“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked the ruler of the synagogue. St. Cyril of Alexandria explains what Jesus meant: If you think I’m only a man, then you’re giving me a title that belongs to God alone. Even the angels are “good” only by their participation in God. He flatters Jesus, and attempts to deceive him, pretending to be well- disposed toward him. And what does the Omniscient reply? He says, “Why do you call me good? None is... Read more
God is rich in everything, says St. Ambrose. Everything belongs to him. But though Earth is beautiful, and Heaven is beautiful, and the angels are beautiful, what God promises us is not these beautiful things, but something infinitely more beautiful: himself. And yet, Brethren, our God never can be poor. He is rich. He made all things—Heaven and Earth, the sea and the angels. In the heaven, whatever we see, whatever we cannot see—he made it. But still, we ought not... Read more
Jean M. Heimann is a Catholic author freelance writer with an M.A. in Theology, a parish minister and a speaker, a psychologist and educator, and an Oblate with the Community of St. John. She is a member of the Blue Army and the founder of Our Lady of Fatima Rosary and Study group. Jean is the author of Seven Saints for Seven Virtues (Servant, 2014) and Learning to Love with the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir (Mercy, 2016). Jean has had... Read more
When things go wrong in this life, says St. Augustine, just remember what you’re preparing for. You’ll see God the way the angels see him. “And their heritage will abide forever” (Ps. 37:18). This we hold by faith. Does the Lord too know it by faith? No, the Lord knows those things in such a clear way that we will not be able to speak of it even when we are made equal to the angels. The things that will be... Read more
No matter how far off the Day of Judgment may be, says St. Augustine, your own death is only a few years away at most. You need to prepare for that day, so that, when it comes, you will be among those who will be taken to rest until they are made equal to the angels. “Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there” (Ps. 37:10). How... Read more
Arguing for the divinity of the Holy Spirit, St. Gregory of Nyssa says that you know from your own experience that the Spirit is divine. Your own soul is intellectual and invisible, like the angels, and like the angels you cannot come near to God except by the Holy Spirit’s help. Whoever agrees with us that the things above us are also ordered by the power of the Spirit with the Father and the Son has the support of clear evidence... Read more
The peace of God passes all understanding—not just human understanding, but angels’ as well, says St. Augustine. Right now, however great our understanding may be, we only see in part, and “through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12). But when we are equal to the angels of god, we will see face to face, as they do, and we will have peace toward them as great as they have toward us, because we will love them as much as they love... Read more
Even when you’re just out shopping, says St. John Chrysostom, you can still be praising God with the heavenly hosts. True praise isn’t just the words you speak: it shows itself in how you live. What is the hymn of the heavenly beings? You, the faithful, know it. What do the Cherubim above say? What do the angels say? “Glory to God in the highest” (Isa. 6:3). This is why the hymns come after the psalm, because they are even more perfect.... Read more
St. John Chrysostom looks around him in church, and all he sees are people talking about business and money. You’ve made the church no better than a barn, he says. Be quiet, and listen, and you’ll hear the choirs of angels. We say that Christ has done great things, having made angels out of human beings; then, when we are called on to give account, and asked to show a proof from this congregation, our mouths are stopped. I’m afraid that,... Read more
In the time of St. John Chrysostom, popular entertainment had become notoriously immoral, depending on sex and violence for most of its effect. (Fortunately, that was all 1,600 years ago.) Chrysostom challenges his flock to put an end to the sin on the stage, but by not giving them any business. Then let’s pull down the stage, they say. I wish it were that simple—or, rather, if you were willing, as far as I’m concerned, it would be pulled down... Read more
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