THE TRADITION OF THE COMING OF CHRIST

MEMORIAL OF ST MONICA

2 Thess 2:1-3,14-17; Ps 96:10-13; Mt 23:23-26

Keep the traditions of our Lord

The life of the Christian community or the Church extends the life of Jesus Christ on earth. By the daily breaking and eating of Eucharistic bread, each Christian gradually becomes one with what he eats and contemplates. As our Lord informed the Jews, the bread of life is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Hence, by celebrating what is essentially a Christian and the Church’s sacrament, the Church collectively and individually extends the life, presence, and ministry of Jesus Christ on earth. On this basis, St. Paul admonished the community not to be agitated by any news or rumour of the Lord’s coming. “To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived.” The Lord comes to us daily in our communion, and by living out our communion, he comes through us to all we encounter. St. Augustine called it Christ's hidden coming or coming in grace, which lies between his two coming in visible human nature and glory at the end of time.

This middle coming or his coming in grace is of utmost importance for us, for our daily reception of the bread of heaven transforms us into him. By faithfully celebrating the tradition we received from him and communing with him who comes from heaven daily to nourish our spiritual life, we gradually and continuously transform into the Gospel we preach. St. Paul says the Gospel is achieving its purpose by this very means. “Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” Through this daily participation in the Eucharistic celebration, we continuously share the glory of the risen Lord. In this sense, the Eucharist is a realised eschatology. Hence, none of us should be too anxious or upset with the news of the coming of the Lord, for that is what we celebrate every day. We feel his presence when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist and even more when we receive him and carry him within our hearts in love, which the Holy Spirit furnishes.

The presence of the Lord in the hearts of believers is a great treasure we must cherish. The scribes and Pharisees did not care for this treasure, which made the Lord denounce them for their insincerity in the worship of God. “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.” Those who are agitated about the news of our Lord coming are outside worshippers who worship external forms and not in the temple of the Holy Spirit within. All who worship the Lord in spirit and truth encounter him daily at our Eucharistic celebration. The mother of St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Monica, was an example of a worshipper of God in truth and spirit. She understood the unfathomable riches of the Catholic faith and prayed, fasted, and longed for Augustine’s conversion. Through her daily communion with the Lord in the Eucharist, she bore her cross faithfully and overcame all her obstacles. She desired, above all, to have Augustine experience God’s presence in the communion of the Church. Her prayer was answered beyond her expectation, for Augustine converted to the faith, became a priest, and the bishop of Hippo. She is a model of a Christian mother.

Let us pray: O God, who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of Saint Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine, grant us, through the intercession of them both, that we may bitterly regret our sins and find the grace of your pardon.