Posted by Rev. Gerald Mendoza
May 2, 2014 Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter
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Uphold your Church, O God of truth, as you upheld your servant Athanasius, to maintain and proclaim boldly the catholic faith against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your eternal Word, who took upon himself our humanity that we might share his divinity; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
_________
That's the collect of the day for the Eucharistic liturgy: "against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your Word." Athanasius is a model for trusting grace even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Athanasius led a tumultuous but dedicated life of service to the Church. He was the great champion of the faith against the widespread heresy of Arianism, the teaching by Arius that Jesus was not truly divine.
When Athanasius assumed his role as bishop of Alexandria, he continued the fight against Arianism. At first it seemed that the battle would be easily won and that Arianism would be condemned. Such, however, did not prove to be the case. The Council of Tyre was called and for several reasons that are still unclear, the Emperor Constantine exiled Athanasius to northern Gaul. This was to be the first in a series of travels and exiles reminiscent of the life of St. Paul.
After Constantine died, his son restored Athanasius as bishop. This lasted only a year, however, for he was deposed once again by a coalition of Arian bishops. Athanasius took his case to Rome, and Pope Julius I called a synod to review the case and other related matters.Five times Athanasius was exiled for his defense of the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. Yet he always trusted in the grace of God.
Because of the difficulties of life, calumnies, prejudice, broken spiritual social, spiritual or family relations, we too sometime feel like "exiles." While reconciliation always remains the goal--sometimes difficult to attain--we, like St. Athanasius can always find solace through trust in God's grace and in so doing, live with grace, even in the experience of exile.
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Uphold your Church, O God of truth, as you upheld your servant Athanasius, to maintain and proclaim boldly the catholic faith against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your eternal Word, who took upon himself our humanity that we might share his divinity; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
_________
That's the collect of the day for the Eucharistic liturgy: "against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your Word." Athanasius is a model for trusting grace even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Athanasius led a tumultuous but dedicated life of service to the Church. He was the great champion of the faith against the widespread heresy of Arianism, the teaching by Arius that Jesus was not truly divine.
When Athanasius assumed his role as bishop of Alexandria, he continued the fight against Arianism. At first it seemed that the battle would be easily won and that Arianism would be condemned. Such, however, did not prove to be the case. The Council of Tyre was called and for several reasons that are still unclear, the Emperor Constantine exiled Athanasius to northern Gaul. This was to be the first in a series of travels and exiles reminiscent of the life of St. Paul.
After Constantine died, his son restored Athanasius as bishop. This lasted only a year, however, for he was deposed once again by a coalition of Arian bishops. Athanasius took his case to Rome, and Pope Julius I called a synod to review the case and other related matters.Five times Athanasius was exiled for his defense of the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. Yet he always trusted in the grace of God.
Because of the difficulties of life, calumnies, prejudice, broken spiritual social, spiritual or family relations, we too sometime feel like "exiles." While reconciliation always remains the goal--sometimes difficult to attain--we, like St. Athanasius can always find solace through trust in God's grace and in so doing, live with grace, even in the experience of exile.
Follow Never Deny by email on right.
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