's light is useful in my earthly life, but your love is fashioning a crown for me and the life to come.
Speaker 1:
Now, with that last note, what are the crowns that we're handing? We're fashioning for other people? Do we actively pursue love? Are we actively trying to make a crown of love for others? Are we so penetrated by the world that all we can produce is thistles? I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. I could use your help. There are many things I'd love to do, but I can't do that with a podcast just as it is. I need it to grow. So if you could please subscribe or like, depending on what platforms you're on. Please do that. Please share the podcast with people that you know and I'll be praying for you. Please pray for me.